So what happened to Fien?

 

I posted a series of three tweets on the Oliveros situation that I do think factors into this... It's the business side, but it also is understandably something that they need to consider:

 

 

 

Summary - If he comes up, they  should plan on him being up all year (not that they wouldn't be) because if they try to send him down again, he'd be out there for anyone to grab and even if no one claims him, he can become a free agent since it would be his second DFA of the year.

 

Of course, the only reason Oliveros is off the 40-man roster right now is because they needed the 40-man spot for Blaine Boyer this spring.  Which is another cost of avoiding those veteran opt-out clauses...

Well the most important factor here is.........that Tonkin needs to pitch better than he has in his prior MLB opportunities.  One of problems has been young players not seizing opportunities and he has been one.

 

Well the most important factor here is.........that Tonkin needs to pitch better than he has in his prior MLB opportunities.  One of problems has been young players not seizing opportunities and he has been one.

 

I agree whole-heartedly... and I think he needs an extended look, like, the rest of the year, before we can know much. 

 

Well the most important factor here is.........that Tonkin needs to pitch better than he has in his prior MLB opportunities.  One of problems has been young players not seizing opportunities and he has been one.

Tonkin got a bit of an opportunity last year, but he was one of the few young/inexperienced relievers to get such an opportunity for the Twins.  Pressly I guess too, late in the season.

 

But Achter, Thompson, Oliveros, Pryor, Johnson, Darnell, and Pino got little or no opportunity out of the pen in 2014.  That's a problem, and one that I think is easier to correct than "player X needs to pitch better."

As this was the same line of reasoning that the same brain trust used to select that opening day staff, this is quite concerning when you consider the results of the selections.

Any brain trust is a better evaluator than someone looking at stats in meaningless samples.