yarnivek1972

Well, now you're talking about MLB pitchers. That's different. Of course, for much of last year the Twins didn't have competent MLB defenders at a lot of spots. Tonkin making that list surprises me because he has high K rate - relative to the staff anyway.

It hasn't been though. It's been inconsistent. check the game logs After 5 outings, his K per 9 was 10.8. Then he went 6 IP over 5 games without any K. Since then, 7 K in 4 1/3 IP, but that stretch also has seen him give up 5 of the 10 hits he's allowed this season, 4 of the 5 walks and both HR. So, you say you wanna be a scout? Analyze that. So, will the real Mason Melotakis, please stand up? Who knows, maybe inconsistent is just what he is now.

Two homeruns allowed today, including a grand slam to the first guy he faced. The second HR was to a left handed hitter, that's a stunner. That's the first HR he's allowed to a LHB since he's been at AA - which would be since 2014. Yoiks and away.

Not necessarily. Sometimes you get blown out early.

I'm kinda on the fence on that. It almost has to be taken case by case. I guess a pitcher giving up a lot of unearned runs relative to his teammates would be a red flag. Is something about the way he pitches causing fielders to be on their heels? Control? Time between pitches? On the other hand, if you have a minor league pitcher out there battling and he gets a guy to hit into what should be a routine end of the inning grounder, should he be faulted if a guy who will probably never reach the majors kicks it and a run scores? If I'm that pitcher, I'm thinking to myself, "They make that play Up There". If that happens just once every third start, that could be 8-10 unearned runs in a season.

Clearly, Hughes' performance is a concern. But what can realistically be done? Supposedly, the "take" on the "give" of a 10 day DL was that MLB was going to increase the scrutiny of guys placed on the DL. No more "phantom injuries". I really don't see an option other than sending Hughes out there every 5 days and hoping for the best. Unless you are suggesting the Twins release him and eat the $ 35 or so mil that his contract still calls for.

As I have said before, I am of the school of thought that believes there is some value in making a stop at AAA, even if it's a short one. I certainly accept and acknowledge that there are those who disagree. But what is relevant is the school of thought of the guy in charge. We just don't know yet. Unless someone really wants to go through the Indians' pitching prospects over the last few years and see how many, if any, skipped AAA on the way up. Current Indians closer Cody Allen did not. He threw less than 20 innings in high A and AA combined, but more than 30 at AAA. Perhaps that is an indication of his school of thought - because it took place right as Falvey took over, especially for high power college arms. What we DO know is that the TWINS have NOT done so. Not recently anyway. Not with pitchers. Seth mentioned Jose Mijares. But Mijares did have a brief stint in AAA before being sent back down. Only after getting hurt and then healthy was he a September call up direct from the end of the AA season. And as much as it was to help, I think it was about getting him more innings. No one has mentioned anyone else and I can't think of any off the top of my head since Eric Milton, almost 20 years ago. My point is that I don't see the Twins calling up Burdi (or any other pitcher) from AA. All the more reason to jettison some of the flotsam at AAA to make room for Burdi, et al.

I think Falvey and Levine need to start weeding the Twins minor league garden. They have a bunch of org filler types that are way too old for the level they are at. Org fillers are important, make no mistake. There is no such thing as a minor league team with 25 prospects on it. But when you have a bunch of guys that simply don't fit, eventually you have to say goodbye. It sounds odd, but it almost has to start in AAA I think. The Twins need to look at the AAA roster and say, "Would I call _______ up if someone got hurt?" If the answer to that question is "no", then they probably need to be released, unless he is a prospect. That is why Ben Paulsen was released. He was at the bottom of the corner OF/1b/DH logjam. A lot of the time, you want your prospects to get X number of PA or IP at AAA before evaluating his MLB readiness. That's not limited to "young" guys. The Twins took a flier on Nik Turley this offseason and assigned him to AA to start the season, despite his being 27 years old. OK. Fine. He never has had prolonged AAA success, so that was probably the right call. But then something happened. Something wonderful, perhaps. He blew AA hitters away. To the tune of nearly 2 K per IP. He earned a promotion to AAA, made two so so appearances and was... sent back to AA, where he promptly struck out 9 in 4 innings. What? Is Nik Turley the savior of the Twins rotation (or bullpen)? Doubtful. Could he help? Maybe. But IMO the Twins will get a better answer to that question by having Turley face AAA hitters, some of whom have actually been in the bigs. In another head scratching move, 28 year old (yes, 28 - that's not a typo) former first round pick Alex Wimmers was sent to AA, where he will compete for innings with Melotakis, Burdi, Bard, Rosario and Curtiss, among others. What?? Why?? Why not just release him? This is pro baseball. Guys get released everyday. It isn't pleasant for the guy that has to tell the player, but that's part of the job. IMO, the Twins brass needs to decide who they want to look at and who they have seen enough of and make the appropriate roster moves. To those saying, "Relax, it's 6 weeks into a 6 month season. Plenty of time. yadda, yadda, yadda" Is it? Pitchers and catchers reported in mid February. That's 3 months ago. IMO that should be enough to evaluate some of these guys that were barely able to make rosters in the first place.

I would assume the birthing took place some time between Mejia's last start on the 11th and yesterday. In retrospect, one has to wonder if the impending birth wasn't affecting his mental preparation at the MLB level. Certainly wouldn't be the first nervous father in the history of the world.

Exactly. It's not just the roster spot. It's the lost opportunity to pitch. It's the same reasoning that was given to not start Engelb Vielma at AAA to start the season - there's no room. Really? Then MAKE room. It's pro baseball. Guys get released everyday. It isn't pleasant to do and it isn't an easy decision, but sometimes it has to be done. As for this case specifically, Randy LeBlanc could have stayed in AA and worked on his control problems there, not? In as much as it is nonsensical to have 28 year olds at AA, it is just as curious to have a 25 year old in A ball, unless he's on a rehab assignment of course. Nick Anderson is 26. He probably doesn't belong in A ball either. David Fischer is 27. Really?? Frickin A ball? Edit: OK, just noticed Fischer missed the last two years. So that isn't SO bad, but still. Wow, I guess I never realized how bad this situation was. I get that on a typical minor league team there are probably 3-4-5 legitimate MLB prospects and the other 20 or so guys are simply there to essentially play around them. I even get that the prospects will be a couple years younger than these "org filler" types. But 25, 26 and 27 year olds shouldn't be in A ball. Org filler or not. If that is what they are, they can fill it at AA. If there is no room there, move some org filler to AAA. If no room there, that's when you send guys into the manager's office and have them shut the door. This would be a good post for the "About that Farm System" Thread. The Twins minor league garden needs to be cultivated, BADLY. RAPIDLY.

Even more non-sensical than Turley. Wimmers is ALREADY 28. If Falvey doesn't think he belongs, RELEASE HIM. Keeping 28 year olds in AA makes zero sense.

Other than being the 9th best reliever for the Red Wings, nothing. Falvey and Levine need to start making decisions with regards to these arms in AAA. They aren't helping anyone's development by shuttling people back and forth to extended spring. There are only so many innings for these guys to pitch. The FO needs to figure out which ones should be there and let them pitch.

I didn't say crucial to their development. I said he HELPED develop them. Please don't put words in my mouth. And how is a direct quote hyperbole? If you want to disagree with his impact on Hrbek specifically, fine. Just remember I'm the one with his actual words sitting two feet from me.

It's not like Boston knew they were getting a superstar. They signed him to like a one year $ 1.25 mil contract. In other words, nothing. I'm not sure I buy Ortiz not getting a chance in Minnesota either, with the exception of keeping him in AAA all year in 1999 to let Dougie baseball play. 326 PA in 1998, 478 in 2000, 347 in 2001, 476 in 2002. He was on the DL or dinged up a lot. I have little doubt in my mind that he would never have succeeded in MInnesota for reasons that have nothing to do with the coaching staff. It was the stadium. First, Ortiz would never stay healthy playing 80 games a year on that concrete. He couldn't do it in his early 20s. No way he would have until his 30s, when Target Field finally opened. Second, a lot of people bash the "Ortiz needs to take it the other way" approach. The flaw is that taking it the other way is part of what made him a superstar in Boston. How many of his doubles were off the Monster? How many HR were OVER it? According to BR, 340 of his doubles went up the middle or opposite field, compared to 185 pulled. He pulled 297 HR, but went to center or left for 244. Perhaps some revisionist history writers don't recall the dimensions of the Metrodome. It was 343 feet down the left field line, 385 to left center and 408 to dead center. Compared to 310, 379 and 389 at Fenway. Sure the monster was 30 feet or whatever, but the point still remains. A lot of the balls Ortiz hit off or over the Green Monster would have been outs at the Metrodome. Frankly, the Twins did him a service by letting him go because he was simply not likely to do well in that park.

And they just sent Turley BACK to AA. I'm sorry, But I see zero justification for that action. If there are too many pitchers at AAA, get rid of some of them. Wimmers can go. Rucinski can go. Wilk was never needed. I'm not sure Chapman will prove worthy of a spot either, but am willing to give him a look. There is certainly nothing special about Tepesch, Slegers, Wheeler or Hurlbut. I'm certainly not suggesting letting them all go, but it's Falvey's job to evaluate these guys and construct the rosters accordingly. IMO there is too much flotsam at AAA standing in the way of the development of pieces that could potentially help at the MLB level. It's not just roster spots, it's opportunities to pitch that are being missed because the manager has to try to juggle 15 pitchers. Maybe Falvey will promote pitchers from AA. The Twins certainly don't have recent history of doing so. Did the Indians under Falvey? I honestly do not know.

??? In 1999, did not the Twins field a roster that included Mientkiewicz, Koskie, Guzman, Hunter and Jones - all of whom still had rookie status? 5 rookies that combined to get almost 2000 PA. According to the foreword written by Hrbek from the Season of Dreams book about the 1991 season, he worked with Kelly in instructional leagues in the late 70s - and presumably Gaetti since I believe they were at every level together. Perhaps that was what I had remembered. I guess I had the core guys that Kelly managed in the minors wrong. He did manage Greg Gagne at AA in 1982.

Breslow has never been a long guy. He's far more likely to be flipped to a different team that will use him as a loogy. That really is all he is. He is getting lefties out better than the last couple yesrs, but he has also walked 3 of the 20 or so he has seen. That isn't helpful IMO.

Listening on Mike & Mike right now. Takes a not so subtle jab at Tom Kelly. Maybe he didn't do right by Ortiz, but to say that Kelly was more used to older, more experienced players is simply not accurate IMO. First of all, the guy paid his dues managing in the low minors. He helped develop guys like Hrbek and Gaetti, etc. second, he had a pretty decent record of putting young, inexperienced players in a position to succeed at the MLB level. Position players anyway. His record with young pitchers, other than Radke maybe, wasn't very good. Shane Mack, Chuck Knoblauch, Scott Leius, Pedro Munoz, Marty Cordova, Torii Hunter, Corey Koskie, Cristian Guzman and even Doug Mientkiewicz. Those are guys that he had a hand in teaching at the MLB level and did quite well.

Too early to say. That's why he needs to be at AAA. At almost 28, he does not belong in AA for basically two full months.

One could argue that Nik Turley has been more dominant in AA than Nick Burdi. Think about that for a minute.

It's yet again evidence that the FO hasn't truly decided whether this team are contenders or not. If they are contenders, chances are you would be fast tracking Burdi at least to see if he can improve the late inning productivity. But, if they are not contenders, you might be more inclined to take the time and let him develop more.

IMO it was a mistake to put Turley back down in AA. He's way too old for AA and is clearly dominating AA hitters. Will it play in AAA and beyond? Don't know. But I do know we won't find out with him continuing to strikeout 2 AA hitters every inning.

Not based on last year's results. Last year, LHB posted a .580 OPS while RHB were at .850. This year, he's hardly allowed any baserunners at all, but at a higher rate to RHB. It's one reasonthat IMO he needs some time in AAA. To find out if he can get more advanced RHB out.

Falvey still hasn't decided whether the Twins are contenders or not. A contender would not have Justin Haley on the roster.