yarnivek1972

I still believe it's a product of overuse last year, especially in the first half. It is common for guys with that kind of workload bump to struggle the next season. A tick in speed for his slider probably means it has a tick less movement and break. Hence, rocketing out of the stadium. One would expect arm fatigue to result in less velocity, but higher velocity might simply mean he is exerting more to compensate for fatigue.

At some point the "blame" of a top prospect busting out lies more on the player development staff and less on scouts. Every scout and GM knows who has the best talent/skills now. Getting those abilities to translate from prep or college to MLB is the job of minor league coaches and staff.

If you don't believe that Santana is an ace or that Santiago is a number two, can you really believe the Twins will remain in contention as their level of competition increases?

Joe Mauer's walk up music should be "Yesterday". All my troubles seemed so far away, now it looks as though they're here to stay...

It certainly wouldn't surprise me if Adrianza replaces Escobar either this season or next. Adrianza is a guy Falvey signed. He inherited Escobar. But why take at bats away from Grossman? He's EARNED the at bats and IMO the Twins need to find out if he fits in to the future plans of this team. Same for Vargas. IMO, NOT true for Park or Joe Mauer. Falvey inherited Park as well. If he wants to let him shine in AAA as an example of what Terry Ryan meant to this organization, I'm fine with it. Kepler isn't going to get better against LHP if he continually sits when they start. He may NEVER get better, but the Twins need to find that out too.

I really wouldn't call it that creative. It's L-S-L-S-L-S-L-S-R. Creative would be Grossman leading off with Mauer leaning on the dugout steps.

Four words: Starting pitcher, Mike Pelfrey

That was a head scratcher of a trade from the Giants perspective. Why would you trade one MLB pitcher for a one tool catcher, let alone 2 and another with strong potential? AJ hit for average, period. He never hit for power as a Twin, he certainly was nothing special defensively and he certainly wasn't fast. That's seriously right up there with the Herschel Walker trade for most lopsided in sports history.

If Falvey wanted to DFA Adrianza he would have done so when his rehab stint was over. Why activate him and then release him in two weeks or less? Regardless, if someone replaces Adrianza it is much more likely to be an outfielder, like Zach Granite. As you say, Escobar and Adrianza duplicate roles. Right now, Mauer and Vargas duplicate. Bring up Park and you have 3 guys that can only play first or DH. Grossman also is used a LOT as the DH and Sano gets a game there and at first every so often. So, in your scenario, who loses at bats? Vargas, who is arguably the second best hitter on the team, or Grossman who is probably 3rd or 4th, or the $23,000,000 man?

If I am not mistaken, the general work out plan of a pitcher involves running and throwing. For hitters it involves hitting and lifting weights. Those are kind of opposite goal regimens.

And take who's spot on the 25 man?

You have an awfully unrealistic opinion of what the state of pitching is. How is a guy with a career ERA under 4 considered a 4 or 5 starter? Santiago's career ERA is better than league average. Doesn't that make him a solid 3, almost by definition?

There are currently 22 pitchers on the Twins 40 man roster (plus 3 on the 60 day DL). I will assume that will be the case when the roster is set this November. These are the guys on it now, including the DL guys, that are pretty certain to be on it in November: 1) Jose Berrios 2) JT Chargois 3) Tyler Duffey 4) Pjil Hughes 5) Felix Jorge 6) Trevor May 7) Adalberto Mejia 8) Mason Melotakis 9) Ryan O'Rourke 10) Taylor Rogers 11) Fernando Romero 12) Randy Rosario 13) Ervin Santana Duffey and Santana would be the least certain of that group. In Duffey's case, it will be dictated by his performance. In Ervin's, based on whether he is traded. Of course, if Santana is traded, it seems pretty likely that whatever pitcher he is traded for will be on the 40 man. These players are on the bubble: Buddy Boshers Kyle Gibson Justin Haley Ryan Pressly Hector Santiago And that doesn't even include guys that are almost certainly goners like Belisle, Breslow, Kintzler, Perkins, Rucinski and Tepesch. While I would be pretty surprised if all 5 of the guys listed above are back, I'd be pretty surprised if all were gone too. My guess is that two are back. As best as I can tell (and I could certainly be wrong), these minor league pitchers will need to be added to the 40 man roster no later than after this season - some could be added before that obviously. 14) Nick Burdi 15) Stephen Gonsalves 16) Trevor Hildenberger 17) Jake Reed 18) Kohl Stewart Technically, that list would include Lewis Thorpe as well. But seeing as how he has never pitched above low A ball and hasn't pitched anywhere since 2014, I figure he will be exposed - of course low A ball is where Johan Santana had last pitched before the Twins plucked him. There could be more of which I am not aware. Anyone? So, if the Twins do indeed retain 2 of the "bubble" pitchers, that would put 20 pitchers on the 40 man. Not a lot of extra space. Indeed, they may need to cut down the number of pitchers for some position players. Park is still under contract through 2019. You would have to think they will give him another shot at some point, but Falvey may also say "not my problem" and convince Pohlad to eat the $ 8 mil or whatever he is still owed. 18 position players on the 40 man seems dangerously low when you have 12 or 13 of them active on the 25 man roster. Not a lot of wiggle room in case of injury. My point in all this is that unless Stewart does in fact turn it around this season, he might very well be exposed to the rule 5 draft.

Rogers has shown zero ability to retire right handed batters. Even in the minors. In 2015, his last full season in the minors, he posted a .400 OPS vs lefties and .830 vs righties. That would lead me to believe he lacks a pitch in his repertoire to do so. Teams would simply stack their lineups against him and take batting practice. Rogers is a reliever. More accurately, he's a loogy currently miscast as a lefty set up man.

There is always risk, especially for a pitcher. The next pitch you throw could be the last one you throw. It's up to him to weigh that risk versus whatever the Twins offer. Again, IMO making any offer until July would be foolish.

At an ERA around 4, that probably puts Santiago at about an average to slightly below average #3. The current AL average ERA for starting pitchers is 3.96 Curiously, the NL average is almost half a run higher. I haven't looked it up, but that has to be pretty rare.

Any word on his suspension appeal yet? I thought the decision was due today.

I think it's very early to discuss extending Santiago. He's had 3 pretty good starts and 3 pretty mediocre ones. I have no problem extending him. Just make sure you know what you are getting and compensate accordingly. Santiago is a 5-6 IP pitcher with an ERA right around 4. Expecting any better would be setting oneself up for disappointment.

More like dooming and glooming.

Kepler is an outfielder. Park is hurt and even when healthy is no sure thing to be added. But yes, I think Vargas is better than Mauer right now. And so is Grossman.

This I strongly disagree with. As evidenced but the results we have seen on the field, the Twins (at least) have struggled putting together a pitching staff. They had a solid offensive core in the mid 90s with Cordova, Becker, Knoblauch (before he was traded), Todd Walker, and Matt Lawton. But the pitching was terrible. They had a solid offensive core with Koskie, Guzman, Hunter, Jones, and Pierzynski but had to trade Lawton to get a starting pitcher and two of the pitchers they had were from other organizations. Pitching, pitching, pitching. If you don't have it, you're toast. Because it is hard to get it. If you don't have it, you find your team overpaying for guys like Mike Pelfrey and Ricky Nolasco and over-rewarding a guy like Phil Hughes.

One looming problem with a slow approach or an approach that doesn't try something different is his roster status. If I am not mistaken, he will need to be added to the 40 man roster after this season or be exposed to the rule 5 draft. Unless he takes big steps forward the rest of this season, I don't see how the Twins can possibly use a 40 man spot on him. It may not be an issue, because with where he is right now, no team could hide him on their staff all season. So, I guess my original question remains. At what point should the Twins try something different if there is no improvement? Another couple starts? June? All Star Break? I truly can't imagine running him out there every 5 days (okay in the minors that's a tad more flexible) all year if he continues this way. It could very well be an injury. But, he wasn't that good last year. Sure, the ERA from last year looks nice. But the peripherals were terrible. BB rate, K rate, etc. He doesn't give up many HR. That's certainly a positive. Looking at his splits from 2016, he actually pitched better with runners on than with no one on base. No doubt that helped keep his ERA low. That's exactly the opposite problem that Berrios has had. Could it truly be as simple as not finding a proper balance or release point from the full wind up?

And that

This

That approach didn't work for the previous regime. My feeling is you have to be all in or all out. Like Mr. Miyagi said, "Karate do yes or karate do no. Karate do so so, squash like grape."