Position Analysis: Relief Pitcher

Yesterday, I broke down the starting rotation, which I deemed to be "the club's strongest and deepest position." Today we look at a unit that falls on the opposite end of the spectrum. Unless you're engaging in starry-eyed optimism, it's tough to view the bullpen as a strength for the Twins as we enter the 2011 season. They lost several quality relief arms during the offseason and signed no one to replace any of them, so much will hinge on a return to form from Joe Nathan and the emergence of several unproven hurlers in unfamiliar roles.

Fortunately, the bullpen is certainly an area that can be improved over the course of the summer through in-season acquisitions, but that means parting with assets when there were a number of established relief pitchers available for nothing but a few million dollars (or less) during the offseason.

Let's take a look at how the bullpen shapes up as we enter the 2011 season:

Joe Nathan
2010 Stats: Did not pitch

Charles Krupa, AP

After missing the 2010 season with Tommy John surgery, Nathan entered spring training this year under the pretense that he would have to earn back a closer role that had been held by incumbent Matt Capps. As it turns out, the basis for the coaching staff's evaluation on this matter was not performance, as Nathan has been awarded closing duties despite allowing nine runs on 10 hits over 7 1/3 innings this month with four walks and only three strikeouts. Those numbers are certainly concerning coming from someone who hasn't pitched in a year after undergoing a serious elbow operation, but the Twins like what they've seen in terms of velocity and command from Nathan so hopefully their confidence is well warranted. If not, they do have the luxury of Capps waiting in the setup role.

Matt Capps
2010 Stats: 73 IP, 42 SV, 2.47 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 59/17 K/BB

The Twins gave up too much to get Capps at the trade deadline last July and this year they're paying him too much money. What's done is done, though, and at this point we're better off appreciating what he provides to the bullpen. Nathan's status will remain a question mark until we've seen him successfully close out several games, and should his spring training struggles persist Ron Gardenhire won't hesitate in shifting the proven Capps into the role. That's not a good scenario, since someone else would have to fill Capps' role as top right-handed setup man and no other candidate for that role has much experience pitching high-leverage relief innings in the majors.

Jose Mijares
2010 Stats: 32.2 IP, 3.31 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 28/9 K/BB

The 2010 season was a forgettable one for Mijares. Injuries limited him to about half of his normal workload, and when he was on the field he often lacked his typical sharpness. This year, the lefty is reportedly adding a two-seam fastball to his repertoire, which should improve his results against right-handed hitters (a vital skill in a bullpen that already includes two other left-handers). Mijares came to camp looking trimmer this year; if healthy, he should be a quality late-inning option throughout the season.

Kevin Slowey
2010 Stats: 155.2 IP, 13-6, 4.45 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 116/29 K/BB

Setting expectations for Slowey the reliever is not easy. We know that he's a good pitcher, and it's not hard to see his outstanding control being a real asset in the bullpen. Then again, he's made only four relief appearances in his major-league career after serving as a starter almost exclusively throughout the minors, so this is new territory for the righty. How will he handle being called on to throw in tight late-game situations? Will pitching in one-inning stints allow him to add a few ticks to his 89-mph fastball? Will his secondary stuff be maximized? Slowey certainly has the potential to succeed in relief, but like many other members of this unit he's a question mark.

Glen Perkins
2010 Stats: 21.2 IP, 5.82 ERA, 1.57 WHIP, 14/5 K/BB

As a 28-year-old who's out of options and hasn't been effective since the 2008 season, Perkins seemed like a lock to be non-tendered this offseason. Instead, the Twins gave him a contract and now a spot in their bullpen. The team has cited Perkins' solid performance while pitching in relief last September as a key reason for retaining him, but -- even looking beyond the fact that opponents hit .326 against him during that minuscule 12-inning sample -- this seems awfully short-sighted. Perkins doesn't miss bats, has been bad against lefties and has always been a guy who's allowed a lot of base runners. I don't get it.

Dusty Hughes
2010 Stats: 56.1 IP, 3.83 ERA, 1.47 WHIP, 34/24 K/BB

The Twins were very impressed when they faced Hughes as a left-handed reliever for the Royals last year. It's not hard to see why; when playing against Minnesota the southpaw allowed only three runs on nine hits over 13 1/3 innings. Unfortunately, he'll no longer be able to face the Twins and against all other opponents Hughes posted a 4.40 ERA, 1.60 WHIP and 28-to-19 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 43 innings.  In other words, he wasn't very good, and it was his first extended look in the majors as a 28-year-old who'd been fairly unspectacular in the minors. Dedicating two spots in a questionable bullpen to pitchers like Hughes and Perkins strikes me as an extremely bizarre decision.

Jeff Manship
2010 Stats: 29 IP, 5.28 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, 21/6 K/BB

Rounding out the bullpen at the onset of the 2010 season will be Manship, a guy who spent some time there last season. In his big-league career, the right-hander has posted a 5.28 ERA and 1.55 WHIP, which aren't exactly the kind of numbers that inspire late-inning confidence. Manship has been quite hittable ever since reaching reaching the highest levels (he's allowed 260 hits over 209 1/3 innings between Triple-A and the majors) and unless that changes he won't be particularly useful. It will be interesting to see how Gardenhire elects to utilize him.

Three-Bagger: Hughes, Morneau & Weak Beer

* Earlier this week the Twins claimed left-hander Dusty Hughes off waivers from the Royals, designating Rob Delaney for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster.

This qualifies as an extremely minor move that will probably end up not mattering, but I still find it a little puzzling. Hughes is a 28-year-old who stuck in the majors for the first time last year, putting up mediocre numbers in the Kansas City bullpen. He adds another upper-20s borderline AAA/MLB arm to a mix that already included Eric Hacker, Jeff Manship, Glen Perkins, Anthony Swarzak, Phil Dumatrait, Chuck James and Jim Hoey.

Ostensibly, the value of Hughes is that he gives the Twins another left-handed option for the bullpen. It stands to reason, though, that the team will carry only two left-handed relievers; one will surely be Jose Mijares and the other might be Brian Duensing. So Hughes has been signed and given a 40-man roster spot to compete with Scott Diamond, Perkins, James and Dumatrait for a role that may or may not even be available?

By bringing in Hughes, the Twins risk losing Delaney on waivers. A 26-year-old right-hander with middling stuff and velocity, Delaney isn't the prospect his 2.96 career ERA in the minors makes him out to be. Most likely, he doesn't have enough arm to succeed in the majors. But he's younger than a lot of these pitchers the Twins keep adding and he's posted a 130-to-38 strikeout-to-walk ratio and 1.27 WHIP over 127 innings in Triple-A over the past two years. If nothing else, he seemed like a candidate to come up and throw strikes in the big-league bullpen this year, as many of the other relief options have exhibited serious command issues. Delaney is nothing special, but he just doesn't seem like a guy you risk losing for the sake of bringing in an aging non-prospect who was cut by the Royals.

Like I said, not a big deal one way or the other. Delaney might not even get claimed. I'm just continually having a hard time understanding the front office's line of thinking this offseason -- with moves big and small.

[UPDATE: Delaney was claimed on waivers Friday by the Rays.]

* TwinsFest will get underway this weekend, transplanted from its usual location in the Metrodome to the National Sports Center in Blaine. One person who won't be in attendance is Justin Morneau, who the Twins have asked to remain in Arizona and concentrate on his recovery.

I wrote a lengthy story on the subject of Morneau and concussions for this year's Maple Street Press Twins Annual (which you can pre-order now, by the way), but I haven't touched on it directly too much here on the blog. There's a reason for that.

We can try and read between the lines on quotes from him and the team, we can look at past examples of serious concussion cases in sport, and we can conjecture a whole host of possibilities. Ultimately, we need to acknowledge that with Morneau, and with Joe Nathan, we're not going to have any idea what to truly expect this year until we see them on the field in spring training.

Fortunately, that's now only a month away, so we won't have to deal with this lingering uncertainty hovering over our heads for too much longer.

* Like Morneau, I won't be attending TwinsFest this weekend. I went once -- seven or eight years ago -- and while it was a fairly enjoyable time, I'm not a big collector so there's only so much value I can get out of the event.

This isn't the kind of news that's going to bring me back.