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this shows why alot of young pitchers try to pitch thru injuries, walters was in the discussion with diamond before he got injured....just shows its better to be bad than injured..

Mr vodkadave, you really see Hendricks as a #2. A #2 starter has 2 plus pitches...Hendricks has none..his FB is below avg at 87-91 with little movement and not as much sink as everyone says (same as Blackburn)..curve is average at best,change is below avg, so how do you come up with a #2 starter...#5 or long reliever maybe....Gibson has a shot at possibly being. A good #3.. this is why I said they should have gotten lower level high upside proects for liriano & span...because they don't have a #1 or 2 in the system...

Twinsnorth. .........Hendricks has a higher ceiling.....wow that just shows how opinions vary, I would put Hendricks at the bottom, all the others have at least one MLB plus pitch or they are left handed , they have something....Hendricks has marginal stuff ,no swing & miss pitch..just don't see a high ceiling there...

you want to see if pitchers can make adjustments, see if guys like hendricks has what it takes, send them to vegas....home of arena baseball....

brock.........i am sure you watch baseball.. you just described over half the pen guys in the league, good stuff ,has trouble throwing strikes...he can walk the bases loaded & get out of it one inning a game.....he cant spread it over 5-6 innings, at some point in those innings it takes just 1 big hit to blow the game open.. the walks are gonna catch up to him, plus as a reliever he basically eliminates one pitch, he can throw his slider/curve for a strike he just cant throw it 100 times a game...but he can throw it 15 in one inning....

deduno will eventually end up in the pen, his control isnt going to get better & the only pitch he can control is his slider/curve & with as many times as hes thrown it the last 5 starts his elbow is going to explode...put him in the pen where he has the reputation of being effectively wild & throw his out pitch 95% of the time & you have yourself a very effective reliever....but you cant survive in this league walking 5 or so guys every night..

while i am not as high on hendricks as most, i do think he can pitch in the bigs as maybe a #5 or long reliever....the thing with hendicks is all of his pitches are avg at best, so he has to rely on pinpoint location & a very good called game...i would actually like to see him struggle in AAA to show he is trying to make adjustments & do something a little different...he needs to pitch in the PCL for a while & then you learn to make adjustments..he is very lucky to be in the twins organization, most others he would have been shifted to the bottom of the depth chart & probably wouldnt occupy a 40 man spot after 12 or so not so good starts in the bigs. most on here would take hendricks over deduno, but to me its not even close , deduno has much better stuff,FB velo,movement, slider is plus..the only thing deduno lacks is control & honestly i dont think he will ever get it, thats why i think he should & will be shifted to the pen where he could throw his slider 99% of the time & be successful...

opinions definately vary on these guys...i have seen all of them quite a bit thru the years(devries the least) & have heard several professional opinions of most of them & i would list them in order of just stuff ...diamond,walters,deduno,devries & hendricks...hendricks is listed last because he doesnt have one plus pitch,FB velocity is avg,movement is not good,curve & change are avg at best......diamong has plus command along with other pitches that he commands the zone with, walters has a plus change,his change was rated the best in the cards org every year & tops in the pcl for a couple years,deduno has a good slider/curve that would be great out of the pen..devries would be better if he canned his slow curve & stuck with the hard slider....& hendricks will have to have pin point control to have any success in the bigs....

i was watching, walters wasnt great but he wasnt bad, made good pitches to lead off guy & he snuck a GB over the bag at 1st & got hung up between 1st & 2nd , was dead at 2nd but hi throw let him get in...bad pitch to 2nd batter..groundball out , broken bat single...fukodome fouled off several pitches, walters was only throwing 35 pitches...atleast he got them all in this time..last outing was 18 pitches....i have seen walters in memphis alot and he has a big league change up, if he is healthy he can help this team in the future.

diehard, i agree with your comments....and i also said they need 2 pitchers... you spend money on a ace, then you fill #2&3 with baker & diamond, sign a free agent #4 or trade then you have a walters that can match up with other teams #5....i agree you cant rely on a walters ,deduno ,devries as 1,2 or #3 guys but they can be #5s.....as far as gibson maybe...hendricks does not have the stuff to start or help in the pen....

i believe the twins are closer to competeing than most....simply trade span for whatever(maybe a 2nd baseman) move revere to center...then you have 2 ways to go either sign a power guy for RF or simply play doumit or parmalee in RF and the other DHs...upgrade at 2B & sign a true ace (there arent many to choose from)..with a rotation like wainright,diamond,baker, low level free agent, #5 innings eater, walters,blackburn,devries...(of those i believe walters has the best stuff & could be a very good #5, his change up sets him apart from the others) deduno has a good enough slider he could be a weapon out of the pen ,but not a option as a starter , he has no idea where his FB is going.....just to clear up i am not down on span but his replacement is better defensively & at the plate & cheaper....