This would make more sense, for a normal bad team, as a rule five gamble, had the Twins been a normal bad team last year. But they weren't...they were in, or on the fringe of contention till the last weekend of the season. So they spent an entire season in contention wasting a bullpen spot on a rule five guy, essentially punting a 25 man roster spot. Then decide a month into the following season that was no longer worth a 40 man spot, when contention is no longer a factor, and you would have time to further evaluate. So somebody, somewhere, either made a real bad decision last year, or is making a bad one this year. "No big deal, nothing to see here" is getting to be a bit of a tired rationale IMO.