Could Woo-Suk Go Quickly Become a High-Leverage Reliever?

[LA Vikes Fan]

4 hours ago, Twins_Fan_in_NJ said:

If you keep throwing mud (or an expletive) against the wall, eventually, some of it has to stick. Right?!

Whom do the Twins get rid of to make room for Go? I have a feeling it is Raya rather than Adams or Lawyerson. Twins seem intent on making things work with Adams. 

It was Lawyerson. Optioned yesterday. 

[jmlease1]

6 minutes ago, ashbury said:

MLBTR characterizes it as a trade.  Cash considerations going to the Tigers.

ok, so it's a "first team to give us something for this guy before we have to release him" trade. you're not exactly worrying about who gets him at that point.

[Dman]

18 minutes ago, jmlease1 said:

Tigers wouldn't have any idea where he was going to go when he exercised his "promote me or release me" clause. It's not a trade.

He's been good in the minors this year, he was good in the WBC, why not give him a shot?

I believe I noted his good number's at AAA, but lot's of guys that perform well at AAA don't at the major league level. So questioning if they will translate.  In relation to your quote above it just seems odd to me that if he is likely a high leverage arm that Detroit would let him go.  Not implying he can't be useful, but you don't see many pen arms make it without good velocity especially when you get to high leverage.

I don't think I said anything about not giving him a shot or that it was a waste just noted that I am hoping for the best but his profile isn't one that lends itself to easy success so not likely to work out.  I honestly hope they found another Gomez and I love that he hasn't given up a Home Run in the minors this year, but just like the Twins weren't willing to add Bowman earlier this year it gives me pause as to why the Tigers weren't willing to add him.

Like I said in my earlier post we'll see how it works out.  I am hoping for the best, but understand the odds.

[Parfigliano]

4 hours ago, CRF said:

Well...ya gotta throw him out there to find out, and hope he doesn't suk!

Or Woo.  Or Go.

[Patzky]

17 minutes ago, Parfigliano said:

Or Woo.  Or Go.

Woo pitches for Seattle. He better Go!

[jkcarew]

“…Minnesota is aggressively looking for late-inning arms to slot in alongside Morris and Gomez.”

 

Aggressively? That is legit funny. Based on what? This acquisition??😂

[AceWrigley]

Oh by the way, good job Cody in laying everything out in the original post, I think ya pretty much nailed it Bud.

[jkcarew]

I’m not quite as high on this guy as I was on Byung-ho Park. But it’s close.

[Major League Ready]

I would consider it a win if he became a reliable 7th inning guy.  Anything more than that is a very happy surprise!

[Cris E]

2 hours ago, Twins_Fan_in_NJ said:

They're in this mess because of investing in the likes of Orze, Rogers, Topa, Garcia, Lawrence, etc.. Soft-tossing, or old, or control issues. They're doubling down. Make a mistake. And repeat it. Time and again. At least change the approach - go dumpster diving, fine, but try to identify a different skill set. 

Well here's the thing about dumpster diving: anyone who isn't old, without velo and without control is going to be expensive. That's not a dumpster pitcher. Seriously, name another pitcher that's been on the waiver wire you think they should have been on but passed over.  

The budget hasn't changed, so the choices are trades or promoting kids or this recycling lottery. You only need to hit it occasionally for the strategy to work out (Hello Brock Stewart) but it's usually only good for the last couple spots (Yoendrys Gómez notwithstanding) and the Twins need a bunch of higher seats filled first. They dumped more than they had on hand in 2025 and they made little effort to replace anyone. This is last year's plan, not a Zoll  2026 problem.

[Cris E]

(dup - not loving my new work laptop so far)

[weitz41]

Well...If he can manage 2 of the four...Throw for a 4.00 or less ERA, 50% groundball rate, less the 1.5 HR per 9 or a 20% K rate. He'll be an upgrade. Baby step folks.

[DocBauer]

2 hours ago, jmlease1 said:

Tigers wouldn't have any idea where he was going to go when he exercised his "promote me or release me" clause. It's not a trade.

He's been good in the minors this year, he was good in the WBC, why not give him a shot?

Except, a few years ago that had Thielbar doing a great job at AAA and let him walk to the Twins after the season. That turned out pretty good for the Twins.

[ashbury]

2 hours ago, jmlease1 said:

ok, so it's a "first team to give us something for this guy before we have to release him" trade. you're not exactly worrying about who gets him at that point.

They weren't obligated to sell to the highest bidder.

[DocBauer]

3 hours ago, Twins_Fan_in_NJ said:

They're in this mess because of investing in the likes of Orze, Rogers, Topa, Garcia, Lawrence, etc.. Soft-tossing, or old, or control issues. They're doubling down. Make a mistake. And repeat it. Time and again. At least change the approach - go dumpster diving, fine but try to identify a different skill set. 

I'm going to partially disagree with you here. We're so beyond the point of where to lay blame for the offseason. Is it on ownership or Zoll? Both? To what percentage? Personally, I still lay the blame on ownership at about 75-80% for how they bunnled the whole transition. You can't tell me they were so obtuse as to not just tell Zole changes were coming, but just figure you've got $115-120M to spend. Instead, they blame TP's late arrival as not having time to increase the budget. But they had enough $ left to make a run at Valdez? They could have earmarked that $ for pen help. But again, I blame both sides, I just give the weight of the blame to ownership. 

But Orze is a young arm making the minimum who cost a small prospect. No real investment there. Topa was "OK" last year, has experience, and only cost a little over $1.2M. So while it might have been a wasted roster spot, there really wasn't a $ invesent there. Rogers as a potential 2nd or 3rd LH for 1 season at $2M isn't a major investment at all. And while he's not close to being what he was, he's been relatively "OK" more than he's been bad. A couple of poor appearances have skewed his ERA.

And no, I'm by no means happy.

But Gomez has been a find. He's probably a get 7th-8th man going forward. The conversion of Morris has gone very well. Festa might have changed the complexion of the rebuild, but we all know what happened there. Raya has been on fire for a month or so at St Paul and is finally getting his shot. So far, in SSS, I like the look and shape of his offerings. He's getting a SHOT. Hopefully they aren't expecting greatness overnight and will stick with him. I like the conversion of CJ Culpepper to the pen, which I had been expecting, and it's going well so far. I think he's up in August to get his feet wet, gain experience, and get ready for 2027. Now, a couple acquired RP at the deadline could change that plan some. And even Rojas has helped the pen in his brief time.

Like Sands or not like him, he had a great 2024. We've seen flashes in 2025 and early this year. Who is he? We still don't know for sure. But getting healthy again will hopefully let us find out.

Again, I am NOT happy with the bullpen, or how it's been handled. And it doesn't matter where the blame is to be laid, my opinion or anyone else's. But Orze, Topa, and Rogers were very inexpensive additions to "try and hold things together" for a time until better offerings were available. Well, Adams and Lawyerson aren't probably part of the solution, but at least they were younger arms getting a shot to see if they could help.

I totally agree on auditions of Garcia and Lawrence as just being a waste of time. I would have rather seen about ANYONE under 30yo getting an opportunity. 

But Festa has been out all season, and I think that made a real difference. They DID find Gomez, but that was a MUCH smarter option than the older re-treads they tried. Orze, unfortunately, has been hit and miss so far, and hasn't taken a step forward. Maybe he still does? Raya needed time to adapt to his new role and see if he could FINALLY turn a corner. Perhaps he has? It really looked like it for St Paul. And again, I think CJ is next.

Yes, they blew the offseason! Yes, they've absolutely wasted opportunity on some of their older "experiments"! Hell, I would have rather stuck with Klein over Lawrence and just see what he could MAYBE do for 1-2 IP at a time.

But they really didn't "invest" a lot in Topa and Rogers, other than some time. But much like the deadline last year, SOMEONE had to pitch. So they took a couple flyers on these guys. But Orzee isn't some "old guy" and they have done well with Morris. And I think Raya and CJ have a shot. And whether or not Rojas should or should not be kept as a SP option going forward, he's helped in the Twins BP so far. I'd put him back there again and cut him loose for the remainder of this season and then make a decision after the season is done.

Go is just another under 30yo option at 28yo who had a really nice career at KBO before having a rought time in the States. Maybe it's right time and right place and we get a solid middle man? Maybe he's dumped in a couple of weeks. But at least he's a 28yo with previous success in his professional career, even if it was oversees. He's a hell of a lot better than trying out yet another over 30 retreat.

So I agree with your post, but also disagree slightly. The Twins have at least tried out some younger arms. Injury and readiness have complicated the issue somewhat. But we are slowly starting to see some shifts.

[D.C Twins]

[D.C Twins]

Biggest indictment to date of the Twins Bullpen..... We are digging in the Tiger Tra.... em .... discards.

Also keep in mind that when the Tigers were considering whether to let him go they were like... well we cannot risk losing Outman!

[tarheeltwinsfan]

6 hours ago, HarmonK03 said:

This is the culture Falvey built and obviously Zoll agrees with or he wouldn't have accepted his promotion to GM 2 years ago.  Nothing has changed with this front office, so many here seem to think they are going to change how they operate because Falvey is gone.  I am sure he did not sit at his desk and decree all his decisions like a king.  The staff believes in this philosophy and it won't change until Zoll is gone and a new head of baseball operations is brought in.

Maybe Zoll took the promotion to GM for the money and /or to keep his family in Minnesota.

[HarmonK03]

2 hours ago, DocBauer said:

I'm going to partially disagree with you here. We're so beyond the point of where to lay blame for the offseason. Is it on ownership or Zoll? Both? To what percentage? Personally, I still lay the blame on ownership at about 75-80% for how they bunnled the whole transition. You can't tell me they were so obtuse as to not just tell Zole changes were coming, but just figure you've got $115-120M to spend. Instead, they blame TP's late arrival as not having time to increase the budget. But they had enough $ left to make a run at Valdez? They could have earmarked that $ for pen help. But again, I blame both sides, I just give the weight of the blame to ownership. 

This offseason was led by Falvey not Zoll.  Falvey didn't leave until two weeks before spring training, he is the one who is ultimately responsible for the course they took.  I assume Zoll had input but Falvey had the final say as head of baseball operations.

I will agree that ownership bungled the transition, it should have been done at the end of the season last year so they could make better decisions for this year.  And even if the new investors weren't on board yet, you need to establish a plan or plans for the next year

But Falvey had money to spend, we will never agree on this board if it was enough.  But he signed Bell for $7m in December to play 1B.  That move made no sense at the time and is money that could have been allocated to the bullpen.  He also signed Caratini after signing Jackson to supposedly be the backup catcher.  Again at the time of the move, it was a head scratcher.  There was another potential source of funds to be allocated to help with the bullpen.  So Falvey had some resources that he chose not to use on bullpen help.

[HarmonK03]

10 minutes ago, tarheeltwinsfan said:

Maybe Zoll took the promotion to GM for the money and /or to keep his family in Minnesota.

When Zoll was promoted it was reported that he had been very involved in a lot of the trade discussions and other personnel decision for the prior couple of years.  It was strongly hinted at the time that Levine had not been very involved for the same time period.  So Zoll seemed to be in the GM role for a while just not officially until 24.  So he is very much invested in the ways of the front office and their mode of operations.

[mikelink45]

Give me a break - the Tigers have no scouting - no one in Detroit knows baseball so we are swooping in to teach them a lesson. 

[LyleCole]

On 7/6/2026 at 8:22 PM, tarheeltwinsfan said:

In 27 innings at AAA in 2026, he has allowed zero home runs, has a 29% strikeout rate and a 2.60 ERA. This compares to the Twins relievers'  strikeout rate of 19.9% and combined ERA of 5.28 and walk rate of 11%, both   among the worst in major league baseball this year.  And this acquisition did not cost any  young players, just some of the Pohlads'  money.

Yet his career minor league ERA is 4.50 and he is on his 4th organization in not even a full 3 seasons in professional baseball in North America.  His AAA ERA over a span of three seasons is 3.46, almost a full run higher.

I hope he is the next Carl Willis, but the evidence to base it on is lacking.   

 

[mark allen]

8 hours ago, bean5302 said:

Woo-Suk Go is unable to throw strikes, and hitters don't chase his stuff out of the zone. For Detroit's AAA club, Go only managed a abysmal 39% first pitch strike rate. That's going nowhere at the MLB level.

he will probably do great if you don't like him

 

[bean5302]

14 hours ago, mark allen said:

he will probably do great if you don't like him

 

I hope he does great! You're not going to find me rooting against players, just not expecting great things from a lot of guys based on expected metrics and observed limitations sometimes.

[Danchat]

15 hours ago, LyleCole said:

Yet his career minor league ERA is 4.50 and he is on his 4th organization in not even a full 3 seasons in professional baseball in North America.  His AAA ERA over a span of three seasons is 3.46, almost a full run higher.

I hope he is the next Carl Willis, but the evidence to base it on is lacking.   

 

That tracks, you'd think the Tigers wouldn't let us have him for nothing if the numbers were suggesting he could be a legit bullpen arm, seeing how they themselves could use a high-leverage reliever.

[LyleCole]

5 minutes ago, Danchat said:

That tracks, you'd think the Tigers wouldn't let us have him for nothing if the numbers were suggesting he could be a legit bullpen arm, seeing how they themselves could use a high-leverage reliever.

I hope for the best, but sometimes the expectations generated by fans get out of hand.   

[Sjoski]

On 7/7/2026 at 12:10 PM, Patzky said:

A pitcher named Go is like a batter named Waite. It could go either way .

Or...it could "Go" either " Waite"