Tom Froemming

I've only glanced through some 2017 draft coverage, but it doesn't look like there's a Bryce Harper-type automatic 1st pick. But, even picking as high as they have recently, the Twins have missed out on the opportunity to draft the likes of Carlos Correa , Kris Bryant, Carlos Rodon and Kyle Schwarber, just to cherry pick the big names with MLB experience. It's certainly possible the team would've still taken Buxton, Stewart and Gordon over those guys in their respective drafts, but it's always nice to have your pick of the litter, even when there's not an obvious choice at No. 1 overall.

Sounds good to me! One way or another the prospects need to come up/stay in the lineup. Who cares if Buxton hits .200 and Berrios has an ERA over 10 the next two months? Those guys have nothing to prove or learn in Triple-A, and if we lose because of their struggles it's not like it matters at this point anyway. It would be great to see some of the other guys mentioned in Seth's recent "It's Time!" piece come up too.

After getting off to the worst start in franchise history, the Twins appear to be turning things around this month, but is that something fans should be excited about? It seems like a crazy question, but when you look at the big picture could it be in the best interest of the team's future to tank the rest of the season? In the MLB there is nothing but incentives to tanking a season. The worse your record is the higher up you draft and the bigger your allotted bonus pool is to divvy out to those picks. Same deal with international spending, the worse you do the more money you can spend without incurring penalties. And it's not like these are small margins. The Phillies, who were the worst team in baseball last year, had over $4 million more to spend in the draft (per MLB.com) and over $1.5 million to spend on the international market (per Baseball America) than the Brewers, who were the 5th-worst team last season. The moral of the story is if you're going to be terrible it pays off to be the worst. With the 2016 season already sunk, is there any reason to root for the Twins to turn things around? Personally, I'm not so sure, and the team's performance over its last 15 games has me feeling conflicted. Beginning with their 17-5 rout of the Rangers on July 2, the Twins are 10-5 and have outscored their opponents 94-53. The pitching staff hasn't given up more than 6 runs in any game over that stretch, and the offense is clicking after a number of personnel changes. Max Kepler and Brian Dozier have been two of the best hitters in baseball over that stretch and the pitching staff has the fourth-lowest ERA (3.23) this month. In a lost season, you're put in an awkward position as a fan. Rooting against your own team seems like a rotten, unthinkable thing to do, but tanking may be the best thing for the future. But how does a team tank? You're never going to get the manager, coaches or any of the players behind the idea of giving away games. I suppose a massive, roster-crippling fire sale could do the trick. On the other hand, if the team keeps performing well it's certainly possible that a strong finish to 2016 could carry over. A positive finish to the season could make the long winter seem a little brighter and is only going to help the team attract free agents, if that's the route the new GM decides to take in improving the roster. Nobody is going to want to sign with the worst team in the league. Speaking of the new GM, could the way the Twins perform over the next two months also have an influence over what kind of candidates would be interested in the job? And if that's the case, which would be more attractive to the future GM: a young team on the upswing or the No. 1 pick in the draft? It's definitely something to keep in mind. What do you think? Would you rather see the Twins tank, or end on a high note?

Nice work here Seth. This really highlights how many guys there are already in their mid-20s in the upper levels of the Twins system. What are they waiting for? I didn't realize Garver was already 25. I know catchers take longer to develop than other positions, but at the very least he needs to be promoted to Triple A. Along with those nice batting lines you referenced, he's thrown out 51% of would be base stealers, which is elite.

When Ryan walked away in '07 the timing always struck me as odd. Seems awfully convenient for the guy to step down prior to an offseason in which Hunter was leaving and Johan was going to be traded. I'm sure he had his reasons, but it was a tough spot for Bill Smith to step into. I agree with some of the other comments suggesting this change means a big roster turnover is coming. I bet Ryan was hoping to hold on to any assets that could be of value next season (which is understandable from his point of view) while other high-ranking decision makers are prepared for more of a rebuild.

It's never good when a baseball team leads you to research the stages of grief, but that's exactly the type of thing the 2016 Twins are inspiring. Here's how my grieving through the 2016 season has gone so far. Stage 1: Denial and Isolation Last time I checked in, I was looking for hope with the Twins at 0-8. I wrote that there was plenty of time to turn things around and way too early to be looking for the panic button. When the turnaround didn't happen, I had no interest in investigating why until I went through some further stages of grief. Stage 2: Anger I haven't punched through any walls, burned my Twins gear or anything like that, but lets just say my language has deteriorated and I get a certain twitch in the corner of my left eye anytime someone asks about the Twins. Stage 3: Bargaining Also in my last article, I did some optimistic math. It was almost as if I was trying to convince myself 0-8 was a non-issue. "Well, it took 86 wins to get into the postseason last year. So if you were expecting the Twins to hit that mark, through eight games you would have projected them to have, what, four maybe five wins. So basically all they have to do is win one extra game each month than you would have originally expected." Stage 4: Depression My low point here came during Wednesday's 9-2 defeat at the hands of the Orioles. It was rainy, cold and the team played like garbage. There were several big school groups of kids cheering their little hearts out to no avail, which somehow made everything even more sad. But hey, a day at the ballpark always beats a day at the office and my wife and I got put on the kiss cam, so there's that. Stage 5: Acceptance I think I'm finally starting my journey into accepting the fact the 2016 Twins are a bad team. Furthermore, I'm starting to question if it was foolish to have ever expected them to compete for the playoffs. I have many fond memories from last season, but the way things were at the end of that magical May definitely overshadowed everything else and seems to have blinded me from the bigger picture. Unfortunately, that was a mirage. At the end of last May, the Twins were 30-19. From there, they went 53-60. Another part of my bargaining revolved around how the bad start was just a small sample size. And through just 34 games this season, you could still pound that drum to some extent. But, if we combine their 8-26 record so far this year with the poor finish in '15, you get a 61-86 (.415) record. Tough to call a 147 game stretch a small sample size. Uh oh, I think I'm slipping back into the depression stage. Of course, this is just a tongue and cheek look into the season so far. If a lousy baseball team is most depressing thing in my life right now, things are going pretty darn well. Plus, the Twins will play better. There's no way they lose 120 games this season, right? Oh boy, am I back to denial? I thought I was doing so well. It's a process.

There isn't a whole lot you can look back at and be positive about from the Twins 0-8 start this season, but here comes the sun (do do do do). There's a string of 70-degree temperatures coming up, and things can only go up from here for the Twins. Yes, it's lame to write about the weather, but you can't be a Minnesotan and not talk about the weather, especially when it's good. Just like you can't say here comes the sun and not add in the do do do do part. Anyway, the biggest bright spot for the Twins is there are 154 games left. Let that really sink in. I don't think even lifelong, hardcore baseball fans are good at truly wrapping their minds around how ridiculously long the season is. You wouldn't make a conclusion about a football team after the first 3 quarters of their opening game, right? That's roughly the equivalent of where the Twins are in their season. Things look bad, but I promise it's not time to hit the panic button yet. You'll surely hear all sorts of depressing stats about the history of teams who started 0-8. But you know what? The history of those teams has absolutely nothing to do with how the 2016 Minnesota Twins are going to play over their next 154 games. An 0-8 team has never done this, an 0-8 team has never done that ... who cares? While they didn't start 0-8, there are examples of teams that ended up with good seasons after getting off on the wrong foot. The 2011 Tampa Bay Rays started the year 1-8 and ended up making the playoffs with 91 wins. Last season, the Texas Rangers got off to a 7-15 start and were eventually the AL West champions. If you want to stick with Twins history, the 1991 team got off to a 2-9 start. Anybody remember how that team ended up? Of course you do, but I'm going to remind you anyway because in times like these we need to remember baseball can be fun. That team got things straightened out, but it took time. Even at the end of May their record was only 23-25. From there on, they went 72-42, taking the AL West and eventually becoming World Series Champions. It's true. The Twins were really good once upon a time. Like, the best in the World. Seems hard to believe right now, I know, but you can Google it if you don't want to take my word for it. Looking for something more recent? Well, I would argue that the 2015 Twins actually had a worse first eight games than this season's team. Sure, they at least won two games over that span, but the 2015 Twins were outscored 46-19. This year's club has a slightly more palatable 33-13 deficit in the runs scored column. And I know you remember what happened to that team. Those guys, who look a heck of a lot like this year's guys, won 83 games. No, there is no ring ceremony for finishing over .500, but it was a really fun season. Time is still on the Twins' side. I, like I'm sure many of you, was expecting to see the Twins win a Wild Card this season. After the slow start, what do they have to do to get there? Well, it took 86 wins to get into the postseason last year. So if you were expecting the Twins to hit that mark, through eight games you would have projected them to have, what, four maybe five wins. So basically all they have to do is win one extra game each month than you would have originally expected. Doesn't seem crazy when you break it down like that right? Of course all this is ignoring the myriad problems from the first eight games and assuming this has just been a series of games played by the bizarro Twins, and the real team we expected for 2016 will show up at any moment. But, when you're sitting at 0-8 it's a heck of a lot more fun to look forward in hope than it is to look back in disgust.

You can live with the strikeouts as long as he can live up to his surname and keep drawing more free passes and consistently work deep counts. Walker has increased his walks from 31 to 44 to 51 the past three years. Baby steps, yes, but it's encouraging to see improvement continue as he faces tougher pitching.

Nick Blackburn gave up one run over 5 2/3 in his only career playoff start. Also a Game 2, also against a high-powered offense ('09 Yankees), so ... I think it's pretty unreasonable to think Milone's numbers would get worse in the pen. Here are a dozen LHPs who have performed much better in relief than as starters in no particular order: Oliver Perez: 3.67 ERA in the pen vs. 4.58 starting Zach Duke: 3.32 vs. 4.61 Tom Gorzelanny: 3.45 vs. 4.62 J.P. Howell: 2.64 vs. 6.34 Brian Duensing: 3.63 vs. 4.57 Will Smith: 3.07 vs. 5.48 Zach Britton: 1.72 vs. 4.86 Brian Matusz: 3.16 vs. 5.51 Brett Cecil: 2.85 vs. 4.77 Glen Perkins: 2.95 vs. 5.06 Travis Wood: 2.71 vs. 4.19 Andrew Miller: 3.02 vs. 5.70 ERA isn't the end all be all of pitching stats, but these are big splits and most of these guys have good sized samples as both starters and relievers. I understand some these guys' skill sets differ dramatically from Milone. I just don't understand why anyone thinks he couldn't hold his own as a middle reliever. And I wouldn't necessarily say Milone settles into a groove. I'd say either he has a feel for his pitches that day or not. When he doesn't have his feel, he doesn't last long enough to face a lineup a full second or third time through.

I like Tommy Milone, but there's zero upside to him as a starter. He's a No. 5 on a second division team. He's a guy in no way would you ever want starting a playoff game. He would have been a godsend on the 2013 or 2012 Twins, but we don't need him now. I don't understand why everyone thinks his "stuff wouldn't play" in the bullpen. How many pitchers go to the pen and put up worse numbers? Almost none. If you think he's a guy who can get major league hitters out 18 times an outing in the rotation, somebody's gotta explain to me why he couldn't get 3 or 4 outs an outing out of the bullpen.

I was in no way trying to suggest you put Milone in the pen and he's O'Day. I was just trying to make the point that just because a guy is a soft tosser doesn't mean he can't be good in relief.

But how are you going to show them the circus if you can't get 'em into the tent? If your starters can't hold a lead or keep it close heading into the 7th, I don't care if your bullpen is Clayton Kershaw, Madison Bumgarner and Jake Arrieta.

I say keep Milone and put him in the pen instead. Isn't our main concern out there not have a good lefty? Just because the guy doesn't throw 95 doesn't mean he can't make it work out there. Darren O'Day, the top free agent reliever in this year's market, only averaged 86.7 mph on his fastball in 2015. Milone's average fastball was 87.8 mph.

Thanks for linking over to Nick's article. I think he has valid arguments for May in the pen, should be fun to follow the comments on both articles. I don't see anyone on either side who expects May to pitch poorly. So what happens if he comes in preparing as a starter and has the best spring of anyone in camp? That's a possibility, in fact, I'd put my money on it. Are they really going to send him back to the bullpen? Can you imagine the reaction? It would be equivalent to a riot on the threads here. Plus, what kind of message are you sending to your players? You're basically saying "if we put you in the bullpen, you better not pitch well there or else we're just gonna leave you our there forever." You think any young emerging Twins starter is ever going to want to accept a demotion to the bullpen, like May did?

In a fan forum Wednesday evening, Minnesota Twins manager Paul Molitor indicated he would probably prefer to keep Trevor May in the bullpen. The plan for spring training, however, is for May to prepare for the 2016 as a starting pitcher. If given an opportunity, I have the utmost confidence May will force the team's hand and pitch his way into the rotation.After the season ended, the Pioneer Press' Mike Berardino wrote a piece that had a couple of telling quotes. May expressed his desire to return to the rotation and Terry Ryan expressed belief that May can be a legit 200-inning starter. So ... what's the problem? Management is letting the murky bullpen situation cloud its judgment of how best to use May in 2016, but if they leave the door open for May to crack the rotation, as they've indicated, it's gonna happen. Here's a quote from May in the Berardino piece: "There's no doubt in my mind I can be a go-to guy on this team -- on any team -- as a starter. I don't think I've achieved anywhere close to what I can achieve as a starter. I'm excited to come in next year and kind of open some eyes." This is a confident guy who thinks he has figured everything out. He wants the ball to start the game, and I'm sure he's putting in extra work this winter to be prepared to do everything he can to make that happen. There's no reason to doubt his ability to put in the necessary work and make adjustments at this point. Back in 2013, Eric Longenhagen of Crashburn Alley, who had been closely following May as a Phillies prospect, took another look at the former fourth-round pick. He noted May's stronger legs and noticed a productive switch from a 3/4 arm slot to throwing more over the top. Overall, Longenhagen felt May had made strides in his first year in the Twins system. The biggest knock on May throughout his minor league career was that he walked too many guys. Over 775 innings on the farm, he had averaged 4.4 BB/9. May impressed enough during the 2014 season to earn a promotion to the Twins, but again he struggled with free passes. In February, R.J. White of CBS Sports reported that May had taken up yoga. The especially interesting part was his reason why. "Every scouting report I’ve ever seen on myself says, 'Has trouble repeating his delivery.' Well, yoga is literally repeating moves, keeping your body under your control. I do the warrior pose, which is [the same as] striding and throwing a baseball. It has to help." In 2014, May walked 22 batters in just 45 2/3 innings with the Twins. Last season? He issued just 26 free passes over 114 2/3 innings. I'd say the yoga helped. So, over the past couple years May has managed to clean up his mechanics and solve his biggest question mark as a starter. He has been willing to make adjustments and knows himself as a pitcher. He's aware of his weaknesses, but is confident he can be a difference maker. Add it all up and I'm not betting against Trevor May pitching his way back into the rotation. Sure, when you take a look at all the options the Twins have, it can be difficult to see it happening. The club has five veteran starters already, all of whom are expecting to be in the rotation. On top of that, there's Tyler Duffey and Jose Berrios. But a lot can happen between now and Opening Day. Someone may get moved. It's even possible someone looks so bad this spring they pitch themselves out of a job. Unfortunately, somebody could get hurt. All three of those things could happen. But even if everyone makes it out of camp in the system and healthy, I believe May is going to make it very difficult for the club to send him back to the bullpen. One thing I keep thinking about is who I'd most like to see start a Wild Card game if the Twins can make it in. Is it crazy to say May? ... Probably. But, I'm not the only one with a baseball man crush on the guy. John Sickels of Minor League Ball predicted May would be an All-Star starter for the Twins in 2016. It's possible the person who will make the case for May in the rotation is actually Casey Fien. If he's looking good (I'm not certain he was ever really healthy in 2015), maybe the team feels more comfortable going without May's services in the pen. Or maybe Alex Meyer shows something in spring (is it possible we can pass along May's yoga instructor's number?). Or it's still possible the club makes an impact free agent addition. Plus, Glen Perkins and Kevin Jepsen are still at the back end of the bullpen. It's not like May was ever going to be the closer or anything. How hard can it be to find another viable seventh inning option? I understand the team is nervous to take May out of a role in which he's been successful. The bullpen can use all the help it can get, but if you looked around at some of the starting pitching matchups this October, you realized the Twins' rotation is also severely lacking in high-end talent. In the end, we're talking about at potential difference of 200 innings vs. 60 innings from one of the clubs most talented hurlers. It's an easy call to make. Click here to view the article

It was a lot easier to defend Mauer last year at this time. He was only coming off one bad season, after being really good the two years prior. He wasn't even really blocking anyone, either. Vargas was gonna DH and I didn't really expect Sano to come up until way later in the year, if at all to be honest. Now, we have Mauer coming off an even worse year and it seems there are at least three guys who deserve an everyday 1B/DH spot over him (Sano, Park, Vargas), and like you said more on their way. I hope he can turn it around, but if he can't he has to be a part time guy. Plouffe isn't the guy whose gotta go to solve the roster crunch. They don't have to try to get Sano slimmed down and ready for outfield. They just have to put their best players in their most appropriate roles.

If you've been a fan of the Minnesota Twins for a while, you're probably sick of hearing about payroll. It's a topic that's beaten to death, and the criticisms are often contradictory. People will rip the ownership for not spending more out of one side of their mouth and ridicule them for overpaying Joe Mauer out the other. You can't have it both ways. In no way am I trying to suggest ownership or the front office shouldn't be questioned. I'm just saying those are tired and lazy arguments and it's time to point frustrations in a new direction. The most important positive step the organization could take would be to stop taking into account how much money it has invested in a player when making roster decisions. They need to stop being so cheap, and accept the fact when they've made a poor investment. As much as I would have loved to see the Twins sign an ace or dump a bunch of money into the bullpen, the team's decision not to is entirely defensible. Big, long-term contracts almost never work out and relievers are pretty unreliable from one year to the next. It wasn't long ago all these multi-year contracts to relievers would have been met with pretty much universal disdain. But, of course, the Royals have changed all that. It's a copycat league. What is indefensible is to refuse to give up on guys like Mauer or Ricky Nolasco in an attempt to save face despite having numerous better options. As a big Mauer apologist, I'll always hold out hope that he'll get back to being an on-base machine. Maybe the farther Mauer gets from his concussion the more likely it gets he'll regain his hand-eye skills. And I don't think we've ever seen Nolasco healthy in a Twins uniform. There's some reason to hold out hope for him, too. But if it starts to look like more of the same from either Mauer or Nolasco the club must move them into lower profile roles. The goal has to be winning games, not protecting egos. The Twins don't necessary need to spend a bunch of money to build a playoff team. All they need to do is put the best 25 guys on the roster and set roles based on skills and performance rather than service time and contract status.

And a +1 to you, sir. I think those first three guys deserve to be locked in to their spots, but the next two should be open to competition. If that's going to be the case, I'm extremely confident May and Duffey will be the clear cut choices. I'm still holding out hope for Nolasco, and they should certainly give himself an opportunity to prove himself this spring. I don't think it's going to happen, but he should get his shot. Milone was solid for most of last season, and is a perfectly fine No. 5, but there's no upside beyond that. We know exactly who Milone is: a fifth starter on a bad team. That has value, but I'd rather see what May and Duffey can become. And I am all for shifting guys to the pen ... once they've failed as starters. May hasn't gotten enough of an opportunity to declare him a failure as a starting guy, and he has continued to improve his game since coming to the org.

In a fan forum Wednesday evening, Minnesota Twins manager Paul Molitor indicated he would probably prefer to keep Trevor May in the bullpen. The plan for spring training, however, is for May to prepare for the 2016 as a starting pitcher. If given an opportunity, I have the utmost confidence May will force the team's hand and pitch his way into the rotation. After the season ended, the Pioneer Press' Mike Berardino wrote a piece that had a couple telling quotes. May expressed his desire to return to the rotation and Terry Ryan expressed belief that May can be a legit 200-inning starter. So ... what's the problem? Management is letting the murky bullpen situation cloud its judgment of how best to use May in 2016, but if they leave the door open for May to crack the rotation, as they've indicated, it's gonna happen. Here's a quote from May in the Berardino piece: "There's no doubt in my mind I can be a go-to guy on this team -- on any team -- as a starter. I don't think I've achieved anywhere close to what I can achieve as a starter. I'm excited to come in next year and kind of open some eyes." This is a confident guy who thinks he has figured everything out. He wants the ball to start the game, and I'm sure he's putting in extra work this winter to be prepared to do everything he can to make that happen. There's no reason to doubt his ability to put in the necessary work and make adjustments at this point. Back in 2013, Eric Longenhagen of Crashburn Alley, who had been closely following May as a Phillies prospect, took another look at the former fourth-round pick. He noted May's stronger legs and noticed a productive switch from a 3/4 arm slot to throwing more over the top. Overall, Longenhagen felt May had made strides in his first year with the Twins system. The biggest knock on May throughout his minor league career was that he walked too many guys. Over 775 innings on the farm, he had averaged 4.4 BB/9. May impressed enough during the 2014 season to earn a promotion to the Twins, but again he struggled with free passes. In February, R.J. White of CBS Sports reported that May had taken up yoga. The especially interesting part was his reason why. "Every scouting report I’ve ever seen on myself says, 'Has trouble repeating his delivery.' Well, yoga is literally repeating moves, keeping your body under your control. I do the warrior pose, which is [the same as] striding and throwing a baseball. It has to help." In 2014, May walked 22 batters in just 45 2/3 innings with the Twins. Last season? He issued just 26 free passes over 114 2/3 innings. I'd say the yoga helped. So, over the past couple years May has managed to clean up his mechanics and solve his biggest question mark as a starter. He has been willing to make adjustments and knows himself as a pitcher. He's aware of his weaknesses, but is confident he can be a difference maker. Add it all up and I'm not betting against Trevor May pitching his way back into the rotation. Sure, when you take a look at all the options the Twins have, it can be difficult to see it happening. The club has five veteran starters already, all of whom are expecting to be in the rotation. On top of that, there's Tyler Duffey and Jose Berrios. But a lot can happen between now and Opening Day. Someone may get moved. It's even possible someone looks so bad this spring they pitch themselves out of a job. Unfortunately, somebody could get hurt. All three of those things could happen. But even if everyone makes it out of camp in the system and healthy, I believe May is going to make it very difficult for the club to send him back to the bullpen. One thing I keep thinking about is who I'd most like to see start a Wild Card game if the Twins can make it in. Is it crazy to say May? ... Probably. But, I'm not the only one with a baseball man crush on the guy. John Sickels of Minor League Ball predicted May would be an All-Star starter for the Twins in 2016. It's possible the person who will make the case for May in the rotation is actually Casey Fien. If he's looking good (I'm not certain he was ever really healthy in 2015), maybe the team feels more comfortable going without May's services in the pen. Or maybe Alex Meyer shows something in spring (is it possible we can pass along May's yoga instructor's number?). Or it's still possible the club makes an impact free agent addition. Plus, Glen Perkins and Kevin Jepsen are still at the back end of the bullpen. It's not like May was ever going to be the closer or anything. How hard can it be to find another viable seventh inning option? I understand the team is nervous to take May out of a role in which he's been successful. The bullpen can use all the help it can get, but if you looked around at some of the starting pitching matchups this October, you realized the Twins' rotation is also severely lacking in high-end talent. In the end, we're talking about at potential difference of 200 innings vs. 60 innings from one of the clubs most talented hurlers. It's an easy call to make.

Was pretty sure this was going to be about Miguel Sano and Max Kepler Good take on Meyer, it is strange they didn't use him as a Sept. call up. He should definitely get every opportunity to impress this spring. I mean the guy's gonna be 26 in a few weeks, how much longer until you just throw him out there and see if he can figure it out?

Thanks for sharing, that's a good read. And yes, it is available for free.

Yeah, that's a lofty bar to set, but why can't we go there? Jay was taken 6th overall, expectations should be pretty high for a guy you make that kind of commitment to, right?

Very true, putting Jay on a fast track to the bullpen is probably not going to be best for his long-term development. It did work for Sale, who was drafted in 2010 and made his debut that August. But, the takeaway I get when you look at the big picture like Seth has here is there are backup options like this. If they don't add anyone significant, and the bullpen starts out poorly or we have injuries, there are a lot of Plan Bs out there. Another one would be using Berrios in the pen if he can't crack the starting rotation and putting him on a development path similar to Johan or Liriano. That would allow you to ease him into the majors while also giving a big boost to the pen. Again, probably shouldn't be Plan A, but it's a backup option.