Ryan And Pelfrey Have A “Healthy Exchange”

I'm a little surprised at people's reactions to Pelfrey here.  For all the angst and spilled ink/pixels I see on TD about the Twins players' and staff's lack of fire/passion/desire to win/competitiveness/whatever-you-want-to-call-it, as soon as someone shows a little he gets slammed.

Do I think the deserved the job?  No, I think putting him in the pen was the right move.  But I give him credit for coming out and saying, "No, I want more than this".  And I give him credit for saying he'll be professional about it and do his duty in the pen.

Personally, I wish more of our guys had the same attitude.

I'm actually less upset with Pelfrey, and more upset that the Twins management failed to foresee and defuse this very obvious outcome.

Molitor: "I was forthright and transparent."

If that's the case, is Pelfrey an idiot?  Did he not understand this was a possible outcome?  Did he really think it was a competition based on spring training ERA?

The difference, of course, is that since Dec. 13th, Mike Pelfery has posted a 1.32 ERA over 14.2 innings, while May and Milone are sitting at 4.22 and 4.50, respectively respectful numbers, too. Pelfery's fastball sits at 92 mph on the radar gun. I believe he rushed his way back from Tommy John surgery, and that cost him--and the Twins--dearly.

 

I also believe he was told by the Twins front office that he would be competing for a spot in the Twins starting rotation during Spring Training. He worked hard in the offseason, came into camp, and put up some good numbers, leading him to spill the ink that he's “kind of disappointed, frustrated, a little upset,” at not making the rotation. Which leads me to believe that someone--not just Pelfery--didn't handle the situation very well.

 

He went on to say “If some team realizes I’m healthy for the first time in years and thinks I can help them, let’s do it."

 

Game on. Do it Pelf. Prove us wrong. It makes me want to cheer for the guy.

If Twins Daily posters like us can figure these things out, I am pretty sure MLB front offices were fully aware of them (and their potentiality) some time ago.

(As to his rushing back from TJ surgery, he had multiple ~80 ERA+ seasons for the Mets too. I think that level of performance is just part of the package with him.  Hopefully he can be more consistent out of the pen.)