Erubiel Durazo

The Star Tribune is reporting that the Twins have picked Erubiel Durazo off the scrap-heap and assigned him to AAA Rochester. The club is willing to consider bringing Durazo up if he proves that he can hit in the minors, as a left-handed bat off the bench.

I wish Durazo well, and would love to see this move pay off. Unfortunately, it smacks a little bit too much of the same mentality that brought the Twins Rondell White, Tony Batista, and Ruben Sierra this year. Durazo is a re-tread who hasn't played consistently at the major league level in several years. Sound familiar?

The reason this doesn't concern me quite as much as it could is that the Twins didn't sign Durazo with any expectations. When they signed White and Batista, the team essentially handed them major league jobs and major league contracts. Durazo was given a minor league deal and no promises. Since the Twins have picked Rochester clean this season, it's not a bad idea to sign a veteran and give him a shot. If Durazo can find his swing and start hitting for power, it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to have him available at the major league level.

However, I'm not completely comfortable with this signing even with those caveats. While Durazo would help if he actually hit, I don't think that he's GOING to hit. Durazo's career ended a few years back, just like Tony Batista's, and the Twins seem to be trying to re-animate it. Batista looked like a zombie on the field, and I think Durazo is going to look the same. While I'm not going to classify this as a bad signing based on what I said above, I'm also not going to classify it as a good signing. If you're a Twins fan, don't expect to see Durazo in the Metrodome anytime soon.