Twins to Sign RHP Chris Archer to One-Year Deal

[stringer bell]

Somewhat surprised that Thorpe wasn't claimed, but everyone is crunched for 40-man room. 

[Vanimal46]

1 minute ago, PseudoSABR said:

As long as you're not benching the lineup, yes.  Prior to this move, prediction sites have us as a competitive team. 

100%. With expanded playoffs all we need to do is hover around .500 until the deadline. Then we can pounce and make bold moves for August and beyond. 

[Brock Beauchamp]

I don’t really care for this deal but another pitcher was mandatory and I guess Archer is as good as anyone else available. 

[adorduan]

9 minutes ago, Sam Morley said:

Does anyone think the rotation as is can get us to the trade deadline in contention?

IMO it's a long shot....

[PseudoSABR]

1 minute ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

I don’t really care for this deal but another pitcher was mandatory and I guess Archer is as good as anyone else available. 

What is it? The injuries? Are you suggesting you wouldn't trade Meadows for him?

[Nate]

Trade him for Frankie!!  Jk

[Dman]

3 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

Somewhat surprised that Thorpe wasn't claimed, but everyone is crunched for 40-man room. 

Yeah I thought some bottom feeder would at least give him a chance but honestly his stuff isn't all that much better than most teams AAAA lefties.  With no great fastball velocity and a pretty poor record against elite competition I guess it shouldn't be too surprising no one wanted to handcuff their 40 man with someone like that.

I am glad the Twins don't have to carry him on the 40 man anymore and if does well at AAA he can still get another chance.  It just kind of feels like maybe he has peaked and without the velocity we thought he was going to have.  I believe he was throwing 95 when younger.  Not consistently but he could when he needed to.  Maybe he can reinvent himself in a bullpen role yet will have to wait and see I guess.

 

[whosafraidofluigirussolo]

One reason for concern: He had thoracic outlet syndrome, and that's a worrisome injury from which some pitchers never come back fully.

One reason for optimism: Tying an incentive to games with nine or more outs recorded is interesting. It's probably responding to the uncertainty about how much pitching Archer can handle after his recent injuries, but it also suggests that he's prepared for a piggyback or multi-inning relief role, and hopefully it indicates something about the Twins' readiness to upgrade in midseason if there's an upgrade (internal or external) available.

[jmlease1]

It's not a high impact move, but it is some decent insurance with Dobnak still fighting injury. I think I like Archer as a reclamation project more than Cueto right now? If Oakland is asking for the sun & the moon for Manea and/or Montas, then this seems like it might be a better decision than selling low on some prospects and giving up a load of capital.

The contract certainly is one that makes sense. Might as well try this move now rather than hope to get a sensible deal from Oakland. If Archer can stay healthy, he could be a quality pitcher to chew up some innings. Worth a try and not too hard to move on from if he craps out. Buys us a little time so we don't need to jam Winder or someone else in before they might be ready, especially since it's starting to look like they're planning on having Duran pitch out of the bullpen?

[nicksaviking]

15 minutes ago, Sam Morley said:

Does anyone think the rotation as is can get us to the trade deadline in contention?

Depends on what you mean by contention. For a Wild Card? Sure. For a World Series? No way. 
 

But they weren’t contending for a WS even if they got an A’s pitcher. 

[LA VIkes Fan]

Agreed. To me "competitive" means over .500 at the break with a shot at winning 85-88 games. I think this team is good enough to do that and maybe a little more. I also think this team could fall flat on its face and win 72-75 games again. My over/under is 83 wins. 

[Otto von Ballpark]

31 minutes ago, a-wan said:

Hopefully he helps St. Paul. But how bad is he viewed throughout MLB if he already cleared waivers and was outrighted?

That is rough. No one even claimed him just to put him back on waivers and outright him themselves.

[Brock Beauchamp]

25 minutes ago, PseudoSABR said:

What is it? The injuries? Are you suggesting you wouldn't trade Meadows for him?

I think it’s pretty safe to say Tampa won that trade. 

[chinmusic]

31 minutes ago, Sam Morley said:

Does anyone think the rotation as is can get us to the trade deadline in contention?

No, I do not. You know, when they negotiated Buxton's deal,  you just had the sense there would be more to come. After Correa, I still have that feeling. 

Maybe the 28 man roster(through April?) buys a bit of time.  The expanded playoffs too.

Still, they need another quality arm sooner rather than later. It's hard playing catch up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[howeda7]

I have no issue with this as long as the leash is short enough. I give him and Bundy both 5 starts. If the ERA is over 5.50 at that point you're cut. Period.

[PseudoSABR]

22 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

I think it’s pretty safe to say Tampa won that trade. 

Yes, but I threw that in that for sarcasm...  Would you rather have Cueto at a higher AAV? This feels pretty low risk at 3.5, given the affordable two-year deal if he bounces back.

[jrod23]

Not a bad signing.  Not a great signing.  Give me a list of players who have successfully returned to form after Thoracic Outlet Surgery.  There isn't one.  However, he may give us sufficient innings to hold us over to the trade deadline.  Maybe more will be available at the deadline than right now.

[Otto von Ballpark]

13 minutes ago, PseudoSABR said:

Yes, but I threw that in that for sarcasm...  Would you rather have Cueto at a higher AAV? This feels pretty low risk at 3.5, given the affordable two-year deal if he bounces back.

It is a mutual option, so either Archer or the Twins can decline it. IIRC such options rarely get picked up.

[Swaggy21]

I like the move. I have always really liked and rooted for him. He is a cheap option and if he works then we have an option on him for next year too. A couple of days ago I was looking at the FA list and saw that he was a Free Agent and thought we should try him out. So overall i am happy with the move and hope he will pan out. I Can't see Winder or Thorpe or any of those guys on the border of being Major leaguers doing any better than Archer can do but i could be wrong. He also brings some Veteran expierience among our young rotation. Also some much needed swag he knows that he is a major leaguer and the vibe i get from him is that he is going to go get that starting spot.

[Linus]

3 minutes ago, jrod23 said:

Not a bad signing.  Not a great signing.  Give me a list of players who have successfully returned to form after Thoracic Outlet Surgery.  There isn't one.  However, he may give us sufficient innings to hold us over to the trade deadline.  Maybe more will be available at the deadline than right now.

This. I am not aware of any pitcher going thru this surgery that has come back. It’s a crying shame that our one year with Correa is going to be wasted with this pitching staff. 

[Brock Beauchamp]

28 minutes ago, PseudoSABR said:

Yes, but I threw that in that for sarcasm...  Would you rather have Cueto at a higher AAV? This feels pretty low risk at 3.5, given the affordable two-year deal if he bounces back.

Oh, I know, I was just being sarcastic in return.

I don't have anything against Archer - in fact, I probably like him the best out of the remaining/recently signed options, including Pineda - but there were lots of better options that went off the table months ago and we don't need to beat that dead horse again. I still firmly believe more significant gains should have been made earlier, even if they weren't super-splashy. 

[Shaitan]

40 minutes ago, howeda7 said:

I have no issue with this as long as the leash is short enough. I give him and Bundy both 5 starts. If the ERA is over 5.50 at that point you're cut. Period.

I think last season showed that this FO is willing to do that faster than the previous.

Or maybe I remember things wrong.

[Shaitan]

2 hours ago, GKuehl said:

At this point, it's better than nothing. My only worry is that this is the final move -- I'm still holding out hope for a top-tier starter via trade. But I wonder if teams are asking for the moon to part with their quality SP (aka Arraez, Martin, and Winder, or some similar package, for Montas). 

I'm sure teams are asking for too much.

With their rotation of 2 weeks ago, they absolutely looked like they'd make a desperation move. It gives the other side leverage.

Hopefully they've upgraded a couple pegs closer toward mediocrity. For all the reasons.

[IndianaTwin]

1 hour ago, whosafraidofluigirussolo said:

One reason for concern: He had thoracic outlet syndrome, and that's a worrisome injury from which some pitchers never come back fully.

One reason for optimism: Tying an incentive to games with nine or more outs recorded is interesting. It's probably responding to the uncertainty about how much pitching Archer can handle after his recent injuries, but it also suggests that he's prepared for a piggyback or multi-inning relief role, and hopefully it indicates something about the Twins' readiness to upgrade in midseason if there's an upgrade (internal or external) available.

I wonder if the "nine or more outs" also speaks to being able to use him at the ML level before he's "fully stretched out," particularly with the benefit of two more relief pitchers available.  

[jorgenswest]

55 minutes ago, jrod23 said:

Not a bad signing.  Not a great signing.  Give me a list of players who have successfully returned to form after Thoracic Outlet Surgery.  There isn't one. 

Frankie Montas is one. Kenny Rogers had it in 2001 and was 75-39 in the 5 years following (2003 with the Twins). There are other success stories.

That is not to argue that we should expect success. Several like Harvey and Hughes have not returned.

My source is  the Athletic.

[The Mad King]

[jimbo92107]

Isn't Archer on the verge of being another "tightrope veteran," that is, a guy whose velo is down around 90 mph, so he has to pitch like an artist to survive? Some guys can do it, but I haven't heard if Archer is one of them. He dominated when he could bring it in the upper 90's, but now he needs to be clever, and the question will hover over his season: Are none of the Twins pitching prospects better than this?

[Minfidel]

2 hours ago, LewFordLives said:

Someone is going to have to get cut from the 40-man. Vallimont?

Thorpe. G'day. 

[Richmond Dude]

I'm okay with it, but the Twins have a long history of letting these second-chance guys hold on too long.  I don't want to watch Happ or Shoemaker again like we did last year.  They let those guys go way too late and it hurt the team.

[Brandon]

7 minutes ago, Richmond Dude said:

I'm okay with it, but the Twins have a long history of letting these second-chance guys hold on too long.  I don't want to watch Happ or Shoemaker again like we did last year.  They let those guys go way too late and it hurt the team.

Again Shoemaker was given a longer leash because there were so many injured pitchers they literally had no one to replace him for the last 3 or 4 starts he was here.