Thrylos

Pretty sure that they are some who think that Duffey should not be starting, but relieving instead

That is pretty inaccurate. Only 4 Twins position players participated and that after each of the Team USA players had their 3rd PA, around the 7th inning. Same with pitching. Other than DJ Baxendale coming to get an out that Andrew Miller and Jake McGee could not get, Twins pitchers did not pitch before the 7th. All Spring Training games have subs by the 7th. In late innings it is Rochester - Pawtucket pretty much and not Twins - Red Sox, for example. Nothing unusual and that was very tough competition for the Twins, both ways.

I am sure that Berrios cares about the team. Maybe. Now that I am thinking about it, I am not that sure. I haven't heard Berrios ever saying that he want the Twins to win a World Championship. I might be misguided. Please feel free to be my guide here and show me any evidence against that. Actions speak louder than words. Fact: Berrios decided to play for Team Puerto Rico and leave the Twins' Spring Training for 2-3 weeks, while competing for a position in the team rotation Fact: Any way you cut it, Berrios was the Twins' worst starting pitcher last season The question might be whether Berrios cares about making the team, instead of Berrios caring about the team, no? Apparently he does not care about making the team either...

This interesting piece of information was hidden in this Mike Berardino article about Gonsalves and his grandfather: Due to a recurrence of the minor shoulder soreness that bothered him last October at the Arizona Fall League, Gonsalves was scratched from a chance to pitch Wednesday night for Team USA against the Twins. Bum shoulders are not a good thing and I hope that Gonsalves gets checked and takes care of it. Hope it is something minor...

JBJ = Jackie Bradley Jr?

I agree 100% with this. However, the pitcher that Berrios should be replacing is the 34 year old Santana and not the 27 year old May or 29 year old Gibson, or 29 year old Rodriguez or 31 year old Hughes, all of whom might (*) be around when the Twins turn around. From the point that the Twins did not trade Santana, does not make any sense to half-rear end a rebuild (again) and get non-ready pitchers in the majors. If they blew up the house, like the Viola teams did, it would had been a totally different story. (*) Clearly they are looking at 2017 as an evaluation year and they will be evaluating existing players (and managers/coaches and FO etc.) To have someone in the majors who they know is not ready does not make sense under these circumstances. As I said, had they blew it all up...

Not that many similarities. WBC is not a wedding or a sick child, i.e. circumstances that someone does not have control over. WBC is a choice. Here are those statements amended to be similar: Taking time off work to do the same work part time at another place for a couple weeks Canceling a vacation with friends to spend that time with other friends Getting off ST to play at the WBC.

From here: The World Baseball Classic is the premier international baseball tournament, sanctioned by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), and operated as a joint venture between Major League Baseball and its Players Association. This means that participating players are sharing the profits with MLB, and some $ goes to the coffers of the MLBPA. Nothing more nothing less and has nothing to do with the CBA.

WBC participation is not covered in the CBA so anything the teams do regarding it, will not violate that... 2017-2022 CBA outline here.

No, I am not saying that. Saying that would be analogous to saying that someone who dreamt all his life to do something, like going to college, does not care about it, because he went behind the gym with his buddies got drunk and got caught. Lapse of judgement. Bad decision. It happens. Yes I am suggesting that if you are young pitcher on the bubble of making a team, it is a lapse of judgement and bad decision to leave your team during Spring Training. And, yes, they are taking 3 weeks off from learning their new catchers and having their young infielders behind them figuring out how they pitch, and they are taking 3 weeks off doing team drills, like their teammates.

Are you suggesting that by choosing to play in their WBC and taking up to 3 weeks off Spring Training, a player shows that they care more about their MLB team than their WBC team? Really?

A couple of things (btw, this is a good read on WBC and about how teams feel about their players participating) : - The process goes like this: Players declare interest to WBC teams WBC teams select players MLB teams grant them permission to go - It is very unusual for players who are in a bubble to want to play. For example: ByungHo Park told the Korean team that he was not interested and once under contract with the Twins Breslow withdrew from team Israel to try to make the Twins. In the WBC you either see Veterans who have made their teams or minor leaguers with no hope to make their MLB team (like Dereck Rodriguez for the Twins) - Number 3 above is pretty typical. It is very rare for a team not to grant permission and those conversations usually happen before the players indicate interest to the WBC teams. Not granting permission is bad politics, because it is MLB-sponsored and all that jazz, but teams hate to have players they depend on to play at the WBC, esp. pitchers whose preparation gets all out of whack. - So players like Berrios, Santiago, Vargas, and Rosario are putting themselves at a disadvantage by participating and they know it. By participating definitely show that they do not care whether or not the will prepare like the rest of their teammates and have an optimal spring training to turn that mess of a team around, as much as playing for their Commonwealth's team. The point is not that the Twins have granted them permission (they pretty much had to.) They should have assessed their situation and the team's situation and should had know better than to ask. PS. Winter ball is different: 3 parties: players, winter team, MLB team. All have the right to ask and the right to deny. And usually all happens all the time. There are times that the Twins have asked players to play winter ball (last one Hicks) and the players declined, and vice versa.

I think that this makes sense. I'd actually start Romero at Fort Myers for a month or so. For the ones who are advocating for the top prospects to start the season in AAA: There is one practical issue that Chattanooga is a better place for them to play in April than Rochester: Temperature. I don't want the top prospects to pitch in 40 and 45 degree weather, if they don't have to. And they don't. Let the Tepeche's and Vogelsongs of the world pitch in Rochester for a month before they move on, and then promote the prospects in May. Same reason I would start Romero at Fort Myers. If it were AAA Las Vegas, it would have been a different story.

Sure But there is another huge variable that makes the difference between HRs and FOs: batted ball speed. You can uppercut it, swing through it as much as you want, but if you have Ben Revere's batted ball speed...

Compare the 2011 Twins and the 2011 Astros Compare the 2015-16 Twins and 2015-16 Astros There is a path to competing again. It is called total rebuild, which is what the Astros did in 2012 and 2013 and it is painful. The Twins did dumpster diving. Kinda disappointed to tell you the truth that the new regime is not committed to a total rebuild, but will use 2017 as an evaluation season; hopefully they should rebuild starting in 2018. There is zero reason that tradeable veterans like Santana, Dozier etc are still with the team. Zero.

That is the common wisdom and the "Twins' Way". Have you seen the Twins been able to "sort it later" the last couple dozen seasons? I have not. Other than Santana (and pre TJ Liriano for parts of a season) who fell into their arms, they haven't had an ace. Have you seen them trading high rated prospects for positions of need? Would they do the trade that the Red Sox did to get Sale, for example? Will they go after Kershaw or Syndergaard when they hit free agency? That's sorting it out. I just do not trust them to "sort it out later", so they must draft for need

The same can be said for Duffey and Mejia, both of whom are arguably ahead of Berrios, because they sucked less than Berrios did last season. No? And both are still with the Twins, unlike Berrios How about May? Why should Berrios be handed a starting spot ahead of him, since he has out-pitched Berrios?

He carried the team on his shoulders after Morneau got hurt. No Delmon no post-season then...

74 change is pretty darn good. Are you sure it was not the curve?

The Twins did not have any better pitchers than him then. They have several better than Berrios now. That's the difference here. When Santana sucked his second season he was sent to the minors to figure it out and he did...

Punished? Nope. It is a choice that he made and it should have consequences. If you are in a battle for a spot and you leave, it is natural that others will get ahead of him. As is he will not pitch for 9 days after the last time he pitched. And at this point both May and Mejia seem to be ahead of Berrios and they will be getting the ball every 5th day, so he will fall further behind.

No. For sure. But you are comparing apples with pineapples. LHSP is a major sore with the Twins organization. OF is not that much

Good stuff. Here is some food for thought: The Twins have 20 MiLB managers and coaches. Only the following 5 (25%) were not in the organization as players, either MiLB or MLB: Mike Quade - Managing Twins since 2015 Stew Cliburn - Coaching Twins since 1993 Ivan Arteaga - Coaching Twins since 2001 Luis Ramirez - Coaching Twins since 2012 Cibney Bello - Coaching Twins since 2016 And Cliburn and Artaega have been around forever. Thus 85% of the organization's coaches and managers in the minors are fully versed in the "Twins Way"... I know that 2017 will be an evaluation year, but there is way too much inbreeding for this to be a healthy organization, so I do expect several changes next off-season...

He cannot pitch. And I am not sure that the pitchers are better or will be better than Jay, at this point

deGrom averaged 93.5 mph in 2014 and 2016, 95 mph in 2015. Data here. deGrom averaged 89-94 mph in College, then moved to 93-95 in the pros. Data here (scroll) Faedo last season averaged 92-95. Data here, and here (actually Sickels says it "gets higher") Their sliders are very similar and they are both devastating, thus the comparison. College pitchers usually gain a tick or two in the pros, maybe more, so there is no reason for Faedo to average 95 in the pros.