Andrew Albers now leading International League in K's.

[robbie111]

Albers now leads the International League in K's with 116 after todays start which was 8 Ip 5 hits and 1 BB with 2 runs given up. His whip is 1.18 and his Era is down to 2.86 for the year. With Butera's trade maybe Albers gets put on the 40 man roster and called up.

[Monkeypaws]

Albers now leads the International League in K's with 116 after todays start which was 8 Ip 5 hits and 1 BB with 2 runs given up. His whip is 1.18 and his Era is down to 2.86 for the year. With Butera's trade maybe Albers gets put on the 40 man roster and called up.

 

 

It would be interesting to see how his approach worked at the major league level.

[Thrylos]

He deserves it, but they either need to trade (Pelfrey, Correia) or demote (Diamond) a starter for that to happen.

[nicksaviking]

He deserves it, but they either need to trade (Pelfrey, Correia) or demote (Diamond) a starter for that to happen.

 

What's with the "or"?

 

Albers has a surprisingly low-key but impressive track record with affiliated baseball. He's 27 but only been in the MLB system for three years. The increased K/9 is surprising, but with a lefty, you never know, those numbers can sometimes stick even with uninspiring stuff. The strikeouts seem to have increased from the first half of the year, maybe he's discovered something.

[Mr. Brooks]

He deserves it, but they either need to trade (Pelfrey, Correia) or demote (Diamond) a starter for that to happen.

 

Yeah, its a pity that he's in an organization where he is blocked by so many quality starting pitchers.

[drjim]

Yeah, its a pity that he's in an organization where he is blocked by so many quality starting pitchers.

 

The bigger issue is probably that he'll be lucky to be as good as Diamond. But what the hell, might as well give him a shot.

[Mr. Brooks]

The bigger issue is probably that he'll be lucky to be as good as Diamond. But what the hell, might as well give him a shot.

 

If the bolded is true he should probably give up baseball right now. Diamond is at best a #5 on a .500 team, he's a mop up reliever on a winning team. He's a left handed Nick Blackburn.

But if you think more than that of Diamond, that is fine. Our entire starting rotation (outside of Gibson) probably fits that description, so I really could care less which guy is sent down to make room for Albers.

In fact, I'm not even pining for Albers to get his shot. I just found the suggestion that anyone in our starting rotation is blocking someone a little amusing.

[ThePuck]

If the bolded is true he should probably give up baseball right now. Diamond is at best a #5 on a .500 team, he's a mop up reliever on a winning team. He's a left handed Nick Blackburn.

But if you think more than that of Diamond, that is fine. Our entire starting rotation (outside of Gibson) probably fits that description, so I really could care less which guy is sent down to make room for Albers.

In fact, I'm not even pining for Albers to get his shot. I just found the suggestion that anyone in our starting rotation is blocking someone a little amusing.

 

And MAYBE not even outside of Gibson...

[robbie111]

Hopefully he can show something up here if and when he is promoted, just for the mental health of the fan base. Although if the Twins keep losing maybe they can draft top 3 this year.

[Ncgo4]

Yeah, its a pity that he's in an organization where he is blocked by so many quality starting pitchers.

Today's preoccupation with top end speed is nuts. Okay, okay, I know all the 20 and 30 game winners these day can get it up to 97, but might there be a place somewhere in the Twins lineup for a Warren Sahn kind of pitcher who threw it about 87 (and didn't have a curve ball). I'm not claiming Albers is the next Spahn, just making a point. The staff we have now should not hold any one up.

 

If they need to clear space or money trade a couple of pitchers for some baseballs or anything, even if they have to pay some salary. We get two things from this. First we find out about a relatively young prospect. Secondly, if he cannot throw at the ML level it helps our draft position. Seems like a no lose deal.

[drjim]

If the bolded is true he should probably give up baseball right now. Diamond is at best a #5 on a .500 team, he's a mop up reliever on a winning team. He's a left handed Nick Blackburn.

But if you think more than that of Diamond, that is fine. Our entire starting rotation (outside of Gibson) probably fits that description, so I really could care less which guy is sent down to make room for Albers.

In fact, I'm not even pining for Albers to get his shot. I just found the suggestion that anyone in our starting rotation is blocking someone a little amusing.

 

I just think people should be realistic about Albers. Nothing more.

 

But I agree no one should be blocking him.

[Mr. Brooks]

Today's preoccupation with top end speed is nuts. Okay, okay, I know all the 20 and 30 game winners these day can get it up to 97, but might there be a place somewhere in the Twins lineup for a Warren Sahn kind of pitcher who threw it about 87 (and didn't have a curve ball). I'm not claiming Albers is the next Spahn, just making a point. The staff we have now should not hold any one up.

 

If they need to clear space or money trade a couple of pitchers for some baseballs or anything, even if they have to pay some salary. We get two things from this. First we find out about a relatively young prospect. Secondly, if he cannot throw at the ML level it helps our draft position. Seems like a no lose deal.

 

Did you think I was serious that anyone is being blocked by anyone in our starting rotation? I would have thought the sarcasm would have been quite ease to perceive, given how awful our rotation is.

[Joe A. Preusser]

Did you think I was serious that anyone is being blocked by anyone in our starting rotation? I would have thought the sarcasm would have been quite ease to perceive, given how awful our rotation is.

 

Apparently I was the only one who picked up on it, it was not subtle.

[jorgenswest]

Based on the pitches Albers throws, his low groundball rate and neutral to reverse platoon splits, successful pitchers he is most similar to are Bruce Chen and Barry Zito. There have been many with a similar profile that were not successful.

 

While in the minors coming up, Chen and Zito had much higher strike outs rates than Albers. I don't know if it is possible to be successful and be a poor man's Bruce Chen, but that might be Albers.

 

Yes. The Twins should call him up and give him starts. Why give Pelfrey starts? Unless he wants to agree to a Twins a one year extension(unlikely with Boras), the Twins should give the starts to Albers. There is no need to give the starts to Pelfrey so that he builds his value for someone else. I am sure he gives them the appearance of wanting to stay. It is smart business sense to give that impression. Signing a guy coming off TJS without a team option wasn't a good decision.

[nicksaviking]

Today's preoccupation with top end speed is nuts. Okay, okay, I know all the 20 and 30 game winners these day can get it up to 97, but might there be a place somewhere in the Twins lineup for a Warren Sahn kind of pitcher who threw it about 87 (and didn't have a curve ball). I'm not claiming Albers is the next Spahn, just making a point. The staff we have now should not hold any one up.

 

If they need to clear space or money trade a couple of pitchers for some baseballs or anything, even if they have to pay some salary. We get two things from this. First we find out about a relatively young prospect. Secondly, if he cannot throw at the ML level it helps our draft position. Seems like a no lose deal.

 

Spahn wasn't overpowering, but when he pitched, 87 MPH likely would have been a pretty decent heater. Even Bob Feller, who says he threw 105 MPH (total BS) only had a career K/9 of 6.1.

 

Baseball is different today, most teams emphisize keeping the hitters from putting the ball in play, thus pitchers throw harder which is almost surely the reason guys don't go deeper into games and amass much higher inning counts.

 

I want to give Albers a shot, but the other clubs are intentionally loading up on starters with better velocity and high strikeouts, why shouldn't the Twins?

[Shane Wahl]

Albers might end up being a good long relief option if he doesn't perform as a starter. Swarzak is going to be paid a bit more next year and he is either going to be gone or probably move into a true middle relief role. He certainly deserves time with the Twins pronto, though. But there are people who think that Pelfrey should be RE-SIGNED next year, so . . . .

[jorgenswest]

The Twins have no more right to Pelfrey next year than anyone else. They can not force him to resign at a reasonable deal. At this point, a reasonable deal has been offered and rejected or the Twins are not interested in him returning. I assume that it has been offered and turned down. Pelfrey wants to go into free agency again. This time with a healthy arm. It is easy to understand why he wouldn't take a deal now without hearing from the other 29.

 

The Twins have Albers under team control. They should invest innings in Albers.

[Major League Ready]

The Twins have no more right to Pelfrey next year than anyone else. They can not force him to resign at a reasonable deal. At this point, a reasonable deal has been offered and rejected or the Twins are not interested in him returning. I assume that it has been offered and turned down. Pelfrey wants to go into free agency again. This time with a healthy arm. It is easy to understand why he wouldn't take a deal now without hearing from the other 29.

 

The Twins have Albers under team control. They should invest innings in Albers.

 

Makes sense to me. It would be hard to believe a 29 y/o SP that is a Boras client is not going to throughly investigate all his options in the off-season. Why not take a chance and hope that Albers is a surprise asset that can bridge the gap to the guys coming up through the system. Heck, at least it would be something interesting to watch. Last year, very few believed Deduno would last. Maybe Albers can be this year's pleasant surprise.

[diehardtwinsfan]

Boras almost always takes his clients to FA. Only exception would be a client that really wants to stay, but even then, I think he tends to go to FA just so they can see what they'd get. I suspect Albers will be replacing Diamond shortly, as he should. I'm not sure if he'll amount to anything at all, but it cannot hurt giving him a shot.