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Derek Falvey and Thad Levine have not had a good experience on the free-agent market during their tenure at the top of Minnesota’s front office. Many organizations find landmines, but did this season include the worst signing in franchise history? After Jorge Polanco limped through 2020 with an ankle injury that required a second surgery, it became more than apparent that Rocco Baldelli needed a different option at shortstop. Before Royce Lewis was shelved with a torn ACL, the big league club needed a stabilizing presence at the most critical position on the infield. Casting a wide net made the most sense for the Twins. Marcus Semien was arguably the best option, and despite finishing a close runner-up for his services, the former Athletics infielder has posted an otherworldly season for the Blue Jays. Many players would qualify as fringe options, having one or more holes in their games. Falvey opted for a pact with Gold Glove-winning fielder Andrelton Simmons. The former Angels shortstop always carried a light bat, but his defense got the job done. Welcome to 2021. It’s not as though Simmons’ defense has fallen off a cliff; he’s still been a valuable commodity in the field for Minnesota. His 11 defensive runs saved rank third in baseball at the position, and he’s behind only Nick Ahmed and Francisco Lindor when it comes to outs above average at shortstop. Simmons has induced many highlight-reel plays this season behind Twins pitching, but his blunders have always been highly noticeable. Simmons has been miscast for a guy who needs to make an impact defensively to hide his bat, given the results Minnesota has generated on the season as a whole. He carries value for a good team that can afford to have a complete non-factor in the lineup. Given the Twins inability to pitch and often hit, the marginal defensive upgrade he has been only amplified the awful season of production. At -0.4 fWAR, Simmons has been Minnesota’s third-worst position player behind Willians Astudillo and Gilberto Celestino. Without finding a trade partner for him at the deadline, the Twins have allowed Simmons to play in 116 games despite being a free agent at year’s end. He’s being paid $10.5 million in 2021 and has been worse than a non-factor offensively. His .561 OPS is dead last in baseball among 154 hitters with at least 400 plate appearances. He has a .286 OBP and has a whopping 14 extra-base hits. The most divisive contribution Simmons has made to the Twins clubhouse may have been a medical one. Just days after being outspoken regarding his stance on vaccines, the shortstop tested positive, and Minnesota soon experienced an outbreak. Without attributing fault to any one person, Simmons' brash nature and desire to publicly share his opinions on Twitter were undoubtedly met with backlash given how the season began to spiral. Over the years, plenty of front offices have missed when it comes to spending money on players leaving other organizations. Sometimes those players move on for the sake of a big contract. Other times it happens because the club is moving on before getting caught holding the bag. This may be more of the latter when considering the Angels situation, and Minnesota felt the wrath of a decision gone wrong. You could make a case for Tsuyoshi Nishioka or Ricky Nolasco when considering previous Twins missteps. Still, nothing about how Andrelton Simmons has fared in Minnesota is good, and it’s a shock he’ll survive the year without a DFA. Back to the drawing board at shortstop for 2022. MORE FROM TWINS DAILY — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email View full article

The Minnesota Twins reached an agreement with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim minutes before today’s non-waiver trade deadline. The Twins sent right-handed pitchers Ricky Nolasco and Alex Meyer to the Angels in exchange for left-hander Hector Santiago and minor league right-hander Alan Busenitz.Twins fans have to be impressed that interim GM Rob Antony was able to find a taker for the frustrating Nolasco and the approximately $18-20 million remaining on his four year-$49 million contract. Nolasco threw a strong eight inning in his start over the weekend, maybe giving the Angels reason to think that he has turned a corner, or that they can get him back to his former self. Alex Meyer came to the Twins in the Denard Span trade from the Nationals. He was considered a top pitching prospect at the time because of a power fastball. He showed his potential at times, but he also found himself out with shoulder issues a few times. He made two relief appearances last year with the Twins. He also made one start for the team in early May. He hasn’t pitched in a game since due to a shoulder issue. Santiago, 28, has played for both the White Sox and the Angels. This season, he is 10-4 with a 4.25 ERA and a 5.03 FIP. He has struck out about 8.0 per nine innings, but has also walked about 4.3 per nine innings. The southpaw has a 3.68 career ERA and one more year left of arbitration. He should immediately take Nolasco’s spot in the rotation. Finally, the Twins acquired Alan Busenitz in the deal. He was the Angels 25th-round pick in 2013 out of Kennesaw State. He will turn 26 years old later this month. He began the season with 24 appearances out of the bullpen in AA Arkansas where he posted a 1.93 ERA, a 1.04 WHIP and 8.8 K/9. He recently moved up to AAA Salt Lake and has a 9.00 ERA in 13 innings. He does have 13 strikeouts in the Pacific Coast League. He should report to Rochester. Rhett Bollinger is reporting that the Twins will pay Ricky Nolasco for the rest of this season. The Angels will pay Hector Santiago for the rest of this year. The Twins are also sending $4 million to the Angels next year to help them pay Nolasco. As the trade deadline has passed, Ervin Santana, Kurt Suzuki and Brandon Kintzler all remain on the Twins roster. They, and others, can still be traded in August, but it would require waiver-clearing, etc. Click here to view the article

Thanks to the MN Corn Growers, Aaron and John recap the trades the Twins didn't make (Kurt Suzuki & Ervin Santana) and the trades they did make (Eduardo Nunez, Fernando Abad, Ricky Nolasco & Alex Meyer) while drinking beer and eating a Royale with Cheese at Lyn-Lake's Iron Door Pub. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Stitcher or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. Or just click the Play button below. Click here to view the article

Rochester Democrat & Chronicle beat reporter Kevin Oklobzija reported first that Jose Berrios was summoned back to his manager Mike Quade's office late on Saturday night. Though there was no confirmation that Berrios was coming up, 1500ESPN's Darren Wolfson soon tweeted that he had heard that Berrios was coming up to the Twins. Soon after, the Star Tribune confirmed the Berrios will start for the Twins on Monday in Cleveland.So now the question remains, What will the other half of the transaction be? With the trade deadline set for Monday afternoon, the possibilities are endless. The Twins don't need to add Berrios to their 25-man roster until Monday after the trade deadline (and obviously before the game), so it could be another 24+ hours before we know the other half of the transaction. What are the possibilities? The easiest, most straightforward move would be for the Twins to call up Berrios and option Tyler Duffey to AAA Rochester. Duffey has really struggled over the last several starts. The 25-year-old hasn't been able to capture the magic that he showed in his final nine starts last year when he was the Twins top starter. Of course, the Twins could make a trade, and with that there are several more possibilities. If they are able to trade a starter, Berrios could take that pitchers spot in the rotation and the rest of the rotation would just adjust. The Twins could, more likely, trade a reliever and then move a starter into the bullpen. Tommy Milone gave up four runs in Saturday night's game and was unable to get out of the sixth inning. He has had a frustrating season, though he has been much better in July. He seems like a candidate for a trade in August. Ricky Nolasco? Well, he's got that contract, but maybe a team liked what they saw on Friday night when he gave up just one run over eight innings. The Twins would obviously need to be creative to make a move on Nolasco. Fernando Abad and Brandon Kintzler could be on the move in the next 36 hours. Duffey could move to the bullpen where many believe his future may put him anyway because he just has two pitches. Milone or Nolasco could be pushed to the bullpen. In other words, the Twins needed to make sure they had a starter for Monday night. They don't have to announce this transaction until right before then, so the possibilities are fairly endless right now. Secondly, newly acquired Adalberto Mejia will likely take Berrios's spot in the Red Wings rotation early next week. The key to this transaction, of course, if the return of JO Berrios. His first stint with the Twins was not good. We saw glimpses of what he could become in his four starts, but he posted an ERA over ten and a WHIP over two. He needed to return to Rochester. He has clearly made some adjustments and earned his way back to the big leagues. The 22-year-old has been particularly great his last seven starts. In that time, he is 5-3 with a 1.46 ERA. In 55.2 innings, he has given up 31 hits, walked 15 and struck out 60 batters. Opponents have hit just .165/.229/.255 (.485) against him. He's ready for this opportunity. Don't expect him to be perfect, but let's hope to see some of the adjustments he made in Rochester. We should see some improvements. The team needs to live with his ups and downs and let him work through things at the big league level the rest of the way, the same way they need to let Byron Buxton, Miguel Sano, Jorge Polanco and Max Kepler play and learn and adjust. And those names and others should make Twins fans excited to watch the final two months of the season. Click here to view the article

The August 1st non-waiver trade deadline is only five days away. Here's a rundown of the relevant rumors and rumblings regarding the Minnesota Twins and interim general manager Rob Antony.* Since dismissing Terry Ryan as GM, Twins ownership has made some remarks that I would generously refer to as "tone deaf." Antony, for his part, seems a bit more interested in saying the right things. During a Q&A with MLB.com's Rhett Bollinger this week (well worth reading), Antony suggested that he will "use advanced statistics as the first tool to evaluate players before relying on the club's scouts." He also talked about the prioritization of bulking up the analytics department. Whether this is lip service or an actual indication of Antony's evolution on the subject remains to be seen. But at least he recognizes the problematic perceptions of the front office regime under his predecessor, and is actively trying to draw a distinction. * Speaking of the general manager search, the Twins announced that they are hiring search firm Korn Ferry to assist with the process. It's good news, ensuring that the they plan to conduct a comprehensive search for their next baseball ops leader. Most recently, Korn Ferry assisted with the GM hirings of David Stearns by the Brewers and Ross Atkins by the Blue Jays. Stearns, 30, became the youngest general manager in the game when Milwaukee fished him away from Houston. For three years, he had been the right-hand man to Jeff Luhnow with the Astros, helping craft one of the league's most talented young rosters. It was a bold hire. In the case of the Blue Jays, Atkins beat out internal candidate Tony LaCava, the other finalist who had been serving in an interim capacity following the departure of Alex Anthopoulos. Atkins came over after spending 15 years in the Indians organization. It's hard to believe this choice wasn't heavily influenced by Toronto's new president Mark Shapiro, who was very familiar with Atkins having brought him up in Cleveland's front office. * Switching to trade rumblings, it sounds like the Twins won't trade Ervin Santana unless they're overwhelmed by an offer. Given the uncertainties surrounding Phil Hughes (health) and Ricky Nolasco (performance), that's a logical approach, if the team does indeed have aspirations of returning to contention in 2017. He threw nine good innings on Tuesday night against the worst lineup in ball, but Santana just isn't the kind of arm that's going to entice someone to give up a haul. * As for Nolasco, based on everything I've been hearing and reading, the front office would happily ship him to any willing recipient, but interest in the veteran right-hander is undoubtedly low. Nolasco's 5.40 ERA ranks as fifth-worst among qualified MLB starters, and he has tallied more walks than strikeouts this month. Even if the Twins are throwing in a wad of cash, why bother? * A source from a contending team told Mike Berardino that the Twins are in "listening mode--at best" on Kyle Gibson. That's probably the right mindset. Gibson is a fairly reliable rotation piece going forward and his value is depressed right now thanks to a poor start and a shoulder injury that cost him a chunk of the season. The righty quietly has posted a 3.03 ERA over his last five starts. * One club that may be expressing interest in Twins pitchers is Miami. In a column for the Boston Globe, Nick Cafardo wrote that the Marlins had scouts at Fenway last week to watch Nolasco and Tommy Milone. Both got shelled, but regardless of how they pitched in those outings, no one was going to form any illusions about either hittable hurler. * Buster Olney of ESPN tweeted on Tuesday that Eduardo Nunez is among options the first-place Indians have evaluated as they seek to bolster their offense. Presumably, they would install Nunez as their regular third baseman. Francisco Lindor and Jason Kipnis are holding down the middle infield, while Juan Uribe has done little to distinguish himself at the hot corner. This is one worth keeping an eye on. * Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports wrote last week that Minnesota's trade chips drawing the most attention are Nunez, Kurt Suzuki, Fernando Abad and Brandon Kintzler. This list isn't surprising, but sort of encapsulates why it's hard to get too jazzed up about this deadline period. The Twins have assets that are intriguing to contenders, but we're talking about a career bench player (prior to this year), a decent-at-best catcher, and a pair of relievers on minor-league contracts. The only opportunity that Antony has to make a major splash would be a shocking move involving, say, Brian Dozier or one of the kids he feels is expendable. But is the interim GM really going to uproot the long-term roster foundation, not to mention the clubhouse dynamic, by taking such a gamble? Hard to envision. Click here to view the article

By all accounts, this has been a lost season for the Twins. Glen Perkins: done for the season. Phil Hughes: done for the season. Kevin Jepsen: cleared waivers on the day that Chi Wen Hu, the pitching prospect sent to Tampa Bay to acquire Jepsen, pitched a perfect 1-2-3 inning in the Futures Game with only five pitches including a fastball that touched 97 MPH… …you know, just to name a few. While a recent stretch of power hitting and “good enough” pitching has propelled the Twins to a positive start to the month of July, they still find themselves sitting a mere thirteen games out of fourth place in the AL Central at the All Star Break. The front office has been scrambling to come up with an attraction to bring fans back to the stadium once regular season baseball resumes next week in case the bats come back cold. They may have a solution: Twinkiemon. Riding the coattails of the newest cultural phenomenon Pokemon GO, the Twins have taken Niantic’s groundbreaking idea and thrown it into a mixing bowl with a splash of Twins Way and a dash of Total System Failure. The result is a revolutionary new way to interact with Target Field that the Twins are calling ‘Twinkiemon GO.’ Instead of walking around in public trying to capture fictional creatures in hopes of training them for battle, the user of the much-anticipated app will instead wander aimlessly around Target Field attempting to catch Rays of Hope. Examples of these rays include Kepler’s Potential, Buxton’s Defense, Retro Mauer, Axe Bat Suzuki and Something Called Robbie Grossman. There are also a few special holographic Rays, more rare than the others and indeed harder to catch as they have been seldom to come by lately. Park Bang headlines this cast of crafty rays followed by Quality Start Milone, Healthy Plouffe, Career Average Nolasco and Major League Berrios. When you collect enough of these Rays of Hope, you able to craft them together in a mini game to create a Silver Lining. That lining is then used to affectively shut down your phone so you are free to enjoy the reason you came to the ballpark in the first place which is buying a helmet full of nachos, a beverage of your choice and watching a game of baseball. “We’re trying to get more youths to the ballpark any way we can,” said Terry Ryan when asked about the app. “With certain players calling baseball ‘tired’, we were looking for ways to spice things up a bit here at Target Field.” Twinkiemon GO is expected to hit the iOS and Android markets after the All Star Break, and the Twins hope to attract more patrons by offering a one time only opportunity to capture the limited edition All Star Nunez. Find us at twinsandlosses.com or on Twitter at @twinsandlosses

The fireworks dust has settled and this means baseball's trade deadline is quickly approaching. Following next week's All-Star Game festivities in San Diego, contending teams will be wheeling and dealing to try to find the right pieces to push their organization to the next level. Minnesota's terrible first half has put them in a position to be sellers in 2016. This isn't a terrible position to be in but the Twins have been bad in recent years and the front office hasn't been willing to part with trade chips. Maybe this year will be different as Terry Ryan looks to add to one of the best farm systems in baseball. Who is available? What can the Twins get in return? Let's dive in...Starting Pitchers: Ervin Santana, Ricky Nolasco The Twins spent a lot of money on both of these pitchers on the free agent market and it hasn't gone according to plan. Santana spent the first part of his contract being suspended for 80 games and he hasn't been anything fantastic since returning to the mound. His name has even popped up in national headlines as "perhaps the most viable trade deadline pickup on the market." Nolasco has struggled with very brief flashes of being the pitcher the Twins thought they were getting. With both pitchers, the Twins would have to pay some of their remaining contracts. Santana is owed $27 million over the next two seasons and Nolasco is owed $24 million during the same stretch. That's a lot of money to two pitchers that haven't lived up to expectations but maybe both could be helped by moving to the National League. Trading one or both of these players would free up a second half rotation spot for the likes of Jose Berrios. Some Twins fans have even started the discussion about Trevor May being stretched out and put back in the rotation. Minnesota needs to see what they have in their young pitchers and the second half can offer them that opportunity. Relief Pitchers: Fernando Abad Contending teams pay a premium for effective relief pitching near the deadline (see Matt Capps for Wilson Ramos trade). Even Minnesota traded for relief help last year when Kevin Jepsen was acquired for a pair of pitching prospects. Jensen was designated for assignment over the weekend which can show how fickle relief pitchers can be. Abad has run into some rough outings in the last week but he still might be one of the team's most valuable trade pieces. As a left-handed relief pitcher, he has held lefties to batting under .175 and they are getting on-base less than 21% of the time. He also comes with an extra year of team control so that adds some value to him since he can't be a free agent until 2018. Much like trading one of the starting pitchers would open a spot for Berrios, dealing Abad could open a role for an up-and-coming relief arm. J.T. Chargois didn't get much of a look in his brief call-up so it would be nice to see more of him in the second half. Position Players: Brian Dozier, Eduardo Nunez, Trevor Plouffe, Kurt Suzuki Dozier isn't going to be part of the next winning team in Minnesota. He has busted out of his early season slump in a big way and he's under contract for the next two seasons for and average value of $7.5 million per year. Jorge Polanco has been ready for the big leagues but the Twins have no where to put him. Trading Dozier opens up a spot for Polanco and he could bring back an intriguing prospect or two. Nunez has been the biggest surprise on the Twins roster this season. For the first time in his career, he has become an everyday starter and he has taken full advantage of the opportunity. He is arbitration eligible for one more season and he can play multiple spots around the infield. For a team looking for a bench player with some versatility, Nunez could be their man. It might also be the first time in a while where the Twins have sold high on a player and not waited until his value was gone. The Miguel Sano outfield experiment seems to be coming to an end. Plouffe's time in Minnesota has included plenty of good moments and he has become a fan favorite. However, Plouffe would likely leave in free agency after the 2017 campaign so trading him now could result in more value. A contending team might need a bat off the bench or a replacement at third and Plouffe can serve both of those roles. He will be on the disabled list until for the next couple weeks so he might be able to be dealt until the off-season. Much like Dozier, Suzuki has broken out of his early-season offensive slump. His contract expires at the end of the year and the Twins will likely need to go in a different direction from the aging catcher. He is below average on the defensive side of the ball but Twins pitchers have like his ability to call games. Suzuki could serve in a back-up catcher role or be asked to fill in for an injured starting catcher. His veteran leadership and experience could be intriguing. There's the list of potential trade targets. Who else do you think the Twins should make available? What can Minnesota get back for the pieces that they have? Leave a COMMENT and start the discussion. Click here to view the article

Is more change coming for the Twins rotation? Who might be lined up to step in next? And what should we make of a prospect's prodigious power display in Rochester? All are covered in today's Three-Bagger.* Five days after coming out of a strong outing against the Tigers with just 75 pitches thrown, Phil Hughes took the hill against the Blue Jays on Sunday and once again managed to navigate his way through a quality start, despite opponents hitting non-stop rockets. The righty deserves plenty of credit for gutting it out but his pitches are woefully ineffective right now, as illustrated by the amount of contact being made and the loudness of that contact. In his last two starts Hughes has struck out only one of the 48 batters he has faced. That simply isn't going to be a workable formula for him. Hughes doesn't rank atop the list of Paul Molitor's concerns in the rotation, though. Ricky Nolasco was shelled by the Royals on Monday, failing to make it through three innings while giving up six runs. The meltdown was made more irksome by Nolasco's apathetic postgame remarks: The injury issues that consistently marred Nolasco's first two seasons in Minnesota were essentially the only justification for his getting another shot this year despite wholly inadequate results. Now he's healthy by his own admission and once again getting raked, with an 8.14 ERA and 990 opponents' OPS in the month of May. For a player who was already nearing the end of his rope with this organization, a parting of ways can't be far off as the team endures another dreadful stretch of performances. Even with Kyle Gibson due to return soon, the Twins may find themselves turning to the minors for reinforcements in the rotation. * Who might be at the head of the line to step in should another spot open up? It's probably not Jose Berrios. In his first start back at Rochester following last week's demotion, Berrios issued five walks and required 104 pitches to get through five innings, a continuation of the inefficiency and command problems that got him sent down. The more likely candidate for a promotion is Tommy Milone, who has been on the opposite end of the control spectrum since heading to Triple-A. In three starts with the Red Wings, Milone has issued zero walks over 20 innings while striking out 17 and putting up a 2.18 ERA. Just like he did last summer when the Twins demoted him, the lefty has responded well and is doing everything necessary to earn a trip back. Milone may have a limited ceiling, but right now he looks like a preferable option to at least three members of the Twins rotation. The southpaw would need to be re-added to the 40-man in order to return, but placing Glen Perkins on the 60-day DL is a formality at this point. * Not since 1990 has a player on the Rochester Red Wings hit three home runs in a game. At least, that was the case until Saturday, when slugging prospect Adam Walker accomplished the feat by going deep in each of his first three at-bats against Durham. Walker is now tied for the International League lead with nine home runs on the season, but that's nothing new. He has led his league in homers every year since he joined the professional ranks. His power is the stuff of legend. Given that Walker, who ranked 11th on our list of top Twins prospects this spring, is now at Triple-A and already on the 40-man roster, one could surmise that a big-league debut may be looming this summer. Indeed, it would behoove Minnesota to get a look at the 24-year-old, and his promotion would stir some warranted excitement among fans who dig the long ball. Walker is capable of hitting them longer than almost anybody in the game, and that's no overstatement. Unfortunately, while his immense pop has translated to the highest level of the minors, so too has his greatest weakness – one that makes it excruciatingly difficult to see him developing into a successful MLB hitter. He has struck out in 65 of his 148 plate appearances for Rochester (44 percent). To put that in perspective, no qualified hitter in the majors has ever posted a K-rate above 37 percent. Chris Carter, who set that record in 2013 with the Astros, struck out in only 24 percent of his plate appearances at Triple-A. Can a player like Walker stay afloat offensively in the big leagues while whiffing in half of his plate appearances if he is obliterating the ball when he manages to make contact? Not likely. But I'm curious to see. Why not? Click here to view the article

The Twins went into Spring Training with one of the more interesting positional battles on their hands as they had three back-of-the-rotation starters -- Ricky Nolasco, Tyler Duffey, and Tommy Milone -- one of the top pitching prospects with a shot of making the majors this season in Jose Berrios, and just two spots in the rotation. The cost savings of starting him in the minors made if fairly likely that Berrios wasn’t going to break camp with the team, but he made the decision an easy one (and removed any chance of filing a grievance over service time the way Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant did last year) by looking fairly pedestrian during his time in big league camp and getting sent down well before last cuts. On the other end of the spectrum, Milone looked strong in his spring outings, solidifying his spot early, and leaving Duffey and Nolasco in a race for the last spot. Nolasco got the nod for a litany of reasons, but it wouldn’t be wrong to suggest that strictly on merit the spot could easily have easily gone to Duffey.Fast forward a month from Berrios’ demotion and two weeks from the end of spring training: How do the Twins’ decisions look? It would be an understatement to say simply that Nolasco has been better than expected. Outside of one bad inning against the Angels, which the Twins managed to work around, Nolasco has given up just two runs in his 20.1 innings of work. His groundball rate is over 50 percent, which would be a career best by a substantial margin if he could keep it up, and he’s dropped his walk rate by nearly a full walk per nine. It’s a bit worrisome that his strikeout rate is well down from his career average -- which wasn’t particularly high to begin with -- but if that’s the tradeoff for his career best soft-contact rate and the improvements in his walk and home run rates, the Twins will take it. He’s not yet to the point of being obvious trade bait, but the Twins don’t need him to be. By the time the team needs his roster spot more than they need his production, a destination may reveal itself. The terrible weather in upstate New York has jumbled the Rochester Red Wings’ schedule, but both Duffey and Berrios have gotten in three starts, though both were cut short in their first two outings. Duffey has been largely the same pitcher for the Red Wings so far that he was for the Twins last year: allowing more baserunners than one might like, but preventing them from scoring. By results, he still seems like a pitcher the Twins have tentatively penciled into their long term plan and are glad to have ready in case of injury, but he’s not forcing their hand yet. Berrios, on the other hand, is getting sharp. He’s racked up 20 strikeouts in his 17 innings so far, allowed less than a baserunner per inning, and hasn’t allowed more than a run in any of his three starts. The "Extra Year" deadline likely having already passed, Berrios could be called up at any point without the Twins risking losing him a year early, especially since it will be another week or so until he’s ready to start again following his seven-inning lockdown of the Pawsox on Thursday. The Twins weren’t just playing a service time game with Berrios, however, these starts were important for him to show that he was ready. He’ll need to look good again in his next outing, but assuming he does, he’s making a compelling case that he’s ready to help the major league team crawl back into contention. The question is: Is there a spot for him in the rotation? Ervin Santana and Phil Hughes aren’t going anywhere, which leaves just two theoretical spots, Kyle Gibson’s and Milone’s. Neither pitcher is sporting a positive fWAR so far this season, but it’s something of a blunt tool without a bit more data behind it. Gibson’s numbers don’t look great through three starts, but the Twins believe in him with good reason and while his first start was indeed a bomb, but the subsequent two have been much better. His spot’s safe unless he hits the All-Star break with about an 8.90 ERA and a WHIP that looks like a respectable high school GPA. So the timing of Berrios’ appearance in the majors likely depends on Milone. Though he earned his spot in camp before Nolasco did, Milone seems as though he may be pulled back into the fray if he can’t right his ship in the next few starts. The optics are admittedly bad: He’s made it out of the fifth inning just once, he has allowed four runs in each of his starts, and he has given up 17 hits in just 15.1 innings pitched despite a BABIP almost precisely at his career average. His lines would look a bit better if he had been pulled after six innings in his start against the Angels instead of allowed to face Albert Pujols and Kole Calhoun, who took him deep, but the core issues would still be there: He’s giving up way too much contact and when 35 percent of it is classified as hard contact, it’s not hard to see why he keeps ending up in trouble. Working against Milone is the fact that, even at his best, he’s something of a marginal starter. His lowest ERA in a season is 3.74, he doesn’t strike out a lot of hitters or generate a ton of groundballs; he gets by with timely outs and the occasional double play. He’s a survivor, an innings eater in the best of cases. It’s a profile the Twins have seen before in any number of other back-end-of-the-rotation guys, but their aspirations are higher this year than they’ve been in the recent past, making simply surviving a less desirable outcome, particularly when instead of eating innings, Milone is making extra work for the bullpen. Nick Nelson caught a quirk from Milone this year that’s worth mentioning: http://i.imgur.com/ZShbmL3.png His velocity isn’t changing much the second or third time he’s seeing hitters and his release point is dropping fractionally, but not enough to explain a 900 point increase in opponents’ OPS. Absent those things, which would point to either fatigue or injury, the easiest explanation is that hitters are simply getting a good sense of how his pitches look and/or how he wants to sequence them (Alternatively, Milone could be tipping his pitches, but there aren’t any other symptoms of that). If they know what to expect, they can prepare and punish even decently executed offerings. If it is the case that Milone is simply predictable, it’s liable to get worse before it gets better as advance scouts figure out how best to prepare their players for his patterns. If the Twins didn’t have Berrios in the minors and it was just Duffey who presented a serious threat to Milone’s spot, his leash would probably be longer than it is, but with the pitching staff needing a jump-start and Berrios seemingly ready to provide it, Milone’s general malaise surely hasn’t gone unnoticed. It’s good news for Berrios that it’s Milone who is struggling rather than Nolasco, as there are simply fewer ties that bind Milone to the majors. The Twins may not be looking for a reason to change Milone’s usage, but given how his season has gone, they’re also not keen to keep the status quo in place. All things considered, the date to circle is May 23. A month away, it gives the Twins a chance to see if there’s something fixable with Milone, be sure that Berrios is ready, and utilize off days for Rochester to line up the rotation they way they want to slot Berrios in with the big club when necessary. The 23rd is also the first time -- assuming the Twins’ rotation doesn’t change -- Milone will face a team for the second time this year. If the Royals show preternatural familiarity with Milone and beat him up, it may force the front office to make a change whether they had planned on it or not. Click here to view the article

After a one week absence, Trending is back and better than ever. (But only because it’s better than the first and only week it has appeared.) Let's take a look at some of the roster battles that are going on.The Starting Rotation All along the general consensus was that Tyler Duffey would be in the Twins rotation. Based on how he performed down the stretch last year, why wouldn’t he be? MLB might as well be short for “What have you done for me lately?” because, lately, Tyler Duffey hasn’t done much. He’s gone from “it’s going to take a disaster to not be in the rotation” to “well his name is written in pencil, not ink” to “well we can’t send Nolasco down, so….”. The trend line is pointing solidly to Tommy Milone as being the lone lefty in the rotation. And after Nolasco’s strong performance Wednesday - coupled with Duffey not pitching well against minor leaguers - it appears Nolasco has regained the lead in the quest for the fifth and final rotation spot. That could leave Duffey out in the cold (of Rochester). Trending up, on the other hand, is the Red Wings starting rotation which will include Jose Berrios, Alex Meyer and Tyler Duffey. Taylor Rogers, though, will start the season in the bullpen. The Bullpen The group of Glen Perkins, Kevin Jepsen, Trevor May and Casey Fien will form an average (or better) back end. Non-roster lefty Fernando Abad is expected to join them. When Duffey appeared poised for the rotation, that forced Nolasco to take up one of the two remaining bullpen spots. But now with that race tightening up, there could be two spots available in the bullpen. J.R. Graham was optioned to Rochester on Wednesday. Michael Tonkin finally had a decent showing on Tuesday after giving up runs in each of his last three outings, including two runs in each of his last two one-inning appearances. Tonkin might get a longer look (i.e. into the season) just because he is out of options, but he’s been trending the wrong direction all spring. Some other names to keep an eye on are Dan Runzler, a lefty who has allowed seven men on base in eight innings, and potential LOOGY Ryan O’Rourke, who has been lights-out in his 5 ⅔ innings this spring. Both of those men are trending in the right direction. (Edit: Yes, Ryan Pressly should absolutely be considered for the bullpen and is probably a favorite to secure the spot if there is only one opening. If there are two spots open, Pressly has to be considered a near-lock.) Another name that popped up this afternoon, thanks to Steve Lein, is Tyler Duffey. If he’s not in the rotation, how dominant could he be in the bullpen (a la Trevor May)? You also have the insurance built in that he doesn’t need to be the sixth starter in the organization (Berrios). It’s kinda crazy - and not a move I would make this season - but definitely something that could be worth considering as the roster continues to take shape (and you believe the best 25 should go north). The Bench Danny Santana missed seven days of games due to a sore wrist within the last two weeks but has started to hit (5 for 11) in his last three games. He’s been playing a variety of positions, which gives him a little value. The reality is that Santana, another out-of-options player, is going to be on the 25-man whether he hits or not. The hope here, though, is that Molitor can avoid using him as anything but a late-innings pinch-runner when it’s absolutely necessary. I’d still consider him to be trending down, but the slope isn’t as steep as it was ten days ago. Oswaldo Arcia is in a very similar place. Only Arcia’s (potential) value is in his bat and not his versatility. Arcia teased us in 2014 and frustrated us in 2015. He’s now being pushed by the old knees of the recently unretired Carlos Quentin. Yet it’s still hard to believe that the club will decide to keep Quentin, who has no defensive value compared to even Arcia. But if it’s bat we’re looking for and spring training we’re watching, we still see Arcia’s OPS of .528 next to Quentin’s OPS of .931 in the 15 games they’ve each played and wonder, “What to do with Ozzie?” Smart money is on him taking up a bench spot early in the season. What do you think? What would you do? Click here to view the article

If there's one thing last season taught us, it's that we shouldn't put too much stock into rough beginnings. As we all remember, the 2015 Twins lost six of their first seven games, getting outscored 45-16 in the process. By the end of May, they were in first place. Still, given that Minnesota ended up finishing so close to a postseason spot, one can't help but wonder how differently things might have played out if they'd gotten off to a slightly less disastrous start. This weekend, they head to Kauffman Stadium with a chance to avoid another extended early-April swoon.The Twins know that their path to the the top of the AL Central goes through Kansas City and the defending World Series champs. Last year, the Twins went 7-12 against the Royals, and a dominating sweep that took place at Target Field on the final weekend put the nail in the coffin for their season. Obviously, it would be a big boost if the Twins could make a statement over the next three days. It would be especially important because of the starters that will be taking the hill for Minnesota. Ervin Santana, whose outing was cut short by rain on Opening Day, figures to get his first real start of the season in a ballpark with which he's quite familiar; of course, he played for the Royals in 2013, and had one of his better seasons. Then we get our first looks at the fourth and fifth starters, Tommy Milone and Ricky Nolasco. The makeup of the Twins rotation, which lacks elite talent at the top, means that the team needs to get quality production from the bottom half in order to have a shot. So the early success (or lack thereof) for Milone and Nolasco could loom large. Milone sort of is what he is at this point: solid, not great, but very consistently so. He had a nice spring marked by sharp command. The key for him will be spotting his pitches with precision and working inside against an extremely aggressive Kansas City lineup. With Nolasco, who knows what to expect. He's got as much to prove as anyone on the roster, and he'll get his first chance on Sunday. If he's commanding his fastball he can certainly get people out, and that would be big. From my view, the best-case scenario for the Twins is that Nolasco performs well over the first couple months and entices an SP-needy team to pick up a good portion of his remaining salary, opening the door for a higher-upside alternative such as Tyler Duffey or Jose Berrios. Heck, maybe Minnesota could even get a decent little prospect back in such a scenario, though I wouldn't hold my breath. Either way, I'm intrigued to see what these two back-end starters, who both have plenty of doubters, can do here in an early-season series that carries plenty of redemptive storylines. Which pitcher will prove the most this weekend? And will the offense rebound after striking out (figuratively and literally) in Baltimore? Click here to view the article

Ricky Nolasco hasn’t made many friends in Twins Territory over the past few seasons. Have you forgotten some of the reasons why? Well for starters; this, and lets not forget this gem to start to season. Not to mention Ricky has been underwhelming during his run with the Twins. The Twins knew what they were getting when they signed Nolasco: an average pitcher with strikeout potential. Over the first two seasons of his four-year deal with Minnesota, Nolasco has pitched 196 1/3 innings. That would be his fifth highest career total for IP, unfortunately it happened over two seasons, instead of one. Ricky’s ERA and WHIP have ballooned since he left MIA and LAD too. His ERA since joining the Twins is 0.84 and 2.21 higher than his career average in 2014, and 2015 respectively. His WHIP has jumped up .193 and .391 over the last two seasons. That’s generally not a good sign for a pitcher coming up on their mid-30’s, who still has a year after this remaining on his contract. The good (bad) news (depending on which side of the fence you fall) is that Ricky’s spring training starts looked good. While Tyler Duffey was anointed the fifth starter coming into spring, Ricky Nolasco pitched better, against the same kind of competition. At the time Duffey was cut from spring training, Ricky’s ERA was 2 points lower, and his strikeouts were significantly higher (I believe Ricky was down to a 4.05, with 18 SOs, vs. Duffeys 6.71 ERA and 4SOs to 3BBs). Unfortunately Nolasco’s stats ballooned in his last few outings, and his ERA was north of 5.00, fully understanding that spring training isn’t always the best barometer of whom to bring back to the Twin Cities. If healthy, and in the mindset that he can help the team (or himself through a trade), Nolasco won’t hurt this team. While many fans will be hoping for another injury (we want May/Duffey/Berrios, dammit!), my hope is that Nolasco pitches so well, a potential playoff team will take him off our hands at the trade deadline. Another interesting idea would be flipping Duffey to the bullpen, and May to the starting rotation should this occur, or in the future. May has enough pitches to start, while Duffey could use his time in the bullpen to develop another pitch or two. That’s an article for another time though. The money doesn’t matter nearly as much as the roster spot. The Twins have some great pitching options waiting in the Wings (see what I did there?) who may not have much more to prove. The signings of Phil Hughes, Ervin Santana, and Nolasco have put some of those players on the back burner. We’ve seen the contracts being demanded by pitchers these days, so the lengths and costs were going to rise. This could be a good thing if Terry Ryan and the front office aren’t sold on Berrios, Meyer, May, and many others not being ready for primetime just yet. Having some proven starters to wait out the development of the younger arms isn’t a bad plan, you just hope you aren’t wasting precious time with the rookies. I’m not sold on the Twins making a strong post-season run quite yet. I think 2017 is a more realistic season for the Twins to start making waves again. This year will be one laden with hope. Hope that Miguel Sano continues to mash taters. Hope that Byron Buxton gets his bat going in the majors. Hope that Byung-ho Park isn’t lost in translation. Hope that Joe Mauer can return to a semblance his former self. And hope that Carlos Nolasco is more of a Ricky, than a Richard. Follow Twins And Losses: Twitter: @TwinsAndLosses Facebook: Twins And Losses Website: twinsandlosses.com

Do the Twins really think that Ricky Nolasco is their best option as fifth starter, or that Michael Tonkin is well suited as a long reliever? Maybe not, but placing the right-handers at the end of the rotation and bullpen buys the team a little more time to find out what they’ve got.When Paul Molitor stated early in spring he expected to have Tyler Duffey in the rotation, it signaled that he was considering pushing Nolasco to the bullpen. Presented with that possibility, the veteran made it clear that he would raise a stink. Alas, Nolasco ends up getting his rotation spot and Duffey starts in Triple-A. Some might see it as the organization relenting to a malcontent, but I see it more as trying to salvage an asset. Had the Twins decided to send Nolasco to the bullpen, it sounds like he would have implored them to trade him somewhere he could start. I’m sure they would love to do that, but he stands no chance of building any kind of market as a mop-up man. If, on the other hand, he gets off to a decent start in the rotation, and some other clubs suffer early losses in their starting corps? That changes things. He’ll never bring back much in a trade but at this point that’s almost immaterial. It would be hard to stomach this course of action if it meant accepting a clear performance downgrade, but that’s not the case. Duffey simply didn’t look very good this spring, and it’s not about the results. The change-up that he’s been dedicated to making a workable third pitch isn’t there. The curveball that he leaned so heavily on as a rookie isn’t having the same kind of effect, even by his own admission. I thought this Duffey quote, in Parker’s story from Fort Myers last week, was telling: “I think guys know it’s coming so they’re sitting on it. One guy took two fastballs. Didn’t even budge. I think he was sitting dead-red on curveball. So that’s where I’m going to have to adjust accordingly.” Sounds like something he needs to work on, and maybe not against major-league hitters. Nolasco throws a ton of breaking balls, but insists his fastball is his most important pitch, as it sets up everything else he does. And whereas Duffey’s key pitch was failing him, Nolasco’s was trending up. This development, much more so than their Grapefruit stats, makes the decision a justifiable one for now. If the veteran gets off to a clunky start while Duffey rolls in Triple-A? Then you make the switch, and at that point Nolasco can complain all he wants but really has no leg left to stand on. Perhaps then the Twins consider a more drastic option like straight-up release. Another hidden benefit of the decision to put Nolasco in the rotation is that it opened up an extra spot in the bullpen and might have saved the Twins from losing Tonkin. The vibe when I was in camp was that the 26-year-old had little chance of making the roster because the team preferred Ryan Pressly and didn’t have room for both. Well, now they do. And I believe it would have been a big mistake to risk giving Tonkin (who is out of options) away on waivers, especially with the questionable overall state of the relief unit. As the last guy in the bullpen, he’ll start out pitching in lower-leverage situations and being called upon after short starts, similar to the role filled last year by Rule 5 draftee J.R. Graham. But Tonkin is certainly more deserving of being in the majors on merit (he has a 2.65 ERA and 9.7 K/9 at Triple-A), and if he performs well he’ll have a chance to work his way into more important innings. Carrying him means they lack a traditional long man in the pen. Giving Nolasco a rotation spot means sending down a guy in Duffey who did everything to earn it last year. But the upside of these decisions is that the Twins might get a solid middle reliever out of the deal, and get a chance to recoup some semblance of value on their $48 million investment in Nolasco. The downside could be losing a few more games. But that downside only extends so far as the team's resistance to implementing quick changes if things go south, and something tells me that won't be an issue. They believe in Nolasco and Tonkin enough to give them one more look, but they're skeptical enough of both that the leashes will be short. Click here to view the article