Astros Claim Samuel Deduno Off Waivers, Aaron Thompson Called Up

So long, crazy fastball. It's been announced that the Astros claimed Samuel Deduno off waivers. These are not your typical August revocable waivers where the Twins could have worked out a trade or pulled him back. Rather, it sounded like the Twins wanted to outright him to Triple-A, but the Astros stepped in and claimed him (think Craig Breslow a few years ago).

It's a curious decision for the Twins for multiple reasons. One, though his overall ERA wasn't great, he was performing pretty well as a reliever. Here are his relief numbers this season: 3.21 ERA, 3.82 FIP, .241/.338/.358 allowed, 8.61 K/9, 3.71 BB/9, 0.68 HR/9, 49% GB rate. All of those are pretty solid for a middle reliever, and yet the Twins chose to just dump him.

Second, I've seen some people on Twitter suggest that the Twins gave him up to clear room on the 40-man roster... except they didn't need to. There were already 2 spots open, so if they wanted to add Alex Meyer or Lester Oliveros, they could have done so already. Third, rosters expand in two days anyway. If the Twins wanted to see another player for the rest of the season, couldn't they have just waited? Finally, Deduno wasn't even expensive so there's no way that this move is a salary dump.

In the grand scheme of things, this is a move that doesn't make much of a difference for the rest of the season or even for the future. Still, it's one of those things where Deduno could contribute a little to the team, but the Twins evidently either wanted to see some other players in the majors or felt someone else could provide the exact same production.

No corresponding move will be announced to fill Deduno's vacated 25-man and 40-man roster spots until tomorrow, according to Rhett Bollinger.

Edit: Never mind, apparently the Twins already made the move. According to Mike Berardino, the Twins called up Aaron Thompson to replace Deduno.

This move is utterly baffling. Thompson is a 27-year old lefty reliever that has been in the Twins system since 2012. He made his major league debut in 2011, making 4 appearances (1 start) for the Pirates as he chalked up a 7.04 ERA in 7 2/3 innings. This year, he's had a 3.98 ERA over 52 innings, posting a solid 8.83 K/9 but also having a 4.50 BB/9.

With Brian Duensing and Caleb Thielbar on the roster already, the Twins didn't exactly need another lefty out of the bullpen. Also, with September just around the corner and two empty spots already on the 40-man roster prior to losing Deduno, it seems like the Twins could have just waited two more days to add Thompson to the active roster.