laloesch

I have sobered up to the fact that Ryan will not shake things up and continue to bang through this miserable season without any significant changes. Molitor will still be manager by seaons end along with bruno even though this offense will set many Twins records for futility by seasons end. On the pitching side of things, we will continue to see short stats from Nolasco whose struggled mightly his WHOLE career with the Twins despite the fact that we have younger options that will be immediately better because of FILTHY FREAKING MONEY! They will continue to sign AAA retreads for the bullpen and OF in a futile attempt to save face and avoid 100 losses instead of calling up youngsters for extended tryouts. Guys like Buxton, Berrios, Polanco, Meyer, Chargois, etc. Not all of them will be ready (see Buxton & Berrios), but you have to give them extended looks to see what hand you've been dealt. Plopping them on the bench for 5-10 games and then demoting them at a convenient times is not how you handle top prospects. This is the growing body of evidence that Molitor is impatient and not willing to go through the pain of losing in order to grow. What's needed is a manager that will mentor these callups and allow them that initial experience so that 2017 is not a total loss either. My vote is Doug Mientkiewicz but there are other candidates too. Shakes head. This FO is utterly clueless. Time to blow this organization up, top to bottom. The question is when will Jim Pohlad realize that or care.

Absolutely true.

Nolasco starts. Never ending nightmare.

Honestly, I've just about had enough of this. This FO is just stupid! Ownership, the GM and the Manager all in Denial! The evidence is all over the diamond. The continued starts by Nolasco, pointless yoyo callups & demotions despite the fact that we have several veterans hitting right around 200, the continued Sano outfield experiment which has failed miserably so far, stubborn lack of meaningful changes to the bullpen despite the fact that there are several high power options down there that could help right now.

I wouldn't be the least bit surprised. Dozier, Pouffe, Perkins are trying to act like leaders in the clubhouse (Mauer is not trying and we all know that) and the younger guys are literally laughing at them and mocking them. Why would you respect those supposed wise veterans when they are producing next to nothing. And in the case of Perkins, a guy who has acted like a spoiled brat in the past and thrown young callups under the bus in front of the media. (Pinto).

I'm much more concerned about the Hughes extension than Nolasco. Ricky is gone after this year. Twins will either cut him lose or match 50% of his salary in a dump & trade to a team desperate for a starter. Hughes on the other hand we are stuck with until 2019. Yikes! And I fully admit I was supportive of the extension. At least with Santana there's a team option for 2019.

I think the immediate solution is to move May into the rotation along with Berrios and Meyer into a bullpen role or JT Chargois.

I disagree on the ship has sailed blah blah blah. May is in the bullpen because there are too many starters right now and not enough proven bullpen arms. I don't think the decision long term has been made yet. May has 4+ pitches yet.

I'm gonna take flak for this but now that I've watched him and his managing style he's not the guy I would have hired to work these young guys into the lineup.

I don't think it has anything to do with confidence. Discipline and pitch recognition coaching is what Buxton desperately needs. The same goes for Rosario, Sano and Arcia (to a lesser extent). All these new callups have really struggled in this regard.

I wouldn't mind him spending the rest of the year in AAA with a possible fall callup. Same with Rosario. Both these kids could use some more seasoning down on the farm.

Is it too late to see if Mauer can catch part time? I mean if he's only doing it 20-30% of the games, it should help him stay healthy right? I'm being serious. This organization needs to think outside the box and find a REAL catcher ASAP. I think it's gotten to the point of desperation. Murphy is yet ANOTHER over hyped mediocre Yankees prospect. The problem is NOBODY wants Suzuki vesting option to kick in. That means the Twins have to limit his games the rest of the season. Unfortunately, Murphy has been an absolute total bust behind the plate and in the batters box, far worse than any of us could possibly have imagined. He makes Butera look like an all-star to be quite blunt. Hear me out. If Mauer catches 20-30% of the games we prevent Suzuki from vesting and Murphy is strictly backup until they figure something out. On the days Mauer is behind the plate, Park can slide over to first, which is not a bad thing. What do you think the Brewers would want for Jonathan Lucroy? Gibson plus Meyer? The Brewers are in desperate need of starting pitching. I'm willing to bet they would ask for Berrios, but the Twins have plenty of other starters to offer. Thoughts?

what was Meyer's pitch makeup his first two starts? Was it mostly fastballs? Did he mix in any sliders or changeups. Part of his problem last season was that he was throwing so many fastballs 75+%.

God i hope so.

100% Agree. Forget payroll, forget seniority and veteran's preference and go for it. Let's see what these two can do good or bad. And for that matter let's see what May can do when given a real shot. Look we know what we've got in Milone. A soft tossing lefty #5 starter. He's not a difference maker and certainly not worth holding back more promising starters for. Same can be said of Nolasco. Guy is history after this season regardless and with his hot start you can rest assured they are dangling him to whomever first comes asking. That frees up two spots. Gibson. I like Kyle, but if he lands a good catcher or 3rd baseman in a multi-player trade i think you have to go for it. We have the starters to move some pieces around and acquire much needed parts. I'm ecstatic that Meyer was called up and now Berrios is on the way. It's about freakin time!

Time to start turning over the starting staff. It's simply unacceptable to have slow starting starters year end year out. Let's give Berrios and Meyer a shot and see what they can do even if the offense doesn't produce.

i concur. Gibson is a valuable trade chip. We have gluts of starting pitching. Duffey, Berrios, Mays and the next generation Gonsalves, Thorpe, Jay, Stewart.

He's looked great so far this spring. I'm excited about that . A lot of guys never come back from the sophomore slump but some do. Perhaps Santana is one of those guys. Kid has pop to his bat too. If he hits anything like he did in 2014 I'll take it. the awesome thing about him is his ability to effectively play the outfield and infield. In fact is anyone intrigued by a batting order that includes Buxton, Santana and Rosario?

WTH are the Twins doing? Are they insane? Eliminating two quality pitches from a guys repertoire. It's like shoving a square peg into a round hole. If you want a two pitch or less reliever see Duffey and possibly Meyer. Are the Twins FO brass that dumb?

pleasee,,,,,

I guess if it's a matter of seeing, experiencing and learning to hit breaking balls and other offspeed stuff, MLB is a much better place for him to do that. AAA is mostly a FB league not nearly as much as AA and lower, but enough to make it a shock when transitioning. And how many levels did he transition last year, three? If pitch recognition truly is a problem for him, I think we'll continue to see him flail at offspeed stuff. I'm not overly concerned at the moment because he's 22 years old. But if things don't progress by seasons end we might have reason to worry.

What if he drowns?

I'm not going to draw conclusions for a few more years, but his inability to hit the breaking ball stuff is concerning.

Hitters have figured him out. That's the problem with trying to be a two pitch starter. It's one pitch or the other and once hitters see enough tape it's much easier to predict. That's why i think the Twins are insane leaving May in the bullpen. Guy has 4 legit pitches. Rediculous. here's what i think is going to happen, like it or not. Starters Santana Hughes Gibson Nolasco Milone Relief Pitchers: May AAA: Berrios Duffey

Agreed. I hold some hope that Murphy will be a decent catcher for Minnesota but we shall see.