Dissecting the Bill Smith era: The other 2009 trades

Craig Breslow: Not a wise discard by the Twins

When: Feb. 18, 2009
What: Waived Bobby Korecky
Value: He has pitched six major league innings since then, allowing nine runs.
Motivation: Opening a roster spot for free agent Luis Ayala

Not much to see here. Arizona claimed Korecky, but he washed out with them. He spent the 2010 season in independent ball, then pitched in the Toronto system last season.

When:  April 17, 2009
What: Claimed Juan Morillo on waivers from Colorado
Value: Pitched all of two innings for the Twins, allowing five runs.
Motivation: He threw hard.

Juan Morillo threw a legitimate upper 90s fastball. Colorado couldn't tame it; neither could the Twins. He was released to a Japanese team in November 2009.

When: May 20, 2009
What: Sold Craig Breslow to Oakland on waivers
Value: Breslow has had 17 win shares in 2009-11, 3.2 WAR with Oakland
Motivation: Over-reaction to 14 innings.

As I noted in the 2008 acquistion of Breslow, Ron Gardenhire was reluctant to use the lefty in game situations. With the departure via free agency of Denys Reyes, Breslow entered 2009 as the primary lefty in the pen. He struggled early, and the Twins waived him, intending (so they've since said) to outright him to Rochester to get straightened out.

Instead, Oakland claimed him. He has made 202 appearances with the A's since, compiling an ERA of 3.14. The 2011 season was easily his least effective, however. Still, on the whole, the Twins would have been better off keeping him around. (Oakland traded him to Arizona this winter.)

Can the Twins teach power arms to throw strikes?

 La Velle Neal's blog post on the J.J. Hardy trade quotes Twins general manager Bill Smith on Jim Hoey and Brett Jacobson, the two pitchers the Twins acquired:

``They are both in the mid- to high 90's. Both throw 95 and above. They have challenges with command and control and whatever but they bring velocity. Coming into our organization and our environment with all of the pitching coaches and adding them into our system, we will try and let our guys work their magic with them.''

It's true that the Twins are pretty good at teaching control. But part of that is who they're working with. They put their scouting and drafting emphasis on control; nobody in baseball was surprised when they used their first round pick on Alex Wimmers, widely regarded as having the best command in the draft pool. They draft pitchers with good control, then they sharpen it.

But they had no more success than the Colorado Rockies did getting Juan Morillo to throw strikes with his 98-mph fastball; they eventually gave up and sold him to a Japanese team. Shooter Hunt has wonderful stuff, but in 2010 he walked 84 men in 67.1 innings (and hit 11 batters, and threw 19 wild pitches).

Citing Hunt is probably unfair; I don't think anybody's figured out how to cure a pitcher who's contracted Steve Blass disease. 

Hoey says his emphasis in the past two seasons had been regaining his velocity after shoulder surgery, suggesting that his command will improve. The Twins are counting on it. They might be able to teach command of the fastball, but nobody can teach a 97 mph heater.