Friday, January 29, 2016

Quantity, if not quality

The Twins announced Thursday that Logan Darnell, left-handed pitcher, had cleared waivers and been outrighted to Rochester. He'll still be in major league camp, but now as a non-roster invitee rather than as a member of the 40-man roster.

A few days ago I listed 10 lefties (other than Glen Perkins and Tommy Milone) who would be in camp. Now it's 11. And as I've said, out of that kind of bulk numbers I would think at least one would be able to handle a lefty relief role. Branch Rickey used to talk about finding quality out of quantity. This looks like an opportunity to do just that.

Darnell had a pretty solid season for Rochester in 2015, working mostly out of the bullpen before shifting back to the rotation in August. He got a September call-up and promptly fell ill without making a major league appearance.

That was a missed opportunity. Now Darnell is off the 40 and presumably ranks below those who are on the 40 -- Taylor Rogers, Michael Strong, Ryan O'Rourke -- in pursuit of a major league job, and probably below some other non-roster invitees with major league experience (Fernando Abad, maybe Buddy Boshers and Dan Runzler). But the door is still there for him.

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