yarnivek1972

Or sometimes second, if Jason Castro is behind the dish.

I know the Indians signed a lot of their core players back when they dominated the AL Central in the late 90s (Ramirez, Thome. Vizquel, Alomar, Nagy, etc). That predate's Falvey's tenure there though. Holy ####, I just looked it up to see how old Falvey is. He's exactly one month older than Joe Mauer. Obviously, the risk is far smaller for position players. I'm not sure I would ever advocate signing a 1 year experience pitcher to a 5-6 year contract.

The other consideration from Sano's view is that would have him being a free agent after he turns 30. Meaning his next deal, if it isn't renegotiated sooner, could take a hit, given that guys his size usually have back problems sooner or later.

This may not be the last we hear about this. If Chargois' agent has half a brain he's going to file a grievance to get Chargois his MLB service time and pay for his DL stint. He was optioned in March because he pitched poorly. Gee, wonder if his injury might have had something to do with that. Chargois' agent could argue he should have been medically evaluated before being optioned.

Or a cold as ice slap-hitter like Joe Mauer... Oh, wait...

Lack of experience above AA. It's a big jump. AA is 35% prospects, half of which bust out and the rest is org filler. AAA is probably 25% prospects, 25% former major leaguers and the rest are AAA lifers. The hitters are far more disciplined and it is a better litmus test to gauge MLB readiness.

IMO bringing pitchers up before they are ready is setting them up for failure.

After Chargois, Hildenberger would probably be next in line. I would probably give him until Memorial Day. This is his first stint above AA. Reed will just need to prove he's healthy. His stuff is already MLB level. None of the other AAA relievers are worth a look. The starters are doing well. Tepesch is already up and everyone assumes Berrios will be up on the 6th. Hurlbut is doing well also. Better than Tepesch actually. From AA, Nik Turley is likely going to be promoted in a week or two. If he dominates AAA the way he has AA, he could be up in July. Fernando Romero stays in AA all year I think. Odds are he will be limited to 120-130 innings anyway. Melotakis should already be in AAA IMO. He could be at the MLB level this year. Maybe by August. Burdi and Van Steensel will probably get midseason promos to AAA and depending on the direction of the team, be September call ups.

Problematically the Twins have very few ABOVE average pitchers.

Those who are late do not get fruit cup.

Probably why Tepesch is on the roster.

Hildenberger is 26. How much older would you prefer?

If they want to see more of Chargois before activating him they could bring up Hildenberger. The Twins could make their decision about what to do with Adrianza. It's either him or Danny to DFA list.

Somewhat off topic, but not really. I've often made the case for the Hall of Fame for Tommy John. First of all, the numbers are good enough. They are right there with Bert's, Robin Roberts, Don Sutton, all those fringe guys. 288 wins. A lot of people (myself included) were surprised that Clemens, Johnson, Glavine and Maddux made it to 300. Not because they weren't good enough, but because they pitched long enough and deep enough into games to get those wins. I feel pretty confident saying there might never be a guy that gets even 250, let alone 300. Highest active total belongs to Colon at 234. He's 44. Maybe he gets to 250, but with Atlanta that will be tough because the team is so bad. Then CC Sabathia at 225. He's 36. He's won 18 games his last 3 years combined. After that, all the way down to 177, 38 year old John Lackey. Just behind at 174, is 34 year old Justin Verlander. Verlander would have to average 15 wins for 5 more seasons including this year to get to 250. AND stay healthy. He missed a big chunk of 2015. The numbers say he is good enough if Bert et al are. Then the surgery for which he is known. A tear of the elbow ligament ended the career of every pitcher that had it before Tommy John. John was never a strikeout pitcher even before surgery. But he was one of the top 5 or 6 lefties in the game when he was injured. He took a chance, worked his butt off and made it back. Big time. He won 20 games THREE times AFTER the surgery. He won 13 games in 1987 for the Yankees at age 44. To put that in perspective, Bert won 15 for the 1987 Twins at age 36. The guy has literally changed the game. If that isn't what the Hall of Fame is about, I don't know what it is about. end rant, thanks for tuning in

Sure, 35 is a lot. But Hector Santiago had 33 AND Ricky Nolasco had 32 last year. Ervin missed only two starts to the DL, but still only made 30. It wasn't an issue last year because the Twins didn't come close to contending. But on a contending team, you have to give your team the best chance to win. If that means skipping the 5 now and again, that's what you do. Not saying you do it every time. You have to know when to do it. Santana pitched on 5 days rest 8 times last year and 6 once, plus the time he came off the DL and the start he made in which the game was eventually wiped out. That's almost 1/3 of his starts on extra rest. That's too many IMO. That number should be like 5 or 6.

Gimenez figures to get most of the starts vs LHP. Castro has hit them ok so far this year, but not so much in his career. It's undoubtedly why he has started more than 102 games only once.

Where are you from: Born in St.Cloud. Have lived in Winona since age 4 though. Dick Bremer's wife Heidi (then Larson) was my babysitter up there. She and her family went to our church. What is your age (or age range, if you prefer): mid 40s How long have you been a Twins fan? I think the first game I attended was in 1978 or 79. Somewhere, there is a picture of me with Larry Hisle (in a Brewer uniform) from "camera day". So, since the last "great recession". What have a couple of your best Twins memories been? Attended last game at old Met, still have the framed ticket. Attended a game during the 1991 streak with my high school baseball team (I was the mgr) during the state tournament. Our coach was (and still is) a pro baseball scout. So, we had pretty good seats. The only playoff games I attended were in 2002. I still remember saying to the guys I was with for game 2 of the ALCS that we hoped the Twins didn't sweep in Anaheim so we could watch another game. OOPS! I also remember the day when "past a diving" Tony Batista and Juan "limp noodle" Castro were jettisoned in 2006. It was the start of a Twins run that ranks among the best baseball played by any team for that length of time ever IMO. I thought for sure that team was going to do something. They had all the pieces. Who have some of your favorite players been? I'll just pick the one because I like to tell stories, Brad Radke. He was born about a month after me. Now, I realize he lived most of his childhood in Florida, but he was born in Eau Claire. Some people consider that an exurb of the Twin Cities, much as St. Cloud is. Going back to that 2006 season, that final game. That was tough. You could see it in his eyes. You knew his arm was being held together with duct tape and hope. He left it all out there. The announcement came later, but everyone watching knew he was done. That day made me feel old. I was a year out of college when Radke debuted after the 1995 lock out. It was right about that time that I moved into my first apartment (that's a long story, as if this isn't). He was without a doubt the worst ace pitcher in the history of baseball. But you know what, he took the limited ability he had, used some personal drive and determination and had himself a damned fine career. Fun fact: Radke had a career 3.60 postseason ERA. Johan Santana had a 3.97 career postseason ERA. Not saying, just saying. How long have you been reading Twins Daily (or were you following some writers before Twins Daily)?What brings you back to Twins Daily? How often do you stop by the site? Oh, about a week, I guess. I was on BYTO back in the day. Can't remember my most frequent username (I've been known to change it). It might have been yarnivek - which is my first and middle name spelled backward. I've also been on other forums, some better than others. Guess that's why I am here, checking it out. Looking for less personal drama and more actual baseball discussion.

First of all, Hughes and technically Santana ARE under contract through 2019. Ervin has a vesting option. By no means is he certain to throw 400 IP this year and next combined however.He was well short of 200 last year, through mostly no fault of his own. He had at least two starts interrupted by rain. Paul Molitor, like his predecessor, inexplicably refused to skip over his 5th starter on off days to allow his best ones to stay on normal rest. Molitor has done that so far THIS year. I thought it was funny Dick saying that Santana "might" get another start this month. IMO it is a foregone conclusion that Hughes will start Saturday and Santana Sunday. That is NORMAL rest. Why else after the rain out would they have pushed Mejia back to Saturday if not to skip him and ultimately send him down? Frankly, I don't think TR and Gardy would have been quick enough to figure that out. I'm guessing Falvey or Levine made that call. Anyway, on the other end, between Gonsalves, Romero and Berrios, if at least 2 of those guys aren't in the MLB rotation by 2019, the Twins won't be contending anyway. So, it won't really matter who is. Who knows, Nik Turley might be a diamond in the rough. My ultimate point is that 2019 is too far away to say these 5 guys are going to be my starters. You might have a group of 8-10 guys that you hope will be candidates and that is literally the best you can do. My secondary point is that Polanco won't return value. He's more valuable to the Twins now than he would be to any other team in a trade.

The Twins have only played 3 games since then. The one on Sunday they avoided using him because he had gon 1 2/3 the night before. Since then there have only been 5 innings by the bullpen, one of which was automatically Kintzler's. The other 2 Monday were match up determined and Duffey has not yet shown he is ready to pitch in tight games. Last night the Twins clearly wanted to get Pressly an inning in a low leverage situation and apparently felt Breslow needed to pitch as well. He hasn't pitched much. IMO it is far more likely that Tepesch start Friday than Duffey. Tepesch is already stretched out. But I think it will most likely be Gibson's last shot on Friday. If he fails to get to the 5th inning for the 3rd time in 5 starts, I think the Twins will have Tepesch relieve him and then take his spot in the rotation. That would be on May 3 against Oakland.

Sometimes it takes lefties a while to figure it out. Ron Guidry and Randy Johnson didn't become regular starters at the mlb level until they were 26. Not suggesting Turley has that ceiling. He's never even pitched at the mlb level. He never really had prolonged success at AAA either. But his numbers for the Lookouts are too eyepopping to dismiss. He needs to be moved up soon. Maybe a couple more starts in AA. If what he is doing translates to AAA he could be in line for a shot at the MLB level in July maybe.

I was thinking about that. Statisticslly, his CS % coming into this season was barely better than Suzuki's. Clearly he has a better arm. Two guys got thrown out trying to advance on balls in the dirt in this series so far. The Rangers used to play Houston a lot in interleague and now they are in the same division. Clearly they have something that says Castro doesn't block pitches well, so go for it on a ball in the dirt. So, I'm thinking if the ball doesn't get away far, but a baserunner beats the throw, chances are he gets credit for a stolen base. So, I'm wondering if that contributes to a low CS %.

Right up until the point one of them drops strike 3 on what would have been out 3 and allowed TWO runs to score.

It also helped that the Cardinals only real power hitter, Jack Clark, was injured and unable to play. It also helped that their only other power threat (Terry Pendelton) could only hit left handed and couldn't play the field. It also helped that the Cards went to game 7 in the NLCS forcing them to start Joe Magrane in game one, and then eventually forced to use him in game 7. Sometimes a team gets lucky. That was the 1987 Twins. And 1991 forvthat matter.

If Molitor gives Mauer playing time ahead of Grossman, especially vs lhp, he deserves whatever fallout results from it. Edit: Sheesh what a flub up that was.

Why? He was about as good a loogy as there was in mlb last year.