Twins call up Keppel

No word on who's going down. The Twins probably have to wait to DFA a pitcher to make room. Alternatively, they could option Morales back.

5 months ago cmathewson 22 comments 0 recs |

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Hopefully Ayala is done.

That was a waste of a pickup in the first place.

by Neil on Jun 22, 2009 2:20 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I agree

They’re probably waiting to try to trade him today. If they can’t trade him, they’ll have to DFA him.

"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot

by cmathewson on Jun 22, 2009 2:30 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

disagree

I don’t think MN gives up on him yet. Henn or Morales goes down is my prediction.

by ajmargarine on Jun 22, 2009 3:08 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

So he would need to be DFAed. I don’t think the Twins want to lose his arm after losing Breslow. If they were going to option Morales out, don’t you think they would have done that by now? Why wait? There are only two reasons to wait to make a move: Trying to finalize a trade or trying to wait the required 48 hours after designating a guy for assignment.

"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot

by cmathewson on Jun 22, 2009 3:18 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

hmmm

I didn’t know Henn was out of options.

Why wait? Because without a game today, they can afford to wait. It might be for the reasons you’re saying. Maybe they’re seeing if Punto needs to go on the DL. Maybe Henn slams his hand in a car door today and needs to go on the DL tomorrow. They don’t have to start paying Kep a major league salary until tomorrow saving them a few bucks. Lotsa reasons.

by ajmargarine on Jun 22, 2009 3:29 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

They can DFA him and then still try to trade him after

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by fetch9 on Jun 22, 2009 3:27 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yes, but if they DFA him, they lose leverage in a possible trade

"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot

by cmathewson on Jun 22, 2009 3:30 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

It’s Luis Ayala. There’s probably no leverage anyways.

stop by Waving the Wheat (http://wavingthewheat.wordpress.com/) and The College Hockey Blog (http://thecollegehockeyblog.wordpress.com/)

by fetch9 on Jun 22, 2009 3:59 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Just to clarify

Keppel’s not on the 40 man roster. So somebody will have to be removed from there for Keppel to come up to the bigs. First option imo is Matt Macri. With Tolbert, Casilla, Tolleson, Plouffe, and Hughes we don’t need Macri on the 40 man.

by ajmargarine on Jun 22, 2009 3:05 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Maybe not

I just counted up the names on the 40-man roster from the Twins’ official site, and there were 40 including Neshek, who’s on the 60-day DL and doesn’t count. They might not have to remove anyone, although that only matters if they’re sending down a guy with options.

"There are only two things that are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." - Albert Einstein

by BeefMaster on Jun 22, 2009 3:39 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

They could put Boof on the 60-day DL

But again, why wait to do that?

"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot

by cmathewson on Jun 22, 2009 3:45 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

good catch

you’re right. we only have a 39 man roster with Neshek on the 60 day

by ajmargarine on Jun 22, 2009 3:53 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Keppel

should be able to be the long man in the Twins pen. This could open the door for Dickey to be used in more of a set up role. We don’t have to lie to ourselves and see Dickey as a set up saviour; but, he’s been hot lately, and we can maybe ride the hot hand for a few weeks/month(s) in high leverage situations.

by ajmargarine on Jun 22, 2009 3:13 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

From someone who doesn't know the AAA players...

I was hoping Keppel was a 2B

by y2jayjk on Jun 22, 2009 3:19 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

You know, it's an indictment of the front office and their passivity this off-season

that the best they can do is just cycle through replacement level relievers in an attempt to get some decent innings. I’m all for trying to cobble together an inexpensive bullpen, but at a certain point, broken down guys and never weres aren’t going to get it done.

Bobby Keppel is a bad pitcher. He’s likely going to get hammered in the majors. There isn’t a lot of upside here.

by Eric in Madison on Jun 22, 2009 3:28 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

From the Trib article

Keppel had an agreement in his contract that would have allowed him to become a free agent after July 1 if he was not called up to the major leagues.

^^ Anyone make anything out of this part of the equation?

by ajmargarine on Jun 22, 2009 3:32 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Yes

If Keppel is better than Ayala and they will lose one or the other, they’d rather lose Ayala.

"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot

by cmathewson on Jun 22, 2009 3:48 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Sure, the contract might have something to do with it

but is there any evidence that Keppel is actually better than Ayala? Frankly, I think both are pretty bad, but the weight of the evidence suggests to me that Keppel is actually worse. He just hasn’t been around to irritate us.

by Eric in Madison on Jun 22, 2009 3:58 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

He can't be much worse

"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot

by cmathewson on Jun 22, 2009 4:03 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Well, maybe not

but Ayala’s peripherals aren’t horrible—better than 2:1 strikout to walk ratio, which is better than Keppel’s minor league career numbers.

I’m not going to spend time defending Ayala—having him in any kind of leveraged role is just asking for trouble. Keppel’s pretty bad though.

by Eric in Madison on Jun 22, 2009 4:21 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Zoinks

I just looked up Keppel’s stats on B-R… good lord, this is what the Twins’ bullpen has come to? Here are his last four years’ stats at AAA:

2006: 5.67 ERA, 1.566 WHIP, 3.9 K/9, 2.6 BB/9
2007: 5.38 ERA, 1.609 WHIP, 4.2 K/9, 3.9 BB/9
2008: 5.99 ERA, 1.663 WHIP, 4.8 K/9, 3.2 BB/9
2009: 2.44 ERA, 1.157 WHIP, 4.6 K/9, 2.1 BB/9

I will note that he was a starter from 2006-2008 before becoming primarily a reliever this year, so it’s possible that the switch has helped him out (one of those “his third and fourth pitches suck” or “they figure him out the second time through the order” guys). What I’m worried about, though, is that his walks and strikeouts aren’t really that much better – the improvement is almost entirely due to big drops in his hit and home run rates, which you’d completely expect after moving from the PCL to the International League. He gave up 1.5 HR/9 last year, and this year he’s given up just 1 HR in 55 innings.

In short, he’s been better this year than he has through the rest of his AAA career (which has, honestly, been ghastly), but there’s a decent chance that it’s almost entirely due to a more pitcher-friendly league, a better defense, and/or luck. I can’t say I’m getting my hopes up all that high.

"There are only two things that are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." - Albert Einstein

by BeefMaster on Jun 22, 2009 4:33 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs