jokin

Yeah, like I said, "of the Bartlett type". Just depends on whose imagination was in use- as that injury never existed either.

Berardino says Pino "sent down." C'mon LaVelle.

Probably of the Bartlett type?

They had to make a move to shore up the IF. This really tells you that they value everyone currently on the 40-man.

Yep, although Turner is said to have had the most major-league-ready tools of any catching prospect when he was drafted last year- so by the end of 2015, maybe not that weak. Having the 3 other guys with major league experience (albeit not full-time) would mitigate the injury situation for half a year....again, my speculation, and it is pure speculation at this point, is based on the Twins possibly feeling that Turner has shown enough to be able to come in and take over full-time by the All Star break next year. The Twins would certainly take a step down in the intangible department in the short-term relative to Suzuki, but Terry Ryan has expressed confidence in Fryer's ability to handle a staff and Fryer is getting valuable experience working with Zuke at the moment. But when all is said and done, Suzuki is having a career year, and his value in trade will likely never be higher than it is right now. Hard to walk away from a potential mini-prospect haul should the opportunity arise in the next month.

It would actually be 4 days. And what about if Fuld and an IF go down?

Bingo. Some real 40-man stubbornness, perhaps pigheadedness in the FO, and a failure to learn from the self-inflicted OF mess from just 2 months ago. Unreal- if no more moves are made before Monday, there's a real chance that someone, even a pitcher, might have to play a position they've never played before- and of course, no pinch-hitting depth.

Exactly wrong, what's offered here will soon become obvious, it's a false choice. The AL averages 2.53 pitchers on the roster that are age 25 or younger. There is only one team that has zero arms under 25, of course, that is the Twins. Even a fringe contender should have some arms capable of contributing at the major league level who career-wise are just before the average physical peak for the typical pitcher. If you don't have that cycle in place, you end up in the situation the Twins find themselves in now...ie, up until very recently (we hope), they have either been unwilling, or unable, or both, to find, sign, develop and promote a recurring supply of young arms that can be called upon to reliably contribute at the major league level. This puts them in a dangerous downward cycle relative to the rest of the League, and explains a lot about why they are annually the worst team for K% and K/9.

It's also kind-of infamous for a certain industry genre of "celluloid heroes"...

This is my one exception to my sell-high rule, as well. But given Ryan's ability to trade catchers for value-in-kind, he should be able to get a decent return from someone like Baltimore. If Zuke really likes it here, as appears to be the case, plus knowing he'd have assurances of first shot at a full-time gig for the next 1-2 years, he'd definitely listen to the Twins first in the offseason when he's a FA again.

I don't think anyone should be ruled out, save Hughes.

Snake Plissken reference in 3...2...1... http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bEpHck_hxoM/TEYGZjzDmhI/AAAAAAAABKs/DX63tQNOB6g/s1600/escapefromLA.jpg

A lot has changed since April 1. The Twins have lost or demoted 3 CFers and 1 SS. Santana has taken on a significant role in both positions in that wake, plus he's taken the role of leadoff man by the throat, he would represent a huge loss in production if he's DLd. It has been reported that Nunez will need a rehab assignment past this coming Monday, so the injury will turn out to be extra costly if Santana also goes down. I get your point about the 13th pitcher, but Terry Ryan sounds like he was pretty stubborn about not liking the rostered option bats in Rochester, or messing with the 40-man to promote Romero or another IF.

Almost right on schedule with the pitcher aging curves, Perk's FB velo has dropped ~2 MPH year over year.

Red Flag......Cooper used the phrase, "effective more than dominant". What happened to the velo that Gonsalves came in with at the draft? It supposedly sat in the low-90s and occasionally hit 94? Looks like the Twins are having him drop any power-pitcher aspirations- is there a long-term C & C issue? If so, he's a lot less exciting prospect.

And adding those types of pitchers is what a team does that is one or two arms away from making a World Series run....last time I looked, rebuilding teams generally don't have the oldest pitching staff in baseball.

Turner has a very decent shot at starting out, or soon after, at AA next year. We may be talking about the heir apparent being up by next summer- the Twins could probably live with Pinto/Hermann/Fryer until then.

Why not? All of these young arms that are "blocked" in Rochester and New Britain. And we have an expiring contract with Correia.

Actually, notwithstanding your garbled declarative, using a pitcher's age is likely the most important determinant, all other things being equal. Feel free to defend the Twins, who are documented to be completely bucking the trend away from ever-increasing K% rates around the rest of baseball- and the graphs that show the fall-off for pitchers after 30 for injury, velocity and K-rates only exacerbates the Twins already untenable situation in that regard. (Note how the physical peak for arms with respect to velo and K/9 peaks around 25-26). The Red Sox are #1 in WAR, and it would totally be expected that as the defending WS champs, they would have the most veteran staff. But not surprisingly, they only have 7 pitchers over 30 to the Twins 10, and the Sox have 2 under 25, to the Twins Zero under 25- obviously, as Mikewantswins points out, someone in Boston is aware of the existing aging curve trends, and is developing and promoting the right way to reinvigorate the staff with youthful replacement arms- who are getting "on-the-job" training, ready to step in at a moment's notice. http://cdn.fangraphs.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Pitcher_Curves_Starter-Reliever-Comp-K9.png

Cards desperately need arms, too. There's a deal waiting to be done with both Baltimore and St Louis.

I see 4 candidates on the list....and add Burton, Florimon...and Parmelee...and possibly Deduno as DFA/Quick trade candidates. But whatever the case, if the Twins decide to go with only 2 bench players until they get back home next week (and Plouffe isn't a sure thing on Monday, let alone Nunez is supposedly going to do rehab), the Twins set themselves up for more possible embarrassment (as you're now way short in depth at SS, 2nd, 3rd and CF), but more likely at the very least, a pretty punchless lineup for 4 straight games. Having Romero or Bernier... and/or Hermann available (by at the least, optioning a 13th pitcher), with Escobar playing SS, it at least gives you a measure of respectability and added plausibility in pulling out a couple wins to salvage the road trip. Or add another really wild, log-jam-breaking scenario, they could get on the phone in the morning and see if somebody desperately needs SPs on short notice this weekend and move Corriea and possibly Pino or Johnson, etc. (ie, the Cards have been hit hard by pitching injuries -Wacha, Miller, Kelly, Lyons, Garcia and other minor league depth options are all hurt and supposedly the Twins have been inquiring about John Jay for quite some time) and let May take KC's place on his scheduled day on Friday night. Or continue to shelve May..... the rest of the rotation can probably move up a day, there was a day off last Monday, so Hughes could pitch with regular rest on Friday, and given Gibson and Pino only went 2 and 3 IP, they should be able to go on short rest this w/e. Deduno and/or a AAA pitcher could pick up a turn on the back-end.

There's always Korea, then. The Twins will find a way to make a nickel out of Pino, yet.

Plenty of other candidates, as well.

Yeah, he didn't look good trying to put full weight on it after he pulled into 2nd, it looked like a lot more than a ding. Hope to be proven wrong.

Unless there's a career minor league exception, doesn't Pino still have all of his options left?