Busy 24 Hours for the Twins
La Velle Neal has a blog post this morning with a lot of important tidbits. Since it's important stuff, I'm largely going to just repeat a lot of it, with a few comments as I go along:
1.) Glen Perkins was cut this morning. The handwriting was on the wall after his last performance, which continued his trend of just not being very good this spring. This was a significant cut in terms of making clear what the Twins intend on doing going forward this season, as it puts Brian Bass on the verge of making the team as the 12th pitcher. I like Perkins a lot, but there's no question that there were better options this year. Hopefully Perkins will re-establish himself this season in AAA -- and I wouldn't be at all surprised to see him get the call later this year, either as a starter or a reliever.
2.) Neal also mentions that some significant cuts are expected to be made tomorrow morning. I suggested last week that the Twins would probably make final roster decisions today, so that the team that was going north had a full week to concentrate solely on getting into playing shape. So what can we expect to see tomorrow? I would guess we'll get a final determination on almost everything. I expect both Denard Span and Jason Pridie to be cut tomorrow (more on this when I post my roster update), along with Philip Humber, Brian Buscher, Eli Whiteside, and Drew Butera. Why no Kevin Slowey or Nick Blackburn? Well -- I expect Slowey has made the roster as the fifth starter, and I suspect Blackburn will be kept around in case a decision is ultimately made that Francisco Liriano or Scott Baker need to start the season on a rehab assignment.
3.) Some big Rule 5 updates were also included in Neal's post. First, for the second straight year, the Twins agreed to a trade with the Washington Nationals allowing the Nats to keep a Rule 5 pick despite sending him to the minors. Last year, it was pitcher Levale Speigner. This year, it's outfielder Garrett Guzman. There's no word yet on the player coming back to the Twins, but in exchange for Speigner, the Twins got outfielder Darnell McDonald back -- so don't expect a whole lot. Elsewhere, the Mariners are believed to be close to giving knuckleballer R.A. Dickey a spot on their roster, and Tim Lahey was pitching well until recently with the Cubs. If either of these guys come back before the season starts, then, it will probably be Lahey. I know there was a lot of interest in Dickey because of his unusually fast knuckleball -- but frankly, I don't see it. Maybe he'll be great for the Mariners, but I wouldn't hold my breath.
4.) Finally, there's a distinct chance that a deal with Joe Nathan could be announced today. If it happens, I'll more to say on that at the time.
1.) Glen Perkins was cut this morning. The handwriting was on the wall after his last performance, which continued his trend of just not being very good this spring. This was a significant cut in terms of making clear what the Twins intend on doing going forward this season, as it puts Brian Bass on the verge of making the team as the 12th pitcher. I like Perkins a lot, but there's no question that there were better options this year. Hopefully Perkins will re-establish himself this season in AAA -- and I wouldn't be at all surprised to see him get the call later this year, either as a starter or a reliever.
2.) Neal also mentions that some significant cuts are expected to be made tomorrow morning. I suggested last week that the Twins would probably make final roster decisions today, so that the team that was going north had a full week to concentrate solely on getting into playing shape. So what can we expect to see tomorrow? I would guess we'll get a final determination on almost everything. I expect both Denard Span and Jason Pridie to be cut tomorrow (more on this when I post my roster update), along with Philip Humber, Brian Buscher, Eli Whiteside, and Drew Butera. Why no Kevin Slowey or Nick Blackburn? Well -- I expect Slowey has made the roster as the fifth starter, and I suspect Blackburn will be kept around in case a decision is ultimately made that Francisco Liriano or Scott Baker need to start the season on a rehab assignment.
3.) Some big Rule 5 updates were also included in Neal's post. First, for the second straight year, the Twins agreed to a trade with the Washington Nationals allowing the Nats to keep a Rule 5 pick despite sending him to the minors. Last year, it was pitcher Levale Speigner. This year, it's outfielder Garrett Guzman. There's no word yet on the player coming back to the Twins, but in exchange for Speigner, the Twins got outfielder Darnell McDonald back -- so don't expect a whole lot. Elsewhere, the Mariners are believed to be close to giving knuckleballer R.A. Dickey a spot on their roster, and Tim Lahey was pitching well until recently with the Cubs. If either of these guys come back before the season starts, then, it will probably be Lahey. I know there was a lot of interest in Dickey because of his unusually fast knuckleball -- but frankly, I don't see it. Maybe he'll be great for the Mariners, but I wouldn't hold my breath.
4.) Finally, there's a distinct chance that a deal with Joe Nathan could be announced today. If it happens, I'll more to say on that at the time.
Labels: Cuts, Nightly Notes, Spring Training 2008
posted by JST @ Sunday, March 23, 2008
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