Article: No Room in the Rotation for Trevor May

[blairpaul715]

This really shows the problem with signing players like Correia and Pelfrey to 2 year contacts. The Twins have marginal big league pitchers holding back prospects and the pitchers you signed really don't have much trade value.

 

I really had no problem with 2 yr signings(actually like them), but we needed to sign someone like Correia last year, but didn't need to this year, after we already had Nolasco and Hughes signed.......it was not a good signing healthy or not, well unless he was 6-0.......then even I would have been jumping for joy LOL..........but I think most of us knew he was a 5th starter(Correia clone), and we didn't need another of those.

[DocBauer]

I am on the "wait" bandwagon. And I'm there for a few reasons.

 

One, Correia is indeed projecting better/decling numbers for one simple reason, he's pitching better. And was pointed out previously, the entire staff has been pitching better. Correia is NOT a part of our future. But for the now, I don't think you cut bait on someone actually improving. Just doesn't make logical sense. Plus, if his trending continues, picking up part of his contract or not, instead of cutting bait entirely, you might actually get a prospect at the lower levels who isn't too bad around July to a team that needs depth.

 

Two, as I have mentioned earlier, I think Deduno is a solid, occasinally excellent SP. But I have reservations as to whether he's built for 30+ starts. I think he is a far better than average #5 rotation piece where his starts and innings can be limited somewhat. And consider flashes he showed in 2012, and how well he pitched in 2013 before his shoulder issue. Point blank, he was our best SP for a few months until then. This season, for various reasons, (more recovery time, the presence of Pelfrey and Correia, etc) he opened in the pen. He has not pitched badly thus far, and is still stretching himself out.

 

Three, forget any arguement about service time, even if it a valid arguement. No matter the outstanding talent and potential, no matter the excitement and how much all of us, including me, wants to see these kids up, consider the fact these kids a month and a half...total...of AAA experience so far. Are they really hurt by continuing to gain experience and polish and confidence at Rochester for a while longer? Even another month? We don't get to see them daily. Each could still be polishing anything from their 3rd or 4th pitching, to holding runners, or working on their slide. The ONLY danger would be impatience on their part, not ours. And that's on them individually, and the coaching staff, to maintain focus and continue their work and success.

 

Its not personal, but I want Correia gone as well, so that we can continue our build. I also think the G-Man needs to be gone from the pen as well in favor of Tonkin, Achter, even giving Pino a deserving shot. " That's for the memories, but we're moving forward."

 

These things are coming.

 

In my impatient interim, I'm enjoying actually having some real prospects, and a couple solid looking fringe guys, actually building toward future improvement.

[WLFINN]

Right, some sustained success at Triple A isn't a bad thing, would just as soon they come up when they are ready to stay up, IE new pitches are mastered, walk rates continue to decline. Save the yo-yoing back and forth for the fillers.

[Dantes929]

I must say, that is a truly novel argument - when a pitcher gets his ERA below 6.00, you cannot remove him from the rotation.

 

That's the great thing about a 7.33 ERA I guess... even one of the worst pitchers in MLB can improve on it.

To improve it by a run and a half in a month means you have to throw better than a 5 ERA in that month. This isn't cominig from an I want to keep Correia at the expense of May place. I don't that. I am saying he had a decent year last year and his career shows an ok ERA so when he started out bad and is trending toward his career marks it is hard to pull him. If his May was a 6 ERA he would probably have been demoted already.

[Dantes929]

All fine and dandy. Except this wasn't a good start from Correia. And a series of the starts like yesterday's will be of interest to absolutely no one in negotiating a potential meaningful trade.

Twins have come a long way when giving up 1 run in 6 inning on the road to the Yankees is not a good start.

[FlsPrpht]

No room in the rotation? Hand me the pen.....

[Brock Beauchamp]

Twins have come a long way when giving up 1 run in 6 inning on the road to the Yankees is not a good start.

 

The guy gave up nine hits and a walk in six innings. Only struck out three. He got through the first two innings on sheer luck. It was not a good start. It was a lucky start.

[John Bonnes]

Correia was, I think, one bad start from losing his spot when he pitched in San Diego. And I think he's two consecutive clunkers from losing his spot now. I wouldn't mind seeing the switch right now, but I can wait another two starts, I think.

[Brock Beauchamp]

Correia was, I think, one bad start from losing his spot when he pitched in San Diego. And I think he's two consecutive clunkers from losing his spot now. I wouldn't mind seeing the switch right now, but I can wait another two starts, I think.

 

Normally, I'd agree.

 

Then I look at Rochester and see three pitchers just killing it and realize "Kevin Correia no longer has a place in this rotation". If May falters, call up Meyer. If Meyer falters, call up Johnson.

 

One of those guys will stick.

[kdrupp09]

Normally, I'd agree.

 

Then I look at Rochester and see three pitchers just killing it and realize "Kevin Correia no longer has a place in this rotation". If May falters, call up Meyer. If Meyer falters, call up Johnson.

 

One of those guys will stick.

 

I agree, this team has the potential to stay around .500 for most of the season, but playoff baseball seems unlikely thus you should go ahead give some of the top guys in AAA a shot, to help their development for next year. Plus who knows, maybe one of the above mentioned guys comes up and continues like they are pitching in AAA and we steal a couple of extra wins over the course of the season.

[TheLeviathan]

We also had a thread a few weeks ago saying "let's wait for Correia to throw a few clunkers" and he was ok and saved himself.

 

Why are we waiting for someone to further prove what we already know?

[Winston Smith]

I would think a start against San Diego would mean very little. If a younger long term guy is ready there is nothing lost by dumping Correia. His trade value is about zero, imo.

[Brock Beauchamp]

I would think a start against San Diego would mean very little.

 

In May, this is how I'd classify Correia's starts:

 

5/3 - BAL - Very good

5/8 - CLE - Awful

5/15 - BOS - Awful

5/20 - SDP - Decent

5/25 - TEX - Meh

5/31 - NYY - Dumb Luck

 

That's not a guy I want in the rotation when the Twins have four (!) guys in Rochester striking out 9 per 9.

 

One of those guys will pitch better than Kevin Correia going forward. Sure, you might have to rotate through a few of them to find which guy that is but that shouldn't take long to figure out.

[iTwins]

 

Why are we waiting for someone to further prove what we already know?

 

This is exactly what I've been wondering for a while. We know who Kevin Correia is and we know that his previous starts have been built on a whole lot of luck (smoke and mirrors, if you will). Why then, do we have to wait for something to go completely wrong before we make a move?

[zchrz]

Cut Guerrier, move Corriea to the pen, put May in the rotation. If May doesn't pan out or there is an injury there is still Meyer, Darnell, Johnson, Pino, Diamond, and Corriea to take the spot.

[nicksaviking]

One of those guys will pitch better than Kevin Correia going forward. Sure, you might have to rotate through a few of them to find which guy that is but that shouldn't take long to figure out.

 

Right, it's a low risk bet. Odds are that a couple of AAA pitchers would pitch better than him. More so, there are probably several AA and AAA pitchers that would pitch as well or negligibly worse.

 

Correia is among the league's worst pitchers. If the only risk of losing him is that the guy replacing him will be significantly worse, why wouldn't anyone take that chance? The odds are highly in the houses favor here.

[Brock Beauchamp]

If the only risk of losing him is that the guy replacing him will be significantly worse, why wouldn't anyone take that chance? The odds are highly in the houses favor here.

 

Exactly. There's nothing to lose here except Kevin Correia and a couple of million dollars.

 

It's an easy decision to make.

[LaBombo]

Not sure if May is ready for the majors, but totally certain that when he is, there's room for him in the highest xFip and lowest K rate rotation in MLB. The optimal developmental course for Trevor May and the future of Kevin Correia have absolutely nothing to do with each other.

[jokin]

Twins have come a long way when giving up 1 run in 6 inning on the road to the Yankees is not a good start.

 

Did you see the game? It was basically BP, with a touch of Houdini.

[jokin]

Not sure if May is ready for the majors, but totally certain that when he is, there's room for him in the highest xFip and lowest K rate rotation in MLB.

 

All well and good. But haven't we been assured that the starting staff is "better than their numbers indicate"?

[LaBombo]

All well and good. But haven't we been assured that the starting staff is "better than their numbers indicate"?

 

Kevin Correia has been better than his ERA in almost exactly the same way that my oral surgery last week was less painful and time-consuming than I had expected...

[Brock Beauchamp]

All well and good. But haven't we been assured that the starting staff is "better than their numbers indicate"?

 

Well, the pitching staff had a decent 3.97 ERA in May, good for 9th in the AL and 20th in MLB.

 

Remove Correia's 4.76 ERA in May and replace it with a league average guy and you have a downright respectable rotation. It's not going to be flashy but it will get the job done over the course of a season.

[jokin]

Well, the pitching staff had a decent 3.97 ERA in May, good for 9th in the AL and 20th in MLB.

 

Remove Correia's 4.76 ERA in May and replace it with a league average guy and you have a downright respectable rotation. It's not going to be flashy but it will get the job done over the course of a season.

 

Yup. I was being flippant due to the situation with Correia. The staff overall actually did a good job in turning the corner in May, and is now producing at a level just about what we can reasonably expect. It still is a head-scratcher though, for how long they hang on with clearly, screamingly obvious non-performers, especially in the rotation.....what other club would have "kept their powder" this dry, for this long?

[Joe A. Preusser]

Anyone else have a problem with human beings being called "garbage" and "turds," no matter how inadequate they are as major league baseball players?

 

I couldn't agree more.

[Guest USAFChief]

No room in the rotation for May. Huh.

 

I have the same problem with my wallet. No room for hundred dollar bills, it's filled with one's.

[Mike Sixel]

No room in the rotation for May. Huh.

 

I have the same problem with my wallet. No room for hundred dollar bills, it's filled with one's.

 

Winner!

[LaBombo]

No room in the rotation for May. Huh.

 

I have the same problem with my wallet. No room for hundred dollar bills, it's filled with one's.

 

Nice, but totally an exaggeration, by a factor of two, or maybe even three.

[cmathewson]

No room in the rotation for May. Huh.

 

I have the same problem with my wallet. No room for hundred dollar bills, it's filled with one's.

 

I seem to recall several discussions in the offseason in which you questioned whether crappy veterans blocked good prospects. This seems like a legit case. It is more the norm than the exception in this organization.

[Paul Pleiss]

Teams who wait for the constantly changing super-2 deadline to pass are doing a disservice to their players and their MLB teams. An extra year of arbitration over promoting a guy who is ready to contribute to the MLB club? Hogwash! Keeping a guy down early in the season to get an extra year of service from him is smart baseball, wating for the ambiguous super-2 deadline (which can only be found retroactively), is silly.

 

I hope the Twins find room for May and Meyer before the break if they continue to pitch well through June. Pino could come up and take a spot in the pen from Jared Burton right now.

 

The Twins need to make room for these guys, especially guys who look to be part of the ballclub in Minnesota for the long haul.

[jorgenswest]

It will likely take an investment of innings for May to adjust to the major leagues. Though I am not confident that he will be more effective than Correia in 2014, I would prefer they begin making that investment soon. The same can be said for Meyer.