Twins add reliever to their 40-man roster
Posted on October 31st, 2008 – 4:43 PMBy La Velle
The Twins have added righthander Armando Gabino to their 40-man roster.
Gabino was 6-5 with a 3.10 ERA in 49 games with Class AA New Britain this season, He’s a 2004 Rule V pick up out of the Indians organization.
According to Twins GM Bill Smith, the club now has 32 spots occupied on its 40-man roster. It was at 34 after some moves were made last week. Nick Punto, Dennys Reyes and Eddie Guardado came off of the 40-man when they filed for free agency on Thursday. So the addition of Gabino makes it 32.
Scheduling note: Smith leaves on Sunday for the GM meetings in Dana Point, Calif. Joe C. will be at the mike all next week as he monitors news, as I will be on special assignment.
The GM meetings often are where trades are hatched and developed. At worst, it helps identify who the Twins match up with for potential deals heading into the winter meetings on Dec. 8-11 in Las Vegas.
Still wating for the Twins to announce a two-year extension for manager Ron Gardenhire. I’ve heard the deal is pretty much done, but deals for the coaching staff haven’t been completed yet.
5:30 update: Adam Everett has filed for free agency, so the Twins’ 40-man is now down to 31.
Here are Friday’s filings, thanks to the player’s association:
Arizona
Clark, Tony (1B)
Atlanta
Julio, Jorge (RP); Smoltz, John (SP)
Baltimore
Cintron, Alex (SS)
Boston
Casey, Sean (1B); Colon, Bartolo (SP); Schilling, Curt (SP)
Chicago Cubs
Blanco, Henry (C); Lieber, Jon (RP);Wood, Kerry (RP)
Chicago White Sox
Hall, Toby (C); Ramirez, Horacio (RP)
Cincinnati
Hairston Jr, Jerry (SS); Mercker, Kent (RP);Valentin, Javier (C)
Cleveland
Elarton, Scott (SP)
Colorado
Melhuse, Adam (C)
Detroit Tigers
Wilson, Vance (C)
Florida
Hendrickson, Mark (RP)
Houston
Ausmus, Brad (C); Hawkins, LaTroy (RP);Wolf, Randy (SP)
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
Oliver, Darren (RP); Rivera, Juan (OF)
Los Angeles Dodgers
Garciaparra, Nomar (1B); Johnson, Jason (RP); Sweeney, Mark (1B)
Minnesota
Everett, Adam (SS)
NY Mets
Alou, Moises (OF); Armas Jr., Tony (RP); Ayala, Luis (RP); Martinez, Pedro (SP);
Martinez, Ramon E (2B); Rincon, Ricardo (RP)
Oakland
Thomas, Frank (DH)
Pittsburgh
Michaels, Jason (OF); Rivas, Luis (SS)
San Diego
Prior, Mark (SP)
San Francisco
Aurilia, Rich (1B)
Tampa Bay
Baldelli, Rocco (DH)
Toronto
Parrish, John (RP)
Washington
Perez, Odalis (SP)
40 Responses to "Twins add reliever to their 40-man roster"
anybody home?
I’d bring in Rocco Baldelli in for a look see in spring training. Worst case scenario, he gets cut.
Armando Gabino was a lock to be added to the 40 man roster. He would have gone in a heartbeat in the AAA portion of the rule V draft. Not that he will make the Twins any time soon, but he will help Rochester next year. They need to make a trade or 2 and move more people off the 40-man roster before Nov. 20 to protect more AA players from the AAA rule V draft. They have to protect:
Ryan Mullins
Brian Duensing
Steven Tolleson
Erik Lis
and probably
Danny Vais
Yohan Pino
Mariano Gomez
Brock Peterson
that takes care of all 40 spots…
[…] Twins Insider – […]
thy… since Danny Vais retired in the middle of the season, I doubt he’d be added.
Gotta admit, I never even thought about Gabino as being a 40 man roster type. A year ago I did, but he didn’t do anything special in 2008.
Personally, I wouldn’t protect Mullins. Pino and Peterson were left unprotected after good seasons last year, so I don’t know why they would be protected this year.
Guys that will be added for sure… Plouffe, Duensing, Hughes and Tolleson. Then maybe Waldrop, Rainville, Lis. I woudln’t be surprised to see Gomez and maybe Ricky Barrett back on.
The fact that they have 10 openings, there will be others that may make it that wouldn’t normally.
According to MiLB, Danny Vais retired from baseball in June.
The Twins have a lot of tough decisions to make in protecting guys from the Rule 5. It looks like, Hughes, Plouffe, Swarzak, Roberts, and even Loek Van Mil, the seven-footer, are eligible to be drafted.
thy…
Also, he couls have been protected from the AAA Rule V draft without being added to the Major League 40 man roster.
good call Malete… Swarzak is an easy choice too… Roberts can be let go. I think Van Mil is very intriguing although since he is undergoing the same type of treatment as Pat Neshek, teams may be more hesitant to take him in the Rule V draft. Or, they may be more willing to take him in a Rule V draft understanding that they can take him and put him on the DL and potentially watch him for over the next year.
This was the move they need to make this off-season. Now I feel really good about our chances at World Series victory next October.
Go, Billy Boy!
Regarding Swarzak: Let him go. The guy’s a loser; he’s been busted three times for violation of the drug policy. And, when a man cheats once, he’ll cheat again and again…and again.
Who cares what he did at AAA this year. Get rid of him. The Twins have somehow fostered an All-American image in this day of performance enhancing drugs–a difficult thing to do. Don’t ruin all that hard work with this cheating bastard.
Lala72, Don’t take this the wrong way, but you will anyway so whatever, but the more posts I read from you, the more I’m convinced that you’re just not that versed in baseball logic. I’m already sorry for writing this because it doesn’t really matter what I think, but, again, whatever.
I don’t write much about minor leagues because I DON’T know much about the minors. I know the majors pretty well, so I stick to it. I do know, however, that Swarzak is a likely candidate to become an effective, at least, starter in the majorsm at some point. Getting rid of him would be a mistake.
I disagree that the Twins will stand pat with what they have. This may be optimism speaking, but I believe that they’ll make at least one splash (as I’m convinced they’ll have to to win in the PS) this O.S. They’ll get at least one name that’s recognizable to people in other states. Thinking about what some others have said, I like a Brewers, and/or Florida trade. They each have some players that would look pretty good in a Twins uniform. (Lord knows just how many times I’ve said that). My (almost daily) two cents.
P.S.
Don’t sign Anderson. Just don’t. I love him. He’s got the sweetest swing in baseball. I love him. But he’s expensive, and more importantly, just getting old.
(New sig).
**Twins NEED to acquire at least one big bat this offseason**
*majors at some point.
Twins should go after Smoltz and put him in the pen…if he will come back healthy.
Bring back Luis Rivas!!
I could be wrong, but I don’t think any of Swarzak’s drug suspensions had anything to do with performance-enhancing drugs. Not really “cheating.”
sign joe crede from fa list and not give up anybody just yet you have added some pop and we are so deep in every position through aaa aa a let the players develope
Swarzak had one drug suspension for 50 games, and no, it wasn’t performance-enhancing drug related…
We also have to remember the minor-league portion of the Rule 5 draft, where players are drafted and must be kept at their level-of play the previous season or above. The Twins lost, I believe, five people in 2007. Which is why you protect people like Sosa (in the past) and Gabino (currently).
Did they lose anyone in the minor league portion of the Rule V draft that they miss? Nope…
Believe me, they will take care of the players that they need to protect.
Gabino was likely added to the 40 man roster so early because he would have been a minor league free agent 5 days after the World Series was completed. Rather than let him go onto the free agent market, they put him on the 40 man roster.
By Mark Sweeney do you mean Mike Swenney.
Glad to see the Twins sign this righthander to the 40-man roster. I have heard the Gabino family controlled the New York and Brooklyn waterfront with activities including extortion, union racketeering, and illegal gambling operations including horse betting, running numbers and lotteries, but I didn’t know any of them played baseball.
Dan in Iowa:
No. MIKE SweENey played for Oakland last year…when he played that is.
As much as I enjoy having an Armando on the roster, I gotta say that I don’t see much special about him. Frankly, if they can find a spot for him, they should be able to find spots for quite a few guys.
He’s 24, right-handed, has struck out about 6.5 guys every nine innings, walked about half of that, and has given up about a hit per inning. Those are all very average numbers, and he’s done that through AA ball. That doesn’t really profile as anyone who is going to impact the majors. Am I missing something here?
“Gabino was likely added to the 40 man roster so early because he would have been a minor league free agent 5 days after the World Series was completed.”
How does Gabino’s situation differ from minor leaguers who are subject to the Rule 5 draft?
Guys like Tolleson, Duensing, Plouffe or Swarzak have not been in the minor leagues for 6 years hence they would not be free agents.
whereas Gabino signed in 2001 so 2008 was his 6th or 7th season season.
[…] ADDED TO 40 MAN ROSTER – On Friday, the Twins added reliever Armando Gabino to their 40 man roster. They had as many as ten spots available on the 40 man roster. There are at least five others who […]
Thanks.
So the Twins may be buying time to sign him to a minor league contract. If they did sign him, I assume the Twins could then remove him from the 40 man roster, leaving him subject to the Rule 5 draft.
Crede… I’m not 100% on going after the Chicago FA 3B. Maybe someone can convince me. Yes, I realize he won’t cost us anyone in trade but…
PROs: He’s got a more pop than we’ve seen at 3B, and he’s a RH bat
CONs: He’s 30, been injured for 2 years. He played in 20 more games than Buscher and had 10 more errors…and we all struggled to swallow Brian’s miscues throughout the season. He hit lefties worse than Buscher did last season (which is hard to believe) and he made $5m last year which would be difficult to absorb as a fan all season long if he gets injured again, a la Michael Cuddyer.
I’m not saying Buscher’s the answer, but I doubt Crede is either. I don’t know, someone convince me.
I think if Crede can stay healthy he can provide power and I think his fielding will improve. At 30 he relatively young for a free agent. The big concern would be how his back holds up playing on Field Turf 81 games a year.
A far out scenario from SI.com:
1. Minnesota trades Francisco Liriano to Texas for Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Elvis Andrus, Hank Blalock and Omar Poveda.
The Twins weathered the loss of Johan Santana by replenishing the rotation from their deep farm system, and more live arms (Anthony Swarzak, Tyler Robertson, Jose Mijares, Yohan Pino) are on the way. Now, they can deal the lefthanded Liriano, 25, while his value is high to improve their anemic offense, especially on the left side of the infield. Andrus, 20, is a long-term solution at shortstop; Saltalamacchia, 23, a catcher who can DH; and Blalock, 27, an inexpensive short-term play at third. The Rangers, in turn, add the young ace (under team control through ‘11) that they’ve lacked since, well, forever, as they wait for Derek Holland and Neftali Feliz to develop.
so. on my day off out here in overcast san diego, i was reading some things.
mlbtraderumors was the website.
but anyways. one columnist has an article in which he posts HIS 5 moves that should be made this offseason.
i know this is a ridiculous thing to go by, but one of his moves caught my attention.
twins trade Liriano to the Rangers.
hmm. makes you think a little bit..
in return we could get salty. who can DH and play catcher. (but dont we have redmond for another season?)
he also figures we could get elvis andrus. a 20yr old future shortstop
hank blalock (i m not a fan of hank anymore. his best years seem well behind him)
any thoughts?
we have you arms coming up and our rotation has another year under its belt.
while trading K47 may not be a popular move with the fans, ( but then again, what moves really are) i doubt we will be able to retain him when it is actually time to pay him the money. it may be something to think about.
one more thing..
the success of the twins current rotation of baker, slowey, perkins,blackburn, liriano also concerns me
with the way pitching contracts have sky-rocketed, and with the way these kids performed last season.
are they not all 10-15mil a year pitchers?
will the twins really be able to retain them when the time comes?
i can’t forsee the twins having 60mil invested in the rotation,another 14 in nathan, gotta figure neshek will get a raise sometime..
im probably just rambling. but the twins payroll will need to be 100MIL+ to keep their current players together
MH,
It will be few years before the Twins rotation will be making that type of salary, and by that time, probably only two or three will still be around to warrant big contracts.
MH: I don’t think Liriano to the Rangers would be wise if that’s all they get back.
From MLBTradeRumors.com:
They list the top 50 Free Agents and project where they think they’d best fit. They have Blake and Cabrera both going to the Twins…but here’s one that I chuckled at -
42. Nick Punto - Rays. Cork Gaines suggested this idea to me. Seems feasible, unless Punto craves a starting job.
I would maybe take Blake, but I want a longer term solution at 3rd.
No thanks on OC.
SI had Punto at about 42 on their list also.
I’d take Blake also but not OC
“42. Nick Punto - Rays. … Seems feasible, unless Punto craves a starting job.”
Didn’t he file for free agency because he wanted a starting job? If he’s going to sign as a utility fielder, I’d think he’d resign with the Twins.
I think the reason Punto filed is becaues he wants a starting job…which the Twins don’t want to give him.
[…] with handing 40-man roster spots to the aforementioned eight prospects last week, the Twins previously added Armando Gabino to the 40-man roster last month. He has a significantly better track record than […]
