Monday, June 22,
2009
Twins Promote
Keppel
According
to the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, the Twins promoted right hander Bobby
Keppel to the team after Sunday’s game.
Starting pitcher Bobby Keppel, who was scheduled to start
today, was called up to the Twins after the game.
"Sending Keppel up to the major leagues
takes the pain away," Cliburn said. "He's a class act and we wish him
the best."
He is incredibly worthy of this
promotion. It will just be very interesting to see the other half of the
transaction. Will the Twins DFA Sean Henn or Luis
Ayala, or will they send Jose
Morales, who based on playing time since his promotion, should be demoted
as well. Who do you think? Updates to come.
UPDATE – I have
been able to confirm that Keppel has been promoted, but the other part of the
transaction has not been made yet.
UPDATE – Luis
Ayala has been Designated for Assignment by the Twins to make room for Bobby Keppel.
ATTEMPT AT ANALYSIS
– I have to admit to being a little surprised at the quick hook given to Luis Ayala. He started the season
horrible, but had actually been fairly solid of late. No, I wouldn’t want to
bring him in to tough situations, but he had done adequately. It really appears
that the bad weekend for the bullpen necessitated a move. Sean Henn is left-handed and throws
pretty hard. His track record shows control issues. But again, at times, he has
been OK too. Henn warranted his promotion at the
time, to see what he could do. Bobby
Keppel has not only earned this promotion, but I believe his contract
indicates that he (like Mike Gosling
who recently was promoted by Cleveland) could have become a free agent. I don’t
know that Keppel is really the answer for any of the Twins needs. I think he
can be solid, and really, that sounds like an improvement. I read someone
comment that Keppel has proven nothing in the big leagues. That is true.
However, anyone that says that has to say the very same thing about Rob Delaney and Anthony Slama, right? Everyone wanted Matt Guerrier let go after his struggles
over two months last season. How is he doing this year? There are no sure
things in the bullpen (other than Joe
Nathan apparently, and when the Twins got him, I don’t think any of us
imagined that he would become so great). The ‘sure-thing’ for the bullpen this
offseason was Juan Cruz, right? How
is that going? (Yes, I was very wrong on that one too! I can admit it!)
During my
live chat last Thursday, I posted the following:
Who would you rather have right now?
Juan Cruz
and his 5.40 ERA, 16 BB, 17 K in 25 IP at $8.5 million over two years
OR
Luis Ayala
and his 4.06 ERA, 7 BB, 21 K in 31 IP at $1.25 million for this year AND Kyle Gibson for the
next decade?
The response was pretty
one-sided. Hindsight is a wonderful thing! One look on the bright side says
that at least the Twins didn’t listen to ‘us’ and sign Juan Cruz!!
Any thoughts? Leave
your Comments here.