Tommy Nance...

[Colbeh]

8 minutes ago, Western SD Fan said:

At least we are having a civilized conversation over here, unlike over at Jays Centre.  I checked over there to see the other side of this trade.  Some just want to sell outright and there's a few comments over there that would have been given warnings and/or timeouts here.  Just wanted to point out the thoughtfulness of our community.

At the end of the day its us Twins fans vs the world!!

[clone52]

1 hour ago, Twins_Fan_in_NJ said:

That speaks to how bad the bullpen is more than it speaks to how good Nance is. Hopefully this works but it is far from a sure thing type of trade, and I'd prefer for them to keep Sprock if this is the return. But, is what it is.

Not saying he is a sure thing, but Sprock has what, maybe a 15% chance of reaching the majors.  If fans are worried about losing prospects like that, I don't know what to say.

[HarmonK03]

I just got done watching Sprock for a couple of games in Cedar Rapids and kind of liked him.  Now I am depressed he is gone.  Not sure if he would have worked his way thru the system but it did look like he had some potential.

[clone52]

1 hour ago, Twins_Fan_in_NJ said:

Well, I certainly don't think it will destroy the franchise.

It's just that to me, Nance is a journeyman and they've been loading up on this type of pitcher since the start of spring training and to no avail.

I'd rather hang onto minor league assets and see what else shakes loose between now and the trade deadline.

From what I've read on Nance, he's injury prone and slots more as depth piece than a true high leverage arm...but the Twins will be using him as a high leverage arm. Always reluctant to trade for an older player, even if it's an A ball prospect going out, that is going to have to project to be more than what he's been his entire career.

Nance has a lot more success in low leverage situations than most of of the journeymen we have signed, though.

[clone52]

1 hour ago, Twins_Fan_in_NJ said:

If you look at the game logs, he tends to pitch more in the middle innings of games where Toronto's losing. He hasn't sniffed a high-leverage situation within the last 15 games or so and for the season, the high-leverage spots are a handful. If you lined up most teams in MLB, they'd prefer to have a 2025 8th round pick right now than they would Nance. 

A potential contending Twins team with the worst bullpen in baseball is not most teams.

Losing a Top 35 organizational prospect who has yet to face many players above his age for a low leverage reliever is fine.

[clone52]

1 hour ago, Mike Sixel said:

I like this less and less the longer we go. Old. Mediocre. This team refuses to actually TRY. All half measures. 

What would you this precludes bigger moves?  Not saying the twins will make them, but the better relievers won't be coming off the board for a couple more weeks.

 

Hopefully with player development and another RP trade, he could be a solid guy at the back of the bullpen.  Seems like he has good swing and miss stuff and maybe they think a pitch mix change can do more.

[DJL44]

14 minutes ago, HarmonK03 said:

I just got done watching Sprock for a couple of games in Cedar Rapids and kind of liked him.  Now I am depressed he is gone.  Not sure if he would have worked his way thru the system but it did look like he had some potential.

Loss aversion is real.

[Permanent Twins Fan]

3 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

He's 35? So I'm not sure we should count on him pitching that long....

Yeah, but this way if he turns into something decent they can keep him around in the years to come. I agree that he is unlikely to be on the team too far in the future, but he is under contract and affordable for a few years. Not the move that will blow anyone away, but this is an actual trade not just a waiver wire pickup. 

[Colbeh]

3 hours ago, Twins_Fan_in_NJ said:

Well, I certainly don't think it will destroy the franchise.

It's just that to me, Nance is a journeyman and they've been loading up on this type of pitcher since the start of spring training and to no avail.

I'd rather hang onto minor league assets and see what else shakes loose between now and the trade deadline.

From what I've read on Nance, he's injury prone and slots more as depth piece than a true high leverage arm...but the Twins will be using him as a high leverage arm. Always reluctant to trade for an older player, even if it's an A ball prospect going out, that is going to have to project to be more than what he's been his entire career.

I was being a little dramatic about it destroying the franchise so thats on me.

I can agree with you that trades like this can backfire especially for an older pitcher with no name recognition and mid production.

But they have to do something with this bullpen and relief pitchers are expensive mid season so its a worthy gamble.

FWIW he's supposed to have a really good curveball and slider, but his Sinker has fallen off hard this year so maybe the Twins see something they can tinker with. 

[Wedman13]

3 hours ago, Western SD Fan said:

I thought the goal from Zoll during trade season was to improve the bullpen?  We are not trading for relief help like Chapman or any of the high-end relievers which would have to give up a bunch of trade value.  These trades are the type that we need to improve the floor.  The hope is that Nance is better than the likes of Adams, Orze, Rojas, Rogers, or Funderburk.  The likely corresponding move would be to move Adams.  Is Nance all of a sudden going to elevate the bullpen to a shut-down pen?  Not likely.  Is Nance not going to cost us games like some of the others on the roster?  More likely than not.  

This.

the number of folks on here acting as if they'd heard Spock's name prior to 5 hours ago is amusing.  We traded a guy with a 5% chance to ever get 30 big league at bats....to raise the floor of the BP.  Count me in as glad they are doing something with nothing

[Mike Sixel]

32 minutes ago, Wedman13 said:

This.

the number of folks on here acting as if they'd heard Spock's name prior to 5 hours ago is amusing.  We traded a guy with a 5% chance to ever get 30 big league at bats....to raise the floor of the BP.  Count me in as glad they are doing something with nothing

Meh. Raising the floor from worst bullpen to third worst bullpen doesn't do much for some of us. It's another half butt measure that doesn't really matter (either way....I don't care about the prospect, and I'm guessing others agree with me, it's about the target).

[clone52]

1 minute ago, Mike Sixel said:

Meh. Raising the floor from worst bullpen to third worst bullpen doesn't do much for some of us. It's another half butt measure that doesn't really matter (either way....I don't care about the prospect, and I'm guessing others agree with me, it's about the target).

Yup, probably the only trade they will make all season.

[ashbury]

32 minutes ago, clone52 said:

Yup, probably the only trade they will make all season.

We have 3 catchers on the active roster and none of them can be sent to AAA, and this is your hawt taek of the moment?

[Mike Sixel]

1 hour ago, clone52 said:

Yup, probably the only trade they will make all season.

I agree with Ash, they'll trade a catcher. Probably Larnach. 

[big dog]

Anything that moves Adams out of our bullpen...

(not including an injury to Adams, of course, nobody should want that)

[thelanges5]

16 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

I like this less and less the longer we go. Old. Mediocre. This team refuses to actually TRY. All half measures. 

But Tom P said he doesn’t do half-measures? 🥹