Oxtung

Like DrJim said, I think he knows who he wants to call up but he is waiting to see if there is any last minute information that might change his mind. Seems prudent to me. The other option I guess is that he knows who he wants to call up but wants to inform that man and others within the organization first before he tells the media. Either way doesn't seem "Seat of his pants" like to me.

Yeah you're probably right about the approach they took. Do you think they start Sano at AAA next season when he returns? Do they start him at AA for just a month while he gets his timing back and then move him up to AAA before getting a call up? Do you think he starts at AA and eventually jumps straight to the majors? Do you think he spends 2015 in the minors with perhaps a Sept call up and then get slotted into the 2016 lineup from day 1? I think with a year off he will require time at AA to regain his timing, half a season seems to be the usual time frame. That would only give him half a season at AAA with a Sept call up being his only time in the majors. That seems awfully quick to me to just slot him into the opening day lineup. IMO I think it's more likely we see Sano mid-way through 2016 at some point. Of course all of this presumes that he comes back and is the same player.

Thanks for pointing that out. I had forgotten that from the offseason. That does give more breathing room. I still think it was a poor decision regardless. We will just have to see how it plays out.

Is there any history of a team firing all of it's baseball managerial staff except for one and then promoting that member to manager? The idea that Gardenhire gets fired and Molitor moves to manager seems far fetched to me.

I think another 10 or so starts for Gibson would have been significant. If they had called him up after April, gaining the extra year of service time, he could have returned to the minors after struggling in the majors and worked on his stuff for 5 or 6 starts at AAA. Then come back up to the majors for another 5 or 6 starts to end his season. He would have had the opportunity to fail then try and adapt, thus giving him immediate feedback on if his changes were successful and for him to work over the offseason what his next steps were to improve his game. You could argue that wasn't realistic with Gibson given his arm troubles in 2012 and I won't disagree, I'm just trying to point out how a few extra games could have been useful for a pitcher.

This is why it made no sense to add him to the 40 man last year. Nobody was going to draft a 1B/corner OF coming off an injury at low A ball. I don't know if he'll ever make it to the majors but if he does it won't be with the Twins now.

I think these are fairly unrealistic representations of the future roster. The Twins will add veteran reclamations and a FA or 3 to the roster. I also believe it's unrealistic to believe Sano or Berrios will be up to start 2016. They'll start both back at AA to begin 2015. Also Polanco would really have to fly to get here to start 2016. Another question is who will be the random guy who blooms late and comes out of the minors a la Thielbar, Colabello, Pinto, Parmelee.

A slight quibble with your larger view. Trevor May will be on his last option next year so I think it would behoove the Twins to start with him in the rotation instead of Meyer (if it comes down to the two of them.) In addition May has gone 150 IP for 3 straight years and is well on his way to his fourth this season. If you're worried about durability and the bullpen he seems the better option at this point.

I don't think Tony Cingrani is going anywhere. No matter the bridges he's "burned". He's a lefty that throws hard and can strike guys out. In addition Cincinnati is going to have a pitching issue soon. Homer Bailey is locked up but Cueto, Latos and Leake are all FA's after next season. They can't afford to bring them all back. In fact I would be surprised if one doesn't get traded this upcoming off season. In the minors they have Robert Stevenson who could be ready sometime next season. After that they have a bunch of back of the rotation starters it seems. Barring implosion Cingrani will be a rotation fixture, IMO.

Taylor Lindsey, the major piece in the return for Street, was a BA top 100 prospect. That's nothing to sneeze at.

Good overview. There are also many other potential candidates within the Twins system currently. They really are stocked with bullpen talent right now it seems. More options in no particular order: Edgar Ibarra- already on 40 man, lefty Cole Johnson- good peripherals, currently at AA Zach Jones- Touches 100, control issues. Underwent surgery this year Tyler Jones- only at A+ but he has consistently put up fantastic numbers. Brandon Peterson- Has dominated every level he's been at since being drafted in 2013. Then there are the injured/made starters that could still emerge, Luke Bard JT Chargois Alex Wimmers Melotakis I know there are more college relievers that they tried to make starters that could potentially still slide back into a reliever roll. Also depending on how the rotation works out Meyer and May could both still end up as relievers. Lots of talent available right now. I think the Twins need to make room for some of these guys. The only way to know if they're going to hack it is to let them pitch at the MLB level. Several Twins relievers have pitched well this season but Guerrier, Duensing, Burton, Deduno, and Fien aren't going to be here by the time the Twins are back contending. This truly is an area where prospects are being held back.

On the potentially win a few more games in a lost season or potentially win more games in future seasons when you might be competitive, you can firmly slot me into the latter camp. You don't agree. That's life.

Personally I don't want to see Pino moved to the pen for the same reason I don't think he should take a spot from May or if it is a long term opening from Meyer. The Twins have a bunch of relievers that have potential that they should look at this year. Tonkin, Pressly, Ibarra, Achter, Guerra, Oliveros, Hamburger, Cole Johnson. Many of these guys are on the 40 man or will be rule 5 eligible this year. Why we would be giving a 30 yo journeyman a spot over one of the above I don't understand.

Troy Tulowitzki

The FO doesn't seem enthralled with him but I'd love to see Deibinson Romero called up for a while. He could slot in at DH if Morales is gone (which only happens if this recent surge continues for the next month.)

When did the spending limits go into effect? 3 years ago? It would also be interesting to know how many the Twins signed and what their total outlay was in comparison to the other teams. How much did the Twins put into their scouting in comparison to other teams? A lot of interesting questions that will go unanswered. That's life I suppose; make the best educated guess you can and move forward.

Should we send Hicks a link to a Fangraphs article about strikeouts being bad (for a hitter)? Perhaps about the relationship between LD%, BABIP and batting average?

I think there are a couple of factors that aren't being discussed and a few things being conflated in this discussion. First we should separate whether the Yankees should have gone all in from did the Twins do right by signing many smaller signings. The Yankees (and all high income teams), have a real dilemma of where to put there money. Which route will provide the largest return? They are capped in the rule IV draft. With potential FA players being locked into long term contracts early on in their MLB careers the big FA additions are becoming less attainable even as their contracts become obnoxiously bloated and for MANY years beyond their productive seasons. Perhaps from the Yankees point of view the return on potential young controllable players is greater than adding another big FA contract (hello A-Rod). They have money to spend and need to spend it somewhere. The questions really just becomes where should that be? The Twins on the other hand don't have that kind of money and so their question is is it better to sign one or 2 big players or spread it around? I think in order to accurately answer that question you'd have to also look at how many players signed lower priced contracts and succeeded. You can spend a million dollars on 7 kids and get nothing out of it just as easy as spending a million dollars on 1 kid. What are the success rates? Also a part of this discussion becomes one of numbers. There are only a certain number of players the Twins can field. They can't sign 30 guys to $30,000 contracts because there just isn't room for them all. At what point are the Twins leaving money on the table by spreading it too thin to prospects? Perhaps the biggest return on investment is what the Twins are currently employing. Sign 1 or 2 guys your scouts really like for a "big" price and then sign another bunch of "potential players" to smaller checks. That way you cover both bases. Interesting questions. Thanks for starting the research.

He's not on the 40 man and the Twins are big into "consistency".

Always scary putting thoughts down permanently on such a volatile situation as the Twins 25 man roster. First a quick question, when was the last time a team moved 6+ players at the deadline? Suzuki, Willingham, Morales, Correia, Duensing, Fien or Burton might all draw interest but they're not all going to get moved. Even if they all had suitors and deals to match the Twins aren't the Cubs/Astros/Marlins. They just won't move that many veterans. Alright putting my own thoughts down. C: Suzuki 1B: Mauer 2B: Dozier SS: Santana 3B: Plouffe LF: Parmelee CF: Hicks RF: Arcia DH: Vargas Bench: Nunez, Fryer, Escobar, Colabello SP: Hughes SP: Correia SP: Nolasco (or Meyer if Nolasco spends significant time on DL) SP: Gibson SP: May RP: Perkins RP: Fien RP: Thielbar RP: Swarzak RP: Pressly RP: Tonkin RP: Ibarra I think Duensing, Morales and Willingham get traded. Correia is bad enough that he isn't tradeable but not terrible enough to out right cut him. Burton and Deduno get DFA'd. I think the Twins realize that Meyer and May are the future and they will get the starts instead of Pino/Johnson assuming it's more than a spot start or two. Logan Darnell could go to the bullpen instead of Ibarra. I fully expect Hicks to be recalled at the beginning of August. The Twins don't have any other CF close (despite the wishes of the Twins public and perhaps FO too). He is only 24 and he is starting to show he can hit AA pitching again. In a lost season there is no reason he doesn't get another shot (unless he is really scuffling in the minors). I'm probably a little bullish on Vargas. It's more likely that Colabello is at DH with Vargas at AAA.

I think the Twins will move Deduno into the opening starting spot for 3 or 4 turns then re-evaluate. At that point Trevor May could be ready. Deduno hasn't pitched since last Friday. I think they'll call up either Pressly or Tonkin to take his spot in the pen depending on whether they think another long reliever is needed.

Only in the Twins rotation could Deduno be classified as a "strike out machine".

We'll see. It's a long season and we're still in spring training. As Kab said, there are many pitchers before that have had similar profiles that have fallen apart because they lose just a little bit of magic.

To be fair to Thyrlos, he wrote that last November.

It depends on the timing. The Twins have a lot of pitchers looking for innings at AAA currently. Gibson, May, Gilmartin, Johnson, Darnell, Pat Dean, Hermsen and perhaps Meyer. If Pressly is moved from the pen into a starting role as an injury replacement, no problem. If he starts squeezing out Gibson, May, Gilmartin, Darnell, Johnson or if it's at the expense of calling up a ready AA (Meyer for instance) then it's a problem.