Berrios, Duffy Optioned to AAA

[Guest]

When you're getting hammered with questions by reporters, "why isn't so and so up with the Twins," sometimes the truth comes out. Is truth bad?

That's irrelevant, unless the most important thing to a team is candid transparency. I believe, and I believe I'm not alone in this position, that the most important thing is winning. Every player has flaws. Focusing on the flaws of the youngest, but most talented players, in the organization, harms winning, but allows the coach to act blameless when losing happens.

[Thrylos]

 

Andrew Albers.....I am not sure I understand, but it is clear they have issues in the minors with development. I would expect the new GM to overhaul most everything within eighteen months.

Duffey is a relief pitcher. Berrios is not ready at all.

 

Clearly they have issues in the front office with a. signing Albers and b. promoting him over others...  Not only development here.

[adjacent]

The move is terrible. What for? What are they go to learn or change in 10 days? The silver lining is that they go back to a winning team. At least to a more positive environment. The climate in that Twins clubhouse must be really bad.

[gocgo]

Well, good to know we have our eye on the AAA crown.  Perhaps they will send Dozier down....kidding!  Anyway, we have some obvious issues with our pitching staff.  I like Neil Allen, but I can't figure out if he's part of the problem or if the issue is down in the minors.  I know the jump from AAA to the majors is big, but what do we gain by proving once again that they can pitch in AAA?

 

Ugh.  That's what my first reaction was.

 

[DaveW]

This whole organization is toxic from top to bottom, I hope they lose the next 20 games so that they are FORCED to fire Antony, Molitor, Bruno and the rest of the one field staff.

 

Glad to see they are well on their way to ruining Buxton and Berrios, just like how they ruined Hicks and tried to ruin Big Papi all of those years ago.

[DaveW]

 

Well, good to know we have our eye on the AAA crown.  Perhaps they will send Dozier down....kidding!  Anyway, we have some obvious issues with our pitching staff.  I like Neil Allen, but I can't figure out if he's part of the problem or if the issue is down in the minors.  I know the jump from AAA to the majors is big, but what do we gain by proving once again that they can pitch in AAA?

 

Ugh.  That's what my first reaction was.

Neil Allen most certainly is at least "part" of the problem, the Twins have some of the worst pitching in all of baseball, not one guy has "improved" under Allen's watch.

[DocBauer]

For goodness sake...THIS is the answer? I'm not sure if I should shrug, roll my eyes or throw up bile. Why not Wheeler? Someone who might actually deserve a look-see. How about telling Berrios to relax, have some fun, and just throw the ball?

 

The ONLY way this makes any sense at all is if Albers is fresher than some other guys and it's only a temp move for a beat up bullpen. And even then, I'm still not sure I get it. There appears to be a complete disconnect somewhere in the handling of prospects.

[zchrz]

Berrios is scaring me, when I watch him I see flashes of Sam Deduno.  Looking at his minors numbers effectively wild never really comes to mind, but in the majors he seems to only be able to locate balls or straight down the middle.  

[Primetime82]

 

This whole organization is toxic from top to bottom, I hope they lose the next 20 games so that they are FORCED to fire Antony, Molitor, Bruno and the rest of the one field staff.

 

Glad to see they are well on their way to ruining Buxton and Berrios, just like how they ruined Hicks and tried to ruin Big Papi all of those years ago.

They are worse then toxic! They are death!!! I do however think Jake Mauer does a fabulous job for Cedar Rapids and we have a few other good minor league coaches.

[twinssouth]

Berrios said they noticed a problem and were making a major change to his mechanics. He said in the past, he only has made minor changes in the minors. If all this is true, then Twins have a problem with their development in the minors. You don't make big changes in the majors and expect success.

[Woody Wants Wins]

Berrios needs to get some confidence heading into next season.  Two play-off atmosphere starts at Rochester might help.  He is not ready for MLB.  And getting drilled every outing doesn't seem to be getting him any better.  As Einstein said 'doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity'.   I am glad the Twins are at least trying to find pitchers instead of just running out the same 8-9 like they have so far.

[TheLeviathan]

Before this season started I repeatedly said that this team, with it's youth, had a real possibility of being much worse than people thought.  

 

But never in my wildest dreams did I think that meant we'd see a handful of starts for Albers.  

 

Thank god for football.

[bird]

 

Ineptitude, no other way to describe it. If this team was a dog, management would have left it in the car with the windows rolled up a long time ago.

 

 

The fact that you could even HAVE this thought made me kinda shudder. 

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Berrios said they noticed a problem and were making a major change to his mechanics. He said in the past, he only has made minor changes in the minors. If all this is true, then Twins have a problem with their development in the minors. You don't make big changes in the majors and expect success.

Given the success Berrios had in the minors, don't you have your conclusion turned around? Or am I reading it wrong?

[FormerMinnasotan]

At this point screw it bring up Gonsalves. He will be on the 40 man and will probably here by next July anyways. Plus him pitching here now all but guarantees he will start next year in AAA. Plus in order for Gonsalves to make a good jump in innings he needs to pitch between 160-170 innings this year since he pitched 134 last year. If he stays in the minors he will only get to 140-145 innings, not enough of an innings increase from last year IMO.

[Rosterman]

Okay, you have Eddie, Allen, Bert and Santana talking to Berrios and throwing things at him. But what is the fix. What is he NOT doing that he continues to do in the minors. He will get better, but how...

 

EVERYONE, TREVOR MAY will not start a game in 2016. He barely pitches an inning as is. If the Twins wanted him to start, he needed to be used as a Swarzak-type, in long relief, and then groomed back up to 80-100 pitches when he was in minor league rehab. It is even doubtful NOW that he would be a starter out of spring training, unless he starts in winter ball somewhere.

 

We hopefully get to see 30-days of Wimmers and he knows it is sink or swim with him and the Twins, period. There is no going back down and working on stuff...the depth for the bullpen MAY be too deep and have passed him by come mid-2017.

 

It would also be nice to see 4-5-6 starts from Wheeler to see if he can perform as well as Santiago currently is performing or Milone has performed. Yes, it is fine to give major league money to Dean and Albers and maybe they will resign as minor league free agents with the Twins in 2017 if we need the depth at Rochester. Heaven forbid if either are kept on the 40-man, and Duffey may also have worn out his welcome for such a spot, too.

 

Unless Duffey goes to the pen and shows he is lights-out curve ball in 2-3 inning stints out of the bullpen. Hey, he might've been our ONLY pitcher with a chance to win 10 games this year. Imagine a 162-game season without a 10-game winner on the starting staff. When has that last happened?

 

I'm sorry. I'm confused about Plouffe, the no takers for Suzuki, the end of Park for the season. Mauer is hobbling. The line-up still changes. Danny Santana starts. Does Sano need to be called out again.

 

Does anyone really care? How many tickets will be really cheap on StubHub in September as the Twins reach for a 100-loss season.

 

 

[jimbo92107]

What's most frustrating is that the Twins have at least three pitchers in AAA that should get shots before Andrew Albers, who should not be taking a spot from a more promising arm. They could call up Wheeler, Darnell, Greenwood, Baxendale, Wimmers...

 

There is no longer any reason to hold back on these marginal pitchers. DFA some guys off the 40, then give a AAA pitcher a shot. If he flops, DFA him, then call up the next guy. Others have said this before, I'm just applying it to everybody in Rochester. Call 'em up, try 'em out, DFA the flops. If other teams want 'em, no big deal. Marginal talent is available by the truckload. 

[Mr. Brooks]

At this point screw it bring up Gonsalves. He will be on the 40 man and will probably here by next July anyways. Plus him pitching here now all but guarantees he will start next year in AAA. Plus in order for Gonsalves to make a good jump in innings he needs to pitch between 160-170 innings this year since he pitched 134 last year. If he stays in the minors he will only get to 140-145 innings, not enough of an innings increase from last year IMO.

No!

I don't want this coaching staff getting their hands on Gonsalves too.

No call up for Gonsalves until we have a new coaching staff.

[Halsey Hall]

 

At this point screw it bring up Gonsalves. He will be on the 40 man and will probably here by next July anyways. Plus him pitching here now all but guarantees he will start next year in AAA. Plus in order for Gonsalves to make a good jump in innings he needs to pitch between 160-170 innings this year since he pitched 134 last year. If he stays in the minors he will only get to 140-145 innings, not enough of an innings increase from last year IMO.

At this point screw it!  We've lost 7 in a row, who cares who's pitching up here.  At least give the minor league teams a chance to win.  No sense in dribbling down the poor season the Twins have had to the minor leagues.  Hopefully Rochester can make up ground and get in.

[Bill Brown69]

How about we make the kids lay ball or else you get sent down. I get frustration but after the last 2 weeks the only choices are

 

1 every starter pitches at least 6 innings no matter the pitch count or

 

2 schedule surgery for 1/2 of the bullpen in the offseason.

 

I personally hate the way the season has gone but we are talking about careers here. Maybe it is not a concern to anybody else but it damb well better be to anybody who thinks they are going to employ any of my children because I was employed by somebody that did't care.

 

Maybe that doesn't matter but maybe next years top 2-5 draft pick has a father that looks at the Twins as a team that will protect the players and we get the new version of Trevor Hoffman BECAUSE. 

 

 

[h2oface]

I hope this means May is back in the rotation when he comes off the DL. I'd really like to see him get a few starts to end the year to make it clear he's a starter going into training camp.

My prediction is that May is just another inconsistent very mediocre hurler that is part of the continuing pitching problem, no matter where you put him. Like Gibson, Pelfrey, Nolasco, et al, he may have days that give you false hope, put the overall results will be as it has been. If you like 90+ loss season, just keep thinking he can be part of a solution.

[FormerMinnasotan]

Well, so much for Berrios panning out. I was sure our incompetent coaching staff wouldn't risk messing up Berrios' head, and yet they still find a way to mess up the best pitching prospect we have had in at least 10 years. And they sent Berrios down to make what, one start, maybe 2?! I mean send him to the bullpen and let him go an inning or two. That might do wonders in rebuilding Berrios' lost confidence. At this point I don't think we can count on him being a cornerstone of our rotation next year. At this point it seems he'll never reach his potential, which sucks.

[twinssouth]

Given the success Berrios had in the minors, don't you have your conclusion turned around? Or am I reading it wrong?

 

 

 

No, you're not reading it wrong and that's what's perplexing. He's had success in the minors but in the majors, the Twins are changing his mechanics, learning on the fly, a recipe for disaster. Now, if the Twins coaching staff and pitching gurus felt that he had a problem with mechanics, why did it take a trip to the majors to start fixing it. Seems like this should have been done a long time ago. Is there any communication between the Twins staff and the minor league pitching instructors? It seems like two organizations going their separate ways at times.

[wsnydes]

 

Maybe so. I'm not sure what I'd do with them, to be honest. They seem to have allowed the game to get way deep into their heads. How does one get a young player to turn off an overthinking brain? Crash Davis, where are you?

There are only so many guys that you can nickname "Meat".  

[lukeduke1980]

Maybe the GM realizes that the current major league staff & crew are only capable of screwing these guys up so he's just getting them out of a toxic situation with toxic coaching.  

[Mr. Brooks]

No, you're not reading it wrong and that's what's perplexing. He's had success in the minors but in the majors, the Twins are changing his mechanics, learning on the fly, a recipe for disaster. Now, if the Twins coaching staff and pitching gurus felt that he had a problem with mechanics, why did it take a trip to the majors to start fixing it. Seems like this should have been done a long time ago. Is there any communication between the Twins staff and the minor league pitching instructors? It seems like two organizations going their separate ways at times.

I look at it differently. I think his mechanics in the minors are probably fine, and it's the MLB staff's insistence on changing them that is screwing him up.

This is 2 pitchers now that they've insisted on changing right away (Santiago), both with disastrous results.

 

The obsession with pitching to contact at all costs is frustrating.

[Doomtints]

What bothers me is that when Berrios was brought up this time (and the time before), what were the Twins expecting to see that was any different?  It really seemed to me that he was the same pitcher he was before ... BEFORE they called him up.

 

Not sure what they are doing.  From an outsider it really looks like they are bouncing him around without a plan.  

[akmanak]

This team has so many glaring holes that I am not even optimistic for 2017 or 2018. Our farm system so far hasn't produced any standout players except for maybe Kepler. We continue to bring up players to early or hell maybe management has no clue on when to bring a player up. This team is so far away from being a contender that it makes me want to vomit. 

[kab21]

I really hope that I never have to read another post about the Twins having too many starters and some prospect is blocked. These things always work themselves because a lot of pitchers are needed for one season.

I really don't understand this move with <1 week until expanded rosters.

[alarp33]

On the bright side, Suzuki is still around to groom these young pitchers.  I can't imagine how badly this could have gone if they would have traded him in July