GM Terry Ryan, who is recovering from cancer treatments, made a recent visit to Twins spring training and talked about his current role with the team, Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports. Ryan says he sometimes hears information that might be useful, but since he isn't in camp with the team, he merely relays it to assistant GM Rob Antony and the rest of the Twins' staff. "It would be unfair for me to sit in Minnesota not having seen one game and start dictating to Rob and Mike (Radcliff) and Wayne (Krivsky) and Jack (Goin) and Bill (Smith) and people around here that have seen a lot of baseball," Ryan says. "I say, ‘Here’s what I’ve heard. Here’s what they’re looking for.’ And I pass it on." Here are more notes from around the American League.
- Michael Bourn's contract is unlikely to end up hurting the Indians to the degree that Travis Hafner's did, Paul Hoynes of the Plain Dealer writes. Although there are reasons to worry about how Bourn will age, his defense means he isn't a "one-way player" the way Hafner was.
- Reliever Mark Lowe's contract with the Rays allows him to opt out on March 31 if he does not make their 25-man roster, MLBTR's Chris Cotillo tweets. Lowe appeared in just 11 games for the Angels in 2013, but he received plenty of playing time out of the Rangers' bullpen in 2011 and 2012. He has a 4.17 ERA with 7.7 K/9 and 4.1 BB/9 in parts of eight big-league seasons.
- Catcher Yorvit Torrealba can ask to be released tomorrow if the Angels do not add him to their roster, tweets MLB.com's Alden Gonzalez. Torrealba does not want to go to the minor leagues, and will instead wait for an opportunity in the bigs. Torrealba, 35, hit .240/.295/.285 in 196 plate appearances as the backup to Wilin Rosario in Colorado in 2013.
Then why did Torrealba even sign knowing that Iannetta and Conger have the major league C position on lockdown?
Weren’t they talking about possibly trading one of them? Maybe he thought that and they were the only contender that offered him a good amount of money.
They were. But that will likely only happen (if at all) after trading one Kendrick or Aybar for young pitching.
Do the White Sox and Angels matchup in a deal? Sox could use Conger but I don’t know what the Angels would want.
Love Yorvie, but it’s time to hand them up. He couldn’t catch up to any fastballs last year, and his defense was awful too.
Did/does anyone honestly believe that Bourn would/will outperform his contract?
Bourn’s defense doesn’t make him a “one-way player,” it’s his lack of offense as a leadoff hitter that does. His contract, along with Swisher’s, are going to burden the Tribe. And since the Indians are going to justify those contracts by playing them both, that will block some of our prospects from being called up. After all, Shapiro and Antonetti don’t want to look bad. Oops………..too late.
IMO the swisher contract was actually a really good price.
Not if it’s going to impede Jesus Aguilar’s moving up from AAA. And he could be that “big bat” we’ve been in need of. And on a team full of LH hitters, a RH power bat would be a welcome change.
Sure, and that’s all situational though. Many free agents sign for bloated prices. I think that there was a decent chance Swisher’s contract can provide value. Whether the Indian’s can survive by paying free agent prices is another question. They are small market team.
I agree. Swish has plenty of time to redeem himself on the field. Not to mention, he’s famous for his clubhouse presence.
Thought Ryan would be about Brendan Ryan. He’s likely to begin the season on the DL.
Where are the Met fans who clamored for Sandy to sign Bourn now? That was the best non-signing they made.
Thanks for reminding me. 🙁
haha 🙂 sorry…just be glad Lagares turned out to be a fantastic defensive guy…and maybe decent hitter. I am hoping he turns into 1/15th of Bourn.
Peter Bourjos would be nice. A .350 obp would be even better so he could leadoff.
agreed, let’s just hope he doesn’t suck
The Twins still allow Bill Smith around the stadium after the condition he left that franchise in?
Loyal to a fault perhaps?
Or maybe he’s still useful in a reduced role, similar to what he did prior to the Reign of Terror.
Mark Lowe has nasty stuff. Watched him last night mow down hitters. Didn’t the Rays tweak his delivery and now he’s lights out? I remember seeing a video interview a couple weeks back with him talking about how much he likes the changes. I’d rather see him in the bullpen than Lueke or Heath Bell.