Badsmerf

Benson? There is no way that dude doesn't get claimed. It has to be Butera or Hermsen. I bet Mastro gets put on the 60-day. With the amount of OF depth, and since he has been out almost a month, it makes too much sense.

This adjustment was expected. We've known the type of hitter Arcia is for a few years now. It was expected that pitchers would start to try and make him chase out of the zone. Good analysis Parker. I'd like to have the inside info about how they are trying to get Arcia to adjust.

Another great start by Baxendale. Call him up!

I have about 75% confidence the Twins will win 88 games in 2016. This team will be pretty good then, regardless of who the coaches are. The better question is how much faith I have in them actually winning a series. Which I would respond with about 10% through the whole lot. Ryan hasn't been able to build a championship team, Gardy hasn't been able to manage in the playoffs and Anderson's pitchers have underachieved. I don't think we'll need to even talk about this after this offseason.

Whatever. Deduno and Walters wont be in the rotation for long. I don't see how they can allow Hicks to struggle up here for this long while keeping Gibson down for financial reasons.

We are in the middle of an 8-game losing streak which has seen the Twins outscored 51-22 and completely inept at times. The starting rotation is in shambles and managed to make it through just 29.1 innings in these games with only 2 starts getting past the 5th inning. Needless to say, the offense hasn't been much better. A bad starting rotation and an anemic offense amount to losing games in bunches. How do we fix it? Luckily for the 3 people that read this,I know all the right answers. Paying for a legit starting pitcher 6 months ago would have helped. Fortunately, there is a little light in the tunnel for the Twins. I'm not sure if now is the right time to make big moves like the ones I'll be advocating, but at some point it might be necessary. I'm just going to talk about 3 guys that could come up and provide quality starts. One of them, Gibson, is likely to be on his way to Minnesota already with Worley being sent down. Mostly, the rotation needs help and Terry Ryan should be under a lot of heat for not properly addressing it in the offseason. First, I'm baffled by the Twins expectations and inconsistencies in their player handling. Hendriks (not one of the 3 since he is hurt) started the year a few "meh" starts, the second seemingly better than the first. Yet was sent down after 2 average starts while Worley was allowed to be the worst starting pitcher in the MLB for 10 starts. Currently, he has a 1.004 OPS against, that is combined, not just against Miguel Cabrera. Anyway, the 3 I'm talking about are Gibson, Albers and Meyer. Deduno, however, is not part of my list, and will most likely show why in his brief (my prediction) time with the Twins this year. Gibson is most likely to make his appearance soon. I wanted consistency from him before going to the MLB, but he is going to be up for good at some point and his complete game shutout in his last start is enough evidence to me he is ready. Need I say more? The next choice is Albers. Albers hasn't had a look in the MLB yet, but is putting together a nice season. A TJ surgery victim in 2009, he has missed some of his prime development time. While I don't think Albers is a saving grace, I do think he could put together respectable starts. This season's statistics might be a little skewed by sample size though, since he is striking out batters much better than ever before. Mainly, he doesn't walk people (averages 1.8 BB/9 through the minors) and has been great at not giving up HR's (averages .4 HR/9). Combined with being a lefty on a staff dominated by righties and he might have some success. Next is Meyer. He should be up after super-2 status is past. Reasoning? Because he has ****ing talent you dimwaud. He would instantly be the best pitcher in the rotation, and most likely to get the best results. Going forward if the Twins take their time with their best prospects they are going to lose fans. Nobody wants to go see a scrub rotation give up 8 or 9 runs and not get through the 5th inning. Keep this up and the bullpen is going to break down and the Twins would be in a world of hurt if Perkins or Burton get hurt. Meyer will be competing for a spot in the 2014 rotation, and if he doesn't make it out of spring it wont be long until he forces his way in. Again, because he has ****ing talent, the thing that Terry Ryan and co. have neglected to draft or trade for in almost 10 years (slight exaggeration). This opinion might be premature on Meyer since his results haven't been sparkling, but I think he will start building a case quickly. How do you get these 3 in the rotation? Worley is already down and Gibson up, so one down. When Deduno fails (which he will), Albers is then primed for a call-up. He has to be added to the 40-man so pass Butera through waivers. A no-hit catcher that is on the DL shouldn't have much problem passing. Around the deadline when it is obvious this team is going nowhere and someone is traded you can then add Meyer and put him in the rotation. This rotation wont magically make a run in August, but it will be much more interesting and easier to watch than the current version.

We are in the middle of an 8-game losing streak which has seen the Twins outscored 51-22 and completely inept at times. The starting rotation is in shambles and managed to make it through just 29.1 innings in these games with only 2 starts getting past the 5th inning. Needless to say, the offense hasn't been much better. A bad starting rotation and an anemic offense amount to losing games in bunches. How do we fix it? Luckily for the 3 people that read this,I know all the right answers. Paying for a legit starting pitcher 6 months ago would have helped. Fortunately, there is a little light in the tunnel for the Twins. I'm not sure if now is the right time to make big moves like the ones I'll be advocating, but at some point it might be necessary. I'm just going to talk about 3 guys that could come up and provide quality starts. One of them, Gibson, is likely to be on his way to Minnesota already with Worley being sent down. Mostly, the rotation needs help and Terry Ryan should be under a lot of heat for not properly addressing it in the offseason. First, I'm baffled by the Twins expectations and inconsistencies in their player handling. Hendriks (not one of the 3 since he is hurt) started the year a few "meh" starts, the second seemingly better than the first. Yet was sent down after 2 average starts while Worley was allowed to be the worst starting pitcher in the MLB for 10 starts. Currently, he has a 1.004 OPS against, that is combined, not just against Miguel Cabrera. Anyway, the 3 I'm talking about are Gibson, Albers and Meyer. Deduno, however, is not part of my list, and will most likely show why in his brief (my prediction) time with the Twins this year. Gibson is most likely to make his appearance soon. I wanted consistency from him before going to the MLB, but he is going to be up for good at some point and his complete game shutout in his last start is enough evidence to me he is ready. Need I say more? The next choice is Albers. Albers hasn't had a look in the MLB yet, but is putting together a nice season. A TJ surgery victim in 2009, he has missed some of his prime development time. While I don't think Albers is a saving grace, I do think he could put together respectable starts. This season's statistics might be a little skewed by sample size though, since he is striking out batters much better than ever before. Mainly, he doesn't walk people (averages 1.8 BB/9 through the minors) and has been great at not giving up HR's (averages .4 HR/9). Combined with being a lefty on a staff dominated by righties and he might have some success. Next is Meyer. He should be up after super-2 status is past. Reasoning? Because he has ****ing talent you dimwaud. He would instantly be the best pitcher in the rotation, and most likely to get the best results. Going forward if the Twins take their time with their best prospects they are going to lose fans. Nobody wants to go see a scrub rotation give up 8 or 9 runs and not get through the 5th inning. Keep this up and the bullpen is going to break down and the Twins would be in a world of hurt if Perkins or Burton get hurt. Meyer will be competing for a spot in the 2014 rotation, and if he doesn't make it out of spring it wont be long until he forces his way in. Again, because he has ****ing talent, the thing that Terry Ryan and co. have neglected to draft or trade for in almost 10 years (slight exaggeration). This opinion might be premature on Meyer since his results haven't been sparkling, but I think he will start building a case quickly. How do you get these 3 in the rotation? Worley is already down and Gibson up, so one down. When Deduno fails (which he will), Albers is then primed for a call-up. He has to be added to the 40-man so pass Butera through waivers. A no-hit catcher that is on the DL shouldn't have much problem passing. Around the deadline when it is obvious this team is going nowhere and someone is traded you can then add Meyer and put him in the rotation. This rotation wont magically make a run in August, but it will be much more interesting and easier to watch than the current version.

I thought about moving Sano up too. I then slapped myself in the face and had to change my shorts. I'd love to see him now, but burning an option year would not be worth it if he struggles to adjust. I'm fine with him spending a little time in A+ and being promoted to AA after the break. Once he is in AA and doing well, he could be called up at any time. Once September hits he can be called up without using an option, which might happen if he continues to destroy and the Twins continue to suck. I would advocate more bringing up Gibbysie and Myersie to help this team. They would have more of an impact than Sano at this point.

Wow. Pretty impressive what Sano is doing right now. I really hope he can be the player we are all hoping for.

Crapshot? I really wouldn't say that. Some of the guys drafted in the top 5 in previous years haven't worked out, but that is where you are most likely to get a premium player.

I've been one that wants more consistency from Gibson before going to the Twins. With another piss poor outing by Hernandez, I don't see any reason to leave him in the rotation while Gibson is putting up starts like this. I still want to see consistency, but I feel like he's put together enough great games to give him the nod now. He is still off and on so hopefully that can get straightened out soon. Call him up.

No, he's really not.

I don't understand what is wrong with Benson. The dude looked so promising 2 years ago and now can't even hit his weight in AAA. I'm just baffled by it. At this point, I'm not sure there is much hope left.

I'm with Oxtung on this. Using teame stats isn't the best indicator. I'd feel like the stats would tell a different story when using individuals. The elite strike-out pitchers, Aces, allow less runs. I can't think of many elite strike-out pitchers that are just average at allowing runs. Once you dilute the field and include all pitchers, you are making their impact minuscule. Most MLB pitchers are going to strike out between 5 and 7 batters per 9. These guys far outweigh elite pitchers in a compilation stat. The numbers look interesting as a whole, but tell us little for individuals.

Gibson is inconsistent right now. He is probably better than Pedro, so sending Pedro to the pen where he belongs isn't going to hurt my feelings. Other than that he is not ready. Right now he needs to earn a call-up and I adamantly feel he has not done that. The only reason to bring him up is for the fans right now. Its one thing for a prospect to learn to pitch in the MLB, its another if he is facing physical limitations while doing so. Let him get consistency first.

Fixed.

Depends on how guys perform. If Pelfrey keeps improving I could see him being dealt, Perkins, Burton... It is all about what teams are looking for. We really wont know what the market is until around that time.

I was on the fence about leaving him out there because of how he struggled during the 7th. He had gotten lucky most of the night with double play balls and was generally lucky to have the score as low as it was. I can see Gardy's reasoning, I just don't feel like Correia is the type of guy to push like that.

Velocity is difficult to predict increasing. We all hoped Deolis Guerra would start sitting in the 90's after the Santana trade as had been advertised. He came to the Twins at age 19 in high A. We had scouting reports of low 90's FB, but when he got here we heard mid to high 80's FB. He never added that velocity we were all hoping for. That is just an example of a guy that didn't add velocity, I'm sure there are plenty others that did when their body matured. I've read a few different articles about how velocity is generated. It is pretty interesting if you are a physics or math geek like me. So much of it is determined by genetics and how your body is built.

I'm not entirely on board with the Worley being lucky camp. Yes his babip is high, but he is getting crushed, not letting little ground balls and bloopers fall. I really question his stuff at this point. I'm not sure how the Twins can justify blasting Hendriks and sending him down when Worley has been much worse. I just looked up Hendriks's stats and did a facepalm as I realized he was only given 2 starts before being sent down. Anyway, I hope Worley can right the ship, but there has to be some serious questions about his ability to pitch at this level right now. 8 starts is to compile a strong enough sample to start asking questions.

Wow. I'm amazed at what one good game does to people. Yes he is improving, maybe this game will help him get more confidence and he'll start stroking. Come on though dudes. This guy has had absolutely brutal AB's for the past month and a half. Whiffing on pitches in the middle of the plate and being incapable of hitting off-speed pitches. I'm encouraged by his performance last night but lets be reasonable. Are you ****ing kidding me? He hit .286 once in his entire professional career and now he's a .270-.280 guy after a 2 HR game while he's hitting .152 in 110 AB's? Wow dude. I can maybe see the 15 HR's since he is still young and should develop. I'm still in the opinion he should abandon hitting LH and just focus on RH. I guess last night is the only competency he's shown at the plate all year (besides taking walks), so it might not matter.

Brodin, you lost me at solo HR's. If you can't see there is more to baseball than avg and RBI I have nothing to argue with you about. Dave, I'm not being ridiculous. Besides Plouffe's defense (which is only highlighted by dumb mistakes) he is just fine. Right now he is a league average 3b. I'm fine with that. Especially considering he can improve over the year. I don't understand calling him out. I can see Dozier, Parmelee and Worley, but the constant negativity about Plouffe is just stupid.

Justin Morneau OPS: .727 Trevor Plouffe OPS: .737 Justin Morneau salary: 15,000,000 Trevor Plouffe salary: 520,000 Out of these two Plouffe is the one in jeopardy of losing a roster spot? I know he means next year, it just baffles me how much negativity Plouffe gets from the Twins.

Nice debut for the pirates. Hope he can continue.

For the first time?