Article: Twins Claim LHP Adam Wilk From Mets

[yarnivek1972]

Anyone else thinking the real problem here, ie, the "split in the FO" is concerning Justin Haley?

 

I mean after Sunday, how could Molitor bring him into a game with a straight face?

 

I have no love for Drew Rucinski but Justin Haley is not a major league pitcher right now.  Maybe he is still hurt.  Maybe he's simply rusty.  Maybe he simply isn't good.  But it seems to me that removing him from the active roster would have improved the roster more than removing Rucinski.  Rucinski actually got some MLB hitters out in his last stint.  The only hitter Haley retired was Deven Marrero, who I'm not sure qualifies as an actual MLB hitter.  He's certainly never hit MLB pitching.

[Thrylos]

 

I keep coming back to: something Berrios did pissed them off.

 

Well, if you all remember, during Spring Training, I kept saying that Berrios leaving the Twins to go and "pitch" (he warmed the bench) with his island's team in the WBC, while others were busting their rears to win a spot in the Twins' team, was neither the smart choice nor something that I would recommend to a person in his position...

 

But there were a lot of "national pride" and "someone's nation should mean more than his team" (as if PR were a different nation to begin with) replies...

 

Guess Berrios is learning a hard lesson:

If he shows the Twins that making the Twins is not his number 1 priority, the Twins will act like him making the Twins is not his number 1 priority.

 

You got to walk the talk and Berrios did not.  How long will he keep getting punished for it?  I don't know, but if I were Berrios or Berrios's agent, I'd have a meeting with the Twins brass, explain my priorities and apologize for previous bad choices.

 

But I am not Berrios or his agent.

 

 

Edited May 10, 2017 by Thrylos

[yarnivek1972]

 

At the point that the Twins are not competing.  As long as they are competing I will be giving them the benefit of the doubt.

 

What matters is the standings.  So far so good.

 

Just out of curiosity, do grid standings matter to you?  Because they show that the only teams currently above .500 that the Twins have played this year are the Tigers, Indians and Red Sox.  Twins are 3-9 against them.  They are 13-5 against Texas, Oakland, Kansas City and the White Sox, all teams with losing records.  In the next 3 weeks, the Twins play Cleveland, Colorado, Kansas City, Baltimore, Tampa and Houston - 4 of those teams currently lead their divisions.

[Otto von Ballpark]

Doesn't the rain out and bullpen assignment make the Wilk acquisition even worse? Why not use Rucinski again, the guy we picked up in the offseason and have been working with for months?

 

Wilk is also out of options, just like Tepesch, so he reduces our flexibility further ...

Edited May 10, 2017 by spycake

[Thrylos]

 

Just out of curiosity, do grid standings matter to you?  Because they show that the only teams currently above .500 that the Twins have played this year are the Tigers, Indians and Red Sox.  Twins are 3-9 against them.  They are 13-5 against Texas, Oakland, Kansas City and the White Sox, all teams with losing records.  In the next 3 weeks, the Twins play Cleveland, Colorado, Kansas City, Baltimore, Tampa and Houston - 4 of those teams currently lead their divisions.

 

In this division heavy schedule, what matters is the bottom line:  Wins within the division and overall standings.

 

 

[Deduno Abides]

The real issue here is whether Wilk >> Tonkin. It's kind of funny how often fans clamor for a system player to get a chance, then scream when the system player doesn't do well, then get upset by the person replacing the system player and start clamoring for a different system player.

[yarnivek1972]

 

Well, if you all remember, during Spring Training, I kept saying that Berrios leaving the Twins to go and "pitch" (he warmed the bench) with his island's team in the WBC, while others were busting their rears to win a spot in the Twins' team, was neither the smart choice nor something that I would recommend to a person in his position...

 

But there were a lot of "national pride" and "someone's nation should mean more than his team" (as if PR were a different nation to begin with) replies...

 

Guess Berrios is learning a hard lesson:

If he shows the Twins that making the Twins is not his number 1 priority, the Twins will act like him making the Twins is not his number 1 priority.

 

You got to walk the talk and Berrios did not.  How long will he keep getting punished for it?  I don't know, but if I were Berrios or Berrios's agent, I'd have a meeting with the Twins brass, explain my priorities and apologize for previous bad choices.

 

But I am not Berrios or his agent.

 

 

MLB established the WBC.  It is a 100% league sanctioned and funded entity - meaning that the Twins fund 1/30 of it.  They presumably want good players to participate.  It seems contradictory at best for a TEAM to punish a guy for doing what his LEAGUE wants him to do.

[yarnivek1972]

 

In this division heavy schedule, what matters is the bottom line:  Wins within the division and overall standings.

 

The Twins are 11-10 in the division.  That record is worst of all the Central teams other than the Royals.

[Thrylos]

Back to Wilfk:

 

What could have possible the Twins seen in him?   I'd ignore his last 2 MLB games.  I'd ignore his numbers at PCL this season.  And I cannot get Korean splits.  Here are the splits I get at his last 3 seasons in International League (AAA) against lefties:

 

2016: 0.57 WHIP, 29.3% K%, 0 BB%
2014: 1.07 WHIP, 25.7% K%, 5% BB%
2012: 0.97 WHIP, 29.1 K%, 5.1 BB%

 

As a starter.  I'd say that's quasi eye opening.   And might get better as a reliever. 

 

Rogers, Breslow and Buddy B are the LHRPs the Twins have right now.  I don't mind them rolling the dice for possible something better here.

 

That's all.  Dice roll...

 

[Thrylos]

 

 

MLB established the WBC.  It is a 100% league sanctioned and funded entity - meaning that the Twins fund 1/30 of it.  They presumably want good players to participate.  It seems contradictory at best for a TEAM to punish a guy for doing what his LEAGUE wants him to do.

 

Sure.

On paper.  Real life differs from paper...

 

[DaveW]

Lot of angst over a guy who likely won't see more than 3-4 appearances for the big league club this year. If he has more than that, then it's probably a very good signing.

Edited May 10, 2017 by DaveW

[yarnivek1972]

 

They picked up Wilk in case Breslow continues to falter and fail in multiple situations in my opinion. Right now Breslow is as shaky as Buddy Boshers might be. At least Boshers has youth going for him, Breslow has been pretty lousy to downright poor the last two weeks three years.

 

[yarnivek1972]

 

Sure.

On paper.  Real life differs from paper...

 

What does that even mean with relevance to Berrios?

[Thrylos]

 

 

The Twins are 11-10 in the division.  That record is worst of all the Central teams other than the Royals.

 

The Twins are a game over .500 in the division.  That's all it matters.  And they are just behind Cleveland in the Standings, leading the race for the second wild card spot.

 

Have I told you a month and a half ago, that the Twins will be here on May 10th, would you complain?

 

Gee!

[Thrylos]

 

 

What does that even mean with relevance to Berrios?

 

This is in relevance on how teams (vs the commissioner's office) see the WBC.

 

Nothing to do with Berrios, other than his bad choices...

[Otto von Ballpark]

Didn't Gilmartin have some nice splits vs AAA LHB? How about Milone?

 

Why not sign Wilk in the offseason, if that's the case?

[TheLeviathan]

http://www.reactiongifs.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/nope.gif

[yarnivek1972]

 

Lot of angst over a guy who likely won't see more than 3-4 appearances for the big league club this year. If he has more than that, then it's probably a very good signing.

 

Which leads back to a point I made two days ago in the Berrios thread.  No plan.  You release/send down two pitchers.  Now, oops.  I need a pitcher.  Maybe this guy who has never done anything is better than a guy who has been serviceable for 3 years.  No plan.

[yarnivek1972]

 

This is in relevance on how teams (vs the commissioner's office) see the WBC.

 

Nothing to do with Berrios, other than his bad choices...

 

If enough teams truly felt that way, the WBC would cease.  The commisioner works for the owners, not the other way around.

[Circus Boy]

 

I realize this guy's numbers are terrible and he probably won't be any good. But, he wasn't exactly handed any favors for his start last weekend as far as being rested. 

 

"Wilk’s outing came under sub-optimal circumstances, to say the last, as Fred Kerber of the New York Post detailed. The lefty flew from Las Vegas to Albuquerque (with a stop in Denver) last Saturday, only to learn he was needed in the Majors, at which point he flew to Los Angeles and took a midnight flight to New York to start against the Marlins at 1pm."

Don't forget he got thrown off the flight for wearing yoga pants.

[jimbo92107]

This sounds like, "Any left-handed pitcher that is alive and breathing on his own." 

 

However, this does beg the question, is this guy better than all the options in Rochester? And if so, how pathetic is the pickings in Rochester?

[yarnivek1972]

 

This sounds like, "Any left-handed pitcher that is alive and breathing on his own." 

 

However, this does beg the question, is this guy better than all the options in Rochester? And if so, how pathetic is the pickings in Rochester?

 

David Hurlbut is left handed and breathing on his own.  And he hasn't been with 6 different MLB organizations (and one in Korea) over the last 5 years.

[Thrylos]

 

 

how pathetic is the pickings in Rochester?

 

Pretty pathetic.  Melotakis at Chattanooga on the other hand....

[amjgt]

Just out of curiosity, do grid standings matter to you? Because they show that the only teams currently above .500 that the Twins have played this year are the Tigers, Indians and Red Sox. Twins are 3-9 against them. They are 13-5 against Texas, Oakland, Kansas City and the White Sox, all teams with losing records. In the next 3 weeks, the Twins play Cleveland, Colorado, Kansas City, Baltimore, Tampa and Houston - 4 of those teams currently lead their divisions.

This type of analysis has SSS issues.

 

In non-Twins games the White Sox are at 500 and the A's are one game below.

 

Conversely the Tigers are one game below 500 in non-Twins games

 

One or two games flips the story from "Twins feasting off of below 500 teams" to "Twins succeeding in spite of poor record against bad teams"

 

Also, if you believe Vegas, the Rangers were supposed to be a playoff team.

 

Also-Also... weren't the Twins really good against the Rangers and Indians (division winners) last year? Where'd that get us?

[Blake]

 

The Twins are a game over .500 in the division.  That's all it matters.  And they are just behind Cleveland in the Standings, leading the race for the second wild card spot.

 

Have I told you a month and a half ago, that the Twins will be here on May 10th, would you complain?

 

Gee!

Of course I'd complain. I'm a Twins fan....

[Thrylos]

 

Of course I'd complain. I'm a Twins fan....

 

Bakersfield, CA.  My favorite Rolling Stones' song is kinda about that town

[yarnivek1972]

 

This type of analysis has SSS issues.

In non-Twins games the White Sox are at 500 and the A's are one game below.

Conversely the Tigers are one game below 500 in non-Twins games

One or two games flips the story from "Twins feasting off of below 500 teams" to "Twins succeeding in spite of poor record against bad teams"

Also, if you believe Vegas, the Rangers were supposed to be a playoff team.

Also-Also... weren't the Twins really good against the Rangers and Indians (division winners) last year? Where'd that get us?

The Twins were 9-10 against the Indians last year.  That was their best divisional opponent record.  I don't know if I would call it really good.

 

The Twins were 5-2 against the Rangers.  They seem to always be overrated because they hit so well.  A lot of the talking heads seem to forget that pitching matters.  Outside of a handful of seasons, the Rangers pitching has been terrible going back to the Bush Sr. administration.  The Rangers won their division going away and had the best record in the AL.  Then were easily dismissed by the third best team in the AL East.  The Twins also had winning records against the Angels and Mariners last year. Put all that together and it seems pretty obvious that the West was a weak division last year.

 

Regardless, the next 3 weeks is likely to tilt the scale between contender and pretender one way or the other. 

[Oldgoat_MN]

Wilk to the pen. OK.

Here again though, they show no interest in the players in this organization. We have Baxendale, Busenitz, Fernandez, Hildenberger and Rucinski all posting a lower WHIP in AAA than Wilk is. Businitz, Hildenberger and Rucinski are posting a better K/9 as well. So why are the guys being called up the ones Flavine pick up?

It’s starting to occur that there is a huge ego problem with this FO.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

Is there any future contractual $ advantage for the Twins to keep Berrios and Mejia in AAA?

[Thrylos]

 

Wilk to the pen. OK.

Here again though, they show no interest in the players in this organization. We have Baxendale, Busenitz, Fernandez, Hildenberger and Rucinski all posting a lower WHIP in AAA than Wilk is. Businitz, Hildenberger and Rucinski are posting a better K/9 as well. So why are the guys being called up the ones Flavine pick up?

It’s starting to occur that there is a huge ego problem with this FO.

 

All of those guys are RHPs.

Wilk is a lefty