2012 Wish List, Part VI: Take the Bullpen Seriously

Remember a year ago when one of the biggest gripes certain Twins fans could come up with was calling Jesse Crain "Crainwreck"? Remember a year ago when certain Twins fans were so fed up with Matt Guerrier they couldn't be bothered with pronouncing his name correctly?

Yeah...I wonder what those certain fans think about those guys now?

I miss them too.

I have to admit that the old cliche of you don't know what you've got until it's gone applies to me regarding the Twins bullpen of yesteryear. And as much I would love to have either one or both of those guys back, it's too late to rue the decisions of the past.

Too bad the present isn't much fun.

The current bullpen owns the worst cumulative ERA in all of baseball (4.53). The front office can't expect to win very many games when they can't trust the men at the back end of the game to preserve leads or, at the very least, keep the team close. Unfortunately, however, the front office has shown over the last few years that it doesn't worry too much about the state of the bullpen. Fans have been fed lines that everything will be ok with the guys we have for a while now.

We can't have Crain or Guerrier back (well, I suppose we could, but I doubt it). But that doesn't mean we have to be stuck with what we have.

Here's the plan I wish for:

Bring Nathan back. The Twins have a $12 million option to keep him one more year. That's pretty spendy; I don't see Bill Smith willing to pony up that kind of money. And frankly, that's too much for a relief pitcher. However, I would like the Twins to let him test the free agent market and then actively pursue him for less money. He turns 37 this off-season; his next multi-year contract will likely be his last. I can see him taking the security of more years and still make it affordable for the Twins.

Tender Glen Perkins another contract. I used to kind of hate him as a starter. I really like him as a set up man.

Find a new home for Kevin Slowey. His, um, philosophical differences with the team are simply too chaotic to overcome. He'll probably succeed elsewhere; he just doesn't fit with the Twins.

Put Anthony Swarzak and Brian Duensing back to the bullpen and keep them as middle-inning and long relievers.

Say good-bye to Phil Dumatrait, Jose Mijares, and Matt Capps. They simply don't pitch well enough and have proven that they can't be trusted. Maybe send Alex Burnett on his way as well.

Then, find good, reliable replacements. I like the promise that Lester Oliveros has shown, though I'm not sure he's really ready for the big leagues yet. He's only 23; let him earn a spot in spring training. Otherwise, make some trades and sign some new guys.

And maybe just make a quick phone call to Jesse Crain and Matt Guerrier.

~~~

Since I mentioned Matt Capps, here's his paper doll:

If I remember correctly, he was unavailable for a few games mid-season because he had some forearm soreness. Or was it shoulder? Elbow? I guess I can't remember correctly.

Anyway, he's the last one of the guys who were on the Opening Day roster.

Absent

Yes, I've been absent for a while. I am in the middle of a project that I must finish by tomorrow night, so I've been busy with that. In fact, I've got to keep this quick.

Not that I have much that I want to write about. It's damned hard to refrain from bitching and complaining while this Twins team plays like their desire to win is absent. I don't want to spend a lot of energy ranting and grousing -- there are plenty of other blogs that do that. Oh, fans certainly deserve to rant, grouse, complain, and bitch; I certainly don't blame them, I just don't have the desire. Even the neutral, facts only type blogs are tough to read; no one can scrape together two nice things to say about this mess.

We all know nothing is going right; and fans are mad. This series against the Blue Jays exposed a lot of faults: not locating pitches, not making adjustments, not fielding routine plays, on and on and on. This team is not having fun and it shows. The fans aren't having fun either.

Time to change subjects; I promised not to start complaining...

~~~

DL Report:

Yup. It's time to break out the DL paper doll machine.

Left-handed relief pitcher Jose Mijares has been placed on the DL with a strained elbow.

In his relief appearance on Saturday, his velocity was down and his command was virtually non-existent.

RHP Anthony Swarzak has been recalled from AAA to take his place.

Additionally, the Twins felt that the services of Jim Hoey were no longer required, so they reassigned him to AAA. The Twins purchased the contract of LHP Phil Dumatrait to take his place.

To make room on the 40-man roster for Dumatrait, the Twins designated C Steve Holm for assignment. This means that Holm must pass through waivers.

Other DL Updates:

OF Delmon Young has been activated (did anyone tell him that, because he played on Sunday like he was still resting) and OF Rene Tosoni has been reassigned to AAA Rochester to make room.