It is criminal that Deduno is not in the starting five. He may have the nastiest stuff of any pitcher in a Twins uniform.

He has the nastiest stuff of a Twins pitcher for three innings. Better off in the bullpen for him and the team

He has the nastiest stuff of a Twins pitcher for three innings. Better off in the bullpen for him and the team

Oh, did Deduno not lead the team in quality starts last year? Who pitched into the 7th or 8th inning more than him? I forgot, the rest of the staff, throw in the new guys even, were consistently going 7 strong every time last year right? Deduno was better in the first and still better in the 7th than the other trash pitchers we have.

Pelfry had one of the worst full seasons I've seen. He was rewarded with money and a spot in the rotation based on the hope that he'd improve. Deduno worked his butt off, improved on everything the Twins asked him to improve at, had the best season of anyone on the staff, comes in and pitches well in spring training after rehabbing his shoulder, and the Twins demote him to the pen based off the assumption that Pelfrey and Gibson will be better than their horrible showings last year and that Deduno will regress.

The disturbing message this sends a young ball club is that doing what the club asks and working hard doesn't matter, and that management can't be trusted. Antony just called out players for not "stepping up". Why step up if the club is just going to play favorites anyway?