Correct me if I am wrong, but, without someone going on the DL, Tonkin has to go back down since he was just optioned down within 10 day.

 

They can option whoever they want after today. A fresh Tonkin might be more valuable than a temporarily used up Pressly.

 

Tonkin was optioned on May 29.  He would have to return to Roc. short of a DLing of Nolasco tomorrow.

Sorry, I didn't realize how recently Tonkin had been optioned. 

Still not a Stauffer situation? What is a Stauffer situation?

Perhaps this is a good punchline contest for today's game thread(s)? I'll bring it over there.

They need to send out two players today to bring in Milone. If they DL Nolasco as one of the two, they will need someone to start on Saturday.

 

Assuming Nolasco is healthy, I think they should release Stauffer and bring in Milone for one game. Following the game, return Milone to Rochester and bring up the player they feel can most help them with the bat.

 

This will return them to 12 pitchers with the overall change being Stauffer for a bat.

Well, Mr. Milone, you've got a tough act to follow. Good luck!

The X factor in the latest roster moves is that they don't yet know about Nolasco. It's obvious that Plan A is for him to pitch Saturday and for that reason it makes sense to have Milone pitch on Thursday because that means Pelfrey, Hughes and May can pitch on regular rest next week. If Nolasco does have to be DL'ed they want to wait as long as possible before doing so.

The problem is, the way I understand, is that the Twins won't decide what to do with Nolasco until he throws a bullpen session on Thursday. But will they make that decision before they have to make a roster move for Milone for Thurday's late afternoon start? If not they probably will have to option an effective reliever, either Pressley or Thompson. I don't understand why Gibson isn't starting on normal rest Thursday to give them 1 more day to decide whether Nolasco is healthy or not.

I'm not sure what the excitement is about for a 5th starter that throws in the mid 80s...

 

I'm not sure what the excitement is about for a 5th starter that throws in the mid 80s...

 

I'm hoping for the best, but I think expecting a Jamie Moyer/Mark Buehrle out of him is a very long shot.  I'm sure others will say we don't have to set the bar that high, but with a guy like Milone, you really do, there is no margin of error for these kind of guys and I can't imagine there's a middle ground.  It's going to either be really good or really bad.