Twins sign Chris Archer, outright Lewis Thorpe

[Obsvr]

48 minutes ago, Musk21 said:

He's not too thrilled about it. There were multiple retweets from him last night including one that said "Who gets more slaps to the face, Chris Rock or Lewis Thorpe?"  He responded with "Lewis."

Sounds a bit entitled for somebody with an ERA of a 100 this spring.  If he feels like he's being treated unfairly, maybe they should just cut him.  I hear doordash is hiring.

[bird]

3 hours ago, Obsvr said:

Sounds a bit entitled for somebody with an ERA of a 100 this spring.  If he feels like he's being treated unfairly, maybe they should just cut him.  I hear doordash is hiring.

Yep. Whereas Door Dash might be a bit extreme, that young man might benefit from a little counseling.

[shortround81]

4 hours ago, Musk21 said:

He's not too thrilled about it. There were multiple retweets from him last night including one that said "Who gets more slaps to the face, Chris Rock or Lewis Thorpe?"  He responded with "Lewis."

Oooh! Not a good look. MLB doesn't owe you anything, Crocodile Dundee

[Squirrel]

Can we please be a little respectful? Dreams die ... and it's sometimes very difficult for some. Have you never been upset about 'the job' you didn't get? What bird said ... he might benefit from a little counseling ... so let's give him a little benefit of the doubt right now

[h2oface]

On 3/28/2022 at 5:21 PM, Otto von Ballpark said:

 

Actually Thorpe was just outrighted, which means he already cleared waivers and he's just going to St. Paul, off the 40-man but still in the Twins org.

Thank you. I couldn't believe how many were posting the wrong info.

[h2oface]

9 hours ago, Cap'n Piranha said:

Not even close to true.  Archer topped out at 96 on his fastball in 2015, but was never below 94 until 2021.  5 of his 9 seasons in the majors saw his fastball velocity above 95.  Even last year, when he was just coming back from TOS and had myriad other health issues, he still was at 92.4, a far cry from your claim of 86.  His slider has also held up pretty well, sitting at 87.5 last year (his career high was 89), which is harder than he threw it in 2012-2014.  Given that his slider and changeup have been historically his best pitches, and he throws them more than 50% of the time, fastball velocity is not as important--indeed, his fastball has been a negative pitch for him every year since 2016, which includes two years when it was over 95, and two more over 94.  I imagine the Twins will have him throwing changes and sliders 60-70% of the time, and using the fastball as an ambush or get-me-over pitch.

 

Good info about Archer, though. I appreciate it.

[jimbo92107]

23 hours ago, RedneckRay said:

I don’t think many were overestimating his value at all. At least for me, I’ve never really liked him. Even when he was healthy he topped out at ~90, with decent to below average off speed stuff which doesn’t play up out of the bullpen. Now with the injuries/dead arm, he tops out at 86 with no movement, which is a recipe for disaster. 

Thorpe always struck me as a power pitcher, or nada. His secondaries were strictly so-so, nothing really plus. Now he can join the circus in St. Paul, maybe learn to throw a knuckler. Not much left for a power pitcher with no power. 

[Cap'n Piranha]

15 hours ago, Squirrel said:

Can we please be a little respectful? Dreams die ... and it's sometimes very difficult for some. Have you never been upset about 'the job' you didn't get? What bird said ... he might benefit from a little counseling ... so let's give him a little benefit of the doubt right now

I don't think anyone is being disrespectful.  Lewis Thorpe has not performed to the level necessary to secure an MLB roster spot--that's not just the Twins opinion, it's the opinion of literally every team in MLB.  That doesn't make him a bad person, but it also is not incumbent upon the Twins to not attempt to improve their roster, just so Thorpe's dream can live.  Thousands of people deal with situations much worse than Lewis Thorpe every single day, and the vast majority of them don't act in the petulant way he did.  If he legitimately needs counseling, then by all means I hope he gets it.  If he's simply being an immature brat (which is, you know, not impossible), then I hope this experience will be educational to him in figuring out the rest of his (hopefully lengthy) life.

[Squirrel]

1 hour ago, Cap'n Piranha said:

I don't think anyone is being disrespectful.  Lewis Thorpe has not performed to the level necessary to secure an MLB roster spot--that's not just the Twins opinion, it's the opinion of literally every team in MLB.  That doesn't make him a bad person, but it also is not incumbent upon the Twins to not attempt to improve their roster, just so Thorpe's dream can live.  Thousands of people deal with situations much worse than Lewis Thorpe every single day, and the vast majority of them don't act in the petulant way he did.  If he legitimately needs counseling, then by all means I hope he gets it.  If he's simply being an immature brat (which is, you know, not impossible), then I hope this experience will be educational to him in figuring out the rest of his (hopefully lengthy) life.

You misunderstood the nature of my post. As a moderator and community leader, I was asking for people to be respectful of Thorpe citing Twitter and a few other comments that weren't about anything but his character. That's not to say we can't discuss this decision and who Thorpe is/was as a pitcher, the good and the bad, but I was suggesting that the other stuff be left out. 

[shortround81]

1 hour ago, Squirrel said:

You misunderstood the nature of my post. As a moderator and community leader, I was asking for people to be respectful of Thorpe citing Twitter and a few other comments that weren't about anything but his character. That's not to say we can't discuss this decision and who Thorpe is/was as a pitcher, the good and the bad, but I was suggesting that the other stuff be left out. 

I understand this is a sports site. However, if an athlete has off-the-field behaviors and statements that can potentially affect their standing with the club, is it off-limits to discuss it here? I seem to remember a lengthy discussion when Max Kepler posted basically a Blue Lives Matter flag on his Instagram account

[tarheeltwinsfan]

On 3/29/2022 at 5:16 PM, Musk21 said:

He's not too thrilled about it. There were multiple retweets from him last night including one that said "Who gets more slaps to the face, Chris Rock or Lewis Thorpe?"  He responded with "Lewis."

If true, this is not healthy.

[beckmt]

On 3/28/2022 at 6:34 PM, Azviking101 said:

I do like bringing in Archer. Hit 93 last year with 87-89 slider. Slider looked just like it did 5 years ago which was nice.

My issue is that Bundy and Archer are 2/5 of the rotation. What happens when something assuredly goes wrong?

we have a lot of possible starters in St. Paul and Wichita, hopefully some of them will work out this year, I am thinking Winder. 

[KBJ1]

Thorpe should never have been on a major league roster. Archer in lieu of Pineda could be a win. Should have kept Berrios if we wanted to compete. Maybe the guys we got become stars someday, but for now they are just prospects and do nothing to help us win now.

You only get small windows of opportunity to compete for a WS title and this team pissed theirs away with an inferior bullpen in 19 & 20.

Now the pitching is worse than ever.

Carrera could be MVP and it won't matter if we lose 80 games 9-7. A trade for a top quality starter (Oakland please) or a couple of flamethrowers in the pen might give us a chance. As it sits right now, a 500 team.

[bird]

1 hour ago, KBJ1 said:

Thorpe should never have been on a major league roster. Archer in lieu of Pineda could be a win. Should have kept Berrios if we wanted to compete. Maybe the guys we got become stars someday, but for now they are just prospects and do nothing to help us win now.

You only get small windows of opportunity to compete for a WS title and this team pissed theirs away with an inferior bullpen in 19 & 20.

Now the pitching is worse than ever.

Carrera could be MVP and it won't matter if we lose 80 games 9-7. A trade for a top quality starter (Oakland please) or a couple of flamethrowers in the pen might give us a chance. As it sits right now, a 500 team.

You're expressing a widely-held sentiment, and you may be right. However, there's a pretty good chance that you're pleasantly surprised, at least to a moderate extent. I say that based on the sheer number of MLB-ready (or very close) options for both the rotation and the pen. I mean, just two days ago, we saw three flamethrowers come in and strike out the last nine batters in a row with mid-nineties and better heat and some pretty decent secondary pitches, and these were not the front-runners for BP spots (yet). I say wait and see.

[alb]

Twins don't like pitchers who throw 100 mph, Graterol, Petty, Greene....bye-bye.

[Vanimal46]

I like seeing this update!