The Twins announced today that Aaron Slegers was designated for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster for Nelson Cruz. Slegers would need to clear waivers in order to remain in the system.

 

Slegers was the Twins Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 2017 and came out of the gates hot in 2018, earning Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Month honors for April. Unfortunately, he was only able to make 19 appearances between Triple A and the Majors, logging a total of 99 innings in 2018.

 

Slegers has a 5.90 ERA in 29 innings with the Twins the past two seasons. In 39 starts at Triple A, he posted a 3.54 ERA, 1.23 WHIP and while his K/9 rate was a modest 6.8, he also had a very impressive 1.8 BB/9.

Very likely will clear waivers and be in AAA to start the season.  

 

Probably about #12 in the pitching depth as far as rotation goes behind 

Berrios, Gibson, Odorizzi, Pineda, Mejia, Romero, Stewart, Gonsalves, Littell, De Jonge, and even Thorpe. 

Edited January 3, 20197 yr by Thrylos

I hope he get signed by the Cleveland Indians so the Twins have to face him.  Good Luck Aaron, you were never given a real chance by this FO

I am surprised it was Slegers they took off but looking at the numbers I guess I probably shouldn't be.  He doesn't have overpowering stuff and a low K-9.  Also when you think of the guys ahead of him (i.e. Romero, Meija, Littel, Thrope, Gonsalves, Wells) I don't think he has much of chance to get on the field in MN.

 

I wonder if Gardy and Detroit will give him a chance.  They probably have room for someone like that.  He isn't a bad pitcher just one with not much upside compared to other arms.

Edited January 3, 20197 yr by Dman

I'm not so sure he won't be snagged to provide AAA depth for someone else. He's certainly not entirely without value even though he probably would have had only an outside chance at a spot in the Rochester rotation.

 

Useless trivia: He has the third most game action of any of the 5th round players from that 2013 draft, just behind some "infielder" named Johnny Fields. The most impressive guy from that round sports a .3 WAR so far. Typical 5th round, and Slegers has been better than typical, just not good ENOUGH.

 

He was #11 on the Twins rotation depth chart anyway, and that's assuming Romero and May remain in the pen and you exclude AA guys like Wells, Graterol, and Alcala.

I always hope the players we release will go somewhere and shine (but not because I want them to show up the Twins - its just that good players often get crowded out).  I like the idea of Detroit.  They took cast-off Twins - John Hicks 260 .312 .403 and Niko Goodrum .245 .315 .432 and did quite well with them last year.   He can join Francisco Liriano in the rotation. 

Too bad, this guy saved my 2019 OOTP season...

 

180 IP, 2.45 ERA.

Someone will pick him up. He logged 14.5 innings a year which is hardly enough to close the book on him.

 

I'm not so sure he won't be snagged to provide AAA depth for someone else. He's certainly not entirely without value even though he probably would have had only an outside chance at a spot in the Rochester rotation.

 

Useless trivia: He has the third most game action of any of the 5th round players from that 2013 draft, just behind some "infielder" named Johnny Fields. The most impressive guy from that round sports a .3 WAR so far. Typical 5th round, and Slegers has been better than typical, just not good ENOUGH.

 

He was #11 on the Twins rotation depth chart anyway, and that's assuming Romero and May remain in the pen and you exclude AA guys like Wells, Graterol, and Alcala.

 

For a 5th rounder and someone who was never a top 30 prospect I would say he definitely exceeded expectations.  I still like him and think he has chance as a 5th starter mainly because of his WHIP.  He has improved his consistency as he used to be very up and down from one outing to the next.  MLB hitters are tough though and I don't know if he even has a plus pitch.  I hope we get to keep him but I think another team could pick him up.

 

 

Too bad, this guy saved my 2019 OOTP season...

 

180 IP, 2.45 ERA.

 

Doesn't seem likely for a non-knuckleballer whose fastball sits around 90-91 MPH.

Edited January 3, 20197 yr by Doomtints

This is probably best for him.  He should get picked up somewhere and have another chance to succeed.

This is fine, though I still have no idea why Duffey is still on this roster. Slegers simply doesn’t have MLB quality stuff.

Finally.  It's been a week. Kind of thought it would be an outfielder.

 

This is fine, though I still have no idea why Duffey is still on this roster. Slegers simply doesn’t have MLB quality stuff.

 

Surprisingly, Duffey's fastball velocity has increased every year. He might have a breakout year in 2019 or 2020.

This is fine, though I still have no idea why Duffey is still on this roster. Slegers simply doesn’t have MLB quality stuff.

I don’t think Duffy will still be on the roster after they sign two or more pitchers.

 

I still have some hope that he can be an effective reliever given his strikeout and walk rates as well as his curve ball. His career major league xFIP is 3.85. He has an option. I would bet on his career going forward over Slegers or Magill but if all are designated as a result of adding free agents I won’t object. Granite and Reed are position players in this same group on the fringe of the 40.

 

Doesn't seem likely for a non-knuckleballer whose fastball sits around 90-91 MPH.

Typical video game numbers...

Edited January 3, 20197 yr by RedBull34

That's surprising as I thought they would DFA a position player.  So the roster now sits at 20-20.  Will probably move at least one position player when they begin signing relievers.

 

Very likely will clear waivers and be in AAA to start the season.  

 

Probably about #12 in the pitching depth as far as rotation goes behind 

Berrios, Gibson, Odorizzi, Pineda, Mejia, Romero, Stewart, Gonsalves, Littell, De Jonge, and even Thorpe. 

 

I think this is the primary reason that Slegers made the most sense. Couple in the fact that he can remain in the system if he does clear, and it's probably the right thing. 

He does generate a good downward plane.

 

Good luck to you sir, hope you land on your feet with another chance at the dream.

Good luck to him!

You can never have enough AAAA pitching depth right?

You can never have enough AAAA pitching depth right?

There are many years where the median team number of starting pitchers is 10, so number 11 on the depth chart has a high likelihood of making at least one start....

I’m not sure the difference between 11 and 12 for the Twins, or even if number 12 is even in the Twins organization right now.

It's OK if your #5 is an AAAA caliber player. It's not so good when that's the caliber of your entire starting staff and outfield defense, though Terry Ryan would seemingly disagree.

Edited January 4, 20197 yr by Doomtints

 

I am surprised it was Slegers they took off but looking at the numbers I guess I probably shouldn't be.  He doesn't have overpowering stuff and a low K-9.  Also when you think of the guys ahead of him (i.e. Romero, Meija, Littel, Thrope, Gonsalves, Wells) I don't think he has much of chance to get on the field in MN.

 

I wonder if Gardy and Detroit will give him a chance.  They probably have room for someone like that.  He isn't a bad pitcher just one with not much upside compared to other arms.

Maybe similar to Felix last year, this front office seems to try to sneak players through after injury-marred seasons. It's not a bad philosophy, especially with fringe 40-man roster players.

 

Maybe similar to Felix last year, this front office seems to try to sneak players through after injury-marred seasons. It's not a bad philosophy, especially with fringe 40-man roster players.

 

Was wondering that too... his injury late last season might have some teams hesitant to put in a claim.

I hope he get signed by the Cleveland Indians so the Twins have to face him.  Good Luck Aaron, you were never given a real chance by this FO

I would like to see what he can do with an extended look in the majors.

Slegers is a low k, high contact rate pitcher.  I don't know if there is that much there to make a better pitcher. 3.54 minor league ERA, he has value. The question is does he have 40 man roster value? If it were not the launch angle, elevate generation he could be Carl Pavano 2010. The 15% HR/fb and a 40% fb rate is a killer. I would predict he is back in Rochester. Never say never, as starting pitching gets thin. PNC or AT&T park might be a good fit

Edited January 6, 20197 yr by old nurse

Lots of fluff left. Just goes to show, a minor league star means littell toward being a major league roster holder. Granite still rock solid and survives another cut. That's what amazes me.

Edited January 6, 20197 yr by h2oface

 

There are many years where the median team number of starting pitchers is 10, so number 11 on the depth chart has a high likelihood of making at least one start....
I’m not sure the difference between 11 and 12 for the Twins, or even if number 12 is even in the Twins organization right now.

 

I think they have the kind of depth you mention. Assume that neither Romero or May would be under consideration to be stretched out:

 

Starters: Berrios, Gibson, Pineda, Mejia, and Odorizzi

 

AAA: Stewart, Gonsalves, De Jong, Littell, and Thorpe. All but Thorpe have seen MLB action. All are rated as B grade prospects by Sickles, who grades Slegers a full grade lower than any of them.

 

After that, The next tier would be guys like Alcala, Wells, Eades, Felix Jorge, and Poppen. All of those guys except Alcala are graded as C types like Slegers by Sickles. It's unlikely they'd fast-track Graterol, or Duran, but not impossible if they're both logging innings in AA by then.

 

I think it's safe to say Slegers is a surplus asset.

Edited January 6, 20197 yr by birdwatcher

 

It's OK if your #5 is an AAAA caliber player. It's not so good when that's the caliber of your entire starting staff and outfield defense, though Terry Ryan would seemingly disagree.

 

 

I think you're being a little unfair.