Otto von Ballpark

You can see a breakdown in the Player Value -- Batters table. Both Larnach and Rooker had a -3 run Rpos (positional adjustment), but in terms of actual fielding performance relative to average at their positions, Larnach was +2 runs Rfield, as compared to Rooker at -9. Roughly 10 runs equals 1 WAR, so that difference of 11 runs is about 1.1 WAR. FWIW, B-Ref WAR uses DRS as its fielding metric, but they also provide TZ -- the difference there was only 7 runs. Fangraphs (using UZR) only pegged their fielding difference at 4.3 runs.

That's encouraging, but going on the MLB 60-day IL now wouldn't have prevented Enlow from pitching in Wichita in early May. It would have only prevented him from pitching in MLB during the first 60 days of the season. He would have been eligible to pitch in the minor leagues during that time on a rehab assignment. By June 6th (the 61st day of the MLB season), Enlow would have been eligible to be activated from the 60-day IL and his rehab assignment, and either join the MLB roster or (more likely) get optioned to the minor leagues at that time.

Roster flexibility and future development are certainly good things. We gained a bit in both areas when we bounced Shoemaker from the rotation. But once he was in a mop-up role in the pen, we stood to gain relatively little more from cutting him completely. I'd extend that on the other side too: bouncing him earlier, before June, would have had diminishing returns, weighed against rising risks (especially coming off the limitations of 2020 shortened/cancelled seasons). It didn't work out, but I really don't see how 2021 would have been any more productive with a tighter leash on Shoemaker (or Happ). As it was, we saw all the healthy young pitchers we wanted to see and then some, and saw them enough to slot a few into our 2022 staff while moving on from a few others (like Barnes).

Mostly overshadowed by the Correa press conference on the same morning, Seth reported last week that six minor league pitchers were optioned. Blayne Enlow was included in that group, after I had earlier suggested that wasn't possible due to Enlow's injury status (he is still recovering from Tommy John surgery). I was mistaken! As a general rule, most players can't be optioned while injured -- that much is correct. However Enlow falls into a small exception. Here's the explanation from that fantastic roster and transaction rule resource The Cub Reporter: Restrictions on Optioning/Recalling Players to/from the Minors Enlow fell into that group for the Twins this spring. Optioning Enlow means the Twins will save MLB service time and salary, but it also means Enlow still occupies a 40-man roster spot. The Twins could have chosen instead to place Enlow on the MLB 60-day IL, thus freeing his 40-man spot for someone else. Iin fact, the Twins could still change course at anytime by calling up Enlow and immediately placing him on the 60-day IL, but that's unlikely to happen now this spring. (The Twins did this with an injured JT Chargois in order to add Michael Tonkin to the roster, but that was in September 2017 when Chargois stood to gain relatively little service time and salary in the season's final weeks.) This leaves the Twins with a little less 40-,man roster flexibility this spring than I had originally thought, which may impact how many non-roster players can make the team (if any). Beyond Enlow, whose 40-man spots do you think are most flexible for the Twins right now?

Basically everything I know about transactions and roster rules, I learned it from The Cub Reporter. One tip is that there is a lot more information at that site than is contained in its table of contents. You can use Google to search the site for terms (or just adding the words "cub reporter" to your Google search works pretty well too). For example, here's a search of that site for injured list information: https://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Athecubreporter.com+injured+lists

With a 28-man roster for the first month, I could see 1-2 of these guys making it, especially pitchers.

In the Chapman trade, Oakland got back SS/3B Kevin Smith. Not a top prospect, but he had a 144 wRC+ in AAA last year, with 18 steals too. He's likely to fill 3B for them on opening day. They also have Zack Gelof -- just a 2nd round pick in 2021 but he made it all the way to AAA by season's end, and is in big-league camp this spring. He may slow down but they've treated him like a fast riser so far. Not that Oakland wouldn't be interested in Miranda, but they're probably still holding out for the best overall value return rather than addressing any particular position in the short-term.

On Archer, it's encouraging that even after his struggles in Pittsburgh, the Rays were not only willing to take him back last year, but guaranteed him $6.5 mil for the privilege (that was actually more than they ever paid Archer in a season before). It's perhaps a little discouraging that the Rays weren't able to do much with him in 2021 and apparently didn't want him back for 2022, although they are in a different competitive spot than the Twins, so they have different needs and a different risk profile.

You realize the Twins actually did cut Shoemaker as soon as he ERA reached that threshold, right? They didn't waste a spot on a guy with an 8.06 ERA. In fact, Shoemaker's ERA entering his final start with the Twins was 5.90. Still not good, but in a 50 IP sample, it's hardly an "automatic cut" level. After that start, Shoemaker was sent to the pen for mostly mop-up duty, 5 appearances and 4.2 IP over three weeks, before getting DFA'd. It didn't work out, but it didn't suck the life out of the organization either.

It is a mutual option, so either Archer or the Twins can decline it. IIRC such options rarely get picked up.

That is rough. No one even claimed him just to put him back on waivers and outright him themselves.

Here's the "official tweet" on Thorpe:

Actually Thorpe was just outrighted, which means he already cleared waivers and he's just going to St. Paul, off the 40-man but still in the Twins org.

1 year, $2.75 mil, plus $9.5 mil in incentives. Then a $750k buyout or a $10 mil mutual option for a 2nd year. So, $3.5 mil guaranteed.

Welcome to the site! If you like trade talk, feel free to share your proposals in a new topic in the Twins forum, or as a blog post.

I missed that! Thanks. In that case, I think it's safe to assume there is no doubleheader exemption to the 5 option limit.

It doesn't look like that glossary has been updated with the 5 option rule yet, so it's possible there could still be some doubleheader exemption to it. EDIT: Nevermind, I stand corrected. In fact, one exception was just revealed recently with the announcement of expanded rosters for the first month:

In the past, no one counted times optioned within a season at all, just days on optional assignment. You may be thinking of the 10-day minimum for players to be recalled from optional assignment -- that requirement didn't apply to extra players in doubleheaders. But that 10 day minimum also didn't apply to players called up to replaced injured/traded players, so I tend to doubt it would carry over directly to the new 5 option limit.

I haven't seen any clarification on that, either way. So I'd assume those would still count as options toward the limit of 5.

BJ Surhoff and Will Clark (1985) were teammates for the 1999-2000 Orioles. Paul Wilson and Ben Grieve (1994) for the 2001-2002 Devil Rays. Tim Beckham and Pedro Alvarez (2008) for the 2017-2018 Orioles.

Welcome to the forum! As long as other teams aren't trading for the A's starters (or the remaining Reds starters, etc.), then it's hard to get too worried about the Twins not making a deal yet.

The 1979 Horner holdout was unusual. He had just been drafted in June 1978, went straight to the majors, and won Rookie of the Year based on that half-season performance. Braves blog Battery Power does a nice job of describing what happened next: They recap the rest of Horner's interesting career too.

No footage here of Hosken Powell leading the Twins to a 9-4 spring victory over the Astros, such was the state of technology at the time. But in this report from WTCN 11, new contracts for Twins Willie Norwood and Danny Goodwin are juxtaposed with Bob Horner's contract holdout in Atlanta. Watch the full newscast here. Presented in partnership with TC Media Now. View full video

The front office dropped another banger of a transaction this week, and the Twins Daily community didn't miss a beat in the forums. The front office dropped another banger of a transaction this week, and the Twins Daily community didn't miss a beat in the forums. Themes included trade talk, positional battles, and even the sport as a whole: The cheese in Carlos Correa's jucy lucy hadn't even melted yet, but cmoss84 was already dreaming about a superstar duet on the left side of the infield: Jose Ramirez stringer bell analyzed who might comprise the roster's rhythm section, behind the big names: Third and fourth outfielder No mixtape is complete without a diss track. Azviking101 provided one with a perfect song title: Thoughts from a cynical Twins fan (hope I am wrong) Taking a break from Twins talk, garn from vancouver slowed things down with a plaintive ballad about the modern game: sabermetrics and the enjoyment of baseball And we close with a collaborative instrumental -- a thread without words: Meme your thoughts about this front office right now Feel free to jam with the community in any of these discussions, or start one of your own. View full article