Bullpen candidate profile: Dusty Hughes

The Twins picked up
Dusty Hughes on
waivers in January.

Pitcher: Dusty Hughes
Throws: Left
Age: 28
Roster status: 40-man roster; at least one option left
Chances of making team: Better than they ought to be, but probably only fair.

Option status may be key for Dusty Hughes, who is in a competition with fellow southpaws Glen Perkins and Scott Diamond for one, possibly two, spots on the roster.

Perkins is out of options and would have to clear waivers to be sent to the minors; Diamond is a Rule V player and would not only have to clear waivers but be offered back to Atlanta. Perkins and Diamond are use-or-lose; Hughes can be stashed away for future use. (I base this on a Kansas City Star article last summer on the problems in the Royals bullpen, one of which was that their most effective relievers had options left and the more incompetent ones didn't.)

The Twins apparently see more in Hughes than I do. He was OK for the Royals last year, but nothing impressive. He did get outs against the Twins, however -- a slash line against Minnesota of .209/.288/.279 -- and I fear a case of Craig Monroe Syndrome at work here. The Twins struggled to get Monroe out when he was with Detroit; they overpaid to get him; and once they had him, they discovered that the rest of the league could get him out. Which they'd have known if they had merely compared his numbers against the Twins to his overall numbers.

Hughes had a .209 batting average allowed against the Twins in 43 at-bats; his overall BA allowed was .273 (216 at-bats). Which strikes you as the better gauge of his ability?