Bromberg, Slama Look to Return from Lost Seasons

Following a 99-loss season, the Twins had many more transactions than most offseasons. A couple of those transactions may have been considered minor to most, but definitely stood out to me. Shortly following the season, the Twins chose to designate reliever Anthony Slama for assignment. He was removed from the 40 man roster, cleared waivers and was outrighted to Rochester. When the Twins announced the additions to their 40 man roster in late November, they also announced that they had removed David Bromberg from the 40 man roster. Like Slama, he cleared waivers and was outrighted to Rochester.

Although I personally disagreed with both decisions, the Twins were ultimately proven correct in these decisions. In each case, all 29 other major league teams could have claimed them for nothing and chose not to. Because neither has been in the organization long enough to be considered six-year minor league free agents, once they cleared waivers, the Twins were able to send them to the minor leagues. Because each team could have claimed him for nothing, it was unlikely that a team would pay $50,000 to select them in the Rule 5.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]

In January, the Twins announced that a dozen pitchers would be non-roster invites to spring training, competing with 22 pitchers on the 40-man roster, including Joel Zumaya and Rule 5 pick Terry Doyle. However, David Bromberg and Anthony Slama were not invited to big league camp. In other words, after years of successful pitching in the Twins organization, it took one injury-riddled season for each to seemingly be removed from the Twins short-term plans. I would suggest that Twins fans should not forget about these two talented right-handers.

DAVID BROMBERG

Bromberg was the Twins 32^nd round pick in 2005 out of Palisades High School. He didn’t sign, but instead he went to Santa Ana College and signed with the Twins early in 2006 and a Draft-and-Follow. His career started out well right from the start:

ANTHONY SLAMA

Like Bromberg, Slama spent two years at Santa Ana College. He then went to the University of San Diego. Following his junior year, the Twins made him their 39^th round draft pick in 2006. He didn’t sign, and instead pitched his senior season at USD. However, before the 2007 draft, he signed with the Twins. Like Bromberg, Slama has found success at every level since:

The 28-year-old Slama is not a flame-thrower. He sits between 90-92 with the fastball and many say he has a deceptive delivery. His stuff isn’t off the charts, but his strikeout rates absolutely are. He has had control problems at time in the past, but his ability to get strikeouts has really helped him. In the meanwhile, the Twins have signed, claimed and drafted several pitchers who throw in the mid-90s and have even less control and come nowhere near the strikeout numbers (or any of the numbers) that Slama has, even in the upper levels. All Slama has done is dominate at every level.

On the other hand, 24-year-old Bromberg has also pitched well up to AA and in a short AAA stint. His fastball sits 88-91. He has a four-pitch mix. Just two seasons ago, he weighed in at over 260 pounds. He worked incredibly hard and got down to 210 pounds. That, work ethic, was often the question with Bromberg. No longer. He is one of the hardest workers in the organization.

The concern with Slama remains the elbow, although to this point in the spring, his elbow is feeling very good. With Bromberg, he had a broken forearm, but it has healed. His injury was not elbow or shoulder related.

2011 was a lost season for both Anthony Slama and David Bromberg. Both are no longer on the Twins’ 40 man roster. However, Slama will start the 2012 season in the Rochester bullpen where he should continue to dominate. Bromberg will be starting for the New Britain Rock Cats to start the 2012 season. In other words, both will start the 2012 season where they started the 2011 season. It’s possible that both of them will end up the season back on the 40 man roster, and potentially on the big league roster.