So...uh...are the twins going to actually do anything else this offseason?

[DaveW]

Bullpen still looks like a potential disaster and we still have too many 4/5 type starting pitchers for too few spots.

 

Are we pretty much done at this point?

[Squirrel]

Uh ... who knows?

[Otwins]

It does seem unusual but there are a lot of unsigned players for January 10th. I still think/hope we sign a left handed relief pitcher. Even though the team is not a finished product there are not that many openings, A trade may be the best way. They could trade Plouffe for the reliever, move Sano back to 3rd and sign Justin Upton,  I just woke up.

[GACbaseball]

How could the bullpen be considered a disaster?

 

All-Star Perkins in the 9th

Jepsen who was very good for us in the 8th

May looks like he could be very good to dominant in a setup role in the 7th

Fien wasn't great last year but if he goes back to what he did 2013-2014, he is a great option as a 6th inning

 

Sure we could make a splash by signing Bastardo or trading for Will Smith to balance out the bullpen but by no means will our bullpen be a "disaster"

Especially with Meyer, Burdi, Chargois, Melotakis, Peterson, etc. all extremely close, I think we are fine adding O'Rourke, Darnell, Pressly and Milone/Nolasco to the guys mentioned above and having a very competent bullpen.

 

Are they going to be the Yankees with Chapman, Miller and Betances? No. But they will be solid.

[gunnarthor]

They might make a few moves - I suspect they'll sign a lefty like Cotts.  During ST, they could also make a trade.  But the big stuff is done.  

[mikelink45]

I keep hoping someone at TD will research the TR tendencies.  It seems to me that this is his system - sign early and back off unless someone is left out there that gets Terry excited at the very end.

[DaveW]

How could the bullpen be considered a disaster?

 

All-Star Perkins in the 9th

Jepsen who was very good for us in the 8th

May looks like he could be very good to dominant in a setup role in the 7th

Fien wasn't great last year but if he goes back to what he did 2013-2014, he is a great option as a 6th inning

 

Sure we could make a splash by signing Bastardo or trading for Will Smith to balance out the bullpen but by no means will our bullpen be a "disaster"

Especially with Meyer, Burdi, Chargois, Melotakis, Peterson, etc. all extremely close, I think we are fine adding O'Rourke, Darnell, Pressly and Milone/Nolasco to the guys mentioned above and having a very competent bullpen.

 

Are they going to be the Yankees with Chapman, Miller and Betances? No. But they will be solid.

Perkins is awesome, but is a bit of a question mark coming off injuries

 

May should be in the rotation.

[barbarosa]

I don't think we are as bad as everyone indicates. Yes, we are relying on past performances on a majority of our relief pitchers, but we still have solid performers.May and Jepsen were solid last year and now we have to find our if injuries repaired can bring back Fien and Perkins. Why go out and garner another subpar relief pitcher while we can utilize some of that "youth" everyone goes on about, but we never see. I also believe our starting pitching is not that bad also. Yes we have some weak pitcher, but we have to remember these are the ones who got us where to the end last year..with injuries repaired and youth, again waiting in the wings, maybe Ryan finally realizes he may have to use them this year.

 

I always am amused by the saddened backlash to Plouffe, he is a solid 3rd basemanand adequate hitter yet there are many who want to dump him for a subpar pitcher. Haven't we had enough of that...there are other holes we need to fix than 3rd base.

[HitInAPinch]

 

How could the bullpen be considered a disaster?

All-Star Perkins in the 9th
Jepsen who was very good for us in the 8th
May looks like he could be very good to dominant in a setup role in the 7th
Fien wasn't great last year but if he goes back to what he did 2013-2014, he is a great option as a 6th inning

Sure we could make a splash by signing Bastardo or trading for Will Smith to balance out the bullpen but by no means will our bullpen be a "disaster"
Especially with Meyer, Burdi, Chargois, Melotakis, Peterson, etc. all extremely close, I think we are fine adding O'Rourke, Darnell, Pressly and Milone/Nolasco to the guys mentioned above and having a very competent bullpen.

Are they going to be the Yankees with Chapman, Miller and Betances? No. But they will be solid.

I'm with you.  Perkins has been breaking down the past 2 years, which screams limiting his innings early.  Jepsen preformed very well in "relief" of Perkins.  I see a pairing there.

I also see several MiLB'ers that need a good look this year.

And like it or not,  May WILL be in the bullpen this year.

[Kwak]

The Twins have oodles of relief pitchers--just need to promote them and use them.  Notice how we frequently read posts complaining that "we don't play the kids"--yet scream how the Twins need to "sign more free agents" out of the other side of their mouth?

 Plouffe?  Trading him for relief pitchers would be shameful.  The Twins already have them.  Top-of-the-rotation quality starters?--um, no.  But Plouffe won't fetch one of them.  Many posters complain ( ) about an OF (sign one of them too!?) that "an experienced one is needed", for what 2-3 months?  There is no way the Twins will paint themselves into a corner at 3B under the circumstances.

[Blackjack]

 

May should be in the rotation.

 

Wheres that dead horse symbol when you need it??!!!!!

[Mike Sixel]

 

The Twins have oodles of relief pitchers--just need to promote them and use them.  Notice how we frequently read posts complaining that "we don't play the kids"--yet scream how the Twins need to "sign more free agents" out of the other side of their mouth?

 Plouffe?  Trading him for relief pitchers would be shameful.  The Twins already have them.  Top-of-the-rotation quality starters?--um, no.  But Plouffe won't fetch one of them.  Many posters complain ( ) about an OF (sign one of them too!?) that "an experienced one is needed", for what 2-3 months?  There is no way the Twins will paint themselves into a corner at 3B under the circumstances.

 

when was the last time they used that youth, as RP? I can't recall them doing it at all to start a year, or hardly even during the year.

[DaveW]

 

Wheres that dead horse symbol when you need it??!!!!!

It doesn't make it any less true. The Twins are likely the only team in baseball who would keep guys like Nolasco and Milone in the rotation over guys like May.

[Vanimal46]

 

 Notice how we frequently read posts complaining that "we don't play the kids"--yet scream how the Twins need to "sign more free agents" out of the other side of their mouth?

In reference to the bullpen, I've been complaining that there needs to be another signing because there's a very limited track record with the Twins of young pitching being called up directly from AA.. Sure we have some potentially good arms down there in Burdi, Chargois, etc. and if they can make the MLB team out of ST, even better. It would be against the status quo of the organization promoting that quickly, and I think an aggressive model would be not seeing them until June or July if they're pitching lights out. In the mean time, what else do we have? Guys like Tonkin, Abad, Darnell, etc. could be upgraded easily with someone like a Drew Storen. 

[DaveW]

Signing or trading for impact players and bringing up young talent from the minors aren't mutually exclusive things... last I checked the twins like to have 7 or 8 guys in the pen at any given time.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

How could the bullpen be considered a disaster?

All-Star Perkins in the 9th
Jepsen who was very good for us in the 8th
May looks like he could be very good to dominant in a setup role in the 7th
Fien wasn't great last year but if he goes back to what he did 2013-2014, he is a great option as a 6th inning

Bullpens don't work quite like that -- days of rest, injuries etc.  This is the pen that finished 2015 for us and was still very shaky overall.

 

You really need an extra guy or two who can fit in at the top if you want to have any confidence in the group.  The Twins might find those guys internally, but probably not until midseason at the earliest, maybe not even until 2017 (when you might need to replace Jepsen and Fien anyway, not to mention being a year closer to Perkins' eventual departure too).

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

when was the last time they used that youth, as RP? I can't recall them doing it at all to start a year, or hardly even during the year.

Off the top of my head, Alex Burnett was young, Jose Mijares came up quickly... they've done it, a bit.  Can't really count on such players, though, especially not to slot in near the top of the pen right away.

 

The "closest" guys (Rogers and Meyer) apparently weren't worthy of helping the pen late in 2015, and the other guys are realistically at least a half-season away from debuting.  Not to mention an MLB adjustment period.

[Blackjack]

 

It doesn't make it any less true. The Twins are likely the only team in baseball who would keep guys like Nolasco and Milone in the rotation over guys like May.

I personally think its a good move to have May in the pen:  A) they need bullpen help they have plenty of decent starters that they need to sort thru C) it'll all work out in the long run, for now its the logical move

 

Here I am beating that poor dead horse again....  Good thing its hard and frozen or else it would be horseburger by now.

[Blackjack]

 

 

I personally think its a good move to have May in the pen:  A) they need bullpen help they have plenty of decent starters that they need to sort thru C) it'll all work out in the long run, for now its the logical move

 

Here I am beating that poor dead horse again....  Good thing its hard and frozen or else it would be horseburger by now.

Not sure where that face came from, that was supposed to be a B and right )  

Lets try that again

[gunnarthor]

 

It doesn't make it any less true. The Twins are likely the only team in baseball who would keep guys like Nolasco and Milone in the rotation over guys like May.

Milone was fine last year and Nolasco was on the DL, he wasn't the reason May went to the pen.  

[DaveW]

 

Milone was fine last year and Nolasco was on the DL, he wasn't the reason May went to the pen.  

Pelfrey.

You get the point I am making.

[howeda7]

You don't want sign someone just to sign someone.

 

Sometimes the greatest signings are the ones you don't make.

 

We talked to every free agent 5 times. Nothing was the right fit.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

You don't want sign someone just to sign someone.

 

Sometimes the greatest signings are the ones you don't make.

By that reasoning, Mike Pelfrey could have been a really GREAT signing

[Mike Sixel]

 

You don't want sign someone just to sign someone.

 

Sometimes the greatest signings are the ones you don't make.

 

We talked to every free agent 5 times. Nothing was the right fit.

 

Can't tell if sarcasm or not....

[nicksaviking]

 

It doesn't make it any less true. The Twins are likely the only team in baseball who would keep guys like Nolasco and Milone in the rotation over guys like May.

 

I think keeping May in the pen is a bad move, but Trevor Rosenthal still hasn't been moved back to the rotation as had been the plan. He was blocked by guys like Jake Westbrook, Kyle Lohse and Joe Kelly early in his career. The Twins aren't the only team.

[drjim]

For those into Pocasts, Effectively Wild (Baseball Prospectus) provided an interesting outside perspective on the Twins (and the whole Central).

 

Basically they find doing minimal for a team on the Twins position is probably the best route. Errors of commission over errors of omission and all that - though they did say another minor move (ahem, lh reliever) would probably be a good idea.

 

I don't necessarily agree, I would like to have seen a little more aggression, but interesting that there might be logic to limited moves.

[nicksaviking]

I'm unimpressed with the offseason, but as far as a LHRP goes, Sipp and Bastardo are all I would care for but no way I'd give them three years. It sucks but I'd rather go with Rogers over the other free agent options. Actually, I like Abad's upside a ton more than guys like Thorton and Cotts.