Seth Stohs

something to remember... The Twins will likely sign a few free agents. They have to have a few guys on the roster right now who can be DFAd to make room for those free agents. The guys who were just added today can't be DFAd until sometime in spring training. In other words, if they sign Neal Cotts/Matt Thornton/whoever, they'd likely DFA someone else.

I'm sure they have no interest in Rosario working out of the bullpen any time soon.

I like this line: That's a big part of it too... the system is deep and though none of the guys left off the 40 man have real high ceilings (though we may feel differently about Jorge in a year from now), there is a lot of talent and that means some tough decisions.

plus, I'm betting no one looks back on this next October to check... Ha!

someone can find the specifics online somewhere, but basically players that are eligible for the MLB Rule 5 this year had to be protected on the AAA roster last year, and on the AA roster the year before. I think those rosters are 38. The main difference is that players selected in the minor league Rule 5 draft don't have to be offered back, and they don't have to play at any certain level. Guys like Goodrum, Wimmers, Harrison, Bard, etc. will almost certainly be on the AAA roster/reserve.

He's far enough... the question with him may be, if he's a utility infielder, can he play SS or 3B? He did in college, but as a pro, he's been mainly at 2B.

Tweeted this a bit ago... these are just estimates, but should still be close:

To be fair, they probably agree, but they feel there was a better chance they would lose the ones that they did protect. Of course, we'll never know what would have happened if they had all been left unprotected.

My guess: Felix Jorge tops out around 92, maybe 93. Rosario tops out at 97. Landa tops out at 99. Melotakis, when healthy, tops out at 98. Now, of course, Jorge starts, so you could maybe add a couple of ticks to his FB in the bullpen... I'm guessing, but we always talk about velocity... the guys added (exception being Dean who is left-handed, breathing and did well in AAA) have velocity.

I haven't heard of one either.

Teams needed to add eligible players to their 40-man rosters before Friday's deadline in order to protect them from December's Rule 5 draft. The Twins announced today that they have added seven players from their system to their 40-man roster. They are LH SP Taylor Rogers, RH RP JT Chargois, OF Adam Brett Walker, LH SP Randy Rosario, RHP Yorman Landa, LH SP Pat Dean, LH RP Mason Melotakis. Also, AJ Achter was claimed by the Philadelphia Phillies, and Josmil Pinto claimed by the San Diego Padres. The Twins roster currently stands at 38 players. Remember the Twins have until December 8th to sign Korean Byung-Ho Park at which time he'll be added to the 40-man roster. They will be able to make a pick in the Rule 5 draft at baseball's Winter Meetings on December 10th, pending further transactions in the meantime.Rogers, Chargois and Walker have been deemed the "easy" choices by various accounts. There were a few surprises. Taylor Rogers was the Twins 11th round pick in 2012 out of the University of Kentucky where he teamed with fellow 40-man roster mates Alex Meyer and Logan Darnell. Rogers was the Twins Daily Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Year in 2013 when he made three starts in Cedar Rapids and the rest of the season in Ft. Myers with the Miracle. He pitched in New Britain in 2014. This year in Rochester, he went 11-12 with an ERA of 3.98 in 175 innings in Rochester. He has a 1.59 ERA in Arizona this fall in 25 innings. He has dominated left-handers and could find himself in a relief role as soon as 2016. JT Chargois was the Twins second-round pick in 2012 out of Rice University where he was co-closer with Tyler Duffey (drafted in the fifth round of 2012). Chargois missed the 2013 and 2014 season due to Tommy John surgery but returned in 2015, flashing an upper-90s fastball. He split his season between Ft. Myers and Chattanooga. He should surface with the Twins in 2016. Adam Brett Walker was the Twins third-round pick in 2012 out of Jacksonville University. He has as much power as anyone in the Twins organization, including Miguel Sano. He has led his league in home runs all three full seasons he has played. He posted an .807 OPS with 31 homers and 106 RBI for the Southern League champion Chattanooga Lookouts in 2016. He also led minor league baseball in strikeouts with 195. He was hitting well in the Arizona Fall League where he has five home runs. However, in his final four AFL games, he went 0-15 with 11 strikeouts. He has a ton of power but will need to continue working on that plate discipline and contact rate. He will likely play for Rochester in 2016 with a shot at a September call up. Aside from those three, the Twins also added... Randy Rosario is an interesting add. The left-hander missed most of the 2014 season after having Tommy John surgery in mid-April. He returned in early July to the Cedar Rapids Kernels. In his 11 games (10 starts) with the Kernels, he went 2-6 but posted a 3.52 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP. He had some good starts, and as would be expected coming back from surgery, he had some clunkers. But there is no doubt Rosario is very talented. He is high-energy and very athletic. He throws hard (up to 96-97 mph) and is working on his offspeed pitches. But he can be nasty. Obviously Rosario isn't a guy that we'll see pitching at Target Field in 2016, but he does have a chance to be effective (either as a starter or in the bullpen) in a couple of years. RHP Yorman Landa suffered from shoulder problems in 2014 and 2015, but he is another kid who approaches triple digits with his fastball. He is only a reliever, but he can miss bats. Another guy who won't be ready for the big leagues in 2016, but his potential is very high. LHP Pat Dean had a breakout year in 2015 in Rochester. He led minor league baseball in innings pitched. He greatly improved his two breaking pitches in 2015 making him better against lefties. Dean is 26 years old and will likely pitch most of 2016 in Rochester. Finally, LHP Mason Melotakis was added. He had Tommy John surgery late in 2014 and missed the 2015 season. However, he throws in the upper 90s out of the bullpen. He will be brought back slowly in 2016 but could surface by the end of the year. Achter has been tremendous in the minor leagues and has had some good moments the last two years with the Twins. He joins a Phillies roster, likely as a relif pitcher. Pinto's concussion concerns in 2015 made him a DFA candidate. Also, his inability behind the plate didn't help. Going to the National League, he will have to catch, or be confined to pinch-hitting duties. Today's moves mean that several prospects will be eligible for the December 10th Rule 5 Draft. They include Corey Williams, Zack Jones, Luke Bard, Levi Michael, Felix Jorge and others. Feel free to share your thoughts. Click here to view the article

Yup, all four of them can be added as well. Plus some others probably.

Where did you hear that? Nothing has leaked yet...

I don't know about that... I mean, Duffey would have been #1 on this list of adds even if he wouldn't have been added in-season. He was very highly regarded. Maybe not by many, but I know Jeremy and I both had him in our Top 15 Twins prospect lists, and we were both clearly a little low with him...

You mean that the organization actually sees him, a lot, and get daily reports and stats on him... I don't think he's a given, but I know a lot of people really like him.

I think Rogers needs a better changeup, to help him get RHB out... Otherwise, dominant bullpen guy.,

I'm not advocating it, just saying that it's worth discussion.

in the handbook, we had Lowe with a two-year deal, but maybe he takes one. And, the purpose of this article isn't to say that I'm right and everyone is wrong. I look at it as an area to debate the current makeup, guys we believe have a future with the organization (or not), and based on that, the merits of signing guys to one-year deals OR going out and getting the big name relievers. That's all in play when the article says, What would you do? I don't pretend my theory is right, or wrong... So, let's keep the discussion going.

Well, in the TD Offseason Handbook, we had O'Day, Clippard, Sipp, and Bastardo all at 3+/20+. Maybe I should have gone with $15M instead of $20M. OK.

It's probably a different article and a different topic, but Jepsen certainly is a long-term extension candidate this offseason... though he is now one year from a potential big pay day in free agency, though he also may want to take some long-term guaranteed money now.

The idea being two options (of course there is room in between): 1.) multi-year, big dollar free agent relievers (O'Day, Clippard, Sipp, Bastardo, Soria types). 2.) one-year deals (usually can find some good ones late in the free agent period, in January rather than in November) Madson for 3/15 would fall closer to category 1 than category 2, for me, even though $5 million isn't too bad. Then again, he's going to be 35 in 2016. He had a great year for the Royals in 2015 after not pitching in the big leagues since 2011). Three years in between. And, the Royals signed him to a minor league contract. Good for Madson to turn it into a potential multi-year deal.

It's interesting though. When he was told he was going to the AFL, he was told he would be pitching out of the bullpen. In part due to where he was already at innings-wise. Now he's at 199 innings and could pitch in tomorrow's championship game.

What should the Twins strategy be for their bullpen in 2016? All offseason, the Twins have made it clear that they find “The Bullpen” to be a huge priority for improvement this offseason. While the Twins starting staff did improve its numbers significantly in 2015, the bullpen had its ups and downs. When Parker asked Terry Ryan if the bullpen was his highest priority this offseason (for the Offseason Handbook), the Twins GM said, “It’s pretty close up there. Pitching is always the most prioritized area of any team.”But how big of a priority should adding arms be this offseason? I think it is important to look at the current state of the Twins bullpen. Do the Twins need one arm? Two arms? Should they go after someone who will cost three years and $20+ million, or should they strategically add a veteran on a one-year deal? THE CLOSERS The last couple of seasons, Glen Perkins has been unbeatable in the first half and struggled in the second half. He is a three-time All Star and has closed out the midsummer classic for the American League the last two years. Despite his second half struggles, he is the closer, and he will need to find a way to be better throug the entire season. He’s signed through 2017 with an option for 2018. Kevin Jepsen hadn’t been a closer with the Angels or with the Rays, but with Perkins' injury situation in thesecond half, he did a tremendous job in the role. He is in his final year of arbitration and showed he is very capable of being a closer. It’s a nice “problem” to have two guys capable of the role. FOR STARTERS… Ervin Santana. Phil Hughes. Kyle Gibson. Tyler Duffey. Tommy Milone. Trevor May. Ricky Nolasco. JO Berrios. Five of those eight pitchers will be starters for the Twins on Opening Day. Of course, a couple could be trade candidates this offseason as well. Milone’s name is likely to be heard heavily in the rumor mills, and Nolasco is a name that the Twins would likely prefer to trade. Trevor May was told when he moved to the bullpen halfway through the 2015 season that he would be given a shot to return to the starting rotation in 2016. We shall see. In my opinion, the first four on the list (Santana, Hughes, Gibson, Duffey) should be written in ink. If Milone is still around, he will likely be in the rotation. Berrios will not be brought up to pitch out of the bullpen, but Milone and Nolasco could be bullpen guys. I fully expect that Trevor May will pitch in the bullpen all season and Nolasco could be the long man. BEEN THERE Casey Fien is arbitration eligible and could make up to $2.25 million in 2016 if the Twins choose to tender him a contract. Though he was quite solid in 2013 and 2014, he fought injuries in 2015 and wasn’t able to consistently get batters out in the seventh or eighth innings. Michael Tonkin is out of options. For the last three years, he has become a frequent flyer between Rochester and Minneapolis. He has pretty well dominated the International League with a 94 mph fastball. However, he has not been able to get into a groove in the big leagues. Frankly, he hasn’t been given consistent enough work with the Twins to really know what they have. So, what should the Twins do with Tonkin in 2016? Twinkie Town’s Andrew Bryzgornia writes that it’s time to give Tonkin a shot. Ryan Pressly was pitching pretty well when he got hurt. The former Rule 5 pick has an option remaining, but he showed great improvement after being given some time in AAA. 2014’s Rule 5 pick JR Graham is likely headed to Rochester to start the 2016 season. He showed the fastball, but showed he has much room for improvement and consistency. The Twins got through 2015 with him and can now let him get some final development in at AAA. Alex Meyer had a frustrating 2015 season in AAA. He was moved to the bullpen and struggled there. He got into two games with the Twins and that didn’t go so well. But the talent is still there and at some point, he could be ready. And, when he is ready, he could be a dominant reliever. While Meyer struggled, AJ Achter continued his domination of AAA. Though he had two or three clunkers in the big leagues, he showed that he can pitch at the level. Each pitcher has two options remaining. Lefty Ryan O’Rourke came to the Twins after the All-Star break and showed that he can get left-handed big league hitters out as well, as he proved in the minor leagues. He also showed that he could struggle against right-handers. Logan Darnell had a tremendous August in Rochester, pitching as well as he ever has. He earned his promotion in September and could have really helped the team in long-relief if not for coming down with pneumonia. Pat Dean’s surprising and impressive 2015 season in Rochester makes him a candidate as a lefty reliever as well. SOON AND VERY SOON And then there are the power arms that the team has been drafting the last two or three seasons. Many, myself included, believed that we would see a couple of them in 2015. Instead, a couple of them got humbled in 2015. However, it is possible that several of these pitchers will surface with the Twins in 2016. Nick Burdi and JT Chargois can touch 100 mph with their fastballs and each has a very good slider. Chargois also has a good changeup at times. Jake Reed, like Burdi, was drafted in 2014. He and Burdi have combined to give up 0 runs in about 20 innings in the Arizona Fall League. Reed sits 94-95 and can touch 97. Despite his second-half struggles, hard-throwing Zack Jones may not be all that far from big league ready too. From the left side, the Twins could push Taylor Rogers to the bullpen. He dominated left-handed bats at AAA in 2015 and is a more-consistent change up from being a capable big league starter. He is very close. Meanwhile, high-upside lefty relievers Corey Williams and Mason Melotakis are coming back from Tommy John surgery. Williams pitched half of the 2015 season and got to AA. Melotakis missed the entire 2015 season and should get back on the mound before midseason. As much as this group has the potential to dominate out of the bullpen, they haven’t done it yet, and there is no guarantee that they will. There is a belief that several of them will be big-time relievers, but time will tell. Patience will be necessary. HOW COULD THE BULLPEN LOOK? For this exercise, I’ll assume that the Twins non-tender Casey Fien and trade Tommy Milone for minor leaguers. I’ll assume that Ervin Santana, Phil Hughes, Kyle Gibson and Tyler Duffey will be in the rotation. I will assume that JO Berrios begins the season in the AAA rotation (though he could be up soon). In fact, for this purpose, I’ll say that Ricky Nolasco gets to start the season as the fifth starter and will get 4-6 weeks of time before Berrios takes a spot. Let’s also say that the Twins would much prefer to start the season with a 12-man pitching staff, meaning seven pitchers in the bullpen. Closer: Glen Perkins RH Set-up: Kevin Jepsen, Trevor May, Michael Tonkin, Ryan Pressly LH Set-up: Logan Darnell OR Ryan O’Rourke Long-Relief: Logan Darnell OR Taylor Rogers OR AJ Achter OR JR Graham Though there are some moving parts and there will be some position battles in spring training, there are three or four names that can probably be placed in ink. That means there are four spots open in spring training for any number of pitchers. Waiting in the (Rochester Red) Wings: Logan Darnell, Ryan O’Rourke, Ryan Pressly, Taylor Rogers, AJ Achter, JR Graham, Alex Meyer, Nick Burdi, JT Chargois, Jake Reed, Corey Williams, Zack Jones, Mason Melotakis. These are all guys who could surface by the end of 2016. RECOMMENDATION Because there are so many options, many with potentially big upsides, coming up in the near future, I wouldn’t recommend signing anyone to more than a two-year contract. And frankly, tw- year contracts should only be on the table if it’s at a discount of some sort. In other words, Darren O’Day is expected to sign for four years and $32-36 million. If he were willing to sign with the Twins for two years and $12 million, that’s just fine. The volatility of relievers is such that anything more than a one-year contract is quite risky. I would look for one left-handed, veteran reliever to replace Brian Duensing. That could be Neal Cotts, or another reliever willing to sign for one year (or available in a trade). In the Offseason Handbook, we suggested a Matt Thornton for about $4 million. Other names include Randy Choate or Manny Parra. With Perkins and Thornton (or similar), they could go with a less experienced lefty like O’Rourke or Darnell or Rogers working a role in the bullpen as well. Who knows? Maybe Dan Runzler, signed as a minor league free agent recently, could surprise and be an option. If the Twins had any confidence that Blaine Boyer could pitch as well as he did in 2015, which is unlikely but you never know, he would make sense to bring back. I think adding one right-handed veteran to a one-year contract would also be good. Again, a trade for such a player wouldn’t be bad either. Maybe guys like Mark Lowe or Matt Albers could fit that mold as well. How does this look? Closer: Glen Perkins RH Relievers: Kevin Jepsen, Trevor May, Michael Tonkin LH Relievers: Matt Thornton, (Ryan O’Rourke or Logan Darnell or Taylor Rogers) Long relief: Logan Darnell or Taylor Rogers or AJ Achter or Ryan Pressly or JR Graham or Alex Meyer or Ricky Nolasco The Twins could also chose to go with eight bullpen arms, making room for one more from the long relief category. As we should expect, the Twins should also add a few minor league free agent relievers. They have had good luck with that route in the past as well. Sure, it would be more of a splash to go out and sign Tyler Clippard, Darren O’Day, Antonio Bastardo and Tony Sipp, but that isn’t likely to happen, and it would be far more risky to sign one of them than to sign the one-year types. So, what do you think? What would your strategy be for helping out the Twins bullpen in 2016 and beyond? Click here to view the article