One Step Backward

Ryan obviously has a lot of faith in his youthful core, and with good reason. But he's been doing this long enough to recognize that things don't always play out according to plan.

"Every guy that's come through here with the exception of maybe a handful in the last 20 years has had to go back. Mauer didn't go back. Knoblauch didn't go back. Those types of guys."

Of course, we'd all like to believe that transcendent talents like Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano are "those types of guys," but Ryan pointed to a number of players who needed to be sent back to the minors after their initial call-up – sometimes multiple times – before going on to have long and successful big-league careers. Included on that list are names like Torii Hunter, Corey Koskie and LaTroy Hawkins. A.J. Pierzynski shuttled back and forth between the minors and majors repeatedly back in the late '90s, and he's still playing today.

So as we watch Buxton, Eddie Rosario, and even Byung Ho Park scuffle along, it's important to keep in mind that a step backward is sometimes required before taking two steps forward. I have a hard time envisioning a demotion for Sano but with the other three it's quickly going to become a consideration as the uncompetitive at-bats pile up.

On a larger scale, it's looking like the Twins, as a team, will need to take a step backward before they can move forward. They've dug themselves a deep hole at the start of the season and being forced to send down one or more of their key young players, while replacing them with mediocrities like David Murphy, would almost surely peg this year as a developmental one aimed toward getting everything in place for a 2017 run.

Perhaps that was always the most realistic outcome given the level of inexperience on the roster, but one can hardly be blamed for being impatient after a five-year playoff drought, or for feeling optimistic in light of the elite abilities of these admittedly green youngsters.

Unfortunately, it looks like they're just not there yet, and neither are the Twins.