Twins Acquire Dusty Hughes Off Waivers From Royals

It was just five days ago that I wrote about the Royals designating Dusty Hughes for assignment. At the time I said that I expected Hughes to accept the assignment given the Royals. Kansas City was a good fit for Hughes, a pitcher who is essentially a replacement-level reliever because their bullpen is bad enough that he'd almost certainly get another chance at some point in 2011.



The Twins however, had other ideas. They too have a thin bullpen and in scavenging the waiver-wire, they picked up Hughes before he managed to clear. To make room for Hughes, they've designated Rob Delaney. I'm not really certain about the move. On the one hand, Hughes isn't AWFUL or anything, but he's definitely not going to give a team positive production. The only role he could potentially fill would be that of a lefty-on-lefty pitcher in the 6th or 7th inning.

More than likely however, the Twins will simply wanted the extra depth. In designating Delaney however, it's possible they could lose the depth they just gained. Delaney got throttled in his one Major league appearance last season, but he's got a very strong track record in the minors, having struck out at least 10 batters per nine innings at every level, paired with solid walk rates.

Someone is almost certain to take a flier on Delaney, and while he might not be anything special, my guess is he'll be better in the long-run than Hughes. It's a minor deal, but I'm not a fan of it.

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Corey Ettinger is a proud contributor to both 612Sports.net and 312Sports.com. He also provides extensive analysis of the American League Central Division at his own blog AL Central In Focus.