Nick Nelson

This Twins team is terrible. That's not breaking news. We're through more than a third of the season and they're on pace for the most losses in franchise history. They consistently fail at every aspect of the game. To further solidify their standing as the worst team in the American League, they went and lost six of seven games last week to the AL's other last-place clubs. But being terrible in major league baseball is not without its silver linings.In an effort to find the bright side of this miserable season, let's take a look at a few of the advantages that come along with Minnesota's status as an outright cellar-dweller. 1) Top waiver priority Robbie Grossman is looking like he might be a player. Granted, he wasn't a waiver acquisition, as the Twins signed him to a minor-league deal after he opted out with the Indians, but he's the type of player that tends to pop up on waivers – a youngish guy who might have some untapped potential but was the victim of an in-season roster crunch. The Twins have the worst record in the league so they'll have first dibs on any such player to be dropped by an AL club. It's a sneaky way to add some decent talent. 2) Top draft pick in 2017 I know, it's tough to get excited about such a long-term proposition. But the 99-loss season in 2011 – worst for a Twins team since 1982 – resulted in the opportunity to draft Byron Buxton. A 93-loss clunker in 2000 got them Joe Mauer. In this respect, a truly rotten season can be a franchise-altering blessing. While it's impossible to get a clear picture of how the top amateur talent will stack up a year from now, there are some intriguing names already emerging. University of Florida catcher J.J. Schwarz is currently viewed as the likely No. 1 pick, and he obviously plays at a position of extreme need for Minnesota. 3) Clear seller status During their stretch of losing campaigns from 2011 through 2014, the Twins were often in a state of ambiguity around this point in the early summer, in terms of their contending status. No general manager wants to sell off key parts in June when his club still has a reasonable chance at getting in the postseason mix. This year, there are no such illusions at play. Terry Ryan can and should make anyone who is not a clear long-term piece available, and by trading with more of the season remaining, he might be able to slightly enhance his return. As I wrote on Monday, the timing is particularly favorable with regards to Trevor Plouffe and the third base market. 4) Low-pressure youth auditions At times, there are concerns about throwing a young and inexperienced player into the middle of an intense MLB race. The second half of this season will provide the Twins with an opportunity to ease any prospects in that they'd like to take a look at, with virtually nothing at stake in terms of wins and losses. This may be especially helpful with some of the system's minor-league bullpen arms, because the coaching staff really needs to get a handle on which ones are going to be able to help out in 2017. 5) Deep introspection When things get this bad, an organization must look inward with a critical eye and scrutinize every individual that they have in place at a high level. No front office exec, coach, trainer or scout should feel safe from a harsh evaluation at the end of this disastrous season, whereas in better times, ineffectiveness might get overlooked. In the spirit of searching for glimmers of positivity within the wreckage, are there any other benefits to being brutally bad that you would add to this list? Sound off in the comments. Click here to view the article

Trevor Plouffe is a decent player who is having a bad year. He has been one of the worst offensive starting third basemen in the league, and he's making $7 million. No one's going to give up a whole lot for him in a trade. At this point, that is almost immaterial. Terry Ryan needs to be looking at the big picture, and that starts with moving on from the club's longtime staple at the hot corner.Plouffe is doing little to help the Twins this year, but that's not why he needs to go. It's all about Miguel Sano. The experiment of running the big young slugger to the outfield needs to end, and soon, because the risks assumed by this ill-begotten idea are quickly becoming unpalatable. Last week, the Twins lost Sano to the disabled list after he came up lame while hustling down the first base line to beat out a grounder. There are no indications that the injury had anything to do with his playing the outfield, but it's incredibly easy to see the inherent dangers that accompany his roaming around out there. Earlier in the game where Sano strained his hamstring, he had a ball skip away from him in right, turning into a triple for Billy Burns. Watch the video of that play here. Watch Sano sprint after the ball then come to an awkward stop as it drops in front of him and bounces away, forcing him to change directions and accelerate again. These are not the kinds of plays Sano should be trying to make. In his short time with the Twins, he has proven susceptible to strains and sprains in his lower body – unsurprising for a man of his size. Last year he missed time with ankle and hamstring injuries, and he tweaked his ankle again at one point this spring. His latest mishap is the first to require a disabled list stint, but the probability of future incidents is heightened when he's chasing balls around in right field, and that's not even mentioning the danger of him colliding with another player or a wall. Third base is Sano's home. He's far more adept at playing there and far less likely to suffer an injury associated with running or abruptly changing directions. He's the most important bat in the Twins lineup and will be for years to come, but he is being played out of position and exposed to added injury risk for the sake of keeping Plouffe in the lineup. That made some sense as a short-term plan, theoretically, if Plouffe was going to be a key power bat for a contending team. Instead, Plouffe has been a non-factor for a lousy team. The Twins have no commitment to him beyond this year. The chances of him returning next year are growing slimmer and slimmer. It would behoove Ryan to move him this summer so that the team can move forward with Sano at the hot corner and allow their outfielders to play in the outfield. Plouffe's numbers this year aren't going to spark a market frenzy, obviously. His .652 OPS ranks below 20 of 22 qualified MLB third basemen. Hampered by a couple of different ailments, he has managed only three home runs and five walks in 37 games. His strengths have not played up. But he does have strengths, and a track record, that will be valued by clubs with postseason aspirations. Plouffe has hit 74 home runs over the past four seasons and has developed into a fine defender. The fact that his contractual commitment doesn't extend beyond 2016 would be appealing to a team strictly seeking a rental at third base for a World Series run. Incidentally, the Royals and Mets, two squads that are looking to return to repeat as league champs, are both seeking just that. Kansas City's Mike Moustakas will miss the rest of the season with an ACL tear. New York's David Wright is expected to be sidelined until August or September, at least, by a herniated disc in his neck. Both of these developments have arisen within the past two weeks. Plouffe is a clear upgrade over the in-house replacement options for either team. The Twins have the luxury of making him immediately available. In fact, pulling off a deal sooner than later would benefit them by providing salary relief and allowing Sano to return to third base immediately when he comes off the DL. The return for three-plus months of Plouffe won't be much – maybe a low-level prospect or two – but something is better than nothing, which is what the Twins get if they non-tender the 29-year-old during the offseason. Click here to view the article

The Royals are at it again. After a somewhat slow start, the defending champs have come on strong, charging to the top of the division with 10 wins in their last 13 games, including five against the White Sox club they just blasted past. The Royals can do no wrong. Meanwhile, the Twins remain mired in last place and can do no right. Oh, how the tides have turned.Ten years ago, in 2006, the Twins were at the apex of a successful run in the AL Central. They won 96 games with an upstart squad that featured the American League's MVP, batting champ and Cy Young. They would have had the Rookie of the Year, too, if Francisco Liriano didn't tear his UCL. Terry Ryan had guided the franchise to its healthiest point in more than a decade and the future looked awfully bright. Things weren't so rosy for the Royals. They were enduring a third straight 100-loss season and were amidst a stretch of 17 finishes below .500 in 18 years. That June, Dayton Moore took over as Kansas City's general manager. It's been a long and slow road, but under Moore's administration, the team has transformed from baseball's laughing stock to its shining pinnacle. To watch the Royals now, the idea that they were a bungling catastrophe in the not-so-distant past seems preposterous. The last couple of weeks have been perfectly emblematic of how enchanted this ballclub has become. Two Sundays ago, Alex Gordon and Mike Moustakas collided in the outfield while chasing a fly ball behind third base. The results were calamitous: Gordon had broken his wrist and Moustakas had torn his ACL. In a split-second, Royals had lost two key staples in the lineup – one for at least a month and one for the year. What has happened since that fateful incident? Oh, the Royals have just won eight of 10, scoring 68 runs in the process. They're crushing the ball all over the field, leaving opponents muttering. The bullpen is impenetrable as usual. The rotation has been no one's idea of stable, but it doesn't even matter. Like I said, the Royals can do no wrong. On the very opposite end of the spectrum, we have the Twins. The same day Byron Buxton injected a mild spark of excitement into this nightmarish campaign by returning after a blistering stint at Triple-A, Miguel Sano went down with a hamstring injury, almost on cue. One day later, the Athletics completed a sweep of the Twins in Oakland, Minnesota's eighth in a season that is just two months old (that isn't counting the shortened two-gamer against the Baltimore in early May). In 2014, when they lost 92 games, the Twins were swept seven times total. Sano had been the best producer in a bad lineup, save for maybe Joe Mauer. Ideally, others would step up in the slugger's absence over the next few weeks, but then, no one has really stepped up on this entire roster over the first third of the season. And that's where the Twins now stand. If the 2016 season continues in the direction it's headed, it will not only be the organization's fifth 90-loss effort in six years, it will be a 110-loss debacle that easily surpasses any precedent in franchise history. The game of baseball – with its meticulous nature, its marathon seasons, its rules for competitive balance – will always be one of ebbs and flows. Peaks and valleys are to be expected. But the paths that the Twins and Royals have followed represent some of the most extreme examples you will come across. Is there a lesson to be learned from all of this? I don't know. Hopefully it doesn't take the Twins as long to dig themselves out of the dregs as it did the Royals. History doesn't dictate the future so we needn't immerse ourselves in parallels between the current swoon here and the one that lingered for so long in KC, even if those parallels are sometimes conspicuous. It's also worth noting that it took Dayton Moore the better part of 10 years to turn the Royals from a cellar-dweller to an unstoppable force. And Terry Ryan is the same man who put the Twins in that enviable position they were at when Moore took over. When he was seven years into his stagnating rebuild, few would have said that Moore was the man for the job. Now, no one would suggest otherwise. That's not so much a defense of TR, but a call for perspective. This situation is a lot bigger than the GM, no matter how much you want to simplify it. That's why I personally believe that the first step to getting this Twins franchise back on track is a rethinking of the front office structure rather than reactive firings to appease an angry fan base. Click here to view the article

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Two years ago, the Twins used the 46th pick in the draft to select Louisville closer Nick Burdi, who quickly developed into one of the their best relief prospects. Next week, they will have the opportunity to draft his brother, Zack, also a dominating closer for the University of Louisville. What's the saying about two Burdis with one stone?WHO IS HE? Just like his older brother, Zack Burdi has emerged as one of the nation's most powerful collegiate arms while closing out games for a heralded Louisville program. The Cardinals have reigned over the Atlantic Coast Conference for two straight seasons with the flame-throwing righty handling the ninth. In 2015 Burdi posted a 0.92 ERA, 0.82 WHIP and 30-to-8 K/BB ratio in 29 1/3 innings. This year he's at 2.00, 0.74 and 45-to-7 K/BB in 27 innings. Earlier this month he was named ACC Co-Pitcher of the Week after tallying nine strikeouts in 4 1/3 perfect fraames across three appearances against top-ten ranked teams. He's dominant. Zack is a couple inches shorter than his brother Nick and throws with a slightly different arm angle, but the similarities between the two siblings out on the mound are numerous. So much that one scout remarked to the editor of Prospect Junkies, "If you've seen his brother then you've seen Zack Burdi because they're the same guy." WHY THE TWINS WILL DRAFT HIM Zack and Nick Burdi have a common trait that not many people in the world share: the ability to consistently fire fastballs at 100-plus miles per hour. Like his brother, Zack mixes in an upper-80s slider and he also throws a changeup that is rarely called upon. One thing that might differentiate the younger Burdi – and make him far more attractive to the Twins – is that some believe he has a chance to start games at the next level. Converting college closers into starting pitchers, or at least attempting to, is not something the Twins have shied away from in recent years. The idea of Burdi's premium velocity and aggressive approach being unleashed over six or seven innings is tantalizing. And taking a pitcher who optimistically projects as a starter but has a stellar relief background to fall back on can be a good strategy for an organization desperately needing any kind of impact arms. This undoubtedly played into the decision to gamble on Tyler Jay last June. Whichever role he settles into, Burdi certainly has the look of an impact arm, and a fast-rising one at that. The 21-year-old would likely follow in the footsteps of his older bro and report straight to Single-A, with a quick path to majors assuming good health and good performance. Plus, there's a cool novelty in the idea of two fireballing brothers locking down the eighth and ninth innings for the Twins in a few years. WHY THE TWINS WON'T DRAFT HIM The Twins have had three top 50 draft selections in the past two years and they have spent two of them on college relievers. Their pattern of using high picks on such players extends far beyond that sample. Even if you ignore the mixed results of these decisions, it is necessary to vary strategy a little bit over time. While the Twins will always have a need for more high-caliber power pitchers, there are obviously other needs to be addressed. If there isn't a very strong belief internally that Burdi has a good chance of catching on as a starter, he just doesn't offer enough upside that is required in an organization's No. 1 draft pick. Also, while Nick's injury issues this year (he's been limited to three total appearances) shouldn't be held against Zack in any way, they do speak to the magnified risk that is assumed when dealing with a kid who's touching triple-digits at such a young age. Based on where Burdi is being ranked presently as a draft prospect, he would be a bit of a reach for the Twins at 15. MLB.com has him ranked as the 39th-best player in the class, whereas Baseball America has him 21st. (It should be noted that Hudson Belinsky, who helps compile the BA rankings, is a believer in Burdi as a starter). I suspect the Twins will go another direction, for various reasons. But the excitement attached to the younger Burdi bro is undeniable. Click here to view the article

Mostly behind the scenes stuff. For one thing, he has been deeply involved in creating the constantly improving ballpark experience at Target Field, which he deserves much credit for. In general I don't think any of us are really qualified to judge his merits as a business exec, and that's not what this article about. It's about the idea of redefining his role and creating a new structure of organizational accountability -- one that doesn't involve Terry Ryan standing on an island when it comes to baseball decisions.

He is not responsible for the circumstances that have led to this outcome, no. The Twin Cities have a low cable subscriber rate and there isn't really any competition with FSN to drive up demand/cost for TV rights. There's no grounds for this being continually cited as an example of poor negotiating.

Presidential term limits were ratified into the Constitution in the 1940s, for various reasons. Among them: a recognition of the potential for ineffectiveness and stale thinking when one individual occupied the office for too long. This rule means that the United States will be ushering in a new president here in 2016. Might it be time for the Minnesota Twins to do the same?From everything I know, Dave St. Peter is good at his job. He manages people and projects, has an excellent grasp on business relationships, interacts with fans, and admirably handles the tremendous responsibility and pressure inherent to his title as Twins President. I certainly don't hold him accountable for the things that are happening on the field this season. A business guy through and through, St. Peter has no real influence on roster construction. He's not a baseball mind. But maybe that's part of the problem here. Things have changed since St. Peter became president of the team back in 2002. Recently, more and more organizations are going to a two-tiered front office structure in which a president of baseball operations slots in above the general manager and reports directly to the owner. For example, we have seen this approach utilized by the Cubs with Theo Epstein, the Diamondbacks with Tony La Russa, and the Dodgers with Andrew Friedman. The role of president, as the Twins and many others currently view it, is strictly about running the business side. That's a major undertaking, to be sure. But there is much appeal in the idea of a top-ranking team exec with a competitive vision, especially for a club whose current general manager has seen his judgment rightfully called into question. Even if you believe Terry Ryan needs to go, it's not as simple as firing him and automatically installing a superior option. Who leads the search committee to find his replacement? What traits and tendencies are prioritized in such a search? If getting rid of Ryan simply means promoting his second-in-command, can we realistically expect anything to change significantly? Hiring a man above TR would enable the organization to keep the longtime GM in place, with some added oversight and collaboration. It would inject an authoritative fresh voice into the decision-making process. It would provide a neutral perspective on establishing a line of succession behind Ryan. It would also satiate the growing cries for change and new leadership without requiring a reactive dismissal or a hasty overhaul of the entire front office. I'm not saying St. Peter needs to be let go. He could stay on in a similar function, but with the way things have been going for the Twins over the past half-decade, the title of "Team President' has a weightier feel. The person in that role should have a direct accountability for the on-field product, and should inspire confidence on a team-building level. This doesn't even qualify as outside-the-box thinking anymore by most standards, but the Twins are so boxed in by their insular ideologies that it's hard to envision such a foundational shift in structure. I think I speak for everyone when I say I'd like to see some creativity implemented in fixing this broken franchise, and creativity doesn't usually involve sticking to the status quo. Click here to view the article

One advantage to falling out of postseason contention within the first two months of the season is that it enables a team like the Minnesota Twins to clearly establish itself as a seller well ahead of the trade deadline.In this age of multiple wild card entrants, the vast majority of clubs around baseball are fancying themselves postseason contenders. This makes the market more favorable for teams in such a position as Minnesota's. Trade partners will generally give up a bit more to acquire help in June than July, for obvious reasons, and the Twins have no real reason to wait around. Unfortunately, in accordance with the "Total System Failure" framework of this 2016 season, nearly every player who looked like a potentially attractive trade chip has scuffled and drained his value. This is particularly painful in a few key spots, as we'll discuss below. It's not all bad, though. There won't be any blockbuster swap that brings back elite talent, but there are a few intriguing possibilities to be considered. Let's break down the roster and see where things stand as we head into June. CATCHER: It's possible that someone could take interest in Kurt Suzuki as a backup but the Twins have no usable alternative to fall back on and Suzuki's .570 OPS wouldn't fetch much anyway. This is a position where the Twins should solely be looking to add, not subtract. INFIELD: Eduardo Nunez is the hot name here. He is enjoying a very strong year, with a .314/.347/.482 slash line, and while it seems a bit flukish, he has continued to hit into late May and is also coming off a 2015 season in which he posted a career-high OPS. He doesn't turn 29 for a month. Combine the clear upward offensive trajectory with his defensive versatility, and Nunez could garner some real interest. Trevor Plouffe will be much discussed because he's on a one-year commitment and dealing him would open third base for Miguel Sano, but unfortunately he's playing terribly. Would Terry Ryan ship out Plouffe, a former first-round pick and a core veteran staple, for a mid-level prospect? At this point it's not unthinkable. Parting with Brian Dozier or Eduardo Escobar would open a spot for Jorge Polanco but neither has done anything to create a market. OUTFIELD: Ryan won't even think about giving up Sano, Byron Buxton or Max Kepler, and rightfully so. Trading Eddie Rosario over the offseason would have been a good idea if the opportunity arose, but now he has turned into a pumpkin. I actually think Danny Santana might attract some suitors as a bench piece because he can play several positions and offers plenty of speed, but he won't bring back anything special. ROTATION: The only rotation members who would have any credibility as trade candidates are Tyler Duffey and Ervin Santana, but the Twins can't really afford to lose either of them at this point considering how things have played out with the rest of the starters. It would have been really nice if Ricky Nolasco could have kept up his April pace and made himself appealing to a team needing a fifth starter, but alas, it looks like the only way he's leaving is by DFA. BULLPEN: This one hurts. There are many contenders looking for help in the bullpen, including the Red Sox (who just lost key setup man Carson Smith for the season) and the Rangers (who are second in the West but have the worst bullpen ERA in the AL). Depressingly, every reliever that might have brought back a decent haul has inspired no confidence. At the top of that list is Kevin Jepsen, who is pitching as poorly as he ever has, because of course. Trevor May has melted down this month, as has Ryan Pressly to a lesser extent. Michael Tonkin doesn't have a big-league track record. Fernando Abad has been the bullpen's best performer but as a lefty specialist with an uneven history, he's not the kind of arm that commands a meaningful return. SUMMARY Even in circumstances like these, where major shakeups are warranted, it's simply not good strategy to be trading assets with depressed value. That rules out the idea of flipping someone like Dozier or Glen Perkins (if he ever gets healthy). No one is taking those contracts and giving up anything. Nunez looks like a nice chip if he keeps hitting, and Santana might bring back a Single-A type, but there aren't many other opportunities to build a marketplace. Plouffe is going to be the most interesting case. On the one hand, it would be a shame to sell low on someone who's been a very solid player over the years. On the other hand, Sano needs to get out of right field, and it's not clear Plouffe is in the team's plans beyond 2016. It might end up being a "take what you can get" scenario. As it happens, the defending champs just lost third baseman Mike Moustakas for the year to a torn ACL. It wouldn't be a bad thing for Plouffe to get on a hot streak, as he is wont to do. What are your thoughts? If you were in the GM's chair, what would be your approach as the trade deadline draws nearer? Click here to view the article

By "same as before" you mean over the course of a career in which he's been an average MLB pitcher? I'll take that. It also bears noting that last year Milone pitched very, very well after returning from his successful stint in Triple-A so whether it was adjustments or confidence or whatever, he seemed to gain something. Right now the Twins need starters that can give them innings and salvage the beleaguered bullpen. Even with this terrible W/L record that is still a significant priority. Going with someone like Berrios over Milone is simply not an option right now for that reason.

Is more change coming for the Twins rotation? Who might be lined up to step in next? And what should we make of a prospect's prodigious power display in Rochester? All are covered in today's Three-Bagger.* Five days after coming out of a strong outing against the Tigers with just 75 pitches thrown, Phil Hughes took the hill against the Blue Jays on Sunday and once again managed to navigate his way through a quality start, despite opponents hitting non-stop rockets. The righty deserves plenty of credit for gutting it out but his pitches are woefully ineffective right now, as illustrated by the amount of contact being made and the loudness of that contact. In his last two starts Hughes has struck out only one of the 48 batters he has faced. That simply isn't going to be a workable formula for him. Hughes doesn't rank atop the list of Paul Molitor's concerns in the rotation, though. Ricky Nolasco was shelled by the Royals on Monday, failing to make it through three innings while giving up six runs. The meltdown was made more irksome by Nolasco's apathetic postgame remarks: The injury issues that consistently marred Nolasco's first two seasons in Minnesota were essentially the only justification for his getting another shot this year despite wholly inadequate results. Now he's healthy by his own admission and once again getting raked, with an 8.14 ERA and 990 opponents' OPS in the month of May. For a player who was already nearing the end of his rope with this organization, a parting of ways can't be far off as the team endures another dreadful stretch of performances. Even with Kyle Gibson due to return soon, the Twins may find themselves turning to the minors for reinforcements in the rotation. * Who might be at the head of the line to step in should another spot open up? It's probably not Jose Berrios. In his first start back at Rochester following last week's demotion, Berrios issued five walks and required 104 pitches to get through five innings, a continuation of the inefficiency and command problems that got him sent down. The more likely candidate for a promotion is Tommy Milone, who has been on the opposite end of the control spectrum since heading to Triple-A. In three starts with the Red Wings, Milone has issued zero walks over 20 innings while striking out 17 and putting up a 2.18 ERA. Just like he did last summer when the Twins demoted him, the lefty has responded well and is doing everything necessary to earn a trip back. Milone may have a limited ceiling, but right now he looks like a preferable option to at least three members of the Twins rotation. The southpaw would need to be re-added to the 40-man in order to return, but placing Glen Perkins on the 60-day DL is a formality at this point. * Not since 1990 has a player on the Rochester Red Wings hit three home runs in a game. At least, that was the case until Saturday, when slugging prospect Adam Walker accomplished the feat by going deep in each of his first three at-bats against Durham. Walker is now tied for the International League lead with nine home runs on the season, but that's nothing new. He has led his league in homers every year since he joined the professional ranks. His power is the stuff of legend. Given that Walker, who ranked 11th on our list of top Twins prospects this spring, is now at Triple-A and already on the 40-man roster, one could surmise that a big-league debut may be looming this summer. Indeed, it would behoove Minnesota to get a look at the 24-year-old, and his promotion would stir some warranted excitement among fans who dig the long ball. Walker is capable of hitting them longer than almost anybody in the game, and that's no overstatement. Unfortunately, while his immense pop has translated to the highest level of the minors, so too has his greatest weakness – one that makes it excruciatingly difficult to see him developing into a successful MLB hitter. He has struck out in 65 of his 148 plate appearances for Rochester (44 percent). To put that in perspective, no qualified hitter in the majors has ever posted a K-rate above 37 percent. Chris Carter, who set that record in 2013 with the Astros, struck out in only 24 percent of his plate appearances at Triple-A. Can a player like Walker stay afloat offensively in the big leagues while whiffing in half of his plate appearances if he is obliterating the ball when he manages to make contact? Not likely. But I'm curious to see. Why not? Click here to view the article

I tend to be a little more accepting of the poor runs allowed results because there have been several significant injuries on the pitching staff, and guys are playing out of position defensively. The lineup has been mostly healthy (aside from relatively minor injuries requiring DL stints for Plouffe and Escobar). People simply aren't performing.

We're a quarter of the way through the season, and the Minnesota Twins have the worst record in baseball at 11-32. Plenty of factors have contributed to this astoundingly poor start, but nothing sticks out more than an offense that is on track to be one of the worst in franchise history.While questions loomed around the rotation and bullpen heading into the season, Minnesota's lineup looked like a fairly reliable strength. The Twins scored nearly 700 runs last year, and were returning every starter with the exception of Torii Hunter, whom they replaced with a Korean superstar slugger. Even if you were down on the offensive unit, it would have been hard to foresee such a lifeless group of hitters. The Twins are currently on pace to score 573 runs this year. Just how bad is that? The last time that a Twins team scored fewer than 600 runs (outside of the strike-shortened 1994 and 1981 campaigns) was 1972. Except, that season was also shortened by a strike, though only eight games were lost. You have to go back to 1968 to find the last and only Twins team to score fewer than 600 times in a 162-game season. So, if you've felt like the run-scoring this season has been outrageously anemic, you're not wrong. This is shaping up to be the worst Twins offense in decades. Sunday's loss to the Blue Jays featured a meager one-run effort, and the box score was sadly representative. Brian Dozier: 0-for-4. Joe Mauer: 0-for-3. Trevor Plouffe: 0-for-4. These are the three most tenured veterans in the lineup and none of them are answering the bell at a point where the season is spinning completely out of control. Last year, May was the month where players across the roster blossomed and helped propel the team to 20 wins. This May, here's what the Twins have gotten from three players vying to fulfill the leadership void created by Hunter's absence: Dozier: .210/.297/.281, 1 HR, 4 RBI Mauer: .181/.260/.242, 1 HR, 4 RBI Plouffe: .206/.227/.286, 1 HR, 5 RBI When it comes to diagnosing this offense's problems, there are more places to point than fingers to point with. But the above numbers illustrate that the lineup is rotten at its core. And while the immense struggles of younger players are somewhat understandable, it's not as easy to forgive players who have been around as long as this trio. We can talk about Terry Ryan's lack of offseason activity. We can talk about Paul Molitor's managing or tactical prowess. We can talk about an overcommitment to youth. But the bottom line is that when the guys with corner stalls in the locker room are playing this, and setting this kind of example, everything devolves from there. There aren't any easy answers. But if the Twins are interested in sending statements, maybe they should be less focused on throwing at the brash defending MVP and more focused on lighting a fire under their own underperforming veteran mainstays. Unless and until those guys start doing their jobs, this team will continue down its path of historical ineptitude. Click here to view the article

Anyone with a level head understands that patience is warranted with the likes of Byron Buxton and Jose Berrios, two young men who have barely surpassed the legal drinking age. Still, it's tough not to be alarmed by the degree of the introductory struggles being faced by not just those two, but several others among the vaunted wave of young talent that has been anointed as the primary impetus of a turnaround for this presently dismal franchise.While the depth and upside on the roster heading into the season positioned the Minnesota Twins as a fringe playoff contender, most fans came in with the understanding that this team remained a work in progress. The postseason was a nice dream, but above all, getting signs of positive progress from the core prospects was imperative. Instead, things have played out brutally for most of the organization's key young players, many of whom look nowhere near ready to compete at the major-league level despite their demonstrable mastery of the minors. This serves to exacerbate the miserable results on the field, leaving Twins fans with painfully little to feel good about. It was reasonable to expect further growing pains from Buxton as he continued to adapt to the MLB learning curve. But given his immense talent and his history of catching on quickly, few would have imagined that his play would plummet. From 2015 to 2016, Buxton's OPS dropped from 576 to 497 and his K-rate rose from 34 percent to an outrageous 49 percent. Hitting in the majors is hard. But it is exceedingly rare to see a player of any age or experience level flounder to the extent that Buxton has. In total he has whiffed in 36.4 percent of his 187 MLB plate appearances; since the year 2000, only four non-pitchers have struck out at a higher rate in 150-plus plate appearances and none had a lower walk rate than Buxton's 4.3 percent. As for Berrios, he had not been pitching well through three big-league starts, entering Monday's game with a 6.28 ERA and 989 opponents' OPS, but in Detroit he unraveled in a way that hasn't often been seen. The righty faced nine hitters and recorded only two outs, allowing a homer, a double, a single and four walks. According to Mike Berardino, Berrios became just the seventh starter in Twins history to allow seven earned runs while lasting less than one inning. To be clear, there's no reason to lose hope for either player. Both are very young and neither has accrued a whole lot of experience at Triple-A. But their initial exposure to the majors has been just about as bad as it possibly could be. And this is made more difficult to stomach by the ugly results from nearly every other top prospect entering the fray. Eddie Rosario became the latest victim on Thursday, when he received a long-deserved demotion to Triple-A following a terrible first six weeks. Like Danny Santana and Kennys Vargas before him, Rosario imploded following an impressive rookie showing, and showed little interest in adjusting his often out-of-control approach. John Ryan Murphy, acquired during the offseason as a hopeful heir at catcher, was shipped out earlier this month with an unspeakable 219 OPS. Alex Meyer has been a disaster in all four of his major-league appearances. Jorge Polanco has impressed in limited playing time but for some reason can't get on the field with any regularity. Miguel Sano has taken a sizable step backward after a great rookie year. The 10-30 record is horrendous, no doubt. But the more deeply disturbing development of this 2016 season is just how far away this young core collectively looks from turning a corner. Terry Ryan put his full faith into these kids and what he's received is a bitter reality check. Click here to view the article

One of the trends that I was most interested in following during spring training was the velocity readings from Phil Hughes. His drop-off in average fastball speed last year – down about 1.5 MPH from the previous season – was symptomatic of an overall reduction in effectiveness that turned him from the rotation's best contributor in 2014 to its worst in 2015. Unfortunately, this year Hughes is continuing to slide the wrong way in just about every regard. And that's an extremely disturbing development, given that he is under contract longer than any other player on the team.On Tuesday night, Hughes was gritty. It was an admirable outing, without question. One day after the worst start that the Twins have seen in many years, he took the ball and gave a hell of an effort, weaving his way through six shutout innings without having much bite on any of his pitches. The veteran hurler was crafty enough to cruise through the lineup twice but warned his manager before the seventh that he was running out of gas. At this point, he hadn't thrown 70 pitches. This is the most pronounced and clear-cut example of something that's been noticeable for some time: for whatever reason, the right-hander's arm strength is deteriorating. He admitted to shoulder fatigue after Tuesday's game, and this isn't a particularly new development. It's a situation that needs to be monitored and handled very carefully, given how deeply the Twins have invested in him. Terry Ryan went all-in on Hughes following a fantastic debut in Minnesota, signing the former Yankee to a three-year extension despite the fact that two seasons remained on his original deal. It was an odd move but was reflective of the sheer excellence Hughes displayed in 2014, when he pitched like a legitimate ace, and the dire need for any kind of sustained reliability in the starting corps. The favorable terms of Hughes' deal made it palatable to even those who felt he was very unlikely to repeat his sterling results from that first season with the Twins. His average annual salary in the reconfigured contract was less than $12 million, which is roughly the going rate for an average mid-rotation starter in free agency. With his pinpoint command and his history of missing bats at a reasonable clip, he seemed like almost a sure bet to at least maintain at that level, even if his historically incredible strikeout-to-walk ratio was bound to normalize a bit. The other point of reassurance in the Hughes extension was his age. Still amidst his theoretical prime, the righty would still be 33 at the end of his renewed pact. That's the same age that fellow free agent signings Ervin Santana and Ricky Nolasco are now. Yet, Hughes' arm is exhibiting the signs you might expect to see from someone that age. His velocity continues to decline – the fastball is now clocking at 90.4 MPH on average after registering last year at a career-low 90.7 MPH. He told reporters that his fatigue issue dates back about four starts but a glance at the chart below from Brooks Baseball shows a downward pitch speed trend dating back much, much further – basically to the start of his Twins tenure. http://s32.postimg.org/b6gbe7kzp/2016_05_17_2220.png Unsurprisingly, this drop has coincided with worsening results. To his credit, Hughes has been holding his own, owing almost entirely to his truly elite control, but now even that isn't getting him by. On a night where he finally managed to get outs (albeit several hard-hit ones), he couldn't get through 80 pitches. Sticking with the status quo doesn't seem to be an option here. Hughes is going to be here through 2019 and his long-term outlook is the foremost concern. If he's going through a dead arm period it's been gradually building up for quite a long time, and that doesn't seem to be a great sign. Given the growing irrelevance of this season, it might be wisest to shut him down for a while. The hits keep on coming. Click here to view the article