Thoughts on the Scott Diamond deal

The Twins must really like Scott Diamond.

That was my reaction when the club announced that they had swung a deal to keep the Rule 5 pick.

I'm looking at the release right now, `Twins Retain Rule 5 Pick Scott Diamond, Trade RHP Billy Bullock To Atlanta.'

I did a double-take when I saw it yesterday.

Bullock, 22, was a second-round pick out of Florida who was one of the two hardest throwers in the organization. His fastball easily hit the mid 90's and he seemed to be a closer prospect in the making.

One problem is that his command was a little shaky. Bullock struck out 105 batters in 74 innings between Fort Myers and New Britain - but he also walked 43. That's a lot.

And judging by comments last June before the Florida State League All-Star Game, Bullock didn't have a reliable second pitch.

Bullock and Miracle pitching coach Steve Mintz mentioned that the 6-foot-6, 225 pound hurler is working hard to improve his fastball command.

"Every day I'm trying to get my fastball command better," Bullock said. "I'd like to develop a better breaking ball as well."

"He's got a decent slider, but we need to make sure that he has a solid out pitch," Mintz added. "When you pitch a couple innings and you're facing six or so guys, you need a pitch that is going to slow things down for them."

Bullock isn't the first one to have those issues. Heck, the Twins want Jim Hoey to improve his command and perfect a second pitch. People I spoke with in and outside the organization fell Bullock is more a set-up prospect than closer.

But he throws hard and a team can never have enough power arms. I don't see a problem with a team trading a power arm to get better elsewhere. For instance, the Twins traded releiver Travs Bowyer, who threw 97 miles an hour, and Scott Tyler to Florida in December of 2005 for Luis Castillo, a trade that worked out wonderfully for them.

They also have a few lower level strikeout pitchers. I think Dakota Watts is one to watch. He's a lefty righthander who has touched 99 on the gun and is a competitor but needs refintement. And Bruce Pugh, who I tried to write up last year (before my computer crashed and I lost all the info) is one to watch. Maybe the Twins felt they could part with Bullock because they had others they liked more.

Unless there's character-makeup issues we don't know about, trading Bullock for a Rule Fiver seems like a steep price.