laloesch

Barring a horrible spring training, Trevor May no question. It irritates me that Ryan has repeatedly said that their hoping Pelfrey makes the club as the fifth starter.

That would be my preference. Twins should make it a point to unload both these guys (Nolasco and Milone) even if the return is low. Pelfrey should have been gone last season, but we all know Terry Ryan LOVES dumpster diving & reclamation projects. Opening up rotation spots for May and Meyer should be a top priority for the Twins FO. I'm willing to wait until mid season, but they had better stop procrastinating with these two as both are mid 20's now.

I see that "order of preference" with Pelfrey at the top and it makes me CRINGE! In all fairness it should be May Meyer Milone Pelfrey Stauffer

Not so sure on that one. He had a very good year at AAA last season.

It probably was a combination of several problems. I think everyone has finally sobered up to the reality that Joe will never be a power hitter despite the fluke 2009 season. He appears to lack the desire to do significant weight training and has never bulked up like many hoped he would. The other issue is that he's still big framed and slow which makes it hard for him to produce RBI's at the top of the order. IMO he shouldn't bat 1-4 in most lineups. It's unfortunate that the Twins and Gardy used him at the top of the order for so many years. Having achieved almost god like status with this franchise everyone is afraid to move him down in the order. He's too slow to lead off or bat 2nd and lacks the power to hit 3rd or cleanup. What really needs to happen is for Molly to move him down in the order to #5 or #6. That could help him immensely as it would take the pressure off of trying to move Dozier and Santana over all the time and eliminate some of the rally killing double plays. There's no doubt though that losing Morneau and Cuddyer in the lineup has hurt him. He was one of the the few experienced hitters last season which paints an even bigger bulls-eye on his back. If Dozier, Santana, Vargas, Escobar, Plouffe and Arcia continue to improve it will be less significant, but that's a lot of if's That said, Joe HAS to start swinging at more first pitch strikes. He HAS too! Mauer is giving away WAY too many first pitch strikes, many of which go straight down broad way. He should be crushing those pitches! He needs to step into the batter's box and take big cuts at those pitches every once in awhile. Not only will it result in more home runs but will reduce the predictability of his at-bats which all end up looking the same. Changing this dynamic should result in less strikeouts for him and produce more hits.

That is my fear as well. I think Ryan is absolutely serious that Pelfrey and Stauffer will get every chance to win that fifth spot along with the rest of the candidates. In my opinion that's a mistake. I get the competition thing but they should have cut their losses with Mike last season. They also should have shipped out Nolasco last winter as well. Especially after his tweets last fall about not wanting to be in Minnesota. Ricky is not happy in Minnesota and you can see it on the mound and in the clubhouse. I don't believe he was afflicted wit an injury for most of the season last year. I call BS! I would much rather see a starting rotation composed of Hughes Santana and Gibson with the remaining candidates slugging it out for the final two spots (Milone, May and Meyer). Berrios could also be in the mix by seasons end.

Based on what? Last seasons performance? May arguably pitched better than Meyer and displayed better control of ALL of his pitches than Meyer who is still struggling with all his offspeed stuff. I disagree completely. May is currently my pick for the #5 spot this season. He has better stuff than Milone, Pelfrey and arguably Nolasco. Plus he has displayed a knack for striking guys out.

The second Mike Pelfrey contract defies logic. I still don't understand why Terry Ryan did it. He pitched terribly in 2013 and only started 5 games in 2014 before getting hurt. Why on earth would you hand out another 2 year contract after such a poor tract record? Clearly Terry Ryan was dumpster diving when they signed him in the first place and the second deal was blind faith that Pelfrey would be healthy the following year.

Adding my two cents to this discussion. The way I see It there's no question you roll with Trevor May as the fifth starter, unless he has a terrible spring training. I see him on the same timeline / development tract as Gibson. Like Gibson, May's first couple of MLB starts were horrendous but the final 6 / 7 games were much much better. Interestingly, May can rack up the strikeouts as he features 4 strong pitches, including a fairly robust fastball that sits at 93-95 mph and several breaking ball offerings. He's not afraid to mix it up either which might explain the high number of strikeouts. This fact alone should give him a leg up on Meyer who despite having fantastic pure power has yet to polish off his breaking ball pitches. That said, I will be seriously ticked off if the Twins go with Pelfrey out of spring training or Milone just because he's a lefty. The scenario with Pelfrey is totally absurd considering how poorly he pitched in 2013 and the lack of starts last season due to injury. He's a sunk cost and has no future with this club. I don't get why Terry Ryan insists on hanging on to him. Milone on the other hand, I kinda get given his track record in Oakland. But here's something to keep in mind. Much of his success has hinged on being a lefty starter (a somewhat rare commodity in MLB) and pitching in that cavernous ballpark in Oakland. I think he's decent but not the kind of player you hold up developing top prospects for If all goes accordingly, I'd keep Milone around as a lefty long reliever / spot starter and find a new home for Nolasco by the all-star break. He has said publicly that he wishes he hadn't come to Minnesota. Getting Meyer into the rotation by the all-star break would be acceptable.

I'm really not thrilled with the idea of Joe hitting hitting #2 or #3. The guy hits into WAY TOO MANY rally killing double plays and just doesn't have the power and RBI production to bat cleanup. Hopefully Molitor slides him down in the order to #5 or #6. I don't have an answer on the linup. Maybe: Santana Dozier Hunter Plouffe Mauer Arcia Vargas Schaeffer Suzuki/Pinto

HA....Sano has a LONG.... LONG........................ LONG way to go before he could even sniff Killebrew territory. Not bad for a kid who grew up on a farm in Idaho and once hit a 522' long homerun at Metropolitan Stadium. Arguably the greatest homerun hitter of all time, Harmon Killebrew was a god amongst men in the 1960's. IMO HE IS the greatest homerun hitter of all time.

I really like this move. If the Hughes extension, Santana and Hunter free agent signings are the three offseason moves I'd give Terry Ryan a solid A-. Extending Hughes was a no-brainer and signing Santana will give this rotation a solid 1 2 punch for at least four years. It also could mean that Nolasco is expendable and will be shopped this season. After all, he did tweet he wished he was still in LA back in late September. Move him out and we still have a strong rotation of Hughes, Santana, Gibson with May, Meyer & Berrios competing for #4 & #5. I like it!

My mistake on the rule IV vs. V typo. The only thing with Santana was that by the time he joined the Twins as a major leaguer in 2000 he was 21 years old. When he turned 25 he had already completed the transition to full time starter and WON 20 games in 2004. Meyer will be 25 in January. Do the Twins really want in the bullpen at his age? I still think the better path would be to make the team as the fifth starter (assuming he earns it) or pitch in Rochester as starter until there is an opening.

Not sure that Meyer, May or Berrios is going to get a real shot at the rotation anytime soon. With Pelfrey and Milone still on the 40 man i think its highly unlikely any of the before mentioned three breaks the rotation this season to start with. Nolasco is under contract through at least 2017. Santana 2018. Hughes 2016 (they should extend him) and Gibson is not a free agent until 2019.

I'd much rather see the Twins keep Meyer in AAA as a starter than plopping him in the bullpen where he'll get used sporadically. He's only pitched 1 season at AAA and by all accounts his off speed stuff needs a lot more work. Why not keep him in the role he was traded for and work on that in Rochester? People keep mentioning the Santana example as a route to follow with Meyer, but they forget that Johan was a rule IV pickup.

Yeah! The idea of batting Arcia, Sano and Vargas 3-5 is intriguing to say the least.

Agreed. Will someone please tell Ryan this? Forget all the fringe #5 junkballers on the market. Just let May and Meyer start for goodness sake. Either way you look at it the Twins are going to have to go through the transition anyways. Just get it over with. Both these youngsters are already 24/25.

1) Yes 2) No 3) and No! We don't need anymore soft tossing sinkerballers with mid 4 era's on this staff.

I agree and I don't think its worth getting upset about either. The Twins need to stop *bleeping* around with the pitching prospects and go full throttle. Meyer and May are ready and BOTH NEED major league starts this season. It's time to turn these two lose and see what they can do in a full season. May started 10-12 games last year and it started off real rough but he seemed to turn the corner towards the end. Trevor features 4 solid pitches including a low 90's fastball that can reach 94-95. That is nothing to scoff at. Meyer had a great season at AAA although many argue his offspeed stuff still needs a bit of work. I can seem him starting the season in the bullpen but eventually transitioning into the rotation later on. Both of these prospects are 24/25. If the Twins don't commit soon with M&M they might as well throw them on waivers and let them go. I don't really see the urgency of signing this Korean.

I will be upset if we pay anywhere close to 13 million a year for him. In fact I'll be disgusted if we sign him at all. I just don't see the logic of it. Sure the starters weren't good, but the outfield is the biggest need in my humble opinion. Address that first and foremost. Ryan is probably under pressure this season, but they need to be patient with the starters. We have Milone, Meyer and May ALL ready to go this season. Berrios is a year away tops. That's six starters not counting Berrios, Darnell or Gilmartin. Why spend this kind of money on a 30 years old, who has only had two winning seasons and sports a career average 4 + era. It just doesn't make any sense when you consider he's a sinker / meatball tosser (aka Silva / Blackburn type) and we have one of the sketchiest outfields in all of baseball. To me this is a no go decision. The Twins have a huge mess in the outfield and are about to shake the infield up too by moving Santana to short stop full time. I don't like the thoughts of signing ANOTHER mid 4 era starter when we have tons of options within.

Those deals were never TRUELY on the table In my opinion. It was typical Red Sox vs. Yankees BS / feuding going between Epstein versus Steinbrenner. In some ways it was clear tampering so that neither franchise got Santana. Selig should have stepped in and told them to knock it off or make a clear offer. Anyways, if the Red Sox had offered Lester and Materson plus one prospect I'd have jumped on it. The Yankees offer of Hughes and Ian Kennedy plus one other (Twins also wanted Joba) would have been good as well. And from what I understand the Dodgers were also in on it, offering two of their top prospects from James Loney, Clayton Kershaw and Jonathan Broxton. However, they eventually backed off because they were worried about the cost of signing Santana to an extension. (funny how they have unlimited money now). In my opinion the Pohlads should have fired Smith on the spot after that trade. He should have also put Ryan on notice (who was then scouting but also consulting with and approving Smith's moves). The fact that we walked away with basically walked Gomez and a bunch of junk is brutal and inexcusable. But at this point it's water under the bridge. Your right, the centerfield is truly a mess. Santana, Hicks, Rosario, Schafer and Arcia are all options I guess. But I hope they figure something out there as it could be a long season of sloppy play in the outfield.

I will be angry if the Twins sign Materson, which keeps May and Meyer in AAA all season. Materson's velocity has dropped significantly to the point that he barely cracks 90 on his fastball. DO we REALLY need a right handed version of Milone? A junkballer? I just don't see the logic of this. May and Meyer will BOTH be better pitchers then Materson, Nolasco and Gibson. This is utter stupidity signing this guy. If the Indians want nothing to do with him, you can bet he's damaged goods.

Thank you! The Twins don't need to go out and sign ANOTHER reclamation type pitcher be it Masterson, Billingsley, Josh Johnson, Morrow, etc. Not with Pelfrey and Milone on the roster. By all accounts Ryan has all but committed to Pelfrey starting this season (gags and then slaps forehead). Signing another starter will only be a waste of payroll and further retard the growth of May and Meyer both of whom will be 25/26 this season. Such a signing would mean that May would go back to AAA and pitch most of the season in Rochester alongside Meyer & Berrios. I really think the Twins start 2015 with the following rotation (I don't like this either): 1. Hughes 2. Gibson 3. Nolasco 4. Pelfrey 5. Milone / May By August Pelfrey will be history and hopefully May will have stepped up like Gibson did last season. Meyer should then be able to start 10 games or more. However, the wildcard / monkey wrench in all of this is Milone. If Terry Ryan sticks to his stubborn guns and trots Pelfrey and Milone out, start after start, until mid season it will not be good for either of the M&M pitchers regardless of how well they do in AAA. YES! WE DON'T NEED ANYMORE starters, unless they go big and sign Lester. Lets be real it ain't gonna happen, not in a million years.

I'm hoping Cederoth develops into a starter. His stuff is just plain filthy and the Twins would be foolish not to try like they are doing now.

I agree, the popular characterization that Ryan rode in and saved the day, aka cleaned up "Billy's mess" is not true AT ALL. Ryan was still with the Twins during Smith's tenure as GM, functioning as a scout. In reality Terry Ryan was an assistant to Smith and okayed all his player acquisitions. Completely inaccurate, that Ryan was somehow detached from the situation. He really does bare a good junk of the responsibility for the mess we are in right now. But IMO Ryan's biggest mistake was trading Castillo (Santana's good friend) and POing Santana. He also failed to discuss an extension with him prior to 2006 which was a huge mistake as well. That's completely Terry's blunder. The Hunter situation was similar. No discussion of contract extensions until the 9th hour when it was too late. The Twins need to lock up players a year or two before free agency because as soon as they see what they can get in NY, Boston, LA, etc. they are gone. You wait they'll do the same thing with Hughes in 2 years.