Brandon

also I don't think they'll wait till June if Pelfry is still walking 4 per 5 innings and if Buron is giving up 2 or 3 runs per outing. I can see the Twins looking to bring up Guerrier to see if he can still pitch and moving Pelfry to the pen and letting Deduno start in about another start or two. I think the Twins management really want to see the Twins win close to 80 games this year and being a little more impatient this season then in seasons past due to options available.

You also don't go from pitching solid to pitching terrible without an injury. Pelfry is extremely wild. to throw mechanics off that much he might be concealing an injury.... I didn't say they would definately go on the DL. but between now and the time it takes to make a move new information may be revealed thus leading to the DL. I'll make sure to enunciate everything next time instead of writing quickly.

There is plenty of at bats available for Willingham, Colabello, Kubel, and Pinto at DH, LF and RF (Pinto will catch some too) however I see Arcia going back to AAA with the emergence of Colabello.

Florimon's OPS since April 10 s .722. I don't necessarily think he can sustain that, but I do believe he has turned a corner and will contribute closer to a .620-.660 OPS from here on out which is enough with his defense and the other bats contributing. Hicks on the other hand needs some sort of jolt. Of course there is still a SS available on the market should the Twins decide to be serious about the SS upgrade.

Kubel has some Swag. He was pretty confident despite his spring training. Colabello has to have some too for walking away from a million dollars to stay and compete for a spot on the team with no guarantees. I have been real impressed with Suzuki so far and he looks to be a huge bargain so far this season. now if only we can find some value in the rotation we could be on to something.

Deunsing is on pace to pitch a scoreless season.

So far the bullpen has been back to their reliable self since their beginning of the season implosion. The exception has been Burton. His last appearance he pitched a scoreless inning so hopefully he is turning things around. If not I can see a trip to the DL so he can work things out there. But the rotation has been a different story. Pelfry, Correia, Nolasco and Hughes have not got the job done. I can see Pelfry headed to the bullpen or DL if he has another bad start or 2 and Deduno moving to the rotation. If Pelfry goes to the pen then no additional moves should be needed If Burton also goes on the DL I can see the Twins bringing Guerrier up especially if this is close to his opt out date. I do see the rotation working things out as the weather gets warmer and we do have reinforcements on the way but this is how I see the first pitching shakeup working out. any thoughts?

I would think Arcia and Herman would go down in this scenario. Arcia has 6 strikeouts in 18 ABs and looks like he could use more time in AAA. also he has options.

Since the April 10th day off, Florimon is 4 for 18 a .222 batting average with 3 walks for a .333 OBP and 2 of those hits were a double and triple for a .389 Slg% and a .722 OPS. Small sample size yes but numbers trending in the right direction and numbers we can live with at SS. Maybe he can put up a tolerable .650-.680 OPS this year. He also has 4 stolen bases too.

It happens, Gaetti retired after 10 hitless at bats with Boston his last season.

We have 8 potential starters before a drop off of potential. That's pretty impressive. The 8 are the 5 starting now plus Deduno, Meyer, and May.

I agree Deduno is fine where he is at in the pen. I think he is still a good starter too and an option to be a 6th or 7th starter. So if he goes to the rotation and Burton continues to be ineffective then another bullpen arm is needed which was all I was trying to communicate with a scenario and see who everyone thought would be a contender to move up.

That does make me feel better about the rotation this year. If Deduno moves to the rotation and Burton is either hurt or in a prolonged slump, who gets the next call to the pen? There's Guerrier and Pressly and who else Tonkin is already up.

I noticed a lot of posters are getting angry at the signings we made just over the winter. Seems a bit early. If Hughes develops into a sold number 3 starter then we got him for almost half off market value. Nolasco will be solid by the end of the season. I am glad Gibson is up and starting. I am indifferent on Corriea and Pelfry though I would like to give Pelfry a chance. Also 3.5 million of Pelfry's 11 million is incentives if I remember correctly. Deduno and Meyer are the 6th and 7th starters so to speak so that is good too. I would think that if Deduno is starting he would be on an innings limit of around 140 or so anyway due to not pitching that many in years if ever. I like how our pitching staff is currently set up and have no problems with it. We have options moving forward there. The big issue I have for this season is the injuries to both Sano and Buxton as I was expecting them to come up at some point this season and provide the team with support so Plouffe could play RF or LF if Willingham gets traded or moves to DH or if Arcia goes to the minors and Buxton could move Hicks to either RF,LF or bench. but instead they are hurt and so is both Willingham and Arcia so we have no replacements that fit as starters exactly. Bartlett on the roster didn't bother me because I don't think he is meant to get much time in the OF mostly just backing up CF so Hicks can get some rest. If you as a fan are upset about Bartlett playing LF in that game where the other OF was the DH, just wait till we play a game without the 3rd catcher while the back up C DH's... This is a season of transition and there is potential on this team to surprise. but it is deflating when all of the transition part of the offense is injured.

I think the argument for Deduno in the bullpen has more to do with durability then stuff. I prefer to watch him start but if he is going to be hurt it makes sense to minimize that risk with him in the pen and used as the 6th starter.

Dozier is on pace for 81 stolen bases and Colabello is on pace for 297 RBIs.

Corriea seems to be a cold weather pitcher in that since I have been following him he has pitched better in April and I thnk he pitched well last September. I haven't checked the stats. Is there a correlation to pitching styles and weather?

I agree that its a 3 battle scenario to go. Bartlett vs Presley, Diamond vs Theilbar vs (Gibson I guess), Parmelee vs Kubel Of these I would keep Presley, Diamond and Gibson and the last one is a toss up but probably Kubel. Theilbar deserves to come north but this way we keep another potential starter a little while longer.

They should see if Colabello can catch an inning or two in an emergency so we can send Hermann down. I don't think the third string catcher will be as big a deal if they have a hitter on the bench that can pinch hit which would be Colabello if he makes the team. Sending down the players with options and keeping the players out of options does make the team better as a hole in the long run. In the short run no but if there are injuries throughout the season we will have better depth to handle them this way. while right now a player is hot that doesn't mean they are the superior player. If Colabello could sudo platoon with Kubel that would be a boost to our offense. But I guess Pinto is going to do that. I hope they work out a trade for some of our cast off pitchers. I think Guerrier is also I viable option after a few more weeks of pitching.

Drew could be signed to play both SS and 3b so that way Florimon gets a lot of time at SS and Plouffe can spend some time in the OF.

Pinto should make the team but with 5 off days in april he should probably go down the first month of the season. but I'm ok with him over Hermann. I have Hicks and Pressly in the OF with Arcia and Willingham. IF is Mauer, Florimon, Dozier, and Plouffe, with Escobar as the back up and Suzuki and either Hermann or Pinto as the back up my vote is Herman to start the season. DH is Colabello and that leaves one more bench player which is likely Bernier or Parmelee depending on what the Twins feel they need. Kubel still has a chance to beat out Parmelee for the last spot should the Twins go with that type of player over the extra middle IF. Pitching the 5 starters are pretty much named with Gibson being the 6th starter. the bullpen is Perkins, Deunsing, Burton, Fien, Swarzak, then you have 2 spots left. Thielbar, Pressley, Diamond, Tonkin, and several others. there are too many good options here to call. Though I wonder if Swarzak is guaranteed a spot with his spring? I would think so but I haven't heard anything about him and his numbers are terrible. I bet Guerrier start the season on the 15 day DL so he gets more time and the Twins can keep evaluating. aand my last question is could Gibson be the starter who gets stashed in the bullpen to start the season?

Yeah, but I think Colabello has earned a trip north too. maybe as the DH/ bench combo with Parmelee. Kubel is going to need several hits to drop in to with the DH job as I have read he is hitting the ball with no results a lot better the last week. I think Herman should be the back up C to start the season and Pinto can come up mid May. there are 5 off days in April so that will help limit the playing time for back ups this month regardless. So that makes the bench and DH Colabello, Parmelee, Hicks or Presley, Escobar, and Herman The Twins will probably carry 12 pitchers to start the season since there is more of a need there in terms of who we need to keep. the only variable is if the Twins feel they need another middle IF and keep Romero or Bernier over Parmelee.

Looks like the big battles remaining is will Kubel show enough to make the team and who will win the last 2 bullpen spots as there seems to be 6 or 7 contenders for those 2 spots (Pressley, Theilbar, Tonkin, Worely, Guerrier, Hoffman, Thompson and kind of Diamond)

Since we are going to loose 1 of the pitchers, probably Diamond. I wonder if Bernier will get the call if Florimon starts the season on the DL.

I think the message is goodbye to Corriea not to the young pitchers and we will also have another pitcher who we can trade later. And I think the offer is probably closer to 3 / 33-36 so that will not hurt the budget if he bites.