Hosken Bombo Disco

This is exactly what Buster Olney told Patrick Reusse, too. All we know is that Santana tested positive. The who, what, when, where, why---all else is speculation. To edit: I would guess Santana did it to keep his UCL running, but yeah it's just a guess. Olney also floated the idea that maybe Santana was so fired up about his contract that his drug-taking was driven by his desire to pitch lights-out and prove his worth. A nice positive spin. Maybe Bonnes could lure Olney away from ESPN to write for Twins Daily. And like the original article said, maybe the arm rest will do Santana some good. And.. the brilliant poster who said getting Santana back will be like making a trade at the deadline.

I hope the vets all play .500 into June. And then I hope that the Front Office cashes in their chips ahead, and turns it over to the more youthful players at that point.

No, nobody "knew" Santana was doping. But he was (and remains) a walking red flag, for all the reasons laid out here and elsewhere.

It could happen over a full season (or more) without you noticing it until you see him after a long stretch. I blame weights.

This is Ervin Santana's 4th team in 4 years. In kindergarten they call this "musical chairs"

For all we heard about Molitor's supposed baseball intellect, it sure is an uninspiring roster and opening day lineup. I think any TD member could have come up with that roster as well as Molitor and Ryan. Free the prospects!

With Hughes, Nolasco and Santana they do have a higher floor nowadays. Hopefully Gibson vaults to a #2 guy in the rotation this year. I don't know if the Twins will be postseason contenders again unless Meyer, Berrios or May get an honest chance and then pitch as advertised.

Glad to see there's another Cleveland skeptic out there I think you have a good point---going into 2015, the Twins probably have the staff most easily to project. Hughes not quite as good. Nolasco not quite as bad. Lot's of people are fairly confident about projecting those two. Gibson, hopefully fewer poor starts. Milone almost the same as his Oakland starts (hopefully). Ervin Santana is a little uncertain, but not ace material, and is capable of throwing a clunker. What does it all add up to? Nothing more than a low ceiling, but slightly above average, rotation for the next three years. Unless Molitor/Allen can play the brain game and put these guys in better positions to succeed than the previous coaching staff could.

Hitting is timing and changing pitch speeds can be devastating--this I am excited about. I could care less if Meyer has a change up, though I think jokin is absolutely right, if the Twins think he needs to master it this early in his career, then maybe he should be in MLB learning it from Allen. Suzuki has been shown to call a lot of fastballs so it might be interesting to get some words from him, too.

Maybe so, but this evidence against Meyer could also be shaded in Meyer's favor: Meyer was pitching in high A as a 22 year old-------but he also pitched in college. Meyer spent a year at AA----- but, he pitched pretty well. Maybe an occasional erratic start, but no overall control problems looking at his stat line. In fact, Meyer did not have control problems when the Twins traded for him. Meyer was shut down with shoulder pain------but it was only as a precautionary move. In other words, Meyer let the organization know immediately that he felt something unusual, just to be on the safe side. This is what we want in a valuable asset, correct? During the down time Meyer's agent announced that Meyer was healthy again. The Twins pronounced Meyer fully healthy. He returned to make two more starts and was sent to pitch the fall league. That might have been a close call and it was a win for the organization, no doubt. Meyer had a horrific stretch in AAA-----but so what. Unbeknownst to all of us, Meyer was never at any point under consideration for a promotion to the big leagues. Given what we know now, it's really hard to claim he was on the cusp of breaking through to the majors. Perhaps Meyer even knew that, and let his off field preparation flag. Perhaps Meyer just gets bored pitching to inferior hitters in AAA. Or perhaps there were other factors. Meyer was shut down again with shoulder pain-------actually, Meyer was at his innings limit. Meyer could not hit the broad side of a barn in spring training-------Meyer had one very nice outing sandwiched between an ok to poor outing and a very bad outing. But I did not see it in person so I defer to you and Nick. So all that said, and given that Meyer was not called up last year, was not afforded an opportunity this spring to start a game in the first inning, and that according to Molitor pitching out of the bullpen will not be an option, there's pretty strong evidence not that Meyer is pitching himself out of a job, but that the Twins are not interested in promoting him, for whatever reason.

This is one trade that has really worked out. I would even have been happy to see Escobar have the starting shortstop job.

When Twins players perform well, they are more likely to be given brand new contracts, not traded. Therefore if Mike Pelfrey pitches well, I believe the most likely scenario is that he remains a Twin.

I'm fairly optimistic this year, but I've stopped thinking in terms of a wave or group of prospects that will all arrive together. They will come one at a time and with no particular rhyme or reason. The Twins seem too willing to extend the older ballplayers, limiting open spots and flexibility. 3/5 of the rotation is under contract for no less than the next three seasons, leaving no room for a possible intriguing core of guys that might have included Gibson, May, Meyer and Berrios. The Twins are capable of playing .500 which will be fun for a change, but .500 is their ceiling for the foreseeable future.

I care...I bought all the hype!

"Tommy Milone: why the hell not." What an endorsement! Meanwhile, back in AAA,...

Gardy took the team to the ALCS his first year, and Kelly won the World Series, so I'm setting a high bar for Molitor

Is the commissioner familiar with the steroid era? Perhaps batting averages are below their historical pre-1990s averages (.260 or so), but I don't know if offense overall is down. His top issue should be replay reform I would think?

Another question is: which of Hughes, Nolasco, Santana, or Gibson moves to the bullpen when Meyer is promoted into the rotation?

That's the *catcher puts down one finger*

If these choices were a horse race, my trifecta bet would be 4-1-5

Me too. He's made a decent income playing a game he loves. I've got to think he was allowed to start these games as nothing more than a professional courtesy. He was never going to win the 5th starter job this year. He might find success in the bullpen and change his tune.

"promises not to stay past the end of the season"

actually Ryan's original quote in 2012 was something like "you just can't get a pitcher of Meyer's quality for as cheap as a starting center fielder in his prime, unless the pitcher is still in A ball" So there's that

hope you are right!

My recollection is that it was the Twins front office who was hyping Meyer in the first place. They traded a pretty good center fielder and lead off man for Meyer. Again, obviously Meyer will get his chance, and both sides of this whole conversation will become moot. Yet for some people, the fact that Meyer continues to be held down in AAA is just more evidence of the wisdom of the Twins front office. Someone help me get my head around that.