You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?r=1373-Twins-Sign-Lefty-Reliever-Rafael-Perez

Just read it in mlb rumors, not sure if he has an invite to spring training , or how effective he will be , but to me he should be competition to the 3rd lefty relievers spot

Decent low risk signing. More depth to our bullpen.

I wounder if this is a sign that the Twins intend to have Duensing hold down Diamonds rotation spot should Diamond be unable to start the season on time?

He does have an invite to spring training and will be reporting on Saturday. According to Rob Antony, he just threw his first bullpen a week ago.

Great if he is healthy again!

Um, LE3 kind of missed the big point. Rob Anthony says they are looking to give him a chance to start. Strange.

 

Rhett Bollinger:

 

His last 180 MLB innings he has seen a 5.8 K/9 out of the pen. That should translate really nicely as a starter.

Edited February 14, 201313 yr by nicksaviking

I'm on board with this. OTOH, it's yet another signing of a player that another team has given up on via a non-tender due to injury.

 

I guess this means the front office thinks they have a medical staff better than these other teams'.

 

At some point, pitchers are going to look around themselves in Fort Myers in late February and mutter "what am I doing here with all these guys in arm-slings and leg-casts and neck-braces and eye-patches? They must think I'm a reclamation project too. Ugh. Maybe this full-body cast and hook-hand aren't such good fashion statements after all."

But, get this, they want to stretch him out to see if he can be a starter.

 

Pretty gutsy/stupid to try and do that to a guy that has never started a ML game and only managed 7 innings last year. The one thing he has going for him, however, is that his career splits don't scream out Brian Duensing.

 

I always liked him coming out of the Indians pen. Hopefully at the very least he returns to form as a set up guy.

Solid minor league signing. Leave him in relief. Trying him as a starter coming off shoulder surgery doesnt make a whole lot of sense.

move the Perez discussions to the Perez article's comments, please.

Apologies. How are we supposed to know that there is an article posted though, without visiting the front page? Check the front page more often?

Roster filler. Countdown to 100 loses in T-minus 3....2.....1.....

According to Zulgad/Mackey Perez's agent requested that they consider him for a starting spot. His splits appear to be balanced righty/lefty wise unlike Duensing.

Solid pick-up place setter if you wish to offer more time to Robertson and Theilbar. The Twins need some left-handed support, especially if Perkins IS the closer and Diamond starts the season on the DL. You could get by with just Duensing in the bullpen (with closer Perkins) if you had a second starter in the rotation who would consistently go 6-7 innings (Saunders). But the Twins don't and probably won't. Has a team ever started a season with no lefties at all on the pitching staff?

move the Perez discussions to the Perez article's comments, please.

 

Where is the article?

Where is the article?

 

At the top of the front page.

Why are the Twins signing guys who can potentially be good SP or very good RP when they could be signing a 7th AAAA Catcher? God, it's clear Terry Ryan just doesn't care any more.

I always liked him coming out of the Indians pen.

 

It would figure. His splits according to baseball-reference.com indicate he has had more sustained success against the Twins than against anyone else, holding the Twins' stellar cadre of sluggers to a .547 OPS versus .687 for all opponents combined. He's better than average (pre-injury) but against the Twins he's looked like Nolan Mathewson and Walter Seaver combined.

move the Perez discussions to the Perez article's comments, please.

 

I guess you haven't seen the other thread where PocketPig is trying to debug the inability to see comments on articles appearing on the front page. There may be a reason when some of us don't quite follow protocol.

Solid pick-up place setter if you wish to offer more time to Robertson and Theilbar. The Twins need some left-handed support, especially if Perkins IS the closer and Diamond starts the season on the DL. You could get by with just Duensing in the bullpen (with closer Perkins) if you had a second starter in the rotation who would consistently go 6-7 innings (Saunders). But the Twins don't and probably won't. Has a team ever started a season with no lefties at all on the pitching staff?

Kansas City a couple years back. Dick mentioned it repeatedly the whole season. He was utterly fascinated by it.

Why are the Twins signing guys who can potentially be good SP or very good RP when they could be signing a 7th AAAA Catcher? God, it's clear Terry Ryan just doesn't care any more.

 

Obsess much?

 

Please cite the evidence that Perez is a "potentially good SP". Perhaps his 0.92 IP/Appearance since 2008? Or the last time he actually started a game?- 7 starts in AAA in 2007. Or maybe the fact that he went 60-day DL and pitched all of 7.2 innings last year because of the damage done to his arm by throwing 60% sliders the last 2 years when he had to rely heavily on another pitch to stay in the league- given that he has lost nearly 5MPH on his fastball. Or maybe not having any viable offer since he was DFAd in November?

 

I'll give the Twins this, they maintained their pattern of low-risk/high reward signings- along with the accompanying pie in the sky PR hyperbole. Coming back to reality and crossing of fingers, there's a fighting chance he could be serviceable as a RP, Burton came in last year with lower expectations than Perez.

 

Going back to the Catcher/MI ongoing debacle, at least Ryan signed JR Towles (,770 AAA OPS) to give some semblance of embarrassment and urgency about carrying a bench player with a career .497 OPS. This year? Not so much.

I guess this is place where we are to comment. My page has only one comment on it as opposed to page linked from the left. He signed to a MiLB contract so this seems like a low-risk investment. Goodness, the Twins could use improvement in the pen so I can't see any big deal.

Mauer: 3-12, 2B, 2 BB, 2 K, .690 OPS

Morneau: 4-19, 2B, 2 BB, K, .536 OPS

_ _ _ _ _

Span: 1-13, 2 BB, 5 K, .264 OPS

Thome: 1-18, BB, 7 K, GIDP, .161 OPS

This ignore feature is pretty nice.

This ignore feature is pretty nice.

 

And yet, you somehow still found a way to comment.

 

In addition, nice response to the facts presented in reply to your assertion about Perez being a "potentially good SP". Sky color in your world, again?

And yet, you somehow still found a way to comment.

 

In addition, nice response to the facts presented in reply to your assertion about Perez being a "potentially good SP". Sky color in your world, again?

 

Oh, Brother.

Edited February 14, 201313 yr by luke829

I'm all for kicking tires so if it doesn't cost you much why not?

I'm all for kicking tires so if it doesn't cost you much why not?

 

I guess you didn't see that superbowl ad.