Friday, May 4, 2012

An outfield move

Erik Komatsu had 19 at-bats with St. Louis this season.
How much do the Twins NOT want Ben Revere to be their fourth outfielder?

This much: Today they picked up on waivers one Erik Komatsu, dumping in the process the strikeout king Clete Thomas.

Komatsu, like Revere, is a 24-year-old left-handed outfielder. Unlike Revere, he has all of 19 at-bats above the Double-A level.

The Twins will be Komatsu's fourth organization in less than two years — Milwaukee, Washington, St. Louis and now Minnesota. His minor-league numbers look like those of a leadoff-type hitter — decent on-base percentages, a couple season of 20-plus steals, not a lot of power. He's played more center field than corner outfield in the minors, but I think it's safe to say he's no Revere for range, and I'm sure he has a better throwing arm.

What the Twins actually have here is a do-over on their Rule V pick of last winter, when they took pitcher Terry Doyle and ultimately returned him to the White Sox. Komatsu was picked later in the draft by St. Louis and made the roster, but the Cardinals now were trying to get him through waivers.

So the Twins can't just send Komatsu to the minors; Washington still has the ultimate claim on him.

1 comment:

  1. Wow! Ridiculous! Feel sorry for Ben. We're big Revere fans in this house. Besides Carroll, Revere seems to be one of the few other Twins who shows he's giving it his all.

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