Bye Bye Blackburn - And Take Nishi With You Too...

In my prognostication post from yesterday, where I took my first shot at predicting the 2013 Minnesota Twins roster, I made the following statement:

“This rotation is based on a few assumptions…Nick Blackburn is no longer on the Twins roster”

I had a hunch that the Twins were going to part ways with the struggling Blackburn, little did I know that it would be as soon as that afternoon.

In a press release late Monday afternoon, the Twins announced that they had outrighted both Nick Blackburn and Tsuyoshi Nishioka from the 40 man roster.

I know some of the MLB roster terminology can be a little complicated or confusing, so if you’re wondering “What’s the difference between outright, option and DFA?” You’re likely not alone.

Optioning is the simple act of sending a player to the minors – Nishioka had this done to him earlier this month after Trevor Plouffe returned to the lineup. It doesn’t remove a player from the 40 man roster, nor does it require the team to expose the player to waivers.

The act of outrighting a player is different as it does expose the player to waivers. The condition is that any team who claims the said player does so under the pretense of assuming their entire contract. Essentially the original team gets to wash their hands of that player entirely in that case. If the player who was outrighted goes unclaimed by all 29 other teams, he then is removed from the original team’s 40 man roster and can be sent to the minor leagues.

Outrighting a player and designating a player for assignment are similar actions. When a player is DFA’d they are essentially outrighted – but there are a few extra conditions. The team has 10 days to trade or release the player after their designation, if they don’t the player can be outrighted to remove him from the 40 man roster. Players with more than 5 years of experience can refuse their DFA, forcing the team to either release them or return them to the majors. Essentially outrighting a player is designating them for assignment with a few less conditions.

In one fell swoop, the Twins hit “undo” on two of the more questionable front office moves from the Bill Smith era.

Clearly scouting wasn’t properly done on Tsuyoshi Nishioka, who never transitioned to the Major League game. In his career he only hit .215/.267/.236 with 20 RBI and 40 strike outs in 254 plate appearances. Nishioka’s offense could have been tolerated had he shown any defensive ability. Instead, his acts in the field were comical at best; he committed 14 errors in 69 games with the Twins.

His removal from the 40 man roster all but officially ends his career with the Twins. They’ll likely let him play out his contract in the minors, but he’s not going to be on the Twins major league roster ever again. He could go into the books as the worst Twin to every wear the uniform. A dubious honor, I suppose.

Nick Blackburn’s outrighting came as a little more of a surprise, while Blackburn has been downright bad this season, you sort of had a feeling the Twins were going to keep him around and slot him as the #5 starter next season. Instead, Blackburn and his 4-9 record and 7.39 ERA are now members of the Red Wings.

Blackburn was never the same player after he signed his 4 year / $14 million contract in 2010. Resigning Blackburn was not a black mark for Bill Smith – but signing him to that contract certainly was. Blackburn was always a #4 or #5 starter at best – even in 2009 / 2010, Blackburn’s numbers 21-23 with an ERA around 5.00 between both seasons, didn’t warrant a big money contract like the one he received.

Making matters worse, Blackburn couldn’t even deliver .500 baseball with a 5.00 ERA – his control eroded and his ERA grew to the point where the Twins couldn’t take it any longer. When a team desperate for any pitcher with a pulse kicks you off of their roster – it’s probably a good indicator that your career isn’t exactly going the way you’d like it to.

Blackburn was slated to pitch in the series finale against Oakland on Wednesday. In his place, the Twins are likely to call up Liam Hendriks, who has shown quality stuff in AAA (9-3, 2.20 ERA) but has struggled when being promoted to the majors (0-5, 7.04 ERA).

Hendriks will be a part of the rotation next season – the Twins are not deep enough to leave a 9-3 AAA pitcher off of the major league roster – so here’s hoping that he can get a good start on 2013 by finding some consistency at the end of 2012.