According to the transactions on the team's official site, the Twins have released righty reliever Bobby Keppel. Keppel appeared in 37 games for Minnesota last season, and had a 4.83 ERA with a 5.3 K/9 in 54 innings. He's also pitched for the Royals and Rockies in his career.
Patrick Newman at NPB Tracker passed along a report earlier this offseason saying that the Hanshin Tigers were looking at Keppel.
was he on the 40 man roster…if so that could mean we are about to sign Washburn, which has been rumored.
if this is so it would open a spot on our 40-man roster indicating that we are close to signing Washburn.
God willing it means we’re getting ANYONE but Washburn.
I’m rather surprised, but thank god. This guy was a disaster after his first half dozen or so appearances.
He was on the 40-man. I would guess this means some move is about to be made. I hope it’s Hud or Lopez, not Washburn as samyell suggests.
Yup most defintely a 40 man clearing move.
Why the dislike over Washburn? I realize we probably need infield help more, but Washburn is a solid starting pitcher. He pitched great up until his injury with Detroit to finish the year last season.
He pitched ok at best, and was aided heavily by his park (Seattle), defense, and just some good old fashioned hit-it-where-your-defense-is luck (Mariners BABIP was 0.250 over 20 starts). He only struck out 5.1 per 9 last year, and is a fly ball pitcher. He projects to a high-4.XX ERA starter at best, and I’d rather see the Twins roll with Liriano, with Duensing in their back pocket. His K’s, BB’s and ground ball rate were about the same as Jamie Moyer last year.
Because he’s not solid at all. He’s at best a number five starter, of which we have plenty. He was solid in front of the best defense in baseball, after moving to a below average defense he was terrible. The Twins have a substantially below average defense.
No, he was solid until he injured his knee. He was pitching hurt for the last part of last season. And he’s more than solid. Even if he’s only a No. 5 pitcher for the Twins, it means an even better bullpen or the ability to trade a surplus of arms to fill other holes. Can’t see why anyone would hate the move.
Because he has only posted an xFIP less than 4.7 twice in his career, and generally hovers around 5. He hasn’t pitched 200 innings since 2003. What in the world is there to like about him? Either Swarzak or Duensing would be substantially cheaper and provide equal if not greater production.
Depends on the deal – not sure why you wouldn’t go after a Bedard or Sheets that are 4 years younger and have bigger upsides. Nobody saw Washburn’s ’09 season coming, nobody wanted him before that. Now they’re going to spend what little they claim to have on a 35 year old off a career year and knee surgery? Makes no sense.
Keppel’s start to the season was pretty incredible, even if it was obvious it wouldn’t last. One run through his first 16 innings at a time when our bullpen was struggling was a huge boost. The 28 runs over his next 38 innings… well, yeah… let’s just say I’m not gonna miss him.
Once batters started laying off the splitter/sinker in the dirt he was doomed. It was fun while it lasted though.
Washburn would be a disaster in anything but a National Park, like Yellowstone for example. He’d be worse in front of Delmon full time. And he wouldn’t even be cheap. Add to that the fact that the “youngsters” like Slowey are getting into their late 20s and don’t need nursemaids and there’s little reason on earth to sign Jarod Washburn. If he lives near the new park he can afford to buy a ticket, which would be more helpful then donning a uniform.
Lest we not forgot who won the infamous Game 163.
It could be Washburn or it could be someone else. I agree that it is likely that a signing is imminient but it could be an infielder (please God, not Orlando Hudson or Robb Quinlan) or it could be another pitcher. For better or for worse, there isn’t a lot of speculation about Twins deals – except for the Santana situation – until after they are announced. There were no advance rumors that the Twins were close to getting Hardy, Rauch, Pavano, or Mahay. The Delmon Young trade came out of the blue as well.
I can live with Washburn because I don’t think he will cost that much and he’s a serviceable fifth starter. But, I think signing him means that Twins will have a deal pending for Liriano or Perkins.
I’m curious why you say “please god no” to O-Dawg but you’re okay with signing Washburn as a fifth starter? I’d rather have Liriano as our 5th starter than Washburn any day of the week. First of all, Liriano in 2008 once he came back was quite good. Secondly, despite the Franchise’s brutal numbers last year, his xFIP was LOWER than Washburn’s (Franchise 4.55, Washburn 4.73).
I think giving up on him and/or trading him now is a terrible idea. Duensing, Perkins, Swarzak, hell, even Blackburn are all just a guy. Liriano could be more than that. Washburn is just a guy who would cost 10x what these guys will cost. And if we do sign him that means there’s about 0% we give Liriano a chance to get his groove back. And I think that’s a terrible, short sighted decision. Worst case scenario is he’s terrible and we plug in one one of Duensing, Manship, et al. and get basically the same production we’d get out of Washburn at 1/10th the cost.
My fingers are crossed for Felipe Lopez. I’m expecting a Washburn-level signing, though.
who cares i am sure it is some wash up that’s all the twins ever sign i cant wait till the stadium sits empty next year after mauer is with the bo sox it will serve them lying pholads right for one so sick of there lying year after year gets old. we will never conted with harris or punto as are starters at second and third
I do agree that this is a pre-acquisition move to create room on the 40 man, most likely for an infielder. I think that they feel that they can find a 5th starter out of the Liriano, Perkins, Duensing, Swarzak, Manship group. I’d rather see them sign a 2B and have Punto play 3B since they have minor league help coming at 3B.
People can complain about Punto all they want, but he will be an everyday player this season because of his salary. And if you want to look at the numbers, he does hit about .290 every other year, so he’s due 😉
If I had to guess at a signing, I’d guess either Orlando Hudson or Miguel Tejada on a 1 yr deal.
Punto has had two good hitting seasons. Both were when he was a util infielder. As a starter he hits under .230