Upcoming Roster Moves + Roster Shuffle

[Danchat]

With the upcoming doubleheader on Monday and Grossman heading to the DL with a fractured finger, the Twins will need to make some moves. I will speculate upon what moves the Twins will make: 

 

Grossman to DL; Granite called up.

 

While this move now leaves the Twins without a DH, they really need to have a 4th outfielder on the team. Granite proved he can make contact and hit a bunch of singles with plenty of speed, so he should will that role well.

 

Gibson DFA'd; Vargas called up.

 

I'm finished with Gibson and he's been given every opportunity possible to keep his spot in the rotation. He's in all likelihood to be non-tendered, so DFA'ing him won't mean much. Vargas may not have much longer with the Twins either but they need a DH.

 

-For Monday's Game-

 

Game 1 - Start Dillon Gee

 

Gee is on track to be ready to pitch Monday. He tossed 2.2 innings early today and even though he will only have 3 days of rest, he should be able to go at least 5 innings. He's pitched well, so hopefully we'll see 5 effective innings. Another option would be to start Nik Turley - he was just called up to the majors but he's been starting games in the minors, so he could either be a starter or reliever (though he threw just one inning at AAA on August 13th).

 

Game 2 - Call Stephen Gonsalves up using the 26th man slot and using Gibson's 40 man spot

 

It's time to see what Gonsalves can do in the majors. There are reports out there saying Gonsalves is in contention to pitch in this doubleheader, so there's some smoke behind this prediction. Since Gibson is gone, Stephen will have a 40 man spot and if they want him to keep starting, all they have to do is demote somebody like Vargas or Turley.

 

-After Monday-

 

Call up Aaron Slegers; DFA Perkins or Option Turley. 

 

The Twins will need somebody to pitch Tuesday and that's not going to be Kyle Gibson (DFA'd) or Ervin Santana (short rest). I think it should be Slegers, who showed some promise in his first MLB outing today. The Twins can opt to say goodbye to Perkins as it's likely his career is toast or demote a guy like Turley who might have pitched 2-3 innings in relief on Monday.

 

 

What do you think? Are there any changes you would make?

[beckmt]

Siegers should get another start after today(Tuesday), but he can be sent back and called up later.  Believe Gibson can still be optioned for this year so swap the two this weekend or send Gibson out now.  Do not call him back up this year.  Players will need rest, so Granite needs to be called up to spell the outfielders.  Probably will need a DH bat, but pitching over the next few days is critical, so doubt a move will be made until Tuesday.  Can probably rotate outfielders thru the DH spot until Tuesday.  Sano can spell Mauer on Sunday with the extra infielder playing 3B. 

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

I would take this plan over whatever Door #3 Plan the Twins come up with. I'd like to see the front office run this thing like a business and put the best 25 on the field the next three weeks.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Example of not putting best 25 on field: optioning Boshers because he has options, when he is actually pretty effective vs lefties. That's just the way I see it, anyway.

[Rosterman]

 

Siegers should get another start after today(Tuesday), but he can be sent back and called up later.  Believe Gibson can still be optioned for this year so swap the two this weekend or send Gibson out now.  Do not call him back up this year.  Players will need rest, so Granite needs to be called up to spell the outfielders.  Probably will need a DH bat, but pitching over the next few days is critical, so doubt a move will be made until Tuesday.  Can probably rotate outfielders thru the DH spot until Tuesday.  Sano can spell Mauer on Sunday with the extra infielder playing 3B. 

Spell the outfielders? Kepler not playing every game. Buxton had a DL run. Granted, Granite could come up and play everyday and the Twins should shuffle Rosario into the DH spot (or Kepler).

 

Yes, I have pretty much had it with Gibson. Let's give his roster spot to someone else.

 

Perkins is up, and left-handed, so a lefty can be sent out...besides everyone BUT Pressly is doing okay, it seems. But the Twins should make some hard decisions on the pitching staff in the weeks to come.

 

Wonder if anyone is biting on Belisle. Too bad Santiago and Grossman are both injured now, so the Twins can't let them go in a waiver claim, not that anyone would claim them. So, what would stop the Twins from just releasing both? Well, they are NOW taking up 40-man roster space by being on the disabled list. How does this happen?

 

So, time to see Colon go, and Gimenez. And makeup your mind if you need BOTH Adrianza and Escobar, or if Vielma is really in the mix. Whomever is not, open up their spot for another looksee guy.

 

Be interesting to see what September truly does bring. Will we see Plaka. Will Rosario (or Romero or Jorge) come up and ride the bullpen bench, just to breathe in the major league air. Garver better be on his way.

 

And time to give a better looksee to hungry guys at AAA - Gonsalves, Slegers, maybe Hurlbut, possibly Melville. Where does that put Boshers and Turley? We all know they are at the top of many a team list of players to grab from the Twins, yes?

[jun]

Example of not putting best 25 on field: optioning Boshers because he has options, when he is actually pretty effective vs lefties. That's just the way I see it, anyway.

Well I don't know about that. His era is high and he has been ineffective and lately he cannot get anybody out and has given up plenty of long balls. He is not alone though. Perkins and Pressly will soon join him.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Well I don't know about that. His era is high and he has been ineffective and lately he cannot get anybody out and has given up plenty of long balls. He is not alone though. Perkins and Pressly will soon join him.

I think the Boshers home runs have been against righties, but we would have to check. Perkins shouldn't get any leverage situations yet.

[jun]

Lately Boshers has been ineffective against both lefties and righties.

[curt1965]

Looks like Garver will (finally) be called up. Whether he's going to take Grossman's spot or not is the

question. I just read that Granite is banged up.

There are few options if you are limiting your choices to the 40 man roster. Granite and Palka are the only OF to choose from. I'd like to see them give Palka a chance, in that case. You'd still need one body to go down if indeed Garver is coming up.

I'm hoping Gonsalves gets called up for Monday. He's earned the opportunity. As for Gibson-I agree that he's had his chances. Time to cut the cord permanently. Did anyone recognize the pace of the two games today?

Granted, Sleger's prevented runners on the bases, but his tempo kept everyone on their toes.

Baseball needs to institute the 30(?) second clock.

[DocBauer]

Gibson...sorry...i used to believe...but done.

 

Time for Gonsalves. Or hell, why not Melville at this point? Seriously, there is an argument to look at both.

[The Wise One]

Boshers listed as demoted, Turley up on MLB.com

[spinowner]

I had a question about the 26-man rule that I answered for myself by an internet search. I wondered whether the 26th player in place for a doubleheader scheduled in advance has to be the same player for both games. The answer is yes. It can't be one player for game 1 and a different player for game 2.

[rujellis]

I think the Twins are going to be careful though not to gut Rochester in the middle of their own playoff hunt to.  I get that they have a responsibility first and foremost to the major league team, but they do need to make sure anything they bring up is adequately replaced in Rochester either by major league parts(Gibson) or quality AA pieces.

 

I can see a steady shuttle of guys back and forth rather than just keeping up Garver, Gonsalves, Granite, Slegers, Vargas, Park, Curtis etc. and DFA the deadwood on the major league roster.  

 

None of this is to say that Gonsalves can't come up and pitch and stay...I just don't see wholesale moves right now.  They will play it out til rosters expand and then see where each club is at.  

[gunnarthor]

I'd like to see Garver or Park be given the DH spot for a month or so. Garver could be a 5th OFer type as well. Granite should be the 4th OFer.

[Tomj14]

To me starting Gee and Gonzo in a double header is a recipe for disaster. Gee has been great the first time though the lineup but has been crushed the second time. So the best you are hoping for is 3 innings.

I have my fingers crossed that Gonzo turns into a effective MLB starter or even better, I am just not sure it will be on Monday and if he has a short outing the pen will be ruined all week.

As might as Gibson upsets me this year, I pitch him for the first 4 maybe more bring in Gee for the next 3 and hope to get though game 1 with only 3 or 4 pitchers. Then you have rest available for game 2.

As for Vargas I am done with him, I want Garver over him.

[beckmt]

Be interesting to see how this plays out.  Slegers should get another start, hope it wasn't smoke and mirrors.  Time to see what the reenforcements bring.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

To me starting Gee and Gonzo in a double header is a recipe for disaster. Gee has been great the first time though the lineup but has been crushed the second time. So the best you are hoping for is 3 innings.

I have my fingers crossed that Gonzo turns into a effective MLB starter or even better, I am just not sure it will be on Monday and if he has a short outing the pen will be ruined all week.

I definitely see what you are saying here. But, we have a few optionable guys in the pen.  We could even option a guy after Game 1 Monday and have another guy with the team ready to activate for Game 2 if we wanted (like we did with Boshers and Turley yesterday).

[Otto von Ballpark]

It's interesting.  Next off day isn't until Monday August 28, which would also be the first day Gibson would be eligible to return if we optioned him today.

 

Before then, they will need Gibson/Slegers on Tuesday and again on Sunday August 27.,

 

They'll also need 2 starters for Monday's doubleheader, and then one of those guys for Saturday August 26 too.  (In theory Enns could be eligible to return August 26 too, presuming they made his DL stint retroactive to August 16.)

 

So optioning Gibson now would be committing to not only 2 more starts for Slegers, but also an extra start beyond the doubleheader for Gee or Gonsalves (or Enns).  As much as I don't trust Gibson anymore, I'm not sure I see them doing that at this point, unfortunately.

[Danchat]

It's great to hear Garver is getting the call up. He can play C, DH, and corner OF, so it does make sense. I still think the Twins should try to get Granite on the team and stop using an 8 man bullpen, but the starters will need to go deeper into games for that to happen.

[mikelink45]

What I have not understood all year is how we do the demotions and promotions of pitching.  And this is not about the reject pile we drew from for half the year.  When we have starters not going deep and bullpen needed to step in why do we send down Boshers instead of Gibson?  Even if we want to keep starting Gibson he is eligible to go down, but will not pitch in relief so we have four starters sitting and watching.  Nik Turley has been starting, but Curtiss and Melontakis and Reed and others have been relieving so why would we call a starter and not a reliever?  We have almost no bench but we waste a spot for Perkins who might be great again next year but is not ready this year.  

 

Please explain this new logic.

[yarnivek1972]

I think the Twins are going to be careful though not to gut Rochester in the middle of their own playoff hunt to. I get that they have a responsibility first and foremost to the major league team, but they do need to make sure anything they bring up is adequately replaced in Rochester either by major league parts(Gibson) or quality AA pieces.

 

I can see a steady shuttle of guys back and forth rather than just keeping up Garver, Gonsalves, Granite, Slegers, Vargas, Park, Curtis etc. and DFA the deadwood on the major league roster.

 

None of this is to say that Gonsalves can't come up and pitch and stay...I just don't see wholesale moves right now. They will play it out til rosters expand and then see where each club is at.

As long as the Twins are still in realistic playoff contention, Falvine should be giving zero consideration to the playoff aspirations of their minor league affiliates.

 

The minor leagues exist to develop players and supply substitutes for the majors, period. Which team wins and loses is of little importance.

[stringer bell]

One thing is that the Twins can recall Slegers any time, while they'd have to wait if Gibson was demoted.

[ashbury]

One thing is that the Twins can recall Slegers any time, while they'd have to wait if Gibson was demoted.

Right. Even if the intent is a direct replacement of Gibson with Slegers in the rotation, sending Slegers back per the 26th man rule for the intervening time provides a few days of roster flexibility.

 

Picky question: to add Slegers as the 26th man, he had to be added to the 40-man roster first. As he returns to the Rochester roster, does this exercise one of his three options? Not that I want to be overly concerned with options management on a 24-year old, but it seems worth knowing. Gibby already had his option exercised for 2017, so that might be the only argument for sending him down now instead of Slegers. ... Not that I want to be overly concerned with options management for Kyle Freaking Gibson either.

[yarnivek1972]

Right. Even if the intent is a direct replacement of Gibson with Slegers in the rotation, sending Slegers back per the 26th man rule for the intervening time provides a few days of roster flexibility.

 

Picky question: to add Slegers as the 26th man, he had to be added to the 40-man roster first. As he returns to the Rochester roster, does this exercise one of his three options? Not that I want to be overly concerned with options management on a 24-year old, but it seems worth knowing. Gibby already had his option exercised for 2017, so that might be the only argument for sending him down now instead of Slegers. ... Not that I want to be overly concerned with options management for Kyle Freaking Gibson either.

It would be. But, as I understand it only applies if said player is optioned out more than 20 days. I doubt he will be down that long. The Red Wings regular season ends in less than 20 days FWIW. As of now, they would make the playoffs. Lehigh Valley is the only other team realistically in contention. Rochester holds a one game lead going into tonight for the wild card.

[Otto von Ballpark]

Picky question: to add Slegers as the 26th man, he had to be added to the 40-man roster first. As he returns to the Rochester roster, does this exercise one of his three options? Not that I want to be overly concerned with options management on a 24-year old, but it seems worth knowing. Gibby already had his option exercised for 2017, so that might be the only argument for sending him down now instead of Slegers. ... Not that I want to be overly concerned with options management for Kyle Freaking Gibson either.

Yes, Slegers was optioned back. If he spends less than 20 days on optional assignment, though, he won't burn an option year. So he could get recalled September 6th and not burn an option year, for example.

[SweetOne69]

I'm confused, in the transaction log it says that Slegers was recalled from Rochester, which usually indicates he was already on the 40 man roster. When a player is added to the 40 man for the first time, the transaction log usually says that his contract was purchased.

[AlwaysinModeration]

I predict Gibson-Gonsalves for the DH on Monday, and Slegers on Tuesday on regular rest. Hoping to see Garver get a start behind the plate, maybe even today for Berrios?

[Otto von Ballpark]

I'm confused, in the transaction log it says that Slegers was recalled from Rochester, which usually indicates he was already on the 40 man roster. When a player is added to the 40 man for the first time, the transaction log usually says that his contract was purchased.

I don't think the announcement/transaction language is anything official.

 

And language aside, I don't know what there is to be confused about. Slegers wasn't on the 40-man, and now he is. He was the 26th man for one game, and now he is back in AAA on optional assignment.

 

All of the normal requirements apply to the 26th man as any other player recalled, except the 10 day minimum in AAA before/after a recall.

 

I suspect that, because there was already an open 40-man spot for him and no one had to be removed, the Twins just mistakenly referred to it a "recall" rather than a 40-man add (purchased/selected).

[jorgenswest]

Molitor on Garver- "I don't envision catching being a big need for us right now." He added that he would comfortable playing him in LF or 1B. This must be from the feedback he is getting from the organization.

 

I would hate to take Rosario out of the game. Take Kepler out and playing Rosario in RF with Garver in LF is a drop in defense at both corners. There are still at bats to get at DH or 1B against a lefty and a bench bat will help.

 

I have only seen him play 1 game in LF streamed. He did not look close to Robbie Grossman level. Looked more like Sano out there. No way he can be Grossman level with only 122 innings of experience in the OF.

[DocBauer]

With Boshers performing poorly as of late and the Enns injury, I really like the Turley promotion. While his starts for the Twins were poor, he flashed some velocity and a nice breaking ball. I'm anxious to see what he might do as a RP. Could be a find. As for Perkins...welll...I really think he should have pitched a few more games in the minors first. But there was an opening, and sooner or later you need to take a look. I guess that time might as well be now.

 

Slegers will be back, and soon. Excited to see Gonsalves possibly make his first start on Monday, but I'm also really curious about Melville. With a pair of double headers and so few days off, I think the staff is going to continue to be juggled until September gets here. Once things settle down, I'm really curious about a rotation of Santana, Berrios, Colon and 2 of Slegers, Gonsalves and Melville. I just think it's time to move on from Gibson.

 

Happy to see Garver up and I hope he plays rather that sitting. But would really like to see a healthy Granite back up soon as well.