Comments on: Twins add hard-throwing, oft-injured Joel Zumaya to bullpen mix

By: Todd

Todd — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 17:13:33 +0000

I think you nailed it when you said “the signing falls somewhere between no-risk and low-risk”. Seems like exactly the type of move the Twins should be making.

By: TMW

TMW — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 16:27:40 +0000

The one time I had great seats at Target Field was the night I heard that elbow pop. I turned to my brother and said, ‘I think we just saw a career end.’

I now hope I’m wrong.

By: AM.

AM. — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 14:43:22 +0000

Aaron–for tonight’s podcast, can you call up Lindsay Guetzal (she’d make a good guest on your male-dominated show), and ask her if there is anything more to her tweets about the Twins’ consideration of a two-year offer to Oswalt at Pavano levels, and that it is contingent on the results of the Yu Darvish posting? The one thing that sounds off is that the Red Sox are waiting to see what happens with Darvish….if the Rangers can’t sign him, is he actually available to anyone else?

The premise of the Twins oferrimg two years sounds rright to me…Pavano is gone next year…

By: jfs

jfs — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 23:28:09 +0000

gray and maloney are out of minor-league options, i have read. if they are waived, and clear waivers, can they then be retained by the twins and sent to rochester? just wondering about this as the bullpen starts to take shape.

By: Karl

Karl — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 18:09:04 +0000

Not saying that he is in the Twins budget – but found this interesting after a bit of research.

Pitcher #1 Since 2003 ERA 3.52 G 547 IP 599 H 557 ER 218 WHIP 1.25 BB 194 K 522 K/9 8.43

Pitcher #2 Since 2003 ERA 3.59 G 491 IP 630 H 624 ER 254 WHIP 1.29 BB 191 K 547 K/9 7.8

Pretty near identical – except pitcher #2 had one season where he was a starter (obvious because of the higher IP in less games).

Pitcher #1 Since 2003 8 Saves

Pitcher #2 Since 2003 53 Saves

Pitcher #2 had 32 saves in 2011 – so he has a one year track record as a “proven closer”. Pitcher #1 despite a higher K/9 and comparable ERA and WHIP has never been given the chance to close.

Pitcher #1 2011 FA is unsigned could be had for 1 year deal around $3-4 million + incentives.

Pitcher #2 2011 FA signed 1 year deal for $8.5 million + incentives

Pitcher #1 is Scott Linebrink – Pitcher #2 is Ryan Madson

By: Jay

Jay — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 17:47:36 +0000

If the dozens of scouts that were there were all so impressed with the way Zumaya was lighting up the radar gun, then why were the Twins able to sign him for chump change? Have we cornered the market on no risk/low risk signings for upper 90s fastball pitchers?

By: AaronK

AaronK — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 17:08:59 +0000

I like this move, but agree it won’t be a great move unless they follow it up with another more reliable option.

By: Josh

Josh — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 16:41:07 +0000

I love this move in the abstract. It’s exactly how you should look at filling in a bullpen: high-impact arm, low cost. If healthy, Zumaya is exactly the kind of power arm the Twins need for their bullpen.

For Twins, it’s a little more scary. While I don’t subscribe to the theory that the Twins management is delusional for thinking they could compete in 2012, I do think success is predicated on a lot of risks falling their way, so adding one more risk-reward piece like this may not be the best move. Hopefully Gleeman is right and they are looking for one more bullpen arm and not counting on Zumaya being healthy.

Because the have very few things they can realistically count on for next year. They’re taking a lot of risks (Mauer, Morneau, Span, Baker, Liriano and now Zumaya in terms of health. Valencia and Nishioka for bounceback/improvement. Aging veteran not hitting a serious decline: Pavano, Carroll, Marquis. And so on). Individually, none of them are foolish; in fact many of them are pretty good calls. Beyond that when realistic success depends on Mauer and/or Morneau being healthy for the season, making a lot of low-financial risk moves around that proposition makes sense.

If enough of these calls turn out ok, the Twins will defy the doom & gloom predictions of those who think last year’s horrid record was reflective of the true ability of the franchise. If a lot of them go bad, then this team will stink again. They will be very hard to predict, I think, because you really can’t predict injury with a great deal of certainty. (example: Pavano has been a workhorse the last 3 seasons, averaging 214 IP. would anyone have predicted that after 3 injury years with the Yankees where he averaged 61 IP? Nope, he was “injury prone”. Hard to predict health.)

By: Snifty

Snifty — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 15:18:54 +0000

To be fair, Guitar Hero is really fun, and addictive.

By: spoofbonser

spoofbonser — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 13:49:24 +0000

Michael Wuertz would be a good pickup imo