Internal Relief Help Could Provide Second-Half Upgrade

I would love to see them dip down into the talent below AAA.

Didn't the Two s sign a reliever or 2 recently like Krill or somone else that could get a **** too?

I wrote shot....

Also Kroll

That’s fine as plan B in case of injury down the stretch or to shuttle replace the back end of the pen. But there are at least two relievers who should be removed from the roster right now: Duffey and Magill. Amazingly, just a few days ago that number was FOUR.

Rogers and May are a pretty solid duo at the top. What is needed are two more at or close to the level of May, maybe even above for one. Basically, making the “pecking” order:

Rogers

????

May

????

Harper

Parker

Littell

If the Twins want to occasionally shuttle up an 8th reliever, fine. That’s the role for Thorpe, Smeltzer, etc.

Attempting to improve the bullpen only using internal options isn’t going to work. It will just add question marks. The Twins don’t need more question marks. They need more “sure things” - whatever those are with regards to relievers.

I wrote shot....

Also Kroll

It doesn't look like he's fairing all that well in Rochester. The majority of his runs came in one outing, but he's walking almost a guy per inning.

I'm guessing one low- to moderate-impact bullpen arm, and then a mix and match of in-house minor league guys to try and patch something together (Hildy, Allen, Stashak, Thorpe, Smeltzer, Reed, Mason, Hackimer, etc.).

I'm hoping to be wowed by their aggressiveness, but preparing to be underwhelmed.

DFA May and try someone else ... Also Baldelli needs to stop the ultra-coddling ... Pulling guys at 70-80 pitches when they're effective is just nonsense when you hand the ball to someone like rubberneck May

It's a;; about the 40-man. Remember, they still have Romero and Eades in the mix. If you remove someone, you may lose them. If you add someone inexperienced from the minors, they are holding a spot aand because of their "future" you will be ahrd-pressed to jettison them. That the Twins have already passed on Moya, Vasquez, DeJong and Mejia, as well as goodbyes to Morin and Adams. They have three roster spots. Which is pretty darn amazing, because besides Eades and Wade and/or Cave, the Twins have few bodies to move...unless they would aprt ways, too, with Parker, Magill. 

They have to make a hard decision on Gonsalves and Romero. If they could bunch those two in a trade, it would probably benefit the team and the 40-man today and tommorrow gratly.

And, withthe guys in AA and below, service time becomes a question, especially if you still wish to develop them as a bullpen arm.

No one mentions Jake Reed.

This article aged well.

DFA May and try someone else ... Also Baldelli needs to stop the ultra-coddling ... Pulling guys at 70-80 pitches when they're effective is just nonsense when you hand the ball to someone like rubberneck May

Well after today's game, it's hard to argue with you.

Twins are starting to walk the line between being buyers to being sellers.

There is no real, actual bullpen help internally.

 

Go get some real, bullpen help, and pay what it costs. Falvine failed over the winter, so now pay the price.

 

I repeat...stop pretending the help is already in the organization. That's insulting, if you ask me.

But of course, they need to add outside options... I’d like two very good relievers.

There ARE interesting internal options. The problem is a lack of guys proven in that role to be an upgrade.

Littell is up and looking very good! But I'm not trusting him 8th inning of a playoff game yet. The Duffey we are seeing now, the best Duffey have ever seen, ditto.

Short term, Thorpe could be a good guy. He's has enough stuff and career SO numbers. But he's only a rookie and never relieved previously. Another ditto, this one for Poppen.

There are options, but nobody who feels fully reliable at this point. And that's what is needed, a couple guys experienced who you can trust.

There ARE interesting internal options. The problem is a lack of guys proven in that role to be an upgrade.

Littell is up and looking very good! But I'm not trusting him 8th inning of a playoff game yet. The Duffey we are seeing now, the best Duffey have ever seen, ditto.

Short term, Thorpe could be a good guy. He's has enough stuff and career SO numbers. But he's only a rookie and never relieved previously. Another ditto, this one for Poppen.

There are options, but nobody who feels fully reliable at this point. And that's what is needed, a couple guys experienced who you can trust.

Yes, it your are a contender, reliable is the key. The ground ball pitcher. The flyball pitcher. The strikeout pitcher. Consistent. And the ability of a starter to get you to the 7th inning. When trouble arises (two guys on) you have another dependable arm that SHOULD be able to shutdown the situation. The key is to win the game, not get as much as you can out of one guy to keep everyone resh for another day.

I think the internal help, would be to pitch the 5th and 6th innings (replacing Magil), they need external help to pitch the 7th, 8th and 9th innings, because Rogers can't do that every game.

And if they get that external help it pushes Parker, Harper and May to be the 6th possibly 7th inning guys.

Baldelli and company have been doing it with mirrors and it's starting to catch up to them.  The lead is down to 4 games(from a high of 12)!  May alone has blown two critical games with lead-changing taters.  He does not belong in close game situations, nor does Duffy a proven talent but a highly erratic pitcher.  Littell is totally unproven in late inning situations.  And if anyone thinks Kohl Stewart is the answer, I have a bridge to sell.

This leaves Rogers, Harper and Parker.  Rogers has been great but his overuse will almost certainly lead to burnout in the dog days of August.  Harper has been a revelation but a big question mark going forward, given his lack of major league experience.  Parker, too, is capable of good outings, but as a DFA player with the Angels is not a sure bet in tense situations.

If Falvey and co. are truly serious about winning this division, not to mention actually advancing beyond a Round 1 playoff game, they must be willing to give up some high prospects to fill out this bullpen.  Two like Giles and Smith would send a message to the team, fans and opponents alike that this team is to be taken seriously.  Without two such proven shutdown relievers, this FO will look far too much like the timid terry teams of the aughts, the little engine that barely made it to the first round, then collapsed.  With the trade deadline less than 2 weeks away, this FO has to make an early preemptive strike and trade away some of their best prospects now, rather than waiting to the last days to see what low hanging fruit remains.  Cleveland is getting healthy and has a very easy schedule over the next 2 weeks, especially compared to the Twins 7 games against Oakland and the Yanks.  The rotation has for the most part been good enough but a couple more blown saves and the Twins will find themselves looking up.  It would be a waste of a great season if the Twins were allowed to collapse down the stretch ala the 2001 team due to FO mismanagment of the bullpen.

Since the brain trust has released half the bullpen they started with I’m not optimistic that internal options are the answers

The guy I wanted to see earlier this year (Jake Reed) has kind of fallen off. He’s had three outings in the past 2 1/2 weeks where he’s given up 3 or more runs.

FWIW, his numbers against RHB are still pretty good but LHB are killing him at a .926 OPS. I don’t know what his arsenal is, but usually a good cutter can be effective from RHP to LHB.