Twins closer Glen Perkins told reporters today that he can “barely walk” due to back spasms, per La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star Tribune (Twitter links). Perkins will not accompany the team to Houston for its weekend series and will instead remain in Minneapolis for treatment. Per the Pioneer Press’ Jace Frederick and MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger (Twitter links), Perkins says he is “baffled” by the recurrence of back pain, as he felt fine after recording a save on Tuesday and believed himself to be 90 to 95 percent healed. Instead, he awoke Wednesday to the realization that he could barely get out of bed. It’s not known how long Perkins will be sidelined, but the injury makes the Twins’ acquisitions of Kevin Jepsen and Neal Cotts look that much more important. That duo, along with Trevor May, who has temporarily converted to a reliever (with strong results), will figure to play a key role as the Twins hope to remain in Wild Card contention.
Here’s more from their division…
- Alexei Ramirez hopes to return to the White Sox in 2016, he tells Colleen Kane of the Chicago Tribune. “This was the team that gave me the opportunity to play in the big leagues and I want to spend the rest of my career here,” said Ramirez via interpreter. Chicago holds a $10MM option with a $1MM buyout on the 33-year-old Ramirez, essentially making it a $9MM decision for the Sox. Ramirez’s .243/.273/.345 batting line would make that seem like an easy call, Ramirez has made things tougher on GM Rick Hahn and his staff by hitting .285/.324/.435 with six homers and seven steals in 53 games dating back to July 1.
- Zack Meisel of Cleveland.com chronicles Abraham Almonte’s long journey to the Indians, including his battle with alcohol abuse along the way. Almonte admits that a shoulder injury suffered in 2010 as a minor leaguer with the Yankees led him to drinking nearly every day and candidly recounts the story of how he overcame his problems. Now with the Indians after being traded three times in three seasons, Almonte says he’s having the most fun of his career, and he’s drawing praise from teammates and coaches alike. Almonte, still just 26 years old, is hitting .274/.326/.536 with three homers and three steals in 92 plate appearances as Cleveland’s primary center fielder. His defense, characteristically, has been outstanding according to metrics such as Ultimate Zone Rating and Defensive Runs Saved.
- The Indians will likely promote left-hander Giovanni Soto and infielder Michael Martinez tomorrow, tweets MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian. However, neither is on the team’s 40-man roster, meaning they’ll have to make a pair of 40-man moves in order to accommodate the duo. This is my speculation, but moving T.J. House to the 60-day disabled list would clear one spot, but there’s no injury-related move that could free up a second spot (unless the team decides Carlos Carrasco is done for the year), making a DFA seem probable.
Excited to see Giovanni Soto we need a LHP out of the ‘pen. Kyle Crockett has been shaky this year. The DFA could be interesting, top 3 candidates RHP C.C. Lee, OF Carlos Moncrief, IF/OF Zach Walters.
There is just no way the White Sox should bring Ramirez back. He was atrocious (again) in the field, and was worthless with the bat as the White Sox played themselves out of contention by mid-June. They need new players at 3B, C, SS, and DH/OF. Saladino is a sub, not a starter. Flowers & Soto both need to be sent away. They also need a new manager, and if Hahn thinks he can keep sticking band-aids on a gushing hemorrhage, then he needs to hit the door as well.
What good is the .285 average since July 1st if his woeful bat contributed to the hole that was dug in the first half of the season?
The entire White Sox lineup (except maybe Abreu) struggled tremendously in the first half. It wasn’t just Ramirez.
That would be a good excuse, if Alexei has not been known to be this way for most of his career as a White Sox. Also his glove is really suspect at times, which is not good if he is also batting .200. So I guess you have to ask yourself, do you want to pay a 10M option for a bat that appears half a season and has streaks of suspect defense .Even if he would come back for less, Im not sure I want to see him in a Sox uni, especially if his bat disappears again in the first half next season (with his sometime suspect defense rearing its ugly head)
Along with Perkins, I find it hard to believe that he keeps getting hurt. The man keeps himself in tip-top shape 365 days a year.