The Twins have acquired Brian Fuentes from the Angels according to Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com (via Twitter). LaVelle E. Neal III of The Star Tribune tweets that the Angels will receive a player to be named later in the deal.
Fuentes, 35, has a 3.52 ERA with 9.2 K/9 and 4.2 BB/9 in 38.1 innings this season. There's approximately $1.89MM left on his contract this season, and he's unlikely to reach the 55 games finished that will trigger his $9MM vesting option for next season (he's at 33 GF right now). He's saved 23 games in 27 opportunities.
Manager Ron Gardenhire said that Matt Capps will retain closer duties, pushing Fuentes to set-up work according to another Neal tweet. The former Rockie has held lefthanded batters to a .132/.209/.158 batting line against with 15 strikeouts in 44 at-bats, so he'll also be a valuable weapon against lefties.
Wow. Hope we got something decent.
It doesnt matter if we did or didnt he wasnt coming back ext year so anything we got can be used as a trade chip in the offseason
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!
Its ok buddy…
the twins wont win it anyways and we just freed up some cash (HOPEFULLY)
Ken_Rosenthal #Twins get player to be named for Fuentes. #MLB ..
So Twins must be giving up some guy either named Brian or Fuentes
Didn’t see that coming.
Heard its Brian Fuentes for Joe Mauer!!!!!!!! YESSS!!!!!
BETTER NOT BE!
Its all gravy. As long as we a) saved cash or b) got a decent prospect for cash, I like it.
Nifty addition for the twins. Sorry angels fans, but this likly means you are getting nothing for him, or alittle cash anyway.
What do you mean sorry! Thank you!!!!!
Kind of suprise twins would get someone like fuentes. He has a down year the last 2 years with the angels hopefully he can rebound with the twins.
yeah, other than leading the league in saves last season, i guess he did have a bad year. yes, his era was bad and whip too but still had to save games.
this is a surprise
Twins building a nice bullpen wish the Sox had thought of doing that 2 months ago.
hahahahahahaha
Surprised the White Sox let Fuentes slip by.
Added pressure for them to make an impact acquisition such as Manny, I’d think.
In other news, A-Rod was said to be preparing for an 0-2 meatball he was likely to get from Fuentes in the ALDS.
Fuentes as a set-up or specialist will only make Twins bullpen real tough.No matter what anyone says.
+1
Yeah I think it’s a good addition for the Twins.
As an Angel fan I will agree. Fuentes has not been a great closer but if you can put him in as a lefty specialist he will be a nice upgrade in the bullpen.
Yes – but they weren’t doing that and he was going to walk – maybe the angels resign him in the off-season for less money and make him that left handed specialist. This is a good move for the Angels and for the Twins. Capps will close, Fuentes will be an 8th inning or left handed specialist guy…and the Angels got something for a guy who was not going to be back next year unless they paid for him…and now they can still pay for him (if they want to) and get something in return. Sometimes teams give up great pieces for guys like Fuentes…after all the Angels gave up Sean Rodriguez for Kazmir…and I’m ssure the Angels were wishing Rodriguez was in their line-up at 3B or in the outfield all year long…
SRod didn’t have the range for 3B and never will. Decent bat, but we were loaded with middle infielders already. I agree it’s a good move for both teams, but don’t see the Halos resigning that cheeseball Fuentes.
Have u twins fans watcheed Fuentes, heart attack….
He’s not going to be a closer for the Twins though, so get over it. Plus, he’s been great as of late, allowing only 3 ERs on 8 hits over 16 innings since the beginning of July, with two of those runs and two of those hits coming in his last game for the Angels. Actually, apart from two appearances he had a good June as well. Great pickup for the team.
oh believe me, i’m over it and come playoffs pressure you’ll be over it too. he’s predictable and has nothing overpowering, i understand you want this to be the solidifying move for your pen and it may help but he is not the end all be all you hoping for and his era would be much higher given more opportunities to pitch..
Using ERA as any type of benchmark for a reliever is a terrible thing to do.
Fuentes has great splits vs. lefties. The Twins have plenty of other arms out there to use. Gardenhire is more than smart enough to figure out how to properly use a guy if he’s shutting down a specific type of hitter.
he wasn’t coming back next year and were done so something for nothing..
WOAH didn’t see that coming…
wow…when i first loaded this it said 0 comments and i got a semi..cause I thought I was going to get to write first..
fuentes is a terrible closer…but I can see him being alright as a set up guy to strengthen the bullpen for someone else..
as an angel fan…SEE YA BRIAN!!! 🙂 Hope well be freeing up some good cash with you gone cause were gonna need it…
I wanna see some good moves this offseason…and this is the beginning..
wont miss him..
Good trade for The Twins. I’ve been lukewarm on Fuentes since he joined The Angels, but he’s been decent recently, especially against lefties. When used correctly (ie. not as a closer), he’ll thrive and give The Twins a boost.
Let’s hope The Angels actually got someone reasonable back in this deal.
They won’t, but who cares at this point.
Fuentes is done. Good luck Twinkies.
Seems like win-win to me. Twins get a very good lefty specialist when they had no good lefties in their pen. Angels rid themselves of a guy who should never have been closing.
Good addition by my Twins. Desperately needed a lefty in the bullpen. My only concern is what we gave up. You know that the Angels demanded a very good prospect after seeing the Twins give up Ramos for Capps. Twins are going to have an absolutely crazy offseason. 4 of their main bullpen guys are FA’s. Rausch (type B)Guerrier (type A)Crain (type B)Fuentes (type B)You would think they would offer arbitration to them all and hope that at least one of them signs elsewhere and they get draft pick compensation. But can you offer arbitration to them all knowing that if all of them accept that you can’t afford it???
it’s a player to be named later. They just wanted to dump him
Just because it was a player to be named later doesn’t mean it wasn’t a very good prospect. The Angels aren’t going to give away a guy for nothing that would have netted them a draft pick in the offseason.
No draft pick unless arbitration was offered. No way the Angels were going to do that and risk getting stuck with Fuentes again next year at $10m+.
They should net something though. As much as I hated Fuentes as a closer he can be a real solid piece of the bullpen.
do what kenny williams did with orlando cabera, He was offered arbitration but was flat out told if he accepted he wouldnt play in a single major league game that whole year.
Scared olrando so bad that in his contract he finally signed he wanted no abitration allowed at all.
That story can’t be remotely true. First of all the union would put up a huge stink if there was any truth to it.
Second, the reason Cabrera put it in his contract about arbitration is his Type A status scared off too many teams in free agency because they would have to part with a draft pick for signing him, not because of something Kenny Williams allegedly told him.
I really hope we bring back Crain since he has turned the corner this year with a new confidence in his off-speed stuff. Guerrier is probably too expensive, but you could try an arb offer since he is a type A. I think Fuentes should get a 2 year offer since he is tough on lefties and that sidearm delivery should allow him to pitch effectively until he is in his 40s. With others waiting at AAA (Slama, Delaney, Waldrop, Neshek) you can let Rauch walk.
You are crazy if you think the Twins are going to offer Fuentes arb. Risk paying him $8+M? No way. Kiss the compensation good bye. That Type A Type B stuff is a nonfactor here. He will not be offered arb because he would take it in a heartbeat.
Nice addition, surprisingly nice – let’s hope that the player to be named later is either Nick Punto, Matt Tolbert or Trevor Plouffe…. okay – let’s give them all three….. Or, how about DaNerd Span (get’s a bloop single, points to the sky, thanks God – of course, God couldn’t care less – he is worried about wars, droughts, floods, famine….. yes, DaNerd – you ARE so worthy.)
He’s thanking God for a hit because droughts and famine characterize most of his at bats this season.
Twins keep adding to that bullpen.
If people didn’t think the Twins bullpen was stacked before…look out now! Adding Fuentes for a player-to-be-named-later was a great move. Yes Fuentes has had a “down year” but his splits against lefty’s are still phenomenal. I would love to see the Twins sign Crain, Gurrier, Fuentes, and Capps to multi-year deals this off-season and keep that amazing bullpen. Not to mention in 2012 when Joe Nathan will be fully recovered, if the Twins still have those 4 guys I named earlier…their games will almost be on lock down at the 7th inning!
The PTBNL can be tricky. Most people think it is just some throw in crappy minor leaguer but it really isn’t. Remember AZ got Skaggs as their PTBNL in the Haren deal, and Skaggs is quite a decent prospect. So hopefully the PTBNL isn’t just some schmuck.
If I’m not mistaken, PTBNL can mean that it is Indeed someone that is on the 40 man roster since you cannot trade anyone that is on the 40 man roster for waiver transactions. (They will officially switch teams in the offseason)
you cannot trade anyone that is on the 40 man roster for waiver transactions, unless they have also cleared waivers. to be more clear
If I’m not mistaken, a PTBNL is determined by the offering team saying, “Here are five guys we’d give you for him. You don’t have to pick now, so you can watch them play in the minors and pick ONE any time between now and X.
Am I correct?
I believe so. Imagine if Nathan wasn’t injured? This bullpen would have been even better. Scary to think about.
Nathan’s injury actually may be good for a twins playoff run, as he showed in the past he cannot be trusted in a big spot
Nathan’s injury is what made us blow our top prospect Ramos for Capps. That deal still just pisses me off to give up so much for such an average reliever. Ramos should have been used to fix the starting staff….or saved for the offseason and used to fix the starting staff or get a good positional player in return. Using a top prospect like Ramos to get a reliever is idiotic.
Any ideas who the PTBNL is? I figure it is probably someone on the 40 man roster that has not cleared waivers, otherwise they just make the deal right now. Any idea who that might be?
I think getting fuentes was a great move because it bolsters our bullpen even more..he gives us another option at the end of the game when rauch feels like letting us down…GREAT MOVE
The Twins have arguably the best bullpen in the AL (San Diego and Atlanta are better in the NL). The is relatively no “weakest-link,” unless you consider Capps not being a “dominant closer.” The experience level is off the charts (3 guys with closer experience, everyone is a veteran in the Majors) and Gardy typically does a really good job of BP management. Fuentes is a nice addition as a strikeout guys from the leftside to pair with Crain from the right.
Just imagine if all 3 of those at sometime closers stay tell next year that means we will have 4 people that have closing experience. With a bullpen featuring Jon Rauch, Matt Capps, Brian Fuentes, and Joe Nathan(as the closer) with Jesse Crain, Matt Guerrier, and prolly pick up someone during the offseason. I’ll really be looking forward to next season if they all pan out but i’m assuming we lose rauch and fuentes or one of the too at the end of the season. Now all we have to do is get a couple more starters and resign Pavano.
Having that bullpen really helps the fact that Pavano is the only starter who can get into the 8th inning on a regular basis.
Having that bullpen really helps the fact that Pavano is the only starter that can get into the 8th inning on a regular basis.
The STAR TRIBUNE reported this morning that it is a PTBNL or cash. That means that the PTBNL will not be someone with much value.
I don’t see how you get that from the statement “PTBNL or cash considerations”, all such trades use the same language. Morneau can be a PTBNL, any player can. I’m not saying its Morneau, but that it can be any player… I’m just wondering who.
Fuentes isn’t a stellar closer but you can’t argue with his success against lefties. Great pickup.
And the White Sox let this happen how? They have a decimated bullpen and can block MIN. This is bizarre to me. I guess when they were supposed to claim him Putz and Thornton were not on the DL yet (maybe they were, not sure), but still. The bullpen has been awful lately and you can never have too much pitching.