Twins Transactions (August 3rd-4th): Albers Arrives

Over the weekend four players in the Minnesota Twins organization were involved in moves. Saturday and Sunday were each able to claim a transaction that moves the needle. The long awaited major league debut of Rochester’s best starting pitcher was set in stone on the 3rd while the 4th marked the promotion of one of the top picks in the 2013 draft class. The other two moves involved injuries as one player was activated from the 7-day disabled list and another was moved along in his rehab assignment.

Ramirez collided with Willingham on May 25th and has been dealing with the aftermath of a concussion ever since. (Photo Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports)

August 3rd

Sent on rehab assignment to New Britain (from Minnesota): OF Wilkin Ramirez (27) – spent four games tuning up in the GCL and went 3-11 with a double and home run (0.273/.333/.636). Moved up to the Rock Cats he went 1-5 with a strikeout against Erie on Sunday as the rehab stint continues.

Contract selected by Minnesota (from Rochester): LHP Andrew Albers (27) – is set to make his major league debut on Tuesday against the Kansas City Royals. While he lacks even mediocre velocity – his fastball sits in the mid-80s – his performance in Triple-A this season over 22 starts makes him more than deserving to ply his trade against big league batters. In 132.1 IP with Rochester he’s put together a sparkling stat line that includes a 2.86 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 116-32 SO-to-BB and three complete games. It’s hard to be optimistic given his lack of velocity but he’d be hard pressed to be any worse than Scott Diamond before his demotion or Kevin Correia’s latest 2.0 inning, six earned run clunker that included TEN baserunners (7 hits, 3 walks). Albers has proven that he can handle Triple-A without much issue so it makes sense to give him a chance in 2013. After all the team desperately needs to find some quality innings from a starter not named Deduno. Albers is a “junkballer” that relies on deception and feel so he very well could get lit up like (or god forbid, worse than) Correia but the lefty might also be able to channel his inner Jamie Moyer, at least for a few starts, and stick around. Incidentally, he will be the third player on the 2013 Twins to have spent time in independent baseball joining Theilbar and Colabello in that club.

August 4th

Assigned to Elizabethton (from the GCL Twins): LHP Stephen Gonsalves (19) – has hit the ground running since signing out of the 2013 draft (4th round). In 14.1 GCL innings he allowed just one run and eight hits while striking out 18 and walking seven. The Twins system needs some firepower on the mound and Gonsalves, who just turned 19 last month, at least appears to be on the right path. Generally you can throw out complex league stats with the bath water but I will take positive signs from the organization’s pitching prospects wherever I can find them.

Activated from the 7-day DL by Elizabethton: RHP Carson Goldsmith (23) – spent the minimum seven days on the disabled list before being activated and, as I noted at the end of July, his last outing was the best of his season. The official date of his status change is listed as the fourth but he pitched for the E-Twins on Saturday. Goldsmith took the mound in the top of the 6th against Bluefield, walked the first batter he faced and gave up back to back singles right after. From there he gave up a sacrifice fly and notched a swinging strikeout before he was lifted. His final line for the game: 0.2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO fit in well with those of his teammates as Elizabethton pitching gave up a combined 14 hits, 5 walks and 14 runs (11 earned) in the game. Goldsmith now has a 6.30 ERA, 1.80 WHIP and 16-7 SO-to-BB in 10.0 Appy League innings this season.