Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sport
Despite one of his better outings this season against the New York Yankees this past week, P.J. Walters simply couldn’t do enough to keep his job at the majors with the Minnesota Twins. On Thursday, the Twins designated the right-hander for assignment which leaves the team with 10 days to either release Walters, have him accept an assignment to the minors or work out a trade with another team. If you ask Walters, he believes he has done enough to merit another chance at the majors with some other team.
According to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, when asked about his DFA, Walters stated that, “I’ve pitched enough and learned enough that I can help somebody. I don’t know if I’ve pitched well enough to be able to say I deserve it, but I feel I can help this team and I can help a lot of other teams as well.”
The Twins would have ideally liked to have kept Walters around as a nice insurance policy based on his track record and the team’s lack of pitching depth, but Walters is out of minor league options which means he would have to clear waivers before he could be sent back to Triple-A; hence the DFA. A roster move was expected to be coming with Mike Pelfrey expected to be coming off the disabled list on Saturday. The team ultimately had to decide between Walters and Scott Diamond and the team ended up going with Diamond who the team seems to believe has more to offer long-term to this franchise.
While it’s disappointing to see Walters go, it is a move that was necessary and had to be done. Long-term, Walters did not have any chance at figuring into the future rotation or in the bullpen and he was simply a stop-gap solution on a team that needed a fresh arm to eat some innings up for them. As of late, however, Walters wasn’t even doing that which ultimately cost him his job.
All in all, I wish Walters the best in whatever spot he lands in; but at the end of the day, I am also hoping that Walters considers accepting a minor league assignment if he clears waivers.
Brian Wille is a Minnesota Twins writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @BeeWill15 or “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google
