The Rays claimed minor league right-hander Rob Delaney off of waivers from the Twins, according to LaVelle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune (on Twitter). The Twins had designated Delaney for assignment when they claimed Dusty Hughes from the Royals earlier in the week.
Delaney has appeared in just one big league game so far, but the 26-year-old right-hander has plenty of minor league experience. He has a 2.96 ERA with 9.5 K/9 and 1.9 BB/9 in 242 minor league relief appearances. Last year he posted a 3.44 ERA with 8.4 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9 in 83 2/3 innings for the Twins' top affiliates.
The Rays lost most of their best relievers this offseason, but they have added or re-signed Dirk Hayhurst, Kyle Farnsworth, Christopher Archer, Adam Russell, Cesar Ramos, Joel Peralta, Jonah Bayliss, J.P. Howell, Cory Wade and R.J. Swindle, as MLBTR's Transaction Tracker shows.
Not a loss. The Twins don’t just give away young pitching for nothing. I’m certain they believe there is nothing in this guy. He’s 26 and not made the big leagues but for 1 game. Enough said there.
don’t talk about my neighbor like that.
don’t talk about my neighbor like that.
I wish him the best. Hopefully the Rays will give him a shot because the Twins sure didn’t. He should be able to be an effective middle reliever.
There’s about five guys on the 40-man who should’ve been DFA’ed before Delaney. Heck there’s a couple who are going to be on our 25-man roster (Perkins, Tolbert)… good grab by the Rays.
He’ll probably have a solid year while Dusty Hughes walks more hitters than he K’s in AAA.
I still hate this. Delaney should still be in Minnesota. Hughes isn’t going to do anything.
WHO?
uhh?
I don’t think the move calls for much more than an acknowledgment, because I doubt the Rays see him as more than another arm who may become useful in a bullpen. He has shown good control and good K numbers throughout his minor league career, and after a rough start his first pro season did very well as he moved up a level every year until he hit AAA where he stumbled it seems.
Usually, the dividing line is AA, not AAA, so he may yet turn out to be useful as it was his hits and home run rate that got worse while his BB and K rates remained excellent. It may not be a loss to the Twins, but it is a non-risk pickup with some potential to the Rays.
That’s 2009 numbers
Rays bullpen should actually be pretty solid. And they have plenty of depth
Most of the Twins minor league teams over-worked their relievers. Delaney will get a shot with the Rays.
The reason he didn’t get a shot at the major league level. 2009 AAA 4.52 ERA —- 2010 AAA 4.75 ERA.
His FIP was much lower. For those that like that stuff.
I think the Twins concluded that it’s hard to be successful in the majors with a 88-91 mph fastball and okay slider/change. Curious to see what kind of chance he gets with the Rays.
Even if you don’t like FIP, his K/9 and BB/9 rates were very good. It sounded like he didn’t have very much stuff-wise, but I would think that if you can strike out a lot of hitters, you have to be doing something right that merits consideration for a big league promotion.
Yet another puzzling (which is a nice way of saying STUPID) 40-man roster move the Twins have done this offseason. DFA’d him for Dusty Hughes?!? Are you kidding me?!? Good luck in Tampa “Big Daddy”, this long-time follower of your stellar Minor League career will miss you.
There is nothing “puzzling” or “stupid” about the move! What do you know? The Twins liked what the saw of Dusty Hughes in the big leagues more than they liked what they saw of Delaney in the minors. Delaney has been in the Twins organization for some time now and we can assume that they have a pretty good idea of what he can/can’t do. Delaney is a marginal big league prospect and while Dusty Hughes certainly isn’t a top prospect either, the fact that the Twins decided they’d rather have Hughes than Delaney is not the least bit puzzling or stupid. It is in fact, the kind of call that every MLB team makes all the time. Delaney and Slama were the obvious choices to be DFA’d. FYI, I would have sent Slama packing but obviously the Twins like Slama more than Delaney.
haha, I find it funny you say “What do you know?” I’d ask you the same question. I fully understand what the Twins might think, but that doesn’t mean I can’t disagree with it, and This is what I think: Dusty Hughes won’t even make the Twins roster, while Delaney had a very good chance to stick in the future. Twins Bullpen for 2011 will be: Nathan, because Gardenhire will never leave him off the roster if he can pitch a baseball; Capps, duh; Mijares, lefty setup guy who’s had MLB success; the starter who doesn’t win a rotation job; Scott Diamond (also a lefty), because he was a Rule V draft pick; Jim Hoey, fireballer and traded J.J. Hardy for him, so they have to see what he’s got – That’s six arms already. If there’s a 12 man pitching staff, which is likely, that leaves 1 spot for Slama, Burnett, Hacker (also another guy I wouldn’t deem worthy of a Twins 40-man roster spot before Delaney), Manship, NESHEK, Perkins (another lefty I’d rather use, though a lot of Twins fans probably disagree…). Thats 7 guys for one spot when you throw Hughes’ name in, and at least 4 of them who I’d trust more at this point. Then there’s also the non-roster Spring Training Invitees, Phil Dumatrait and Chuck James (both also left-handed). How much of a chance do you really think Hughes has to even play for the Twins this year? I don’t think its very high, and certainly not high enough for me to deem it worthwhile. And although Delaney probably wouldn’t make it right away either, he’s still got options left, has had a better K-rate than Hughes, doesn’t walk anybody, and hasn’t actually been given a chance (1 MLB inning). Hughes doesn’t fit for all these reasons, and I haven’t even mentioned stats or his pitch types and the role KC used him for (LOOGY). These are the reasons I find it puzzling. ..
You’re missing the point. You used the words “stupid” and “puzzling” to describe the Twins taking a fringe talent like Delaney off the roster and replacing him with another fringe talent like Hughes. You have every right to disagree with that decision but to call the move “stupid” and “puzzling” is simply not justified. As I said, quite evidently, the Twins like what they have seen of Hughes at the MLB level more than they like what they’ve seen of Delaney in the minors. I have no clue why you think Delaney “had a very good chance to stick in the future” given the Twins just let him go on waivers – pretty good evidence it seems that the Twins don’t think he had much chance to stick in the future. As you certainly know, minor league numbers are not predictive of major league success; the Twins are not persuaded that Delaney’s minor league K/BB numbers translate into big league success. We are talking about two journeyman type pitchers here – its not “stupid” nor should it be “puzzling” that the Twins prefer one journeyman over another.
I can say the same to you: What do you know?
You seem to be taking the “They’re in a front office position for a reason” argument, but GMs still make puzzling decisions. The Mets taking Gary Matthews, Jr. off the hands of the Angels is one example.
By the way, Slama and Delaney should not be the top two players under consideration to be designated for assignment. Both have had good success in the minor leagues (Delaney’s exception is Triple-A but there are some arguments above) and should have been given fair chances in the majors. Instead, the Twins are going to keep someone like Anthony Swarzak on the 40-man roster when it’s clear that he’s not going to help the team anymore.
You’re right, front office’s do sometimes make puzzling decisions (at least to fans like us) but swapping out one journeyman-type relief pitcher (Delaney) for another (Hughes) isn’t at all puzzling. Since you asked the question, what I do know is that the Twins claimed Hughes on waivers and let Delaney go on waivers. To me, it seems pretty evident that they like Hughes’ ability more than Delaney’s – which is not puzzling at all since Hughes has had some success in the big leagues and Delaney has had some success at AA.
I don’t understand why it’s “clear that (Swarzak) is not going to help the team anymore”. You may be right, but the Twins obviously think that Swarzak is more likely to help them than Delaney since they kept him and let Delaney go.
I disagree that players “should be given a fair chances in the majors just because of success in the minor leagues”. As you know, minor league numbers are not predictive of major league success.
Nor is one season of Major League “Success” (if that’s what we’re calling it for Hughes) predictive of another. Hughes was “successful” against the Twins last year, that’s about the only reason I see for the move. If you want to talk numbers, Hughes’ are scary, and not in a good way. Doesn’t strike people out (5.43K/9IP in 2010), walks a lot of guys (3.83 BB/9IP and hit 5 batters, which was 2nd on Royals to only Zack Grienke, who pitched 170 more innings), and had a 5.33 xFIP last year (well below league average) which suggests his 3.83 ERA is not a good indicator of how well he pitched. His 1.47 WHIP in 2010 was also well below League Average, while that was always one of Delaney’s strong points (1.069 career WHIP in minors -> Hughes career minor league WHIP: 1.346). You seem to be arguing that its not puzzling because of the talent of the players involved (“journeyman-type relief pitcher(s)”), but to me, that’s exactly why its puzzling when you combine it with all the other roster related issues I’ve pointed out, and now, the stats. Hughes just isn’t worth worth taking a flier on over Delaney in my opinion.
And if there is one guy in all of baseball who deserves a shot to pitch in the Majors based on Minor League production and numbers alone, its Anthony Slama. He’s been arguably the best RP in all of the Minor League’s every year he’s been a professional (and has awards to show for it).
Minor League Numbers definitely aren’t predictive of Major League success, but it’s a grave mistake to flat out ignore them as well, or pay attention to only the “traditional” statistics (ERA) that you feel give justification to a move.
“according to LaVelle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune”
Holy crap what a name. Imagine the business cards!
also knows as LEN 3 of the Strib–for those who are from MN who follow the Twins. Don’t joke around with LEN 3, he’ll eat you.
Someone at TwinsFest on Friday saw him and yelled out “AL ROKER!” (Gives you an idea of what he looks like…)
the rays bullpen won’t be as horrid as most people think… also people forget how spoiled rays fans have been the past few years. the bullpen would lose only a small number of games for the team, yet people still considered guys like dan wheeler and lance cormier as awful pitchers. look at other teams around the league, though (especially in the NL) and you’ll see a lot of guys with sub 4.00 and 5.00 eras. the bullpen will be so-so at worst
I’m a Rays fan, and I thought Cormier was a great relief pitcher, with just some mistakes during the season. Wheeler just faltered at the end of the season, so people turned on him. You can also add Randy Choate to the mix. In the beginning of the year, he had a few bad outings and people wrote him off. However, he was probably one of the most effective lefties in the game last year.
I’m a Rays fan too, I may have not really sounded like I was in my last post. Choate definitely was not nearly as bad as people perceived him to be, especially in the 2nd half of the yr. My only concern is the 9th inning. I’m okay with bullpen by committee, as long as it’s not in the 9th inning… Hopefully JoeMa can find someone to close out games consistently.