laloesch

With Nolasco down and Deduno seemingly permanently demoted to the bullpen, you'd think that May could get a revolving door spot start. That said he just returned from the oblique injury and only was allowed to pitch three innings in his last start. I can understand the front office's reluctance with Meyer as he is slowly being built up from that shoulder injury he suffered a few years ago and he has a bit of ways to go before he's ready to start at the major league level. In fact I wouldn't be surprised at all if we don't see him in September. That said, there is absolutely NO excuse not to call up May sometime in early August.

This whole situation is puzzling. Regardless of whether or not Correia stays the Twins have basically raised the white flag. They are 45-54 and have the 7th worst record in MLB (3rd worst in the AL). Barring an absolute miracle this team has ZERO chance at a division title or the playoffs. What's the point of marching Pino and Johnson onto the field, start after start? These two are AAAA starters at best and it already shows. You'd think that they would want to take a look at May and see if he can hit the ground running (similar to Gibson 2013), going into next season. He's already 24 going on 25 and not a youngster in AAA anymore. How long are they going to wait? Why not give him the 8-10 starts this season and see what he can do at the major league level. After all he's thrown 150+ innings each of the past three seasons and is having a fantastic year in AAA Rochester. What is the Twin's FO afraid of? The only thing I can think of is that they are trying to protect his arm while giving starters ahead of him (Darnell, Johnson and Pino) a first crack at the majors. Not only is this a display of paranoia its just plain stupid. May is not Liriano and is a much more refined pitcher. He has 4 + pitches for cripes sake. This is getting ridiculous. Correia is just a distraction and taking up valuable space in the rotation along with Pino and Johnson. If GilMartin gets the call before May, I'll be seriously ticked off.

Judging how the Twins continue to trot Johnson and Pino out start after start well be lucky to see May in September. I can't believe they'd hold back his deput until he's pushing 25 years old.

I hope your right. May has nothing left to prove in AAA. The FO is just being stubborn right now with Pino and Johnson. Both these guys won't be major league starters long term with this franchise. There's a remote possibility that Johnson could stick around for a little while, but I doubt it. I would like to see the Twins give May some experience this season and hopefully hit the ground running next year.

That's right. I forgot that he went 14th. Even still..... if we dangled Dozier to them and added another youngster, maybe Hicks; I'd make that trade in a second.

I would make that trade in a heartbeat. Heck i'd throw in another guy to make the deal sweeter for the Nats if they'd send Giolito our way. That kid is going to be a stud starting pitcher. We should have drafted him when we had the chance but not over Buxton.

Good. Would be nice to see Berrios finish the season strong at AA.

Jeremy, Just out of curiosity. Do you have a sense if the Twins intend to keep Burdi as a reliever or work with him to develop a third pitch and convert him to a starter?

AND it looks like both those trades could be sow big returns long term for the Twins. May has been fantastic this season and Meyer is progressing with moments of near brilliance in AAA. If both those guys become effective front line starters, I will definitely be patting Ryan on the back for those trades. Worley was always filler, nothing more. If we could trade Suzuki and get one strong prospect with upside potential say a position player (infielder) or a starting pitching prospect at the trade deadline, i'd be happy.

I think you're right on. I can see a scenario of May coming up in spring training to join a rotation of Nolasco, Hughes, Gibson and Paltry...uh I mean Pelfrey (you know the FO is going to give him another shot) with Meyer spending at least another half season in AAA. That's my gut feeling unless Jim Pohlad pushes for big changes. On the one hand I'm dying to see what Meyer can do at the major league level, but on the other hand I think he needs to spend the remainder of the season at AAA until he maxes out his innings allowed and then spend part of 2015 in Rochester fine tuning. He is still inconsistent and developing a changeup, which he needs (contrary to what some people are posting). Plus they have Johnson, Gilmartin, Darnell and Pino swirling the drain functioning as filler.

With all due respect you obviously haven't driven a Cadillac or a Buick OR a Chevy lately. But yeah we get the point.

I don't see the rush to extend Dozier. He's under team control for 4 more years and hasn't displayed the high batting average that I would like to see. If he were hitting 20-30 points the last few seasons, along with the high OBP and homeruns, i'd be all for it. At this point though, no. I also want to see what Santana, Rosario and Sano bring to the table, as all three could potentially be more complete players than Dozier. Same goes with Plouffe. Batting average is too low and he's not really hitting the homeruns this season either. He's one of those "on again off again" players that drives you nuts. I'd offer him a one year deal at most with the understanding that he's likely just a stop gap guy. Suzuki. I like him a lot. I do think that his plate calling is a bit overrated but no one can argue that he has done a fantastic job in lieu of Mauer wimping out and the front office's fear of committing to Pinto. The problem is he's already 30+ and unlikely to repeat this years stats. He's probably less likely of accepting a backup job and backup dollars either after the all-star game. My recommendation.... sell high but don't overplay your hand. Morales.....no. He's just another overpriced "has been" that Boras is trying to scam the Twins into buying (see also mike 'paltry' pelfrey). I find it strange that a guy who has been with the team less than 2 months already wants an extension. Smells fishy; injury concern? Anyways, he's already 31 and not part of the future plans. Willingham. Should have been dealt two years ago, but alas he's still here. Hopefully Minnesota can find the right trading partner and deal him. I just don't see the sense of signing a 35 year old to a multi-year deal when the team is in the middle of rebuilding. I wouldn't expect much in return just another roster clearing move. Correia - No Fein - also no Brings me to Pelfrey and Nolasco. I am of the strong opinion that Mike is simply a lost cause. He has not been healthy in over two years and with May ready and Meyer close behind, why do the Twins need him? DFA him eat the remainder of his contract (5 mil). Nolasco. I'll admit I was excited about this signing, especially if Garza was the other piece to be added. Unfortunately, that didn't happen and what I've seen of Ricky, is mostly a junk tossing, meat baller. This guy is prototypical national league pitcher all the way. It's amazing that he's had the winning seasons in the past. (again don't over estimate the NL). I think the Twins just need to admit this was a bad move and find anyone willing to take him off our hands in exchange for half his salary. Ricky sucks.

I think Jim is getting impatient and frustrated. They built Target Field with the intention of bringing in A LOT MORE revenue and just last season the new cable deal they signed has netted them an additional 25-30 million on top of that. Money is no longer the obstacle to winning. Longtime fans have always known that the Twins Achilles heel for decades was the lack of revenues. That simply is not the case anymore. Sure we're not the Yankees, but there is more than enough revenue available for this team to compete and be a post season threat. If anything the Twins are still holding back for the right opportunity (they misjudged how close they were in 2007) to go all in as they operate on 49-54% of their revenues, which is extremely conservative compared to some franchises. This exposes what I think is the issue. Jim Pohlad is now questioning his staff from Dave St. Peter on down. Is Terry Ryan the General Manager that you want running the show? What about Rob Antony his assistant? How about the field manager, Ron Gardenhire and his assistants? What about the director of scouting, Deron Johnson or VP of player personnel, Mike Radcliff? Jim's frustration is likely being directed at these guys because they can't hide behind the money issue anymore. I have a sneaking suspicion that if things don't get better in 2015 that it will be the last season of Gardenhire and his posy (Anderson included) and Molitor will be promoted to interim manager. I also think that Ryan will be pressured to start making changes related to player development or he will be on the hot seat as well. Especially if this current group of promising prospect don't work out (May, Meyer, Buxton, Gordon, Sano, Rosario, etc.). Changes are definitely coming. They aren't going to stand fast like in the early 2000's when contraction was a threat and stadium negotiations were the focus of attention. Those excuses are long gone, it's time to produce.

Whatever Gardy says I take with a grain of salt. He is simply deflecting the question/rumor before it gets started. It's bound to happen. Especially if Johnson gets shelled again.

Absolutely not! No way!

I would imagine that if Johnson gets shelled in his next start and Pino is so so that May will get the call Tuesday vs. Cleveland. If not the FO is just being downright stubborn.

Agreed. Until the oblique pull injury, May was next in line to be called up (after the Futures game). In fact I still think he gets the call in August pending how long it takes him to recover from that injury, which isn't serious by the way. Not so sure about Meyer though. Alex is under a strict innings limit this season and could be shutdown in late August. I just don't see the Twins calling him up this year given the limits and options in AAA (Johnson, Darnell and GilMartin). At this point with the season all but lost, I DO see the Twins possibly dumping Willingham and Correia for prospects which opens up another slot in the rotation. Given the Nolasco injury the rotation will see new faces soon. Hughes Gibson Pino / Deduno? (have not completely given up on Deduno yet) Darnell Johnson / May (when he returns from DL) Both Berrios and Meyer will be challenging for major league callups at some point next season, just my opinion.

"Trevor May is out with an injury; Alex Meyer has been extremely inconsistent and also hasn't thrown more than 90 pitches in a game since early May. Neither is MLB-ready. I suppose the Twins could go with someone like Kris Johnson or Logan Darnell, but they've already got Yohan Pino plugged in and when you're looking at multiple Triple-A non-prospects filling the big-league rotation, you start to feel a nauseating sense of deja vu." Generally agree with your post. Nolasco has been a HUGE disappointment so far. Far worse than anyone of us would have imagined when he signed that contract. It could be a combination of moving to the AL, pitching for a new team, moving to a new city, etc. One thing is for certain he has to get this figured out. I am in general agreement that Anderson is probably not helping matters, but I too have heard that Rick is a bit hard to coach as well. Suzuki should shoulder some of the blame as well. I think his plate calling skills are a bit overrated, but its clear the brunt of this falls on Nolasco's shoulders. And for once I'm actually glad that Gardy is calling out a player..... this time anyways. Ricky has been inexcusably terrible so far. That said, I don't think he should be benched. He's under contract for three more years, make him earn that money. I disagree though regarding the TWins minor league options. Johnson and Darnell are both viable filler options and May is ready. If he hadn't suffered the oblique injury and been slated for the futures game he'd have been called up by now. Plus he's logged almost 450+ innings since 2011, 300 of which are AA and higher. He will likely get called up after July 13 and the futures game. Especially if Correia is traded and Pino continues to falter. I do agree though about Meyer. Alex is simply not ready yet although he has shown flashes of brilliance this season. Give him another season in AAA and he will be ready.

Gotta agree. I read his post and was like WTF?

I gotta be honest I was down on Gibson last season but he has for the most part looked really good this year. Now all we need is one more starter to go with Hughes and Gibson; May anyone?; and the Twins are in business. Unfortunately, it looks like the offense is going to be trouble going forward until Buxton and Gordon get here, which is two or three years away realistically.

I generally agree with your post. I too will rant and be PO'd if May is still in AAA pitching like this in August. Correia is most definitely not part of the long term plans and keeping him in the rotation is pointless. If this losing streak continues the Twins are about two weeks away from being solid sellers and at that point Correia becomes expendable via DFA or trade. Might as well get May some experience this season so he hits the ground running next year. I would hope the front office is smart enough to realize this, but who knows. Conversely, If Pino does well then sweet. If not we have Kris Johnson, Logan Darnell and Sean Gilmartin to test this season too. Meyer is not ready in my opinion and will likely be shut down in early August and there is absolutely no need to rush him. I see him as a fall call-up next season.

Couldn't agree more. While Gardy is hyping up Pino as the most "deserving" candidate in typical Gardenhoser fashion, May is absolutely dominating AAA. A starter that truly features (5) FIVE pitches, including a blistering fastball is a potential gem of a starter. I'm not sure anyone realizes what the Twins have here. At this point he's better than Meyer and isn't limited in innings having logged 150 innings the past three seasons. He's ready and should be the next guy up. Correia is on borrowed time and May could bump Pino (if he flounders) allowing Logan Darnell or Kris Johnson time in the majors. Let's face it though, Pino is likely Liam Hendricks 2.0. While I hope the 30 year old succeeds its highly doubtful considering his fastball tops out around 86-87. It's not unheard of for a guy with that velocity to succeed at the major league level, but he has to feature dynamite off speed stuff and be an EXTREME control artist 100% of the time. If not he's bound to get shellacked by MLB hitters at some point.

Ain't that the truth. There's a reason Ohioan's call it De-toilet.

Generally agree with your post. However Gilmartin is a soft tossing over achieving starter. Diamond is toast. Given how bad his numbers are in AAA this season, i'd be surprised if he ever sniffs the majors again as a starter, at least with the Twins anyways. Future does look bright though. Hughes has been fantastic after a couple of shaky starts early on and Deduno has been good for the most part as well. I wouldn't be surprised if we see May in the fall and Meyer by mid season next year. There will be one slot opening up with Correia's departure at season's end. If Nolasco hadn't pitched so poorly to start the season he might have been a prime trade candidate to a pitching starved team with a surplus of outfielders and infielders.

If the Twins can find someone to take on Correia then i'd be willing to bet he's the next one called up. Trevor May will get the benefit of the doubt over Meyer strictly because of the innings pitched and the fact that Meyer is learning a new pitch. Pretty exciting to see the Rochester rotation right now. I live in Charlotte and will be going to a game tomorrow against the Redwings.