Article: Report: Twins to sign RHP Mike Pelfrey

[Seth Stohs]

You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?r=1260-Report-Twins-to-sign-RHP-Mike-Pelfrey

[darin617]

What are the Twins doing signing a bunch of back end of the rotation guys?

 

One last question, what does 5.1 K per nine innings in the NL translate to in the AL when you have to have a DH not a SP in the lineup?

[greengoblinrulz]

Assume he's bein signed to be traded in July as MN gets ready for KGibson/TMay this yr & Alex Meyer next yr.

Hopefully get 15-20 starts out of him as Im sure MN will baby him in his rehab even tho there is no long term chance of him stayin.

OK signing...nothing more

Should have signed Scot Baker instead

[johnnydakota]

I guess Terry wants to corner the market on #5 guys.

But we all knew the team would do nothing, add nothing, spend nothing ..

and wait to collect lux.tax revenue

[YourHouseIsMyHouse]

Another Jason Marquis/Kevin Correia type. I think this almost slams the door on getting Marcum or Jackson.

Let's at least pursue some high end infielders with the money we have. Don't allow this be the end of our free agency!

[YourHouseIsMyHouse]

So what do we have?

Diamond

Gibson

Worley

Correia

Pelfrey

Hendriks

Hernandez

 

Lots of assembly required...

[beehles]

Another crap shoot signing. Would be nice to sign a guy you know is gonna be ready to contribute to success right away vs a shot in the dark middle rotation type. I hope this works out for Pelfrey and the Twins, but time will tell. Maybe luck will be on our side for a change and they actually strike gold with this one.

[Old Twins Cap]

Still just one comment showing up on the main page....

[notoriousgod71]

This is really an inspiring move.

[Winston Smith]

The season will start about 10 months after his Tommy John, Gibson will be 18-19 months out and on an innings count. What do we expect out of Pelfrey?

[h2oface]

Gulp. Not even a year out of Tommy John when the season starts. So the twins still need 3 more starters. What? Correia counts? OK, then. 2 more starters, as i really can't see Pelfrey ready until a couple of months into the season. At least Ryan didn't sign him for 2 years!

 

............ and for what it is worth, the comments here still don't come up from the article links, except one.

[Einstein]

What's the point? Why even bother?

[clutterheart]

Not bad. A decent upside / low risk type of move.

I'll be this is the same deal the offered to Baker

[Mike Sixel]

Really not sure what to say, other than I am not surprised this is the route they took.

[chagen]

Does Terry Ryan even know what good pitching is? How many good free agent pitchers has this guy signed? Answer not many

[bertrecords]

Why?

[Craig in MN]

Of all the free agent starters on the market, I think Pelfrey and Correia were the worst two that I expected Twins would be interested in. They go both of them, and not even all that cheaply. I really couldn't be more disappointed. With all the rest of the roster shaking out like it is, I think this increases the odds of Blackburn being in the rotation to start the season, so it's sort of a triple whammy. I hope Ryan has some money left to upgrade the defense behind them or I think this will get ugly. And the offense too, for that matter.

 

Notable stats on Pelfry: Opponents have a .691 OPS against him at Citi Field and about .842 OPS everywhere else. If Target Field plays a lot like Citi Field, he might be a half of a good pitcher...for 2/3 of a year.

[ThePuck]

Really not sure what to say, other than I am not surprised this is the route they took.

 

 

I wish I could say I was surprised

[lee_the_twins_fan]

I'm probably an eternal optimist, but I think this move could be OK. Pelfrey pitched great in 2010; yes, he had a down year in 2011, but his ERA was 2.29 in 2012, before the surgery. It'll be interesting to know how well he does in his recovery from the surgery.*

[JP3700]

Pelfrey changed his approach in 2012. He started throwing more cutters and curveballs to go with his sinker. It led to a better swinging strike rate along with an improved strikeout/walk ratio. I know 20 innings is a small sample size, but at least there are approach based metrics that explain the improved results prior to Tommy John.

 

I actually love this signing.

[ThePuck]

Pelfrey changed his approach in 2012. He started throwing more cutters and curveballs to go with his sinker. It led to a better swinging strike rate along with an improved strikeout/walk ratio.

 

 

Did it also lead to his TJ surgery?

[jmlease1]

I'm not thrilled about it; Pelfrey has been durable previously, but just doesn't miss enough bats. The K/BB ratio has been pretty bad, he gives up too many hits and just doesn't have a lot of upside.

 

There have been worse moves, I guess. Maybe his velocity will increase post-surgery (as has happened with other pitchers) and he'll turn out to be a solid 3-4 guy, but I'm not holding my breath. At least it's only a 1 year deal. And let's face it. there will be at least one pitcher with these kind of peripherals who will turn in a nice season next year, maybe we'll get lucky.

[joeboo_22]

I'm not against the move, but if he has value at the deadline the Twins have to trade him.

[JP3700]

Did it also lead to his TJ surgery?

 

Impossible to know, but I guess one can argue that the additional stress on the elbow could have caused the injury.

[snepp]

I imagine that his ligament tears regardless, the damage likely started long before.

[DaveW]

I like bringing in Pelfrey, sounds like its on a reasonable enough contract and everything. Ideally we can still land Marcum, then I would be pretty ok with our rotation heading into next season. I think if you have:

Marcum

Diamond

Worley

Gibson

Pelfrey

Correia

Hendriks

Webb

 

You can piece together a rotation.

[Winston Smith]

Even if TR could bring Walter Johnson back from the dead it wouldn't be a good rotation. Better yes but not good.

[Old Twins Cap]

I think you guys are missing the strategy here by Ryan. Everybody keeps waiting for him to make a BIG signing, the one guy who is going to turn things around for the Twins. But, Ryan has said, and I believe he is correct, that he needs lots of arms, a stable of hurlers in order to turn things around. I think his strategy is to get 8 or 9 reasonably MLB ready arms and see who comes in with good stuff, who is ready to contribute, who is going to have a good year. Sure, Correia, Pelfrey, Hendriks, not necessarily the kinds of guys who are going to win a division and make a playoff run, but, if one or two of them turns out to have a good year, and we get lucky on another pitcher or two, who knows, we might end up being a .500 baseball team next year. And, like this year in the AL Central, that would be enough to hang around and generate crowds and interest. Look, we've lost 95 games the last couple of years -- what's really possible at this point? Get a stable of horses and see who can ride. With back to back 95 loss years, it's not like an Ace is what we need.

[ThePuck]

I think you guys are missing the strategy here by Ryan. Everybody keeps waiting for him to make a BIG signing, the one guy who is going to turn things around for the Twins. But, Ryan has said, and I believe he is correct, that he needs lots of arms, a stable of hurlers in order to turn things around. I think his strategy is to get 8 or 9 reasonably MLB ready arms and see who comes in with good stuff, who is ready to contribute, who is going to have a good year. Sure, Correia, Pelfrey, Hendriks, not necessarily the kinds of guys who are going to win a division and make a playoff run, but, if one or two of them turns out to have a good year, and we get lucky on another pitcher or two, who knows, we might end up being a .500 baseball team next year. And, like this year in the AL Central, that would be enough to hang around and generate crowds and interest. Look, we've lost 95 games the last couple of years -- what's really possible at this point? Get a stable of horses and see who can ride. With back to back 95 loss years, it's not like an Ace is what we need.

 

I never, EVER, expected Terry Ryan to make a big signing. On top of that, signing a bunch of pitchers like these and hoping some have a miraculous season is an act of desperation.

[Ultima Ratio]

Who going to have the better year, Baker or Pelfrey? Be sure to look back at the end of the year to see how well TR's decision was.