Kevin Mulvey sent to Arizona
Posted on September 1st, 2009 – 2:25 PMBy La Velle
The Arizona Diamondbacks have acquired righthander Kevin Mulvey from the Twins on a waiver claim for cash considerations. Mulvey is expected to join the Diamondbacks, who needed another pitcher after trading Jon Garland to the Dodgers yesterday.
In a related move, Twins sent cash, and not a player, to the D-Backs for righthander Jon Rauch.
So, if you read between the lines, Mulvey ends up being the player to be named later in the Rauch deal. The money is a wash.
Mulvey was 5-8 with a 3.93 ERA with Class AAA Rochester this season. He was one of four players the Twins received for Cy Young winner Johan Santana before the 2008 season.
In other news, Class A Fort Myers righthander David Bromberg was named Florida State League Pitcher of the Year. Fort Myers manager Jeff Smith was named manager of the year.
Joe C. is covering tonight’s game, so jump on over to his blog later this afternoon.
100 Responses to "Kevin Mulvey sent to Arizona"
Hopefully Mulvey can improve on his 27.00 ERA with Arizona.
La Velle, who do you think gets put on the 40 man now? Valencia?
Hmmm… it makes me wonder why they even bothered with the cash? Why do both teams need to pay each other?
This is business management at its most brilliant.
Wow, our limited pitching options at AAA are getting even more scarce.
Soooo….Essentially Johan for Gomez, Guerra, and Jon Rauch???
I suppose some will say this is another negative to the Johan trade.Unless Humber shows something he has yet to show,it’s down to GO-GO and Guerra.Anyway,Johan would not have never signed with us,he forced the trade!
Dont forget Humber, beetle!
and Icon… I suspect it has to do with the fact that Mulvey had to clear waivers in order to be traded to the DBacks… if they hadn’t claimed him, someone else might have and they wouldn’t get him until the offseason. They need an arm to finish out the season.
Johan Trade, upgraded.
I’m guessing they put Dickey back on the 40. From what was said, it sounded like the main reason he was taken off was because they were afraid any of the younger guys would get snapped up as soon as they hit the waiver wire.
If Valencia hasn’t been on the 40 all year long, even with Crede’s continual injury issues, I don’t see why it would make any sense to put him on now.
Mulvey should be a decent number five for AZ, he’s still only 23 I believe, still some upside
it makes me wonder why they even bothered with the cash? Why do both teams need to pay each other?
Because you cannot trade someone for nothing in return. So the Twins worked out a trade with AZ for Mulvey for cash and change the trade with AZ for Rauch to the same cash…
One has to give credit to Smith for the Pino and Mulvey trades for:
a. proactive management of the 40-man roster, not only allowing one of Valencia/Slama/Delaney/Huber/Morillo to be added and up for the September drive, but opening spots for better players to be protected from this year’s Rule 5 draft
b. Not trying to save face with a piece of the Santana trade but to do the right thing and improve the club.
@thrylos98
Isn’t that what the Wh.Sox did with Rios?
I think we should have kept Mulvey.
Mike,
The problem is that the Twin’s will have to put Valencia on the 40-man after the season to protect him from the Rule-5 Draft anyway.
If you have to do it anyway, you might as well do it now and let him get some MLB playing time before spring training.
Post 9/1 playing time doesn’t count towards Arbitration/FA accreditation anyway.
Buscher called up today as well. But he was the only one. Tolbert is still nursing a sore knee that has to be drained. Zak, I don’t know. So good to have Buscher back! If V fails next year, it falls back to Buschman…..But he is cabable.
Mulvey is 24 and will be 25 next May. A year older than Young, Gomez and Swarzak. Same age as Casilla, Manship and Mijares. A year younger than Slowey, Liriano and Span (to put things into perspective)
@Dr. Yogi, The White Sox claimed him off waivers. They still had to pay a waiver claim fee.
Isn’t that what the Wh.Sox did with Rios?
Different waivers (Rios on trade waivers, Mulvey on release waivers)
Two AAA starters for a half year rental on an above-average pitcher and a year and a half of a decent reliever. Solid. Real solid.
(excuse me while i go slam my head through the wall)
I would like the call-ups to be Valencia, Tolleson, Swarzak, Gabino, and Pridie. I would want Pridie just for pinch running and defense, plus he might be the 4th outfielder next year if the Twins trade Delmon.
But we all the know the call-ups are Butcher, Cant-hitolbert, and Swarzak
About that Santana trade… The players are only part of the equation. The whole equation is:
Santana for: Gomez, Deolis Guerra, Humber, Rauch +$137.5M (in 6 seasons).
The last part means: +Morneau + Nathan +Mauer (potentially)
Two AAA starters for a half year rental on an above-average pitcher and a year and a half of a decent reliever. Solid. Real solid.
you forgot the most important part: + a potential AL Central title and the first post-season appearance in 3 years.
It’s crazy. Smith cannot just win. He either does not trade prospects and is call out for “doing nothing” or trades (marginal) prospects and is called out for “doing something”.
“Cant-hitolbert”
May be a little bit of a stretch. Try “Can’t-hit-a-Tolbert”
Thrylos98 -
I’ve re-read your comments. I actually agree with you. I think my frustration actually stems more from the fact that we can’t send anything less than a AAA player for these guys. But that’s getting mad at Smith again for mistakes already made, and you’re right to point out that at least he’s acknowledging that and making the club better.
twinIves,
If any outfielder gets traded this offseason it would be Cuddyer, not Young.
Thrylos, you will never get 1/2 of the bloggers to understand. The last moves that Bill Smith has made have been good moves and improved the team, it’s to bad he was unable to land another starter, but we have improved the bullpen greatly, so now we have to hope that our young starters can make it to the 5th and 6th innings with us still in the game.
I agree that Cuddyer is the player that should be traded, but I can not see Gardy letting that happen. Kubel has the most value but he is truely a dh so unless the Twins are going to go out and sign Jermaine Deye this off season Kubel is going no ware. That leaves Gomez,Young and Span as tradeable players, can’t really trade Span as he is our only true lead off hitter, unless the Twins think Gomez will continue to improve with more playing time. So now we are down to Young and Gomez I think it’s to early to give up on Young as his game has improved with more playing time and I’m not sure how much we could get for Gomez…he has shown at times that he can be a very good hitter and he is a great defender and I feel he could turn into a very good corner outfielder. So if it where up to me I would trade Cuddyer over the winter and go with Gomez in LF,Span in CF, and Young in RF for the 2010 season and the future. Also I would sign Pavono for the next couple of years.
David84,
Trading 2 AAA guys who needed to stay (or be added) to the 40-man roster before the Rule 5 draft to stay in the organization, actually opens the door for more talented prospects who need draft protection to take these spots. And this is a big deal because this season there are about 20 of them (Pretty much the full New Britain Roster and part of Ft. Myers, + Valencia, Morillo, Delaney, Slama)…
I’d rather have them protect Deolis Guerra and Dave Bromberg (for starters) than Mulvey and Pino…
For all practical reasons, it is as if Mulvey and Pino were picked up by another team in Rule 5…
Gomez in LF and Span in CF? Did you mean that? I would reverse those.
I ment it as I think Gomez will develope into a corner outfielder, next season could go either way with them.
David,
Why on earth would you switch the best defensive CF in baseball to a corner outfield position?
Ditto. Do you mean if you hit with power you can’t play CF, as a matter of baseball rule, or do you mean Gomez will bulk up and lose some speed? Because, while they are both good in CF, Gomez can get to balls that even Span won’t get to. IMO>.
98 makes a point that most don’t seem to consider: analyzing the Santana deal needs to also consider the Twins have $100+ million unrestricted dollars to use on other players. Certainly that Twins could add an infielder (or keep Cabrera) and a pitcher or two for next year for $20 million.
I think that Span is better suited to play CF than he is to play LF, where as I think Gomez could play all 3 outfield positions equally. I do not think Span’s arm is a little weak to be a corner outfielder.
That should say I think Span’s arm is a little weak to play corner outfield.
ES16 if you read my post I think Gomez will develope into a corner outfielder, I think he is going to bulk up some as he gets older and will be the proto typical corner outfielder, with more speed than the normal corner outfielder.
This is just my opion…I could be way off the mark here.
David,
Worst case, Cuddyer is gone after 2010. He turns 31 in March. He has been, by far, the most productive outfielder and has shown that when healthy he can produce and has stayed health. His trade value is at it’s highest since 2006.
He and Span are the only ones with Trade Value, and the only way you trade Span is with an unbelievable deal.
Since we are moving to Target Field, Gardy doesn’t have the excuse to not play Young in his natural position of RF. I think Young and Gomez would both benefit with regular playing time.
I gladly give up Cuddyer’s production if he can be packaged for starting pitching.
David,
I believe that the weakest arm plays in LF.
Thrylos -
Agreed. I was reacting very superficially. On a closer look, this is a savvy move.
What’s with Bill Smith suddenly turning all savvy on us? 
SweetOne, I agree I would move Cuddyer in a heart beat, but not sure who would take on the contract and Gardy’s head might explode if Smith traded Cuddyer. Cuddyer would look go in RF for the Brewers as long as Hardy came our way in the deal.
I prefer to still focus on this year. The White Sox are waving the white flag, and the Tiggers are looking for things to blame, starting with a certain indoor stadium. Whereas the Twins are currently enjoying being the hottest team in MLB.
My personal preferance is to have a cannon in LF and RF again that is what I like from corner outfielders guys who can cut down a guy trying to turn a single down the line into a double being gun down at 2nd base, or the guy trying to tag up from 3rd on a medium deep fly ball to lf or rf being toast at the plate.
David,
$8.5M isn’t too bad for what Cuddyer has produced. Twins could through in some cash as well.
The #1 priority this offseason is to sign Mauer to an extension. If that gets done, it makes Morales expendable (and possibly Ramos as well).
Also, I don’t care if Gardy get’s upset if he loses Cuddyer. If Cuddyer’s loss improves the rotation, he would get over it. If he doesn’t like it he can quit.
Also, I think BS should fire (decide not to renew) Anderson.
As long as “put down your purse to make a throw” Jonny Damon is not in our outfield in 2010 I will be happy with what we have.
In addition to Smith not being able to satisfy people, no matter what he does, you can add Cuddyer’s name to that list. I’m really not sure what a guy has to do to keep people from clammoring to give him away. It’s like people get it in their heads that the guy is dead weight and simply refuse to admit they might have been wrong. The only way to convince people they were right all along is to have the organization get rid of the guy.
I simply can’t see how anyone could look at the production of the 4 and a half outfielders and conclude that next year… when you should be making serious challenge for the pennant… Cuddyer is a guy you should not bring back.
I believe the suggestions to trade Cuddyer are because he is playing well. But the combination of age, salary, and potential of other outfielders means Cuddyer could land you a nice pitcher, or perhaps, a shortstop or 3rd baseman. I haven’t read where anybody dislikes Cuddyer, they are merely looking at what could be best for the entire team, not just one position.
JimCrikket, I was saying for pure value in return if you had to trade 1 of the 4 outfielders Cuddyer would bring the most value. I can live with the outfield we have, as our pitching and shortstop will need to addressed this winter, my thought is that Cuddyer would bring the greatest return on those positions if a trade would need to be made.
BTW, depending on the offer, nobody is untouchable. Yes, that means Mauer.
it’s down to GO-GO and Guerra.
And Rauch…
the brewers have 3 everyday outfielders i don’t know why people keep wanting to trade an outfirlder there.
liriano on the other hand the brewers could use and him for hardy, both coming off poor years, might be a good trade for both teams.
SweetOne says: Post 9/1 playing time doesn’t count towards Arbitration/FA accreditation anyway.
Actually, I’m pretty sure you’re wrong on this. A player can collect up to 172 days of service time over the course of the season, which usually lasts 183 “actual” days. In order for that to be possible, players have to be collecting service time in September. I’ve never seen anything that suggested a player called up when rosters expanded isn’t accruing service time — in fact, I’ve occasionally seen that mentioned as a reason NOT to bring a guy up who might otherwise seem deserving.
First off, I think the name should be Matt “Circle me TolBert”
Second signing Mauer has nothing to do with keeping Moralas. Moralas will be the backup to Mauer next year.
Why does everyone love Gomez and hate DY? DY is destroying him in almost every offensive category
Any one of Kubel, Cuddyer, or Span should be traded this offseason, as they have value and we could get value in return. I think the best play there is Kubel, as it keeps Cuddy’s right handed bat and Span’s lead off bat, but given that Kubes has almost exclusively played DH this year, that might lower his value. But given Kubel’s attractive contract and the season he is having, there should still be ample interest.
Gomez and Young have very little trade value at this point, and still could both pan out to be solid ballplayers, so I’d rather not sell low on them.
Well you’re forgetting the wild card in the Cuddyer talk. Joe Mauer. I can’t see him being happy if they get rid one of the core members of this team. By that I mean he’s the longest tenured bat in the rotation, and the best right handed bat at that. And how does moving out to Target Field allow Delmon to play Right? I don’t see how they’res a difference especially when the dimensions and wall heights are the same.
Two good moves this Aug (Rauch and Pavano) and maybe a good one (Caberara)
Smith is turning it around.
There is no way you trade Kubel or Span. Those are the untradeables of the 5 OFs.
BTW, what on Earth happened to Delois Guerra? I thought he was dominating this year
We have been searching for a decent DH for YEARS, and now you want to talk about trading Kubel? The guy is hitting .303 with a .911 OPS. No way.
Gomez is probably the best CF in the game. He gets to balls in the gaps and at the fence than nobody else could get within 2 steps of. Moving him to LF is a pretty bad idea David.
Cuddy might have the most trade value, but are we wanting to win now or keep building for the future?
David wins post of the day for:
David says:
September 1st, 2009 at 4:23 pm
As long as “put down your purse to make a throw” Jonny Damon is not in our outfield in 2010 I will be happy with what we have.
As far as the cash for cash business goes; basic contract law - can’t have a legal contract without consideration (something of value) being exchanged on both ends.
thrylos, so, if he makes a move, we can’t question it anymore? We were wrong to question the Young/Garzabartlett trade, for example? What should we discuss, if we can’t discuss why we agree or disagree with a move?
I think Mulvey is a lot to give up for a middle reliever that makes $2MM a year, when most middle relievers are basically Kevin Mulvey (actually, worse pitchers than Mulvey) (making $400K per year). RP are highly variable, and your 4th best RP should probably be guys from your system that weren’t quite good enough to be starters, making the league minimum (as they Yankees have found out this year, that’s much better than chasing last year’s hot model, for example).
That said, I don’t have a huge issue with the Mulvey trade assuming they go out and acquire a MLB starter that is not past his prime next offseason. If they don’t go get one, they are still short of SP prospects next year (unless you think Liriano/Perkins will be good), as all they have the can count on right now is Baker, Slowey (if healthy), Blackburn….
$8.5M isn’t too bad for what Cuddyer has produced.
As of last night, Cuddyer has contributed exactly -0.05 WPA (Win probability added) with his bat.
Also, his UZR is -11.6, which means that his glove cost the Twins 11.6 runs this season.
negative contribution with the bat, negative contribution with the glove…
Cuddy has been dropping in his ranking in OPS compared to other RFers most of the 2nd half of the season. He looks good because he was bad last year. As t98 starts to point out, he’s been about average with his bat, and less than good with his glove.
That said, I’m not sure they have a better option at this point…..
http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=guerra001deo
Guerra’s numbers…. ‘dominating’ probably isn’t the right word.
And, I think he is judged too harshly here. The issue isn’t production, it is production, at that pay, with this size payroll. OTOH, I have no interest in losing Cuddy at this point, unless they get a legit SP or 2B/SS in return.
A team is a portfolio. If you can get rid of Cuddy, and get a 2B/SS that is signficantly better than Punto/Casilla/Tolbert, you need to figure out if the dropoff to DY is smaller than than the gain at 2B or SS.
As stated, you also need to make sure Mauer doesn’t see it as a sell off. I don’t think Cuddy is going anywhere, for a lot of reasons.
Thry, maybe you’re not seeing the forest for the trees with Cuddyer? Not seeing the power numbers for the metrics? Suffering through the lean years its hard for me to argue with a guy who’s going to end up with 80 RBI/25 HR. At least he’s a threat. I’d rather see him out there than Dustin Mohr or Brian Buchanan. And he does have an above average arm. Now about that 8M/yr contract, that’s another issue….
Nice to see that trade for Santana is now totally worthless.
WPA thrylos?
Really??
LOL. Might as well list his shoe size as evidence of something.
Then ignore the WPA, Mr. USA. But you then have to look at Cuddy’s stat regarding RISP. That’s a big ouch.
And it’s the one glaring area which keeps thry’s argument to dispense of Cuddy alive.
I guess with all the Cy Young winners on the Twins Staff, BS (never a more appropriate Abbreviation) figured he didn’t need Penny, Garland or Harden. Of course as I’ve said all year, this season was lost before March even started because of the worst off season in Twins history. This team is going nowhere this year..I’ll be surprised if they are within 9 games by end of Sept. If anyone loves the Twins starting staff in relation to the Tigers, you’re either clueless or dilusional. I’m not interested in being a fan every year… praying for miracles each season as the only way to reach the post season. This FO must go, replacing them with real baseball people who know what needs to be done to win. Until then, I’ve got better things to do.
Doesn’t look like the Twins will be getting any help from Chief Wahoo this week. Tigers are absolutely shelling this Carasco guy they got for C. Lee and Wedge appears willing to leave him out there to die.
That kind of bums me out - I thought Mulvey was going to be a pretty decent player!
Thrylos definitely eating his words on Cuddyer tonight…
Please don’t forget that a record was set last year when the Twins faced a string of (was it 7 or 8?) left handed starting pitchers, because there was no right handed batting threat in the line up. Getting rid of Cuddyer without getting some right handed power to replace him would be a mistake.
If they would get rid of cuddy (which they won’t), you guys would all be b!tching by May 1st that the Twins need a RH power hitter…
Just think of what we could get for Mauer.I know you think I’m out of my mind but we could get a gold mine for him and we have a couple of excellent catchers waiting in the wings.That would be our best move but that would cause a BIG revolt in twinsville.This is a problem for the twins,if he wasn’t the hometown hero it wouldn’t be nearly as hard to make a move that in my opinion the the twins need to replenish their farm system, and upgrade the team for next year.Also not all of the players that we have will excel in the new park.It’s going to be a very interesting off season.
Mauer will never be traded. They could never get enough for him - including the loss of fans a trade would cause.
The thing I find funny the most is. People were complaining about not having enough offense and the Twins should trade pitching to get some. Now that the offense looks pretty good people want to trade offense for pitching. LOL
I think we should’ve kept Mulvey, too. Say all you want about Johan wanting to be traded, it’s true… but do you think a team with a GM like the Red Sox or Yankees would have done the same trade, or got significantly more? It just seemed stupid to make that trade when they did, the GM should have had MUCH more foresight than he did.
I really thin you guys are wrong to pick Cuddy as the guy to go. He has done a pretty good job in the outfield, and the last week or so have shown that he is capable of being a dominant bat, if a bit streaky. He’s also got decent speed for a power hitter. Don’t forget that he is also a capable backup first baseman, and can play 2nd or 3rd in a pinch. That kind of flexibility, plus the clubhouse leadership aspect, are strong incentives to keep him.
Kubel on the other hand…while I like the guy, he’s not much of a runner, and he’s not much of a fielder either. He probably wouldn’t have played in the field at all if young and gomez hadn’t gotten off to such crappy starts. He has a good bat, but the Twins don’t really need a pure DH. The reality is, any day where Mauer or Morneau need a day off from the field, they will DH. If they keep up how they’ve hit the last month or so, Delmon Young and Cuddyer could be a very good option to alternate between right field and DH. Also not having a dedicated DH’er, makes it that much more likely there will be a spot for Morales, even if Red-Dog comes back for another year.
i think thrylos98 is a great basball mind!
Did anyone notice: that Santana is “DONE” for the year.
That the beloved Torii Hunter took over 5 years to develop into a hitter.
Let’s give Gomez and Delmon some more
time, they will only get better as will
Span
Michael Cuddyer is the heart of the Minnesota Twins. Trade him, and you cut out the heart. Now, some might say that Joe Mauer is the heart of the Twins, but I don’t think so. It’s hard for a superstar to be the heart of a team because the whole world puts them on a pedestal, which kind of puts them out of reach. The heart of a team is more likely a guy that’s a rung down from superstardom, a guy that just works really hard to maximize his limited potential, and succeeds that way. Cuddyer isn’t very fast, but he always runs hard, and he runs smart. He’s not the greatest hitter, but he works on his swing and approach diligently until it’s as good as can be. He was originally brought up as an infielder, but changed positions multiple times before he found his niche in right field. He uses his one outstanding tool - his throwing arm - to maximum effect to keep runners from advancing. He stands as a solid example of team baseball, and other players know it. That’s why, at the end of each game, it’s Michael Cuddyer that hands out the game ball, and of course he never gives it to himself.
lineups??????
LaVelle is always late w/ the lineups
Game time is less than 1/2 Hour
lavelle, lavelle, where are you??? its damn near game time again……sheesh
nesota
AB R H RBI HR BB K SB LOB Season Avg
D. Span cf
O. Cabrera ss
J. Mauer c
J. Morneau 1b
J. Kubel dh
M. Cuddyer rf
B. Harris 3b
D. Young lf
A. Casilla 2b
courtesy of Yahoo!
I am really surprised no Redmond
Yeah, i kind of want Redmond in the lineup over Kubel today
Redmond’s numbers against Behrle are unreal
mauers a gamer today…good for him…they need this game badly and keep this streak goin….
LaVelle has MANY more important things to do than give out lineups to you free-loading bloggers.
For instance, he may want to take a …..!
Twins (67-65)
1. Denard Span, CF
2. Orlando Cabrera, SS
3. Joe Mauer, DH
4. Justin Morneau, 1B
5, Jason Kubel. LF
6. Michael Cuddyer, RF
7. Brendan Harris, 3B
8. Mike Redmond, C
9. Nick Punto, 2B
THey are up now…corrections
You’re Lineup is Wrong
You’re Lineup is Wrong
That’s Better
