You wanted Trevor May? You can't have Trevor May...(yet)!

[jokin]

Either: 1) We accept that the Twins are earnestly trying to win now while balancing that with player development, especially being conservative with pitching talent. The Twins may have specific plan for May that they believe is in his and the team's best interest. Or: 2) The Twins are secretly rebuilding and saving as much as they can, and the win-now mantra is a bit of hegemony for the fanbase. While they know May will succeed, they hold him back because it benfits their longterm cause (continued bamboozling the public with the mere specter of winning). The Twins, rather than winning, want to reward journeyman players because it gives them warm fuzzies (they got a really nice greeting card from grammy Pino).

 

While the Twins may be wrong about their evaluation of May's future success, their delicate touch with pitching prospects is hardly head-scratching. And in my mind it's prudent, as May's success (and capacity to help the team win now) is hardly a forgone conclusion, much less at the start.

 

In my mind, the chance for "success (and capacity to help the team now)" of anyone else they are using in that #5 spot is actually much less than May's "forgone conclusion hardliness", at the start, middle or finish of their tenure with the Twins. Again, your best prospects have to start getting major league experience, somewhere, at some point in time. May is soon 25, it would be nice for him to get established in the majors, at some point, before he begins his physical decline phase- which draws ever closer. They need look no further than to the guy they delayed calling up last year, and then "failed" when he was finally called up- referring to Kyle Gibson of course.

[jokin]

If you want to start a pitcher based on best pitching prospect, the best pitching prospect in the organization would not be May. If you wanted to base it on who was pitching best in AAA, that would be debatable as to who was better. May did not stand out above all others.

St Louis has 4 starters on the dl. Lucky for them it wasn't their top 4. It fills a need to call up Gonzales, but with no quality in AAA or AA for the season thus far. They had to try Gonzales. About the closest thing I could compare the situation in St Louis to Minnesota is in 2011 if they would have promoted Hendriks because he was pitching well in AA that year. They are similar in that they are soft tossing control pitchers.

 

I don't think it was a good idea to call up Gonzales.

 

You don't think it was a good idea to call up Gonzales, but the Cardinals do think it was a good idea. I'm going to go with the appeal to proven successful track record and authority on this one.

[jokin]

If you want to start a pitcher based on best pitching prospect, the best pitching prospect in the organization would not be May.

 

If you wanted to base it on who was pitching best in AAA, that would be debatable as to who was better. May did not stand out above all others.

St Louis has 4 starters on the dl. Lucky for them it wasn't their top 4. It fills a need to call up Gonzales, but with no quality in AAA or AA for the season thus far. They had to try Gonzales. About the closest thing I could compare the situation in St Louis to Minnesota is in 2011 if they would have promoted Hendriks because he was pitching well in AA that year. They are similar in that they are soft tossing control pitchers. I don't think it was a good idea to call up Gonzales. His call up was based on a desperate need in an organization that found their depth in major league starting pitchers was only 9 deep.

 

I'm wondering where your evidence is that May does not stand out above the others? It's pretty well-known that May is the 2nd best pitching prospect in AAA, and the best performer in Rochester. He has the lowest FIP @ 2,99, and unllike Pino (FIP 3.71), he isn't relying on impossible-to-maintain Strand (92%) and BABIP (.222) rates to support his low ERA. Do we even have to mention that May's stuff should obviously translate better to the majors than Pino? If the opposite were true, wouldn't Pino have stuck with one of his many previous teams as a viable prospect, and been called up to the majors by one of those numerous previous teams before he reached the age of 30?

[jokin]

One acknowledges that there's a plan in place and a light at the end of the tunnel. One doesn't.

 

The Twins have never acknowledged that they were in rebuild mode or win-now mode, by default then, they've chosen a "muddling" middle ground mode.

[old nurse]

I'm wondering where your evidence is that May does not stand out above the others? It's pretty well-known that May is the 2nd best pitching prospect in AAA, and the best performer in Rochester. He has the lowest FIP @ 3.12, and unllike Pino (FIP 3.71), he isn't relying on impossible-to-maintain Strand (92%) and BABIP (.222) rates to support his low ERA. Do we even have to mention that May's stuff should obviously translate better to the majors than Pino? If the opposite were true, wouldn't Pino have stuck with one of his many previous teams as a viable prospect, and been called up to the majors by one of those numerous previous teams before he reached the age of 30?

 

First of all, On Gonzalez. St Louis had no choice but to call him up. They had no one else. Without a plus fastball, with a very poor curve, all he really has is his change up. One pitch pitcher that don't have a fastball do not fare well in the majors as starters. St Louis does not deserve praise for promoting him. That is the point you keep missing.

You compare Pino to May. I never said Pino was better than May. Compare May's numbers with Hendrik's AAA numbers. Hendrik would appear to be the superior pitcher. Did the numbers translate to the majors for Hendriks? I do not put much stock in AAA numbers. It is a different game.

[diehardtwinsfan]

The Twins have never acknowledged that they were in rebuild mode or win-now mode, by default then, they've chosen a "muddling" middle ground mode.

 

I don't see where they are required to acknowledge that they are rebuilding... or not rebuilding. They aren't accountable to you and me, just as you aren't required to buy tickets or watch their product. I think their actions pretty much speak for themselves, as does the record over the last 3 seasons. You cannot buy your way out of 90+ loss seasons through free agency. The odds are heavily against them, and they are far more likely to end up with a ton of bad contracts then they are a division championship.

 

In that scenario, the only thing the Twins can do is to start acquiring young talent via the draft and trading off tradable pieces for more young talent. The draft everyone gets to do, though their draft position obviously plays a role into the types of talents they get in the first couple of rounds. The trades have been even more obvious picking up much needed pitching help (Meyer, May, Worley, Gilmartin, Hernandez, Sulbaran, and Johnson) and potentially useful pieces (Escobar, Nunez) by trading off Span, Revere, Doumit, Morneau, and Liriano. Some of those guys have failed (Worley and Hernandez in particular) as is going to happen with young talent, but thus far the rest look to be useful pieces. Meyer, May, and to a lesser extent Escobar, look like they could be well above average components.

 

I don't see how this is choosing a 'muddling' middle ground. They looked at the system and put a plan in place to repair it... Whether it works or not remains to be seen, but the results so far are promising.

[diehardtwinsfan]

5) By your own logic, why not keep all of the AAA pitching options down? From your line about pitching success being hardly a foregone conclusion, perhaps the Twins should have gone the entirely "conservative, prudent" route with all of the AAA guys and just signed every major league DFA and FA as they became available and plugged them in, instead. That certainly would have aided the Twins even more in keeping "their delicate touch" intact with these oh-so-fragile AAA flowers.

 

I don't think anyone is arguing for this. No one would have expected May to be in the rotation this spring. His AA numbers didn't exactly scream that he was ready. They showed hope that he was turning the corner.

 

Of course, at the same time, people were screaming for them to go out and get pitching help... so they did. You were pretty happy about that as I recall, as was I. May would be in the rotation right now had the Twins not gone after free agent pitching.

[gunnarthor]

I'm wondering where your evidence is that May does not stand out above the others? It's pretty well-known that May is the 2nd best pitching prospect in AAA, and the best performer in Rochester. He has the lowest FIP @ 3.12, and unllike Pino (FIP 3.71), he isn't relying on impossible-to-maintain Strand (92%) and BABIP (.222) rates to support his low ERA.

 

Minor league fip numbers are pretty useless. In a recent chat, KLaw said as much. Here are the AAA fip leaders among starters from 2007: Kevin Slowey, Yovani Gallardo, Dallas Braden, Jason Hammel, Matt Garza, Aaron Laffey, Jae Kuk Ryu, Rob Bell, Kurt Birkins, Mark Difelice. Couple decent starters in there but a lot of jetsum as well.

 

May's problem has never been stuff but command. Nothing wrong with giving a few starts to Pinto (and he was excellent in his first one). May will be up eventually.

[jokin]

Minor league fip numbers are pretty useless. In a recent chat, KLaw said as much. Here are the AAA fip leaders among starters from 2007: Kevin Slowey, Yovani Gallardo, Dallas Braden, Jason Hammel, Matt Garza, Aaron Laffey, Jae Kuk Ryu, Rob Bell, Kurt Birkins, Mark Difelice. Couple decent starters in there but a lot of jetsum as well.

 

May's problem has never been stuff but command. Nothing wrong with giving a few starts to Pinto (and he was excellent in his first one). May will be up eventually.

 

Except the FIP numbers mostly all confirm the other peripheral stats, and the Rochester pitchers as a group are performing under similar conditions, adding to the general validity of the FIP number when used in context.

 

Regarding Pino, there's nothing wrong with giving Pino these starts......if....one doesn't mind using up those opportunities for development to journeyman over to pitchers who will actually be a part of the long-term plans for when the Twins finally have their newer, younger lineup in place.

[tobi0040]

So the Futures Game is more of a concern to the Twins than May pitching in place of Pino on Monday, or next Saturday, or July 10. (At more than one point in time on TD, there was scoffing and scolding on this site when it was suggested that the Twins might withhold May until after the Futures Game).

 

Yeah...you have to question the motives here. I will be glad when this all star stuff is done and the game moves someplace else next year.

[tobi0040]

I don't see where they are required to acknowledge that they are rebuilding... or not rebuilding. They aren't accountable to you and me, just as you aren't required to buy tickets or watch their product. I think their actions pretty much speak for themselves, as does the record over the last 3 seasons. You cannot buy your way out of 90+ loss seasons through free agency. The odds are heavily against them, and they are far more likely to end up with a ton of bad contracts then they are a division championship.

 

In that scenario, the only thing the Twins can do is to start acquiring young talent via the draft and trading off tradable pieces for more young talent. The draft everyone gets to do, though their draft position obviously plays a role into the types of talents they get in the first couple of rounds. The trades have been even more obvious picking up much needed pitching help (Meyer, May, Worley, Gilmartin, Hernandez, Sulbaran, and Johnson) and potentially useful pieces (Escobar, Nunez) by trading off Span, Revere, Doumit, Morneau, and Liriano. Some of those guys have failed (Worley and Hernandez in particular) as is going to happen with young talent, but thus far the rest look to be useful pieces. Meyer, May, and to a lesser extent Escobar, look like they could be well above average components.

 

I don't see how this is choosing a 'muddling' middle ground. They looked at the system and put a plan in place to repair it... Whether it works or not remains to be seen, but the results so far are promising.

 

I think you give them way too much credit here, specifically "they looked at their system and put a plaan in place to repair it". Let's go back to 2011. They won under 70 games and had a very weak farm system. 4 players in the top 100. Gibson 34, Hicks 45, Sano who was 17 years old at 60, and Benson at 100. Their plan was to let each veteral free agent walk and not sign a single free agent. This lack of plan is why we have been so bad for three years and plugging holes with veterans on a bad team the last two years has not helped us long term either.

[Steven Buhr]

Guess I don't understand why Pino couldn't possibly be considered a part of the rotation equation over the next few years, simply because he's 30 years old. Hughes, Gibson, Meyer and May are not going to be able to account for every start for the next 2-3 years.

 

Berrios has been phenomenal, but it's almost certainly going to be a couple of years before he's a regular in the Twins rotation.

 

Injuries being what they are, you need at least 7-8 competitive starting pitchers every year to have a shot at a successful season. I don't see why Pino couldn't perhaps be one of those guys.

 

I also don't think that you're running out of a season's worth of "opportunities for development" at the end of June. By the off-season, I suspect both Pino and May will have had enough MLB starts to have us anxiously anticipating seeing them compete for spots in Spring Training 2015. Perhaps Meyer, too, if he finds his groove again soon.

[oldguy10]

While discussing whatever scenario Minnesota Twins management is implementing or not one thing stands out for me. It was promised by ownership that once Target Field was up and running more ownership money would be give to management to right the ship on the field. That financial outlay has not been implemented as promised. Why or rather why not?

[tobi0040]

Guess I don't understand why Pino couldn't possibly be considered a part of the rotation equation over the next few years, simply because he's 30 years old. Hughes, Gibson, Meyer and May are not going to be able to account for every start for the next 2-3 years.

 

Berrios has been phenomenal, but it's almost certainly going to be a couple of years before he's a regular in the Twins rotation.

 

Injuries being what they are, you need at least 7-8 competitive starting pitchers every year to have a shot at a successful season. I don't see why Pino couldn't perhaps be one of those guys.

 

I also don't think that you're running out of a season's worth of "opportunities for development" at the end of June. By the off-season, I suspect both Pino and May will have had enough MLB starts to have us anxiously anticipating seeing them compete for spots in Spring Training 2015. Perhaps Meyer, too, if he finds his groove again soon.

 

I think having guys like Pino around for spot starts or in the event of a rash of injuries is fine. But I would rather see your guys with similar numbers, more highly touted, better stuff, and 5-6 years younger get the first crack.

[gunnarthor]

Except the FIP numbers mostly all confirm the other peripheral stats, and the Rochester pitchers as a group are performing under similar conditions, adding to the general validity of the FIP number when used in context.

 

Regarding Pino, there's nothing wrong with giving Pino these starts......if....one doesn't mind using up those opportunities for development to journeyman over to pitchers who will actually be a part of the long-term plans for when the Twins finally have their newer, younger lineup in place.

We might just be arguing past each other. I like May. I wish he was up and if I was in charge (and we should be glad I'm not), he would be. But using fip isn't a good argument and, with May in particular, his stuff is not in question but his command is. That might not always show up in stat lines since minor league hitters won't be as patient as major leaguers. So I assume the Twins have more knowledge of things than I do and expect that Ryan, who has managed to rebuild winning teams before, knows what he is doing in the longterm.

[jokin]

Haven't you heard? Once you are over 30, you are completely incapable of contributing as a major leaguer.

 

Who said that again?

[Craig Arko]

Out of curiosity, if May had been called up, made a start, and then had a calf strain and was placed on the 15-day DL, that would be OK with people? No one would be calling for anybody's heads?

 

Apologies for the run-on sentence. There are a great many terms and conditions which apply, given the TV courtroom-style adversarial debate format.

[Mike Sixel]

Who said that again?

 

I believe strawman said that, but I would have to search his posts to be sure.

[jokin]

We might just be arguing past each other. I like May. I wish he was up and if I was in charge (and we should be glad I'm not), he would be. But using fip isn't a good argument and, with May in particular, his stuff is not in question but his command is. That might not always show up in stat lines since minor league hitters won't be as patient as major leaguers. So I assume the Twins have more knowledge of things than I do and expect that Ryan, who has managed to rebuild winning teams before, knows what he is doing in the longterm.

 

Indications are that May has significantly improved his command- May has reduced his pitches per plate appearance by over 1 pitch, May has cut his BB% year-over-year- 10.2% to 9.6%, he's increased his K% from 24% to 25.1%, and he has increased his swinging K rate from 16.4% to 18.9%. And just because there are articles about FIP being less accurate in the minors in the aggregate, doesn't automatically make it a non-indicative indicator of a group of players when compared to one another in similar circumstances.

 

We only have to look at Kyle Gibson to see that the Twins wasted an awful amount of starts last year with guys who are no longer with the team, and in at least one case are completely out of baseball. Why? I find it interesting that this year the Twins aren't offering the "consistency" argument for May that they used with Gibson in 2013, they really haven't given a reason for May. By contrast, for Meyer, they have said: difference in level of competition, working on a new pitch, innings limit and pitch counts. For May, nothing.

[jokin]

Out of curiosity, if May had been called up, made a start, and then had a calf strain and was placed on the 15-day DL, that would be OK with people? No one would be calling for anybody's heads?

 

Apologies for the run-on sentence. There are a great many terms and conditions which apply, given the TV courtroom-style adversarial debate format.

 

Yes...and no. Next question.

[jokin]

Guess I don't understand why Pino couldn't possibly be considered a part of the rotation equation over the next few years, simply because he's 30 years old. Hughes, Gibson, Meyer and May are not going to be able to account for every start for the next 2-3 years.

 

Berrios has been phenomenal, but it's almost certainly going to be a couple of years before he's a regular in the Twins rotation.

 

Injuries being what they are, you need at least 7-8 competitive starting pitchers every year to have a shot at a successful season. I don't see why Pino couldn't perhaps be one of those guys.

 

I also don't think that you're running out of a season's worth of "opportunities for development" at the end of June. By the off-season, I suspect both Pino and May will have had enough MLB starts to have us anxiously anticipating seeing them compete for spots in Spring Training 2015. Perhaps Meyer, too, if he finds his groove again soon.

 

The list of pitchers not making the majors until age 30 and then sticking around for long is a very short one, indeed. The Pino story is great, but I don't think there is any evidence yet that should convince the Twins that he is a long-term, permanent rotation solution (Andrew Albers anyone?). As you stated, he's great for now as a AAA depth guy, and maybe as a major league reliever, but throwing Darnell, Johnson and Pino in first- instead of May- is lost opportunities for one of your two best long-term starting pitching prospects, which the Twins FO fully acknowledges is where he resides on the prospect list. And being in AAA, his performance and prospect standing means he's at the front of the line....there really is nothing left for May to prove in Rochester at this point.

[jokin]

Twinsights: Twins aren’t expecting Trevor May to miss the Futures Game

 

 

 

 

http://blogs.twincities.com/twins/2014/06/29/twinsights-twins-arent-expecting-trevor-may-to-miss-the-futures-game/

 

May was placed on the 7-day disabled list, retroactive to Thursday, which makes him eligible to be activated as soon as June 3 [sic...he means July 3]

 

“There’s plenty of time,” Ryan said Sunday. “I think he’s going to be all right.”

May suffered the injury during his last start, Ryan said, on June 21. May was pulled after five innings and 83 pitches (three earned runs, five hits).

 

It does bring up the point as to why the Twins didn't make the move for May to the DL retroactive to the date of the injury, June 21, instead of June 26..

[Beezer07]

I believe strawman said that, but I would have to search his posts to be sure.

 

Well first, it's a joke intended to introduce a little fun into this conversation, and second, you're ignoring the recent history of these boards if you're pretending that there has been an obsession over the age of pitchers and the apparently precipitous decline across the board of all such pitchers.

[tobi0040]

Well first, it's a joke intended to introduce a little fun into this conversation, and second, you're ignoring the recent history of these boards if you're pretending that there has been an obsession over the age of pitchers and the apparently precipitous decline across the board of all such pitchers.

 

I think the obsession is with potential. Most on these boards think we are not winning the world series this year. A 30 year old that throws 87 mph and has never broken through? I assumed Pino would have been a pre-super 2 call up, so it was frustrating to see him come up.

 

To Jokin's point, look at Kyle Gibson last year. He had a terrible 100 IP, but the jitters are out and he is getting out hitters now. Let's get that first go round out of the way with guys that will be with the Twins next year, not in Korea or Japan.

[Craig Arko]

Perhaps in the future it would be prudent if individual posters did not try to speak for larger segments of the board than themselves.

 

I absolutely guarantee none of you speak for me.

[brvama]

I find this debate interesting, and at the same time frustrating. I hope I can capture the essence of this debate. First, my apologies for the length of my post

 

Some view May's (and Meyer's) potential higher than the other AAA pitchers and therefore feel they should be up first - for legitimate reasons with which others may agree. At the same time those other pitchers, with less potential, are performing well also. So do you ignore their performance and use potential as the top criteria for advancement? Yes, potential and performance are not the only factors in this decision, but it does have that flavor in this exchange of positions.

 

Now, it seems to me that most everyone would prefer May (and Meyer later) to head the list of call-ups. But the rub is, what does one do with the others that also are deserving? Does potential trump performance?

 

Maybe there is something that our top prospects need to refine to become the top pitchers that we are expecting. Roster management uses many different criteria to determine call-ups. Besides stats, it is scouting and, in this case, the opinion of Red Wings' manager, Glenn Close, and his staff. So we really don't know the reasoning behind all this.

 

Maybe the FO view is that the prospects need a bit more work and they need to find out it the others have any role with Twins, or have potential for trade assets. Right or Wrong?

 

We can advocate any method of roster management without the ramifications of our decisions. But the Twins, as with any company, have a great balancing act - produce a good product on the field AND maintain an atmosphere for the employees (players) to be energized about working (playing) for them. Sometimes it takes time to get that product out there, but it begins mostly internally with the players.

 

Finally, regarding this year vs. last year, or any year. Dynamics change. It is difficult to compare 2013 with 2014 pitching moves, because in 2013 the Twins had nothing. This year they brought in veterans in an attempt to help improve this area. Plus our prospects are closer with another year of experience and performance to evaluate and others have step up their performances.

 

I don't know the answer, but try to remain calm and patient. it will sort itself out. Hopefully, we all are happy with the result.

[jokin]

I find this debate interesting, and at the same time frustrating. I hope I can capture the essence of this debate. First, my apologies for the length of my post

 

Some view May's (and Meyer's) potential higher than the other AAA pitchers and therefore feel they should be up first - for legitimate reasons with which others may agree. At the same time those other pitchers, with less potential, are performing well also. So do you ignore their performance and use potential as the top criteria for advancement? Yes, potential and performance are not the only factors in this decision, but it does have that flavor in this exchange of positions.

 

Now, it seems to me that most everyone would prefer May (and Meyer later) to head the list of call-ups. But the rub is, what does one do with the others that also are deserving? Does potential trump performance?

 

Maybe there is something that our top prospects need to refine to become the top pitchers that we are expecting. Roster management uses many different criteria to determine call-ups. Besides stats, it is scouting and, in this case, the opinion of Red Wings' manager, Glenn Close, and his staff. So we really don't know the reasoning behind all this.

 

Maybe the FO view is that the prospects need a bit more work and they need to find out it the others have any role with Twins, or have potential for trade assets. Right or Wrong?

 

We can advocate any method of roster management without the ramifications of our decisions. But the Twins, as with any company, have a great balancing act - produce a good product on the field AND maintain an atmosphere for the employees (players) to be energized about working (playing) for them. Sometimes it takes time to get that product out there, but it begins mostly internally with the players.

 

Finally, regarding this year vs. last year, or any year. Dynamics change. It is difficult to compare 2013 with 2014 pitching moves, because in 2013 the Twins had nothing. This year they brought in veterans in an attempt to help improve this area. Plus our prospects are closer with another year of experience and performance to evaluate and others have step up their performances.

 

I don't know the answer, but try to remain calm and patient. it will sort itself out. Hopefully, we all are happy with the result.

 

Good post- you made numerous good points- well worth the read.

 

I would just point out that an example of the Twins "great balancing act" meant holding back the key catalyst for the club, Santana, and secondary catalyst, Escobar, even when it was obvious that "He's my starting shortstop", Pedro Florimon, was most certainly not ready to play coming out of ST. Gibson was a less than 50-50 guy to make the rotation, only Diamond's ST implosion opened the way for Kyle to get a starting spot. The Twins also decided that a guy that hadn't been healthy enough to play in 2 years and never played in the OF, was somehow good enough to become the backup CFer- (and then by keeping the guy, supposedly for team chemistry purposes, the "chemist" up and quit on them and ultimately caused them to lose 2 more depth CFers), along with another guy who publicly let it be known that he HATED TF and was already on a severe downward career path. And the Twins should have known what they had in Hicks based on 2013, coupled with his refusal to do what the team asked of him in the offseason. I don't see how these moves can be regarded as anything but poor evaluations of each potentiality.

 

I've provided examples that other successful clubs use to promote their young prospects, as for the Twins, they might want to examine how this success was achieved.

[PseudoSABR]

Honestly, this debate is like the Kyle Gibson paradox from last year.

 

Premise (1):Kyle Gibson succeeds at the ML level immediately

Conclusion: The Twins waited to long to promote him.

 

Premise (2): Kyle Gibson fails at the ML level initially.

Conclusion: The Twins waited to long to promote him.

 

I question really how much of debate is happening in this thread. There's a lot of puffy rhetoric, but if the conclusions being drawn are inflexible, there's no room for debate.

[tobi0040]

Honestly, this debate is like the Kyle Gibson paradox from last year.

 

Premise (1):Kyle Gibson succeeds at the ML level immediately

Conclusion: The Twins waited to long to promote him.

 

Premise (2): Kyle Gibson fails at the ML level initially.

Conclusion: The Twins waited to long to promote him.

 

I question really how much of debate is happening in this thread. There's a lot of puffy rhetoric, but if the conclusions being drawn are inflexible, there's no room for debate.

 

 

I don't know many people who wanted May up here last year and very few wanted him here out of spring training. The BB's were the biggest concern and what he needed to show. His BB/9 has gone from 4.7, to 4, to now 3.5 over the last three years. His K to BB has gone from 1.94, 2.37, then 2.61 this year.

 

What else do we need to see out of this 24 year old? What is left to prove?

[Squirrel]

I don't know many people who wanted May up here last year and very few wanted him here out of spring training. The BB's were the biggest concern and what he needed to show. His BB/9 has gone from 4.7, to 4, to now 3.5 over the last three years. His K to BB has gone from 1.94, 2.37, then 2.61 this year.

 

What else do we need to see out of this 24 year old? What is left to prove?

 

And so, he gets his shot in a couple weeks instead of RIGHT NOW ... how really does that matter? I really fail to see in any of your arguments how this really truly makes a difference over all to the club, to winning or not this year, to May's development, to our future. All I hear is a few people wanting it NOW because they want it NOW because it needs to be and should be NOW. For what? An extra start or two for someone who projects to be great and a long term part of the team? I really fail to see any difference in NOW than in a couple weeks from now. If a month goes by and we are nearing the end of July? Then maybe I will share in some of your extreme angst, but for now, I just really don't understand the impatience beyond perhaps maybe you and a few others, having nothing else to hope for with this team or how it's run. May will be up with the team sooner or later ... and to me that means perhaps after the all-star break. If before? Great! If not til then? Great! If long after that? I'll change my stance.