RIP, Yorman Landa

Yorman Landa,
1994-2016.

Yorman Landa was the subject of a few posts here this offseason because he was the subject of some roster manipulation. This is one I'd rather not write.

The Twins nontendered him a bit more than a week ago to make room on the 40-man roster for the Rule 5 draft. Then they re-signed him to a minor league deal.

And then he died. The 22-year-old perished in a car crash in his native Venezuela.

One of my co-workers asked me if Landa would have reached the majors. I don't know. He certainly had the talent -- he was reportedly clocked at 102 mph during the Florida State League all-star game last summer -- but he had had one shoulder surgery and his command/control wasn't as good as it needed to be. The Twins had put him on the 40 to protect him from the Rule 5 draft in 2015, then exposed him to the 2016 draft, and nobody put in a claim.

Still, he was just 22. He had time. Or so we tend to think.

Winter Meetings, Day 2

The Twins had another quiet day Tuesday at National Harbor, Maryland.

One thing they did do: Re-sign Yorman Landa, the relief prospect they non-tendered last week to open a spot on the 40-man roster. So the machination to set themselves up for the Rule 5 draft didn't cost them the player -- at least not yet. Landa was added to the 40 last year to protect him from the Rule 5 draft, and now he's eligible to be taken. Had the Twins waited until, let us say, Friday to sign him, he wouldn't be. (And, perhaps, somebody else would have.)

Probably immaterial anyway. Landa has a big arm, yes, but he also missed the last two months of the season to injury and hasn't pitched above High-A ball. Still, I remember the winter in which the Twins signed R.A. Dickey to a minor league deal early in the offseason and saw him snatched away in Rule 5 by Seattle.

Meanwhile, one division rival -- the Chicago White Sox -- launched a belated rebuild by dealing ace lefty Chris Sale to Boston for a packet of prime prospects, and another -- Kansas City -- is apparently about to trade away bullpen ace Wade Davis. You can find more in-depth commentary on those moves elsewhere; I'll just make these general statements:

• I can see the Sale trade backfiring for either side. 
• There are more such veterans-for-prospects trades coming from the White Sox, who are finally done trying to go for it every year with a declining talent base.
• Dave Dombrowski inherited a rich farm system when he took over in Boston. He has now traded four of his top five prospects. This is what he does. 
• (David) Price and (Chris) Sale are a pair of aces made for punning headline writers.
• The new labor deal and its limitations on draft-pick compensation for teams losing free agents may have hurt the Royals more than any other specific franchise. K.C. has a lot of key players with contracts and control expiring in the next two years, and the only way for them to restock the talent base is by trading at least some of them now.

Setting the stage for Rule 5

Friday was the deadline for teams to protect their current minor leaguers from the Rule 5 draft by putting them on the 40-man major league roster. The Twins elevated seven prospects -- and lost two players with some major league time, catcher Josmil Pinto and right-hander A.J. Achter, on waivers, Pinto to the Padres and Achter to the Phillies.

I'll probably write something in more detail about the Pinto move next week. Achter is a marginal reliever who had another good season in Triple A last year -- he has a 2.69 ERA in 99 Triple A appearances -- who might be able to wander into a decent major league season if given a chance, but lacks the dominant pitch to force a career. Good luck to both of them.

The seven additions include several pitchers who emphatically have that dominant pitch. I see four categories in the seven:

Hard-throwing right-handed relievers: J.T. Chargois and Yorman Landa.

Left-handed Triple A starters: Pat Dean and Taylor Rogers.

Left-handers with Tommy John surgery: Mason Melotakis and Randy Rosario.

Outfielder: Adam Brett Walker.

Landa and Rosario spent 2015 at low A Cedar Rapids, and I saw both pitch during my handful of Kernels games last August, Rosario as a starter and Landa as a reliever. I didn't write about Landa, but he did show some serious velocity; I wrote instead about Luke Bard, who wasn't put on the 40 and is eligible for Rule 5. Anyway -- while Landa and Rosario will be in major league camp, I don't think the Twins will elevate either to the majors this year.

Dean and Rogers are slightly surprising protects to me. I don't see either as a particularly likely candidate to ever be starters for the Twins. There are certainly a lot of rotation guys ahead of them.

Walker's protection illustrates the importance of the power tool. ABW has serious power -- and, like Oswaldo Arcia, little else to recommend him. I'm not particularly enthused about Walker's chances.

Melotakis missed 2015 with Tommy John surgery while Chargois returned from two years on the shelf. These two guys each have pitched in Double A and have realistic chances to be part of the reconstructed 2016 bullpen, although I doubt the Twins would graduate Melotakis in particular to the majors out of spring training.

The Twins now have 38 player on their 40-man roster. One of the open slots is slated for Byung Ho Park; the other may well go to a Rule 5 selection.