Migrating from 'Zona to Midwest

In 2007, the Arizona Diamondbacks won 90 games. Nobody in the National League won more. Still, they really weren't that good — their runs scored/runs allowed ratio suggests they "should" have gone 79-83.

In 2008 the D'backs were 20-8 at the end of April and then faded slowly away. One of their problems was the bullpen. They opened with Brandon Lyon closing; he had 26 saves but a 4.70 ERA, and manager Bob Melvin switched late to Chad Qualls. Whoever wasn't closing split the primary set-up chores with Tony Pena. Juan Cruz put together impressive stats in low-leverage relief. And they made a midseason deal for Jon Rauch, who helped bury the D'backs — 0-6 with a 6.56 ERA.

A year later, only Qualls is still there (and establishing himself, quietly, as a reliable closer). The rest of them are in the AL Central.

*Cruz — who walked home a run Friday night — is pitching poorly for Kansas City; the Twins were indeed wise to pass on him in the free agent market.

*Lyon (above) is arguably the most effective piece in the Detroit bullpen.

*Pena is essentially doing for the White Sox what he did for the Snakes — eating middle innings with an ERA around 4.30; he remains more talent than results.

*Rauch, as you probably know, is helping the Twins in the late drive.

Makes me wonder how the Indians didn't wind up with Brandon Medders, who is having a pretty good season with the Giants.

Gauging the trade market

There has been no shortage of complaints, here and elsewhere, about the Twins failure/inability to upgrade their middle relief corps.

In that light, the trade Tuesday in which the Chicago White Sox acquired Tony Pena (right) from the Arizona Diamondbacks is instructive.

Pena is a generic middle man. Nothing particularly outstanding —a good fastball, but not a particularly noteworthy strikeout rate. The Snakes used him a lot to protect leads — 30 holds in 2007, 23 in 2008 — but the ERAs aren't all that good.

To get him, the Sox surrendered Brandon Allen, an impressive power prospect who has split this season between AA and AAA.

The Twins don't have a minor leaguer directly comparable to Allen — a first baseman, nearly major league ready, with significant power. The closest would probably be Chris Parmelee, and he's only in High A ball. Would the Twins give up Parmelee in a trade for a mediocre set-up guy? I have my doubts.

Seeing the D'backs move Pena reminds me of another Arizona relief pitcher who came to the AL Central for this season: Juan Cruz. There were people unhappy this spring when the Twins decline to meet Arizona's price for Cruz, who wound up with Kansas City — where he has walked 18 in 36 innings and racked up a worse ERA than Luis Ayala.

Moral: The Twins haven't pulled the trigger on a bullpen arm. That hasn't necessarily been a mistake.