Injuries, rehab and releases

Rafael Perez pitched
four innings for
Triple A Rochester
before being released.

The Rafael Perez era ended Friday when the Twins released the veteran left-hander.

He had shoulder surgery in 2012, and Cleveland let him go during the offseason. The Twins took a flier on him as spring training camps opened on the strength of a bullpen session, but once he was actually in camp their assessment of his current ability clearly diminished. He never threw a pitch in a spring training game and hadn't even joined a minor league team until this month.

It's hardly worth criticizing the Twins for this episode; it was a minor league deal, a small investment that didn't pan out. This is unlike the Tsuyoshi Nishioka signing, which gave reason to wonder if there's a disconnect between the scouts and the major league staff.

Still, it was a curious sequence of events. When the Twins signed Perez, they talked about stretching him out as a rotation candidate. As it turned out, he couldn't stretch out sufficiently to claim the lefty specialist role he was accustomed to with the Indians. The scouts saw something the coaching staff didn't see. Or maybe they were just throwing something against the wall to see if it stuck.

Perez wound up pitching four innings in Triple A — four innings in which he walked three men, struck out two and allowed one run, on a homer.

He had an out clause in his deal — if not on the major league roster by May 1 he could elect free agency — and he waived that clause at the start of the month, but perhaps he and/or his agent think there's an opportunity elsewhere.

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A more significant investment gone sour — Alex Wimmers, the Twins' first-round draft pick in 2010 —took a step forward Friday with his first mound work since his ligament replacement surgery last summer.

Wimmers threw all of five innings last season, and it remains to be seen if he sees any action in the minors in 2013.

He was seen at draft time in 2010 as a high-floor, low-ceiling prospect; one of the attractions with him was the sense that he was nearly major-league ready. But nothing as worked out for him so far, and the floor has proven to be far lower than anticipated.

Wimmers has thrown 62 minor league innings since signing. The Twins have enough invested in him to keep trying, but he's not the pitcher they drafted out of Ohio State, and he may never be that pitcher again.

Tim Wood threw
eight innings for
Rochester before
being shut down.

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Bullpen candidate Tim Wood, who is on the 40-man roster, was shut down a few days before his rehab assignment was to expire early this week. An MRI on his balky shoulder was reportedly clean, but there's still clearly an issue of some sort and he's seeking a second opinion.

Not long ago I was wondering how, or if, the Twins would find room for him in the major league bullpen. He didn't make it that far.

Another example of the truth behind the claim that you never have enough pitchers.

The state of the Twins bullpen

Rafael Perez has
yet to make a
game appearance
this season.

Rafael Perez, the former Cleveland Indians standout LOOGY now in the Twins organization, did not exercise his May 1 opt-out clause (if not in the majors by May 1, he could declare free agency). So he'll continue what appears to be a lengthy shoulder rehab, and maybe the Twins will eventually get something out his signing.

Even if he were ready to pitch in the majors — and his agreeing to stay with the Twins is a strong indication that he knows he's not — it's not easy to see where he'd fit. Here are the ERAs of the seven bullpen arms on the major league roster

Glen Perkins: 4.15 (allowed runs only in two blowout games, in one case because of a misjudged fly ball)
Jarod Burton: 0.96
Brian Duensing: 2.16
Casey Fien: 4.00 (all four runs allowed came in one bad outing; leads team in appearances)
Josh Roenicke: 1.50
Anthony Swarzak: 1.93
Ryan Pressly: 1.69

Tim Wood followed
five shutout innings
for Triple A Rochester
with a six-run
clunker on April 30.

Those seven have totaled 72 innings, with 65 strikeouts, 25 walks and 55 hits allowed. Combined ERA: 2.25. Only Roenicke has allowed a home run.

There's really nobody there who deserves to lose his job. Which means there's an interesting decision ahead, because Tim Wood, who is out of options, is on his minor league rehab assignment. I believe he can be on that assignment a month, and he's about halfway through that period.

By mid-month, Wood figures to be use-or-lose. Unless somebody in the current bullpen gets hurt or goes south, I don't see a place for him.

The forgotten lefty

Rafael Perez had
shoulder surgery
after just 7.2 innings
last season.

Glen Perkins, the Twins closer, is in Arizona pitching for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic. Brian Duensing has been working in relief in the first couple weeks of Grapefruit League play; while the radio boys continue to talk about Duensing as a starting candidate, he hasn't been deployed that way yet, and I don't expect him to be. (He did, however, work two innings Friday night, a bit of a stretching-out.)

Perkins and Duensing in the pen, closer and LOOGY/setup respectively. Which leads to the questions: Will the Twins carry a third lefty? If so, who?

Tyler Robertson spent a good part of 2012 on the major league roster, showing a good but inconsistent slider and a mediocre fastball. Caleb Thielbar, native Minnesotan, was added to the 40-man roster during the winter. Both have had their moments this spring, but on the whole their work has raised speculation that the Twins would be better off with just two lefties.

Overlooked in that chatter is Rafael Perez. The one-time Cleveland stalwart impressed Twins scouts with a bullpen session as a free agent late in the offseason and signed a minor-league deal just after camp opened. The Twins talked about him at the time not only as a bullpen candidate, but even as a potential starting pitcher.

Then he had his first bullpen in camp. First and, so far as is known, last to date. There was a quick consensus that Perez had significant shoulder rehab work to do, and he's reportedly been limited to long toss since. Maybe he's going to be a factor with the Twins, but it seems less likely now than it did when he was signed.

The absences of Perkins and Perez are probably giving Robertson and Thielbar added opportunities to show their stuff. That may be a mixed blessing.

Contemplating Rafael Perez

A few days ago I suggested that one sign that the Twins figure to keep Brian Duensing in the bullpen is that they didn't import any left-handed relief candidates. They have holdover Tyler Robertson, prospect Caleb Thielbar and Duensing — and, of course, closer Glen Perkins.

Well, now they have imported an established LOOGY — Rafael Perez, signed Thursday to a minor-league deal.

Cleveland cut him loose after he barely pitched in 2012, and he had shoulder surgery last September. That surgery follows pretty obvious signs of deteriorating stuff — his strikeout rate has fallen and his walk rate risen over the past four years. Those are some pretty obvious warning signs.

Still, the Twins are clearly hoping that he may return to being the devastator he was five years or so ago.

What's more, they're even talking about trying him as a starter — something he hasn't done in the majors. Conceivably, it could be Perez in the rotation and Duensing in the bullpen.

I find this interesting: For his career (seven years with Cleveland), Perez  really didn't display a strong platoon split. Righties had an OPS of .694, lefties .678. My prevailing image of Perez against the Twins is his unleashing an excellent slider against the Mauer-Morneau-Kubel array of left-handed bats, but he clearly wasn't limited to a LOOGY role.

He threw more innings against the Twins (38) than against anybody else, and he racked up an ERA of 1.89 against the Twins, so this may again be a case of Craig Monroe Syndrome at work — that the Twins overvalue him based specifically on what he's done against them.

Even if that's the case, it's a minor-league deal. By definition, the Twins aren't staking a whole lot on him.

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Tampa Bay shortstop watch concludes: The Rays on Thursday shipped Reid Brignac to Colorado. So they've moved out both their "designated for assignment" infielders, neither to Minnesota.