Giants looking at Twins Bullpen - Should we trade?

[Danchat]

4:36pm: Schulman notes that excepting Glen Perkins, whom the Twins are unlikely to trade, the interesting reliever for the Giants in Minnesota's bullpen is Casey Fien. However, Schulman doesn't know whether the righty, who's posted a 3.55 ERA in 38 appearances, is available.

11:33am: Elder, a Giants scout, was in Minnesota last night to see the Twins' bullpen rather than Chamberlain, tweets Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle. Casey Fien,Jared Burton, Brian Duensing, and Josh Roenicke appeared for the Twins, with Burton and Duensing struggling.

Link: Minnesota Twins Rumors: MLB Rumors - MLBTradeRumors.com

 

Should the Twins listen to offers for Glen Perkins and Casey Fien? How good should the prospect be for either one? The Giants might think Fien is a cheap option, but I hope the Twins have his pricetag high.

[Highabove]

The Twins could get a good prospect for Caleb Thielbar.

Heck, the Twins only paid a few thousand dollars to Mike Veck to get him.

 

(Sarcasm Alert)

[Vervehound]

perkins for kyle crick straight up. being that we don't have clue as an organization at ss, i'd kick the tires on joe panik too - perkins would be one of the most prominent guys on the market and we may be able to get a package with his contract.

[diehardtwinsfan]

The Twins should be listening on all of them. I wouldn't expect a ton of return for anyone except for Perkins. Theilbar and Fein are young enough that I could see them asking a bit more, but don't expect a lot.

[Thrylos]

If the Twins can get anything in real prospect terms for Fien, Thielbar, Roenicke and other MiLB FAs or waiver wire players they signed, a. it would be a miracle and b. they should close the deal yesterday, before they pull a Burton...

[Thrylos]

The Twins should be listening on all of them. I wouldn't expect a ton of return for anyone except for Perkins. Theilbar and Fein are young enough that I could see them asking a bit more, but don't expect a lot.

 

Fein is 29. Just months younger than Perkins...

[Winston Smith]

Why wouldn't all the Twins be on the table or are we still playing the "we can still get in the race" idea?

[diehardtwinsfan]

Why wouldn't all the Twins be on the table or are we still playing the "we can still get in the race" idea?

 

High upside guys with lots of years left should not be on the table. I would have Plouffe, Arcia, Hicks, Parmelee, and Gibson, all off the table.

[Danchat]

Why wouldn't all the Twins be on the table or are we still playing the "we can still get in the race" idea?

I'm not sending the Giants Fien if we get a Low-A Outfielder who's a C prospect.

Everyone should be on the table, but the price has to be right.

[diehardtwinsfan]

I'm not sending the Giants Fien if we get a Low-A Outfielder who's a C prospect.

Everyone should be on the table, but the price has to be right.

 

I didn't realize how good he's been doing. Did he pick up some speed on his pitches like Perkins, or what?

[YourHouseIsMyHouse]

The offer would have to be worthwhile. If we expect to compete in the next two years, we definitely need some bullpen guys to hang on to. Fien has quite a bit a value for the Twins that I'm not sure other teams would match with a trade. He's been a very good pitcher, is under team control until 2019, and is under 30. If there's any reliever I'd like them to trade, it's Swarzak. He's built a successful season so far and probably has reached peak value. All the bullpen should be up for sale, but Fien and Perkins both must yield very high value in return.

[YourHouseIsMyHouse]

I didn't realize how good he's been doing. Did he pick up some speed on his pitches like Perkins, or what?

 

He's given up 1ER in his past 14 Innings Pitched.

[Highabove]

If the Twins can get anything in real prospect terms for Fien, Thielbar, Roenicke and other MiLB FAs or waiver wire players they signed, a. it would be a miracle and b. they should close the deal yesterday, before they pull a Burton...

 

Just a few months ago, Thielbar was a prospect himself. Up to now, he has made a big splash in the Majors. Should we really trade him for yet another prospect?? A spinning Wheel that will never end.

[Einstein]

They have to listen to offers for anyone on the team not named Arcia. I wouldn't want to be just giving anyone away though (like last year), it's not like they need to cut salary.

[jorgenswest]

Half season numbers like ERA from relievers tell very little about how well they will pitch in the future. They never have enough innings to be significant. The Twins absolutely should trade Fien or Thielbar for a guy they can project to be a starting position player or pitcher.

[beckmt]

Unlikely either Fien or Thielbar would bring a significant return. Therefore they should be hung onto. Perkins should be dealt if the return is so good that they deal would be one-sided in the Twins favor, or prospects are projectable to a major league level.

[John Bonnes]

Would you trade one of them for someone like Adalbarto Mejia? He's a #10 BA prospect & close on BP's list. In High A he's got 28K in 33.2 IP in 14 BB right now. From BA:

 

Scouting Report: With his size, loose arm and potential for three solid or better pitches. Mejia could fit in the middle of a big league rotaton. He's a flyball pitcher who works off an 89-91 mph fastball that touches 93 and should gain steam as he continues to mature and fill out his 6-foot-3 frame. He can get outs with both of his secondary offerings, a slider with good tilt and depth and a changeup that he sells effectively. Mejia's ability to throw consistent strikes and keep the ball down in the zone is unusual for such a young pitcher.

 

Would that be worth it?

[Danchat]

Would that be worth it?

 

Hmmmm... for Casey Fien, sure. For Glen Perkins.... no. He's got to bring in more than that.

I don't why people are talking about trading Caleb Theilbar, he's too young to trade, too much upside, plus his streak is kind of flukey....

[diehardtwinsfan]

He's given up 1ER in his past 14 Innings Pitched.

 

New strategy:

 

Trade Perkins for a haul and install Fein as closer. Next year repeat. Install Tonkin as closer and use him for the next wave.

[cmb0252]

New strategy:

 

Trade Perkins for a haul and install Fein as closer. Next year repeat. Install Tonkin as closer and use him for the next wave.

 

Trade trusty closers? Then install a new arm to trade the next year? That is.....the smartest idea ever. BP arms are so volatile so when they have value move them when you can. Burton was a popular name last year after getting him for nothing. Now his value is way down.

[diehardtwinsfan]

Trade trusty closers? Then install a new arm to trade the next year? That is.....the smartest idea ever. BP arms are so volatile so when they have value move them when you can. Burton was a popular name last year after getting him for nothing. Now his value is way down.

 

Truthfully, you can tell the ones that will continue to perform year to year. Perkins is one of them. Fein has all the peripherals to indicate he may be of them too. But, he's also arb eligible, and as was pointed out here, about 30. Wouldn't be bad to move him too if high end pitching and/or a short stop came back.

[kab21]

I would trade Perkins for Crick since he's pretty good and SP'ing is what will make or break the team in the future.

 

Fein I would just hold onto unless there was a pretty good prospect offered. He has been really good since he came up last year. Adalberto Mejia is the type of intriguing prospect that i would be looking for.

 

There's nothing wrong with Burton or the contract he signed. He's solid but not great and he never had much trade value.

[jorgenswest]

The Twins need to evaluate Fien without the data. They need to assess based on watching him pitch. Either something has changed since he was in Rochester last summer or his numbers are an illusion of small sample in lower leverage situations.

 

Any data for a reliever is very unreliable for projection of future performance due to sample size. In Fien's case, his numbers in the minors were poor due to high home run rates. That isn't surprising given his very low ground ball rate. He also has a low BABIP of .220 this year. Is that sustainable?

 

Given his age and longer track record including the minors, I hope the Twins would listen to any offers of a moderate prospect. They don't need to mo

[PseudoSABR]

Any data for a reliever is very unreliable for projection of future performance due to sample size.

This. Though, I'd hold onto Perkins unless we're blown away with an offer, every other bullpen arm should be available for anything that might have future value. The FO has demonstrated a consistent skill in identify arms to fill out the bullpen, but elite end of the game arms (like Perkins and Nathan) should be coveted.

[DaveW]

If the Twins can get anything in real prospect terms for Fien, Thielbar, Roenicke and other MiLB FAs or waiver wire players they signed, a. it would be a miracle and b. they should close the deal yesterday, before they pull a Burton...

A little early to be writing Burton's obituary....10 bad innings doesn't erase the great nearly 1.5 years he has also given us....