Anthony Swarzak: Twins Eighth Inning Guy?

This is an update for my Twins need eighth inning acepost I wrote a couple of days ago.

Not quite the update I was looking for, but it does involve the Twins’ bullpen and Anthony Swarzak, who I mentioned in that post as well.

Craig Breslow, who was placed on waivers was recently claimed by the Oakland Athletics. Breslow had a 6.28 era in 14.1 IP this year.

What killed Breslow were the 11 walks he gave up in those 14.1 IP.

Want to raise the ire of any manager as a reliever? Walk people. That's the quickest way into the doghouse. Despite Breslow’s poor season, I am a little surprised the Twins didn’t show more patience with him. Breslow did have a 1.91 era in 47 innings for the Twins last year. I thought that would have earned him some equity this year.

Clearly, the Twins didn’t think so.

Swarzak gets his shot

In a related move, the Twins called up Anthony Swarzak to replace Breslow on the 25-man roster.

I said the Twins should call up Swarzak and put him in the pen to be their eighth inning guy. Swarzak might still fill that role at some point this year but for right now, he will be taking Glen Perkins' spot in the rotation and is slated to start Saturday against the Brewers in Minnesota. Perkins went on the DL with elbow inflammation.

So what is the best case scenario for the Twins? Swarzak pitches well enough to stay in the majors. If Blackburn, Slowey, Liriano, and Baker start pitching like they know how to, then Swarzak should become their eighth inning guy.

This would allow the Twins to fill the void internally and not have to give up prospects, proven golden to the team,to acquire someone like Valverde.

Also, some of you may have noticed I didn’t do a Fantasy Week in Review this week. Unfortunately I had a family matter to attend to so I wasn’t able to get to it. Next Monday I'll give a 2 week fantasy review.