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In a move that was not first made known via Twitter, the Twins claimed RHP Jeff Gray who had been Designated for Assignment by the Seattle Mariners.
So, what do we know about Jeff Gray? Here are some notes:
- Will turn 30 years old this month.
- Former 32nd round pick of the A’s in 2004 out of Missouri State University.
- Debuted with the A’s in September of 2008 against the Tigers. He gave up one run on one hit and one walk in one inning. He struck out two.
- He was traded to the Cubs following the 2009 season. The Cubs let him become a free agent after the 2010 season. The White Sox signed him, but in May, they released him and the Mariners signed him. (isn’t that encouraging?)
- In 30 games in 2011 between the two teams, he went 0-1 with a 4.28 ERA. He even recorded a save. In 48.1 innings, he gave up 52 hits, walked 21 and struck out 23. Of course, two of those walks were intentional (I’m trying to make it not look so bad here!).
- In four years of AAA (last spent in 2010), Gray went 9-14 with a 3.94 ERA. In 198.2 combined innings, he walked 66 and struck out 142.
- In 2011, he threw a fastball 68.0% of the time at an average velocity of 93.3 mph. He threw his slider 18.0% of the time at a velocity of 87.4 mph). He has a split-finger fastball that he threw 10.1% of the time at 88.5 mph). He also has a curveball, but only threw it 79.2% of the time. I do like that slider velocity. Are we hoping for Jesse Crain here?
Thoughts? I frankly am even less excited about this move than the Matt Maloney move from earlier today (which I wasn’t terribly excited about). Again, it isn’t worth getting upset about. The assumption is that these guys are steps up from the guys that they took off the 40 man roster. That said, it would appear that Anthony Slama has done more than this guy in AAA, he just never got a chance with the Twins.
I am intrigued by the fastball that averages 93. Of course, if it is straight, ick. The slider and split-finger are nice. Again, this could be a 6th and 7th inning option for the Twins and that’s not a bad thing. There is certainly a much better likelihood that this guy becomes an adequate back-of-the-bullpen arm than someone like Jim Hoey. I guess we’ll see.
Any thoughts?
SethSpeaks.net 
Agreed, Slama did more. I don’t get this one.
I actually like the Gray signing probably a little more than the Maloney signing, just because there are so many similars to Maloney already in the system.
I like that Gray throws hard, and although he walked to many, that really hasn’t been his track record. FB, SL, Split-finger is certainly different than anything the Twins have now.
Makes sense. Like I’ve said, it doesn’t matter either way, as long as their presence on the 40 man does not prevent them from making a legit MLB player move in the future.
Seth, really enjoying the GM Handbook. Good stuff.
Thank you very much! We think it turned out really good.