The Twins have made severa; roster moves in the midst of a panic inducing plummet through the standings while on a 10 game winning streak. Which moves were the best? Which were the worst? Let’s rate them!
Sending Pedro Hernandez to Rochester: Hernandez, more or less, was a place holder until he started to falter. Nobody expected him to do much better than he did, I don’t think. In the old phrase about shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic, Hernandez is one of those chairs. Grade: C
Recalling Caleb Thielbar: Caleb Thielbar is thought to be an arm that could bolster the Twins bullpen for years to come. In the short term, the bullpen has been worked to the bone, and could have used some bolstering. It was a situationally and staff appropriate move.Too bad it was just a bullpen move. Grade: A
Recalling Chris Colabello: Colabello is a good story, having spent much of his career playing independent ball, making a name for himself in his first season in the Twins organization and the World Baseball Classic. Colabello isn’t going to be a long time member of the team, but he is a fun path for now. Besides, after Plouffe, the only real 3b in the organization is Miguel Sano, and that isn’t happening yet. Grade: B-
Sending Vance Worley to Rochester: You know my thoughts on Worley. He will eventually be fine, and his lack of success is attributable to some terrible luck. Of course, if he keeps the ball down a bit better, he can do a little bit to change his fortunes, so there is something mechanical to work on. Credit to the staff and the front office to bite the bullet and sent their prized off-season acquisition to the minor leagues, but I think Worley working things out at the major league level wouldn’t have been the worst thing in the world. Grade: C
Calling up Sam Deduno: Deduno is unlike any of the other pitchers in the Twins rotation, in that he throws the ball hard and isn’t entirely sure where the ball is going to go. Deduno proved that he can pitch in big moments at the World Baseball Classic (say what you will about the WBC, but for many international players, the event is a HUGE deal). Deduno might be a wild card when he goes out there, but even interrupting the train of thought in a series for the opposition by tossing Deduno out there could be an asset for the organization. I’m higher on Deduno than most people. Grade: B.
Demoting Oswaldo Arcia: What. What the hell. Sure, Arcia hit a rough patch, but he was still one of the better players on the team, offensively this year. Instead of Arcia, why wouldn’t you send down Chris Parmelee, who isn’t a natural outfielder, or Aaron Hicks, who continues to be less than stellar, or Brian Dozier who has seen playing time usurped by Jamey Carroll anyway? Bad, unpopular move. The reason this isn’t an F is because the case could be made that they want to get Arcia more at-bats. Grade: D
Replacing Joe Benson on the 40 man roster with PJ Walters, resulting in Benson being claimed by the Rangers: PJ Walters, like Pedro Hernandez should be regarded as a place holder arm. Why was it so important to get him on the roster? Benson was once a top prospect, and since that injury, he has been dreadful, so I am less surprised that he was dropped from the 40 man, and more surprised that it was used for Walters. Liam Hendriks is on the 40 man roster already, if they wanted another of those deck chairs. Kyle Gibson is still in Rochester, and is setting the world on fire. I was initially more upset by this move, but Walters has been better than I thought and Benson has sucked out loud. Still, it feels weird to let got of a former top prospect to sheepishly. Grade: C
Calling up Chris Herrmann: Oh good, we have another light hitting catcher on the roster. The Twins take liberties with roster spots because there is so much talent on the roster, especially offensive talent. The only reason this isn’t an F is because Herrmann isn’t Butera. Grade: D-
Allegedly, there are more moves to come tonight. There has to be one to get Herrmann on the roster, and word is it might be Brian Dozier going to Rochester. Baffling. The roster moves started well, and now it all just reeks of panic and thinking a bit too much.
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