TD Top Prospects: #8 Alex Meyer

Anyone listening to Bert would be aware of how much he values the downward plane and intuition and logic would tell people that losing a foot in the height of the release point would make a big difference. in a lot of things.    If he lowered his release point in 2015 due to injuries and was working on raising his release point and that is the reason his control and movement left him then maybe it will all pay off this year.  I am generally a cup half full guy but that doesn't apply here.   I want him to be an all star starter or a vague memory.   I can put up with the hyperbole for another couple of years hoping for the former rather than the latter.   Mediocre relief pitching career would just be annoying.    

Anyone listening to Bert would be aware of how much he values the downward plane and intuition and logic would tell people that losing a foot in the height of the release point would make a big difference. in a lot of things.    If he lowered his release point in 2015 due to injuries and was working on raising his release point and that is the reason his control and movement left him then maybe it will all pay off this year.  I am generally a cup half full guy but that doesn't apply here.   I want him to be an all star starter or a vague memory.   I can put up with the hyperbole for another couple of years hoping for the former rather than the latter.   Mediocre relief pitching career would just be annoying.    

I have to disagree with your sentiment.  You would only want him to be an Ace starter or nothing at all?  Relief pitchers all have to come from somewhere.  What if he becomes a Wade Davis type of 7th or 8th inning shut down guy?  The way pitching has become in baseball over the last few years stud relievers are almost as important as stud starters as starters continue to pitch fewer and fewer innings.

I have to disagree with your sentiment.  You would only want him to be an Ace starter or nothing at all?  Relief pitchers all have to come from somewhere.  What if he becomes a Wade Davis type of 7th or 8th inning shut down guy?  The way pitching has become in baseball over the last few years stud relievers are almost as important as stud starters as starters continue to pitch fewer and fewer innings.

Agree.  If (and it's a big if) Meyer, Burdi, and Chargois can all be meaningful bullpen arms by July/August, TR's gamble of not adding relievers will look pretty damn good.

Agree.  If (and it's a big if) Meyer, Burdi, and Chargois can all be meaningful bullpen arms by July/August, TR's gamble of not adding relievers will look pretty damn good.

I think Terry Ryan must feel optimistic that some of these young guys are ready to be pulled out of the oven and placed on a serving tray. That should make for a very exciting spring training!

I have to disagree with your sentiment.  You would only want him to be an Ace starter or nothing at all?  Relief pitchers all have to come from somewhere.  What if he becomes a Wade Davis type of 7th or 8th inning shut down guy?  The way pitching has become in baseball over the last few years stud relievers are almost as important as stud starters as starters continue to pitch fewer and fewer innings.

 Ok, my post was rather bland but I didn't say what you think I said.  Star starter or star reliever is fine though I think it more likely to be the former.     While there is a place and maybe even a value to mediocre relievers i don't want that from him because then every time he comes in they will talk about what he is or isn't compared to his potential and I think it will be tiresome.   Mediocre is fine if it is Duensing.  Less so from Meyer.  

 I don't think lack of command plays better out of the bullpen and I think inconsistency plays better as a starter.  In the minors he would have great starts and then clunkers.  Kind of either he has it or not.    I would rather see 4 great starts a month and two clunkers than the same kind of ratio out of the bullpen.    If in fact, he is great in the bullpen that would make me happy also.    

Amazing how one bad year relabels a prospect. His age is getting up there for a prospect, but once he finds it he can still give us many years (hopefully) of the dominance we expected when we traded Span. If he gets that confidence back--either as a starter or reliever--he will be a huge asset to the Twins. The Twins are a young team with great young prospects waiting in the minors, some of whom will have to be trade bait to get immediate help. Not all of them will pan out, but you have to be excited for the next decade of Twins baseball.

Making the reasonable assumption that some of the bullpen aren't "lights-out, shutdown", Meyer should be promoted to the Twins to see if he can provide value.  If Meyer succeeds--great!  If, he fails--say "Next", and place next year's 27 year-old on the "suspect" list.  If there is room on the 40-man roster--keep him him, else outright him to Rochester.  There are many "arms" in the Twins system.  

While I agree that Meyer can still turn into a big asset out of the bullpen, your bolded statement is... No. Just no. A shutdown starter is several magnitude more valuable than a shutdown reliever.

Yeah . . . . I got a little carried a way there trying to make a point.  But my point does still stand that a shut down reliever is important and I would rather have Meyer be that than gone entirely.

While I agree that Meyer can still turn into a big asset out of the bullpen, your bolded statement is... No. Just no. A shutdown starter is several magnitude more valuable than a shutdown reliever.

This, this, a thousand times this.

Thank you.

It's a bit sad that a pitcher we traded Span for three years ago has stories written about him talking about how they don't need to rush him because the 26 year old still has two options left. This is the supposed Ace we got for a very good and low priced leadoff hitter and above average defensive CF?

In any event, I figured he'd end up a reliever back when we got him. So it'd be nice if they threw him in there this year, while our bullpen is underwhelming anyway, so we can see how he'll do.

Is there any hope that he returns to the starting rotation, or is he entrenched as a reliever now?