ShouldaCouldaWoulda

If we are out of things, yes it would be in the teams best interest.

Not true. He pitched a game in Rochester last year.

IMO, who cares about that. He will be damaged goods due to injuries or on the decline at that point. Bring electric arms up as soon as they're ready, as they are a fragile commodity that do not simply have improvements over year after year. Good young pitchers decline all the time while they are still young.

See Jorge had another dominant start. My question is what the heck is it about the FSL? Seriously, there is like no offense anywhere. Sure, I am very excited by the good numbers from our starting staff, but it seems every starter we pitches against us has an era in the 1's or low 2's. I don't get it. It seems like an era of 3.00 in that league would be like a 5.00 era in other leagues. I am serious. I can't even take the numbers serious for the pitchers. So yes, I am glad our Fort Myers pitchers are doing great, but I will withhold any value to it until they prove they can pitch this way in AA.

Beerios is at .93 now. Duffey's is above 1.40.

My first thought is that maybe Escobar had a bad game, but it appears he did pretty good at the plate, but maybe messed up in the field or something? I know that the people I am closest to are the ones would only feel comfortable doing something like that too.....and only in the sense of someone trying to pick you up when you're pissed and you just don't want to hear it at the moment. Doesn't sound like that was the case here though.

...and Meyer might 'deserve' it more than either, so Berrios could be 3rd in the pecking order, especially if were are out of it. IF...we are in the mix and all 3 of Duffey, Meyer, and Berrios are pitching well, I think they simply bring up who they think gives them the most legitimate chance...I would hope. If they are not in the mix and all 3 guys are pitching well, I think the bring Berrios up last, after Meyer and Duffey. ...edit...Just saw Berrios just K'd 7 over 7 innings, while only giving up 3 baserunners, and no runs. Pretty dominant start to and already good beginning. Wow.

I think in an ideal situation would be for Meyer to continue to pitch very well as SP, and replace the weakest link in the MLB rotation sometime after his super-2 date, then Duffey to replace the next weakest link in the mlb rotation or BP, then for Berrios to come up after super-2 lapses and pitch mostly out of bp to limit innings, but to stretch back out and start the last month of the season. This would all be due to factoring in age, clocks, history, need, injuries/protection, and future upside to our club. I am sure it will go nothing like this though, and of course this all would be based off Meyer pithing the way he currently is, with Berrios and Duffey pitching how they did last year. Odds are one or two fall off or get hurt. That is just the reality of pitching these days.

If it's a spot in the pen that opens up I think Meyer takes it. If a spot in the rotation opens up I think it is between Duffey and Meyer, depending at what point it is in the season. I think the Twins will be hesitant to have Meyer pitch in the rotation at the the big leagues due to wanting him to have sustained rotation success at AAA for both confidence and refinement. With continued success a month or two in, I think the nod then goes to Meyer due to more upside. I think the Twins would love to keep Berrios down as long as they can.

Meyer has another great outing today. 7 innings and 7 k's, 2 bb's, 5 hits, and 2 er, 98 pitches. WHIP is stil under 1 and era pretty much right at 1. Getting a lot of ground all outs too. He has to be the next man up at this point I would think? I wonder if this success has the FO wanting to continue in the rotation or if the plan is to move him back to the bp when they call him up? There is bound to be a SP go down with an injury at some point soon, but Fien can't stick around too much longer either. Who gets the first, second, and third call between Meyer, Duffey, and Berrios...IF...they all continue to show good to moderate success if a spot opens up? I will say Twins go Duffey, Meyer, Berrios for some gut feeling.

My biggest worry is that 'pull power' is often the last-stand adjustment older players make in order to stay effective in the league. In this case, that IS how Dozier was effective in his prime. Now, he is and will continue to age and lose bat speed, pitcher have the book on him, and teams will shift him. Doesn't mean he can't and won't still be a good player, but it is not like his homers were ever massive bombs, so his drop-off could be an ugly one...sort of Ugla-ish even possibly. Hope he adjusts and learns to make better contact and use the whole field.

SSS= small sample size.

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=28952#commentMessage Appears this Baseball Prospectus writer lives in Minnesota. Read this article somewhat about Mauer, but more so about the recent passing of the authors young son. Made me cry and hug my 2 year old son. Thoughts and prayers to his family. Enjoyed this perspective below, especially since many of us here allow baseball to "steal" a lot of our time. I think that is obvious by our posts and evidently too thought out ideas and opinions. But, sometimes it's worth it. Last paragraph: "...the moral: this game pays you back. That’s some Field of Dreams bullshyt. Baseball mostly steals from us, steals our money (tons of our money), steals our time, steals the passion and intellectual energy we ought to put toward more important things. Every now and then, though, if you come to understand the game and the people who play it, come to know the inner workings of everything and the histories of all the figures filling up the uniforms, you do get a moment, a chance to feel something stretching beyond analytical interest or fanatical excitement. When those moments come, and I say this with some authority, I think, it’s worth it." Anyway, thought some of you might take something from it.

Bad at RF or 3B? At least this would get another power left-handed young bat in the lineup in Arcia. Best way to see what we have. Sure, he hasn't taken ground balls at 3b, but I bet he is at this point still more comfortable at 3b than RF falling out of bed. He might not be good at it, but we likely won't ever find a position for him that he will be good at other than DH, and maybe 1B if that spot ever opens for him.

Yeah, repeating was the right choice. He did not have a good year there compared to his peers in the league. He also needs to build confidence. This seems like one of those cases the Twins are doing the right thing by being conservative with a pitcher.

Exactly! Although it is very encouraging that Stewart seems to have improved quite a bit from his performances of the past two years, his stats are kind of what good prospects "should" be having in the FSL. League stats are not equal. Stewart ranks 14th amongst qualified pitchers in FIP thus far in the FSL, and almost all those pitchers are his age or within a year or two of him. So again, very encouraging sign so far, but he is kind of just doing what someone with his prospect status should do in that league. We must compare minor leaguers against their respective leagues only to get a true read on how they are performing. In the FSL Stewart is doing 'pretty' dang good and we should be happy, but it would be unwise to put too much stock into his number by themselves. Just being a realist, but am totally puling for him to keep this up and stay healthy. I have never been big on him as a prospect, but still think he could be a decent #4 or #5 MLB starter. That might sound like an insult, but many pitching prospects never even approach that, so still rooting for him.

Yeah, I agree with those points, but it is still just not all that common to hear the pitcher have such a preference and state. But still, I wonder if it is 100% due to him preferring being in the bullpen, or more him just wanting to be in the bigs in the worst way...and thinking that is his fastest and safest route there? It is not crazy to wonder if he might just want the quickest and safest route for financial and boyhood dreams of being in the bigs. Either way, it was encouraging and will be fun to follow. I am more encouraged by this than Stewart. FSL is a pitchers league and he still is just inside the top ten of qualified starters thus far, so its not like he is doing anything unheard of there. But, again here, very encouraging compared to past two years.

Was very excited about his line in this start. In the article at MiLB.com they said he hit 99mph. But, his comments were interesting. He stated that he thought of himself of more of a bullpen guy, but that the Twins wanted him to start this year. Weird. I know that he most likely just wants to be in the big leagues any way that he can get there, but rarely will you here a guy admit that he'd rather be a reliever than a starter! Again, I am assuming he just wants to be in the bigs and knows that is his best way there, but if he can keep this up, he is much more valuable to the team and himself as a starter.

...Also read a comment in a chat today that suggested that the guy questioned Buxton would get the instruction he needed in our organization due to the Twins history of failing to improve guys with his type of skill set. Thought that was interesting.

Look, the odds of us making the playoffs this year were in all reality pretty unlikely, regardless of what the homers thought based on last year. This 0-9 hole only makes it that much more unlikely we will be playing meaningful games in September. Buxton clearly has athletic skills, but just looks sloppy and unrefined to me. He needs more plate appearances to work things out. Our lineup is already flawed, so I suggest batting him 1st or send him down to bat 1st. This will get him more plate appearances and experience to work on things. He will also likely see a starter 1 more time a game, and a nasty reliever 1 less time a game, which would help him as well. Just like batting Russell 9th last year did his development and stats no favor for those some reasons. This is a bad team, so who cares if he fails in the 9th spot or first spot...at least he will get more practice.

I have been commenting about the free swingers on the club and in the minors for quite a while now. I also have been on the same boat with Dozier and Plouffe. Don't wait until it is too late. I like Dozier and he is a good player, but definitely not a guy you cannot part with. He is no superstar. He is relying in pull power-just enough line drive homers. With just a little off his bat speed those becomes, doubles and outs, and then just outs. Without the power, what is Dozeir? He is not going to improve his defense at this age and things are likely to go downhill fast once he begins his decline, which might come soon.

Good news is that Pat Dean dominated the 'Twins Way' in AAA today! 8 innings of 1 earned run ball....without a single strikeout. Seems like that is the type of performance profile that could push him in front of Berrios, Duffey, or anyone else to get promoted. On the other hand, Ex-Twin Scott Diamond got the win for the bad guys. But, he had too many strikeouts at 5, so glad we got rid of him. Too snarky? I kid. At least this means our AAA defense must be pretty good, right.

This is just an odd team and was last year. Really tough to predict what they will do because they are so streaky. As a homer, you can look and down the lineup and staff and say, "I like that guy and he is good," but when you take each individual position and compare him to the rest of the division or league you see we are very average or below average at almost every position. We like Plouffe, but when you look at the rest of the league you find that there is not too teams that don't have better and younger 3B's than him. Good player, but would take 2/3's the leagues 3B over him. He will probably end up with similar stats as last year, but has been unlucky so far. Escobar is hitting well, but literally half of his BABIP drop for hits thus far and has not walked but a few times! Some regression coming there, but at least he is getting lucky and getting on base right now. Again, another position where we homers like this guy, but would certainly choose half the starting SS's from others teams over him. At least not below average here thought. Just not something to be very excited and proud of. Dozier we treat like he is some super star as homers, but again way overrated once you look at what else is out there. Yes, he is good, but not as good as we perceive him to be. Think he has another good year, but not as good, and then declines steadily. He has lived off of his pull power and 'just barely' line drive homers. Doesn't take much for the bat to slow down and those become outs. He is essentially terrible if not for the power. But, he is probably closer to the middle of the pack for 2B this year than the top, and was closer to just inside the top ten the way it was. Great player, but not as your top player. Mauer, is off to a hot start. Is striking out less, walking more, and making contact. Probably not going to keep up a .400 BABIP, but might be a good player this year. However, when you compare him to the rest of the leagues 1b, he would likely be near the bottom of starters by almost all standards. Like the start though and hope he can spark this team this year. Just not a plus at the position. Suzuki is just not that good at baseball. Not much power, doesn't get on base to well, and is not that great of a defensive catcher. He just has a nice personality, so there is that. Probably bottom 5 catcher in the league and will likely remain that. Our OF is young and is what I think most of us were hanging our hopes on. Well, so far that has been a disaster. There is youth and talent there, but also all 3 guys are and always have been extremely flawed too. I never thought Rosario was that great, nor did I think he could keep up his luck. He makes hard contact, but strikes out way too much, does not get on base, and his power is not even close to where it needs to be to make up for those flaws. His defense it nice, but as a hitter he is near the bottom when looking at other teams starters. Homers love him because he is young and flashy, but way too many flaws to be trusted or thought of as good. Buxton, is a stud in CF, but an AL pitcher at that plate. He has shown me nothing that says he will be make enough contact to be a good hitter. His defense makes him a good player, but still would say a the moment he is a bottom half CF with at least the chance of being one of the better ones. Just not right now. Sano is not and OF. Period. There is not much chance he will be as good as he was last year, but he could be close to that and still be a monster. The K's will likely always be there, but at least he can still get on base and the power is real. He might have stretches where he looks more like Chris Carter, but will also have stretches where he looks like Miggy. Our one true plus player. DH? Park is struggling, and many thought this could happen. Way to early to know what he really is and can be. But, right now he is negative player that hurts more than he helps the team. Our starting staff has performed better than in the past, but that is not really hard to do. Their ERA is top 1/3, but their metrics say more bottom 1/3 and have been getting lucky to this point. So, at least they are doing that, but nothing to be excited about. Our staff when compared to others is bad. Compare our #1 to others, our #2 to others, and so on and you almost always pick the other teams starter. So, we might like some of our guys, but in comparison they are not that great. At least we have a stud prospect that should help out at some point. This is not a good rotation, but it certainly is and will be much better than in the past. Our bullpen has underperformed their metrics and have gotten pretty unlucky so far. They are not this bad. But, they are not that great either. Perkins is probably a bottom half or third closer and falling. He is more like a decent setup guy. Jepson is not that bad, but he is no stud either. He is an average late innings guy, but more suited to be a really good 7th inning guy. May still is our best guy in the pen, but is not consistent enough yet. Even as a closer, he would probably be average at best when you compare him to the rest of the leagues guys though. He has the potential to be really really good, but has not been used very well at all to this point. Fien, is terrible and I have no idea why the FO thinks guys with low velocity and bad stuff can somehow just find a way to succeed. It doesn't work. The bullpen is not that good, but really isn't this bad either. I would say middle of the league BP. Not my biggest worry, but Perkins needs to get pulled fast if he continues to falter. I think we could be really good, if our minor league guys come up and help out. So, there you are. If you look at this team piece by piece and compare it to other teams guys you find that we really aren't a great team. Many people predicted us to be pretty bad based on these observations. Now, there was and is enough potential on this team to get streaky and find a way, but not likely. We need the young guys to live up to their potential and our veterans to not regress greatly for this team to be .500. The staff needs to keep it up and be infused by our minor league. This team is still an enigma and could end up getting on fire if everyone clicks, but it is just as likely, if not more, that this team finishes bottom 3 in the AL. Same goes for our staff and bullpen.

Tomorrow; we are good against lefties. Well, we don't have Hicks anymore, so probably not as good. But, I will say tomorrow. Rodon will have one of his high BB days.

Is he going to be this years version of Pelfrey? In the sense that he will do just enough early on to get him an endless rope for the rest of the year when he bounces around, but ends up being terrible the second half.