FormerMinnasotan

Where’s Jhoan Duran? I’ve seen lesser pitchers getting reps, yet Duran a 40 man roster spot guy has yet to throw a spring training inning. Is he destined for Tommy John too?

Why hasn’t Jhoan Duran pitched at all? Is he injured? He’s on the 40 man and I would have thought we’d have seen him pitch by now.

I hope it’s the case Berríos can improve to Ace like status this year. Not to sound homerish, but Berríos’ “stuff” is pretty elite IMO. Berríos’ issues come down to can he maintain himself mentally through an entire season. He has enough stamina to make it through the season as evidenced by no dips in his velocity from the beginning of the season to season’s end. What does seem to happen in his mid season “swoon” is his mechanics break down and he often appears flustered and frustrated with his mechanics breaking down. If he can either maintain his mechanics or find a way mentally to work through his struggles quicker and more efficiently then I think we’ve seen a true and legit Ace in Berríos.

I’m feeling good about Sanó as well. His numbers look decent even AFTER his slow start to the season. I think being healthy in the off season coming off of a successful second half of last season will work to Sanó’s benefit.

Hill has to be healthy first and foremost and that’s not even a given. Also at 40 it’s possible he’s due for a regression most baseball players see at the end of their career. He’s more risk than reward IMO.

Waiting won’t sign José Berríos to the type of contract extension he will be seeking. If the FO is going to play this “wait and see” game with Berríos pretty soon he’ll end being too expensive to extend anyway. There’s also the possibility given the tepid nature of the FO that Berríos doesn’t want to sign an extension anyways. If that’s true that would show the FO in a negative light.

I can’t see any silver lining of this off season. Especially since it looks less and less likely that the Twins will agree to an extension with our best starting pitcher in José Berríos. The longer this drags out the higher the cost will be to keep him a Twin. And it might be the case that Berríos doesn’t want to stay a Twin in the future considering the Twins FO’s bungling of free agency and trades. If Berríos leaves that will be a black mark on the Twins organization and any “silver lining” will be non existent if that happens.

I think there is room for Thorpe to improve. However he’s got to improve on his command, especially with a less than overpowering fastball. To be successful Thorpe has to be able to pick his spots in the strike zone.

I don’t understand the “love” for Matthew Boyd at all. He’s less of an ace than José Berrios ever will be so why waste the time trading for a mid rotation starter at best in Boyd? To be honest I’d rather look at trading for Michael Fulmer. I know he had Tommy John surgery last year but he has higher upside and a better pitching arsenal than Boyd IMO.

I would trade him and make him the center piece in a trade for a more top of the rotation starter. I’m not sold that Graterol will even pan out in the rotation and I feel that Edwar Colina will end up as good in our bullpen as Graterol. Both have upper 90’s-100 mph fastballs but given Colina’s better k numbers I think his slider will play up as well if not better than Graterol’s. And I am all for trading someone who’s trade value at it highest. Plus Graterol has yet to show he can stay healthy enough to be the Ace we all want him to be.

I agree, especially since there’s no guarantee Graterol ever makes it in the starting rotation. There’s no guarantee he’ll be successful in the bullpen either. He could possibly be Fernando Romero 2.0. To be honest I’d rather “hold on” to Jordan Balazovic as he actually looks like a real legit starting pitching prospect overall, even more so than Graterol. Graterol’s value might be enough to be the main bargaining chip for a higher end starting pitcher.

I can understand waiting till Spring Training to be critical if the Twins FO in their pursuit (or lack thereof) of top end starting pitching but I still remain skeptical anything will be done to improve our rotation and yes, our rotation needs improvement. Jose Berrios might not ever ascend to even being a #2 starter and Odorizzi is more like a solid #3, and when back from suspension Pineda is more or less a #3/4. That’s decent in the regular season, but in post season that’s not a rotation that can stack up with the Yankees or Astros. So now what should happen between now and Spring Training is the Twins need to trade away both solid contributors (like Rosario), near MLB talent (Thorpe, Smeltzer, Dobnak, Nick Gordon, Brent Rooker), and possibly our higher valued prospects (Lewis, Kiroloff/Larnach, Balazovic/Graterol, Wandar Javier) to acquire a pitching arm like Snell, Archer, Ray, Morton. My problem is I don’t think this FO has the guts to take any risk like making a trade that includes our higher touted prospects despite the fact our farm system has decent talent and decent trade able talent. The thing for even a guy like let’s say Brusdar Graterol is right now his trade value is as high as it will ever be given his potential, however he’s one that might not even pan out as a quality starting pitcher meaning unless he’s a lights out reliever his trade value will never be worth anything.

The Twins FO will do nothing. They failed in pursuing any of the second teir starters (MadBum, Wheeler, Ryu), and their reluctance to trade top prospects for quality starting pitching is well known.

I do agree Berrios should take a step forward next year, however I’m not sure he will. To me he has elite “stuff”, and outstanding control and command. Why I don’t think Berrios will take a step forward and dramatically improve is two fold. For one his wind up and pitching mechanics look quite complex and I think over a season it is difficult for Berrios to maintain his mechanics over a whole season. Secondly when his mechanics get “off” it seems to fluster Berrios and that translates to his “August swoon”. I think a good deal of what Berríos’ problems are is mental and to me that’s something I think will difficult to overcome.

I’m going to take the unpopular stance, but I feel that Graterol will only be a disappointment if we see him as our “soon to be anointed” ace. Issue 1 is durability...the most innings he’s ever pitched is 102...and last year had a substantial enough injury to have him out for a considerable amount of time last year, only to re-emerge as a relief pitcher. Issue 2 is his “stuff”. Yes he has a huge fastball and can throw it so effortlessly, yet his slider isn’t the pure strike out pitch it should be to this point and IF he’s going to make it as a starter he’s got to improve his change up tremendously as right now his change is as good as Fernando Romero’s change. Don’t get me wrong I’d LOVE to see Graterol prove me wrong and be a Gerrit Cole like ace for the Twins, but right now I just only see a failed starter turned bullpen arm.