Twins Place Scott Diamond On Waivers; Pitching Staff Set

Mike Berardino has reported that the Twins placed Scott Diamond on waivers Tuesday afternoon. As a result, the deadline for other teams to place a claim is 1:00pm Thursday. Nobody claimed Vance Worley last week, but because Diamond is left-handed it will be interesting to see if teams believe he has more value as a result.

The move essentially means that the pitching half of the Opening Day roster equation is complete. Your Minnesota Twins rotation includes Ricky Nolasco, Phil Hughes, Kevin Correia, Mike Pelfrey, and Kyle Gibson, while your bullpen includes Glen Perkins, Casey Fien, Jared Burton, Brian Duensing, Samuel Deduno, Caleb Thielbar, and Anthony Swarzak.

Diamond had pinpoint command and a good deal of luck in his side in 2012, when he became the darling starter for the club by posting a surprising 3.54 ERA in 27 starts and 173 innings. The luck imploded in 2013 and perhaps reversed course, as did his command, and he struggled to a 5.43 ERA in 24 starts and just 131 innings.

Minnesota has, this spring, been surprisingly willing to go against incumbency and players in whom they've invested. So far they've passed on Worley and Diamond, have shunted Deduno to the bullpen in favor of Gibson, have optioned Ryan Pressly to Triple-A, and Alex Presley will be on the bench on Opening Day if he makes the roster at all.