Randy Dobnak Returns as Minnesota Twins Make Roster Moves

[Ted Schwerzler]

After an ugly 15-2 loss against the New York Mets on Monday, the Minnesota Twins need short-term pitching help. They will get that in the form of Randy Dobnak's return to the big leagues. After making a trade late on Tuesday afternoon, Minnesota opened a roster spot.

Image courtesy of © Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports

Randy Dobnak broke the internet on Tuesday morning with a simple announcement of, "I'm back." After a dominant run at Triple-A, in which he owns a 2.26 ERA across his past 10 starts, the former postseason starter is returning to the big leagues. It was an absence of more than 1,000 days. Dobnak has faced serious adversity, needing to deal with a pair of ruptured tendons in a finger on his throwing hand. After making a tweak to his changeup this offseason, his arsenal has looked better than ever.

Although Dobnak is in the penultimate year of a $9.25 million multi-year deal from the Twins, he is not currently on the 40-man roster.

UPDATE: With the Twins trading for Trevor Richards Tuesday afternoon, they DFA'd Josh Staumont. Richards won't make the game against the Mets, so Dobnak will assume that roster spot. Kirilloff was also moved injured lists on Tuesday.

In order to make room for him there, Minnesota has shifted Alex Kirilloff to the 60-day injured list. Kirilloff, who came down with a back injury following his demotion to Triple-A St. Paul, has already missed 42 days. It remains to be seen when he will return for Minnesota this season, if at all.

Prior to his injury, Kirilloff has struggled to substantiate himself as either a corner outfielder or first baseman. With the play provided by Carlos Santana, Matt Wallner, and Trevor Larnach, it's difficult to see a straightforward path for him to return at all. Once he is finally healthy, the assumption should be that a length rehab assignment at Triple-A will follow.

In order to make room for Dobnak on the 26-man roster, the Twins will place Brock Stewart back on the injured list. He originally was placed on the shelf following a May 1 outing. Dealing with what was described as minor elbow tendonitis, he then was unseen until July 24. Stewart allowed just a single run in his first 13 appearances (13 1/3 innings), but has since allowed eight in three appearances spanning just 2 1/3 innings. His ERA jumped from 0.68 to 5.17 on the season.

The timelines for when Stewart was set to return seemed murky. All of a sudden he was then throwing bullpens and ramping up to get back for Rocco Baldelli's bullpen. Looking at his velocity during the past three outings though, it's beyond clear that the high-leverage arm isn't right. For a guy who has had a litany of arm issues over the course of his career, it's concerning to say the least.

Dobnak will presumably work out of the bullpen in the short term. David Festa is set to start on Tuesday night against the New York Mets, and having a bulk guy as a contingency plan makes a good amount of sense. Time is running out for the Twins to add other arms prior to the 5pm trade deadline on June 30, but for now, another reinforcement from the farm is being called upon.

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[Post-Concussive Blues]

Thank goodness we got him! No need for any trades today, our team is now complete!

[thelanges5]

Royals adding Erceg and Guardos adding Cobb while we seem to be staying put. 
 

2.5 hours until the deadline. 

[Rhyno006]

Hell who needs to trade when you have that kind of "excitement" languishing in AAA... typical Twins trade deadline.

/makes fart noise

[Twins_Fan_in_NJ]

The Erceg trade is a kick in the pants. Twins have a need. Royals' farm system doesn't have much. You get outbid by a team chasing you in the standings. Just awful.

[blindeke]

Be nice to Dobnak. It's not his fault the Twins started him in that Yankee game.

[$tryf4Life]

6 minutes ago, Twins_Fan_in_NJ said:

The Erceg trade is a kick in the pants. Twins have a need. Royals' farm system doesn't have much. You get outbid by a team chasing you in the standings. Just awful.

Yea this teams blatant disregard for its fans and the honest pursuit of a championship is beyond frustrating.

[Dman]

If we are getting 2019 Dobnak he will be an upgrade.  If we are getting 2020 Dobnak and I think this is his likely outcome I can live with that.  If we are getting 2021 Dobnak we are in real trouble. 

I think he has a new pitch and his K rate is higher than it has ever been.  I am hopeful that this will be a memorable comeback and not a trainwreck. This team needs a boost in the worst way and I hope Randy is the answer, because as things stand right now there isn't much behind him. 

In Dobnak we trust or bust.

[USAFChief]

I doubt Dobnak is up very long. He's up tonight because half the pen is spent and we have Four Inning Festa on the mound.

[Trov]

22 minutes ago, Twins_Fan_in_NJ said:

The Erceg trade is a kick in the pants. Twins have a need. Royals' farm system doesn't have much. You get outbid by a team chasing you in the standings. Just awful.

I do not see Erceg as some savior of a pitcher.  He has been good but not great, and is not a proven talent.  We have seen pen guys blow up after trades, remember that Lopez guy we traded for after a great first half? 

[Trov]

32 minutes ago, thelanges5 said:

Royals adding Erceg and Guardos adding Cobb while we seem to be staying put. 
 

2.5 hours until the deadline. 

Cobb is a lottery ticket salary dump for Giants.  He has yet to pitch this year, and have no clue if he has anything in the tank the rest of the year. If we made the move fans on here would tear the move apart as a terrible trade, unless he does come back to pitch well, but even at his better days he is still a mid-rotation guy.  He would have slid into at best our 4th starter.  That assumes he even can come back from his injury. 

[Patzky]

38 minutes ago, Post-Concussive Blues said:

Thank goodness we got him! No need for any trades today, our team is now complete!

There's this Topa dude we're trying to get too. Supposed to be good.

[jud6312]

31 minutes ago, blindeke said:

Be nice to Dobnak. It's not his fault the Twins started him in that Yankee game.

No, but his performance after that was.

[CRF]

I'm gonna go out on a limb...and predict that the Dobber gets into the game tonight, probably in the 3rd or 4th inning...after Festa implodes and we're down 5-6 runs or so. That's my story and I'm stickin to it. 

[jud6312]

They're ahead of schedule this year. Usually the "look at the fluffy bunny with the cool story" promotions don't happen until a journeyman minor league infielder gets tossed a bone before they start collecting Social Security.

[thelanges5]

12 minutes ago, Trov said:

Cobb is a lottery ticket salary dump for Giants.  He has yet to pitch this year, and have no clue if he has anything in the tank the rest of the year. If we made the move fans on here would tear the move apart as a terrible trade, unless he does come back to pitch well, but even at his better days he is still a mid-rotation guy.  He would have slid into at best our 4th starter.  That assumes he even can come back from his injury. 

Agree on Cobb. Wouldn’t want him on the Twins. It’s more the fact that teams are at least making moves to improve and we’ve done nothing. Still have an hour and a half to go. 

[adjacent]

The transaction hasn't been posted yet in the Twins website.

[nicksaviking]

I'm going to need some clarification on this breaking the internet thing. Was it a celebratory breaking, or riotous?

[thelanges5]

2 minutes ago, thelanges5 said:

Agree on Cobb. Wouldn’t want him on the Twins. It’s more the fact that teams are at least making moves to improve and we’ve done nothing. Still have an hour and a half to go. 

Twins acquire Trevor Richards 

[strumdatjag]

Sometimes it’s best to make no deal.  No deal would have been better than the deals for Matt Capps and Jorge Lopez.   Both were highly regarded before the Twins dealt for them. 
if it ain’t a lefty, I’ll take Dobber for nuttin’

[jud6312]

26 minutes ago, Dman said:

If we are getting 2019 Dobnak he will be an upgrade.  If we are getting 2020 Dobnak and I think this is his likely outcome I can live with that.  If we are getting 2021 Dobnak we are in real trouble. 

I think he has a new pitch and his K rate is higher than it has ever been.  I am hopeful that this will be a memorable comeback and not a trainwreck. This team needs a boost in the worst way and I hope Randy is the answer, because as things stand right now there isn't much behind him. 

In Dobnak we trust or bust.

I'd bet heavily on the 2021 vintage. He was figured out after 19 starts. If the intent is to stack him with Festa, I expect the only way his pitches won't get spanked is if the Mets' arms are tired from swinging off Festa.

[weitz41]

38 minutes ago, Twins_Fan_in_NJ said:

The Erceg trade is a kick in the pants. Twins have a need. Royals' farm system doesn't have much. You get outbid by a team chasing you in the standings. Just awful.

We have to bid to actually be outbid..

Happy for Dobs tough!

Seriously second guessing going the series on Labor Day weekend..

I tried really really hard but found spending $100's of dollars (me and two friends) to go to a game far to cost inefficient...So due to budget constraints..and a lack of ownership will to put a championship caliber team on the field I may need to cancel such an extravagant expenditure of profits.....

[LA Vikes Fan]

Twins acquired Trevor Richards from Toronto according to MLB Trade Rumors. Price not yet reported. RH reliever, not too exciting stats.  UFA at season's end. 

[Dman]

1 minute ago, LA VIkes Fan said:

Twins acquired Trevor Richards from Toronto according to MLB Trade Rumors. Price not yet reported. RH reliever, not too exciting stats.  UFA at season's end. 

The return appears to be Jay Harry.

[LA Vikes Fan]

Well, I learned something today. I'd never heard of Trevor Richards that I can recall, and I'm very confident I've never heard of Jay Harry before today. Pretty exciting stuff. Well, at least we are not the only team in MLB not to make a trade the season. Wonder who the Twins will send down to make room for Richards since Dobnak is already up to replace Brock Stewart. Looks like Stewart came off the IL too soon. Maybe there is a deal in the works to move Okert or Staumont, or even DFA one of those two.

[jud6312]

7 minutes ago, LA VIkes Fan said:

Twins acquired Trevor Richards from Toronto according to MLB Trade Rumors. Price not yet reported. RH reliever, not too exciting stats.  UFA at season's end. 

Gross. Maybe I'm glad I can't watch the games anymore (and won't upgrade my cable package on Thursday to do so).

[jud6312]

7 minutes ago, Dman said:

The return appears to be Jay Harry.

I have no idea who Jay Harry is, but looking Trevor Richards' numbers, I'll go out on a limb and say they overpaid.

[Dman]

Yeah it is underwhelming get as Richards numbers aren't great, but Harry isn't a top 30 prospect and likely wasn't ever going to be in the Twins system.  Looks like more of a salary dump for Toronto there.

[Colbeh]

I like this. Let's give him another shot and see what he has. Could throw a couple good games for us or allow SWR/Paddack some rest leading up to the playoffs

[mickster]

7 minutes ago, LA VIkes Fan said:

Well, I learned something today. I'd never heard of Trevor Richards that I can recall, and I'm very confident I've never heard of Jay Harry before today. Pretty exciting stuff. Well, at least we are not the only team in MLB not to make a trade the season. Wonder who the Twins will send down to make room for Richards since Dobnak is already up to replace Brock Stewart. Looks like Stewart came off the IL too soon. Maybe there is a deal in the works to move Okert or Staumont, or even DFA one of those two.

Stewart back on the DL