According to Jon Heyman, the Minnesota Twins have signed veteran right-handed pitcher Dillon Gee to a minor league contract. He will start with the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings.The Twins need pitching, and Gee represents another guy getting an opportunity. He was outrighted by the Texas Rangers last weekend and chose to become a free agent. Darren Wolfson was the first to note that the Twins and Gee's representation were conversing.

 

Gee spent parts of five seasons with the New York Mets. He was a back-of-the-rotation type of starter. At various times, there were rumors of the Twins having interest in him.

 

He spent 2016 with the Kansas City Royals, splitting time between the rotation and the bullpen.

He had thoracic outlet syndrome surgery after the 2016 and signed with the Rangers this year where he pitched in just four games before being released.

 

The Twins need arms. Any Twins fan would agree with that. They clearly do not want to push the likes of Stephen Gonsalves, Fernando Romero and Felix Jorge up to AAA quite yet.

 

So, in the last few weeks, they have brought in guys like Chris Heston and Adam Wilk. Gee fits into that category, AAA pitchers who might just be able to give some decent innings. At least that is the hope. If not, they are AAA placeholders for the prospects.

 

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It's been a couple of years since he was good. Oh well, they need to keep throwing darts at the board.

Isn't thoracic outlet surgery what Hughes had?

Ugh.

Meh.  At least he has more MLB experience than these other guys we've been picking up.

It's been a couple of years since he was good. Oh well, they need to keep throwing darts at the board.

This analogy is completely unfair to professional dart throwers.

At least the Twins are working every single angle they can before the trade deadline.

He's not a terrible #7 starter. 

What about Sledgers? Is he close yo earning a callup from AAA?

Also Gee is the most likely of the retreads we've been signing that could consistantly go 6 innings with 3 earned runs ... though i am still intrigued by Turley and wonder if he can make adjustments up here with snother start or is he a AAAA pitcher...

I remember trying to throw a curve ball like Gee after watching a slow-motion video of his grip and release.

 

I hurt my arm, of course...

Free Slegers

 

Isn't thoracic outlet surgery what Hughes had?

Yes

Ahem,  in other baseball news, the Brewers just released Neftali Feliz.  

 

"However, after getting off to a hot start to the year (one earned run on two hits and two walks with seven strikeouts through his first seven appearances), Feliz’s performance has plummeted. Over his past 22 appearances, he’s been torched for a 7.17 ERA — yielding 21 runs (17 earned) on 21 hits with a 14-to-13 K/BB ratio. Feliz has served up a staggering eight homers in just 27 innings this season and had lost the closer’s role to breakout reliever Corey Knebel well before being designated."

 

Sooo....  we're talking possible bounce back, right?   

I'd much rather see Gee in there making spot starts than Wilk, Wheeler, Heston & Co..  Not perfect, but at least the Twins are improving depth.

Did Ryan get his job back?

Of all the DFA'd by other club signings this year, this one is the best...

 

That doesn't say a whole lot but it's not Wilk...

In all honestly, only Gonsalves will likely move up to AAA, so this kind of signing doesn't really surprise me.  Romero could potentially go too, but I think there's a stronger case for letting him spend more time in Chatty. 

 

I don't mind throwing darts at the 4A types in hopes that one becomes something of use.  I just hope that this offseason there is a bit more effort put in place to fix the rotation.

Gee could be a step-up from some of the other recent pitchers we have thrown out there.   And by step up I mean  - If he can give up 5 runs in 5 or 6 innings instead of 5 runs in 2 or 3 innings that is a step up.   Saw him pitch a couple times for Texas this season and he was not horrible - he gave up 10 runs (6 earned) in 13 innings as a long man/mop-up reliever in 4 appearances.   

 

Isn't thoracic outlet surgery what Hughes had?

Yeah, my first thought when I saw he had that was "they have this doctor hanging around with only one patient and decided to try to get their money's worth out of him."

Gee can't hurt if he is healthy. Wilk was horrible as a Met with no fastball. I could not understand that pickup at all. Don't know much about the others they've tried. Feliz could help in the middle if he gets his mojo back. For a few bucks, he could be worth a shot. What we have right now is not getting the job done a majority of the time. At least management is trying to do something rather than sitting on their hands. I agree with not rushing the kids but giving them some exposure in September if we are out of it. The future still looks good.

 

Ahem,  in other baseball news, the Brewers just released Neftali Feliz.  

 

"However, after getting off to a hot start to the year (one earned run on two hits and two walks with seven strikeouts through his first seven appearances), Feliz’s performance has plummeted. Over his past 22 appearances, he’s been torched for a 7.17 ERA — yielding 21 runs (17 earned) on 21 hits with a 14-to-13 K/BB ratio. Feliz has served up a staggering eight homers in just 27 innings this season and had lost the closer’s role to breakout reliever Corey Knebel well before being designated."

 

Sooo....  we're talking possible bounce back, right?   

 

I'd take Feliz, he's basically free. His velocity and most of his peripherals are the same. It looks to me like his biggest change is he's giving up more flyballs this year than he did with Pittsburgh, which obviously didn't translate well in homer friendly Miller Park. His flyball rate is still in line with what he was doing in Texas though.

 

Since he's so inexpensive I'd gladly give him a shot and see if his issues were due to bad luck and his home park.

I refuse to believe that promoting Gonsalves is rushing him. How long does he have to be very good to great before people promote him? If it's health.....how does pitching in AA make him less likely to get hurt than AAA?

 

I'd take Feliz, he's basically free. His velocity and most of his peripherals are the same. It looks to me like his biggest change is he's giving up more flyballs this year than he did with Pittsburgh, which obviously didn't translate well in homer friendly Miller Park. His flyball rate is still in line with what he was doing in Texas though.

 

Since he's so inexpensive I'd gladly give him a shot and see if his issues were due to bad luck and his home park.

 

And really, he can't be much worse than Belisle. I'd also take a flyer on him for the rest of the season. 

 

I refuse to believe that promoting Gonsalves is rushing him. How long does he have to be very good to great before people promote him? If it's health.....how does pitching in AA make him less likely to get hurt than AAA?

 

Might be performance. He's been decent, but not dominant. Perhaps they want to see more.

I'm ok with Gee. It's a cheap low risk move. He might be able to string together a few solid starts for us.

 

I'm ok with Gee. It's a cheap low risk move. He might be able to string together a few solid starts for us.

 

I'm OK with signing anyone who has ever had success. Give him 2-3 starts in AAA and see what you got.

 

This analogy is completely unfair to professional dart throwers.

IALTO

 

Ladies and gentlemen...

 

This analogy is completely unfair to professional dart throwers.

 

Who said anything about professional?! This analogy is for amateurs playing cricket who may or may not be inebriated at the bar.