Twins Designate Luis Ayala for Assignment

The Twins’ Luis Ayala experiment is almost certainly over.  The Twins signed Ayala to a one-year $1.3 million contract this offseason in the hopes that he would be an effective, low-cost set-up man to Joe Nathan.

Ayala really hasn’t pitched that badly this year.  He currently has a 4.18 ERA.  However, he’s given up four earned runs in his last 6.1 IP, and the Twins decided to call up Bobby Keppel from AAA Rochester.

I would be very surprised if another team does not claim Ayala, since he’ll have to pass through waivers before he can be assigned to the minors.  He’s been a solid reliever in the past, and he certainly wasn’t pitching terribly in Minnesota.  With the Twins obligated to pay the bulk of his salary, he’s a very low-cost risk for any team in need of bullpen pitching help.

Keppel was pitching well at Rochester, and he’s four years younger (27 to 31) than Ayala, but I don’t really think he’s any better than Ayala.  Sometimes, teams make a change solely so that it looks like they’re doing something to address their mediocre play.