Alex Meyer's Debut

[Otto von Ballpark]

It's interesting that Hughes (now signed thru 2019) has a very limited no-trade clause.  He is flippable.  Santana (signed thru 2018) is flippable.  Nolasco (signed thru 2017) either regains his value and is flippable or he is a sunk cost that you kick to the side, in which case the Twins will need cheap young pitching talent like Meyer, May, Berrios.

I wouldn't be so sure these guys are all "flippable".  Remember, Santana failed to get a contract offer like this last offseason.  Nolasco might have failed to get his similar contract too if we hadn't desperately wanted to sign someone early.  And remember, Nolasco was worth very little midseason 2013, despite having the 2nd best season of his career and no long-term commitment.

 

I think "flippability" tends to get over-rated.  Teams looking to trade for a Santana or Nolasco type pitcher don't necessarily want multiple years of control.  That's more where one-year deals come into play, and the Twins generally don't approach free agency that way.

[jokin]

Your definition works for me. And if Nolasco pitches like 2014, I agree with the dumped or exiled.  If he pitches like 2013, I think he would be quite flippable.

 

 

 

Nolasco was flipped on an expiring contract in 2013, arguably his 2nd best year, statistically.  And the Marlins still had to eat part of the contract- to the Phat Dodgers....- and really got nothing back in terms of prospects (Miguel Sulbaran is a better looking prospect than what the Marlins got for Nolasco). 

 

The Twins are on the hook for 3 years, hard to see a mid-season flip for Nolasco in 2015 with that much time left on the contract.  Perhaps they could do a better deal next offseason after a 2013-like, 2015, but  really don't see much coming back in return- probably closer to a dump than a flip.  The best case scenario to me would be the exchange of comparably bad contracts for need.

[nicksaviking]

Unless it's someone on a rookie contract, I wouldn't classify anyone as tradeable until they have less than 1 1/2 years left on their contract.  Teams aren't generally taking on multi-year deals unless it's a salary dump in very favorable terms for the buyer, and I have a hard time picturing the Twins paying a significant portion of someone's salary to play for another team.

[jokin]

Unless it's someone on a rookie contract, I wouldn't classify anyone as tradeable until they have less than 1 1/2 years left on their contract.  Teams aren't generally taking on multi-year deals unless it's a salary dump in very favorable terms for the buyer, and I have a hard time picturing the Twins paying a significant portion of someone's salary to play for another team.

 

Yup.   For better or worse, Ryan is most likely stuck with Ricky and his contract for quite a bit longer- perhaps half of the remaining contract.

[Trevor0333]

Absolutely no need to worry about service time, Meyer will likely be retired before he hits free agency.

 

I think he starts in the pen day one with May as the #5 and see what happens with the rest of the rotation.

 

I'd love to see Burdi & Meyer throwing gas at the back of the bullpen.

[jorgenswest]

What does his age have to do with service time considerations?

 

Would you rather have 6 years of team control or 6 years and 5 months? Especially when those 5 months are in a year when the Twins are still rebuilding.

 

He only has pitched 130.1 innings at AAA and it took him a full year to get those. His BB/9 was 4.4. If he is going to be a starting pitcher, it's not wrong to start his season in AAA.

If he is in AAA , it needs to based on his inability to pitch for the reasons you stated. If he is among the best 12, he needs to be in the majors. Service time should not matter when they have team control to his 30s.

[DocBauer]

I'm going to be as brutally honest as I can be.

 

I want Meyer in the rotation. I want to see him develop, and become the pitcher I think he has the potential to be.

 

But I just don't get all the angst!

 

It's hard enough to control a young player's development and readiness, much less consistency from that player, pitcher or otherwise. And yes, even for the best prospects, there is often a sort of learning curve. Sometimes, you get lucky and they just pretty much fit in, get it right away, and succeed almost from the start. Most of the time, even with excellent players/pitchers, there are some early struggles.

 

A long time ago, in a ML galaxy far, far way, the Twins did promote early with guys like Viola, and Erickson, and Radke, to name a few success stories. But for each of them, there are Terry Feltons and Bryan Oelkers, just to name a couple others who didn't cut it.

 

Why does anyone think the Twins made a major trade for a potential big-time stud prospect with a deliberate sense to punish him, or themselves, by holding him back?

 

Everyone wanted Gibson promoted early, but it didn't happen. Then he got his shot, and kind of stunk up the place. But it was valuable experience and he learned and built on it to a very solid/successful "rookie" season in 2014.

 

The Twins followed almost the exact same pattern with May last season. And he actually out-performed what we saw of Gibson's early work. Now...we wait and see what was sown in '14.

 

I still believe Meyer should have received some sort of late promotion to get a few innings under his belt to help him along. I still believe not doing so was a mistake. But I still have a hard time faulting the Twins for being careful with a top, potential stud pitching prospect coming off an injury, trying to build his arm up, his confidence, his experience, and his consistency with his 3rd pitch in particular.

 

Initially, I felt strongly about Meyer in the bullpen to earn experience early on. I believe May and Milone and Meyer are the top candidates for the #5 rotation spot, with May, based on youth, stuff and potential being #1 on the list, and a toss up of experienced LH Milone vs super talented RH Meyer a pair of close second options. (sorry Pelfrey fans, but the ship has sailed. If he isn't traded or dumped, his spot is in the pen)

 

I now wonder, especially with as many RP candidates as we have, if Meyer isn't better served still by going to Rochester if he doesn't win the 5 spot, to continue to work on a regular basis, keep himself stretched out, and be ready to come up and slot in when opportunity arises.

[h2oface]

I don't disagree, but I bet that Terry Ryan does, and we won't see Meyer until June when his service clock has been pushed back.

Hey, they could just wait until June and 2016 and push the clock back even further. Why let him pitch and see what you have when guys like Middlebrooks says he is ready a year ago when you can keep stalling and use up his youth?

 

Regarding his innings...... that was not his decision. I say put him in the rotation and let him become the pitcher you traded Span for to get.