Michael Pineda has yet to throw a pitch for the Twins, but he’s healthy now and ready to make his Twins debut in 2019, per Betsy Helfand of the Twin Cities Pioneer Press. The Twins signed Pineda to a two-year, $10MM guarantee last December as he worked his way back from Tommy John surgery, hoping he might be ready for the latter half of the season. Just when it looked like Pineda was ready to return, he was diagnosed with a torn meniscus in his knee, ending his season before it began. Injuries have been a constant for Pineda’s career, though he did put together back-to-back healthy campaigns for the Yankees in 2015 and 2016. His overall 4.05 ERA is boosted by a particularly strong rookie campaign, but across 680 innings in Seattle and New York, he did turn in 9.1 K/9 to 2.1 BB/9. The Twins are perhaps the most wait-and-see team in the league, with many volatile assets equally capable of All-Star seasons and bottoming out (Pineda, Byron Buxton, Miguel Sano, Jonathan Schoop, among others). With no guaranteed money on the books for 2020, recent speculation has Minnesota as a sleeper team for either Manny Machado or Bryce Harper, but Thad Levine threw some water on that idea, as he believes significant acquisitions of that variety are more appropriate for frontrunners atop a division, rather than a young team on the rise, per MLB.com’s Do-Hyoung Park (via Twitter). Certainly an interesting take from the Minnesota GM. Now, some more recovery news from around the league…
- The Brewers will return an intriguing arm to their rotation this spring, as Jimmy Nelson is healthy and ready to go, per Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (via Twitter). Nelson will have no restrictions heading into Spring Training, and he’s not backing down from high expectations either, making clear his goal to get the nod on Opening Day – unlikely as that may be. Nelson put together an impressive campaign in 2017 that launched him to the top of the Milwaukee rotation, but it’s probably best to temper expectations after a torn labrum took his 2018. For Milwaukee, the tide is turning on what was seen as a rickety rotation leading up to the playoffs, as their starting staff now looks to be a source of potential strength. Jhoulys Chacin made himself irreplaceable in their run to the NLCS, and he’s backed by Zach Davies and Chase Anderson, both rebound candidates after subpar seasons. Add Nelson, Corbin Burnes and Brandon Woodruff, among others, as contenders to join what now looks like a high-ceiling and deep, if unstable, unit.
- Rosiak also notes (via Twitter) that prospects Keston Hiura and Mauricio Dubon are ready for a big year, rested in the former’s case and healthy after ACL surgery in the latter’s. While both will return to big league camp this spring, they’ve been told they won’t be with the team on Opening Day, per the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Tom Haudricourt (via Twitter). None of this should come as a surprise, as it’s become the norm for top prospects to begin their debut seasons in Triple A, but it’s safe to say Hiura, at least, is hopeful to make an impact at the ML level sometime in 2019. Dubon, for his part, was ripping through Triple A before the surgery, hitting .343/.348/.574 in 27 games with Colorado Springs.
- Corey Seager hasn’t taken batting practice since his injury last May, but he’s long-tossing in preparation for an important spring back in the middle of the Dodgers infield, per Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register. Seager isn’t yet mobilizing for groundballs or throwing across the diamond, but his recovery from Tommy John surgery has gone according to plan thus far and hope remains that he’ll be ready by Opening Day. He’s hitting off a tee, with the next steps being batting practice in the cage before going against live pitching. The Dodgers have the depth to cover for Seager if he’s not ready by Opening Day – with Chris Taylor the most likely stand-in – but he’s obviously a huge part of their team moving forward.
- The Royals fanbase is still waiting for the long-heralded debut of former top draft choice Kyle Zimmer, but it seems nearly time after he signed a major league contract this winter, per the Kansas City Star’ s Lynn Worthy. Zimmer was the 5th overall pick of the 2012 draft, but he missed the entirety of 2018 while training at the Driveline Baseball pitching program. Even so, he was clocked in the mid-90s this fall, and the Royals weren’t alone in competing for Zimmer’s services, hence the major league contract. Said GM Dayton Moore of the deal, “I would rather have him fail with us than go somewhere else and succeed.” While that’s not exactly a rousing sentiment, and it could be read as vindictive, that does not appear to be Moore’s intent, who praised Zimmer for his mindset and toughness. For Zimmer’s part, he spoke glowingly of the Royals longstanding support and loyalty in his continued journey to toe a major league rubber. If he can stay healthy, there’s opportunity enough for Zimmer to make his debut at Kauffman Stadium sometime in 2019, and despite Moore’s omission of Zimmer’s potential success with the Royals as one of his potential futures, that’s surely the goal for both parties.
Twins actually waisted allot of money on Pineda. Money that could have gone to something useful. What a shame
Paying pitchers big money to rehab from TJ surgery seems to be in vogue now across the league……Pineda basically is getting $10million for 1 potential season….hold on to your seats Twins fans its going to be. bumpy ride with this guy!
The Rangers are taking this approach with almost their entire pitching staff. Trying to catch lightening in a bottle…
“Pineda basically is getting $10million for 1 potential season….”
… In terms of productivity, yes. But the first of those two years was harder on Pineda than it was on Twins fans.
Yeah I have no idea why the Padres paid Garrett Richards like $20 million or whatever. The Cubs got rid of Smyly.
Only person it seemed to work out with was Eovaldi, and his entire contract was less than the rest.
Because that’s what Preller does waste $
The dude is going to pull a reverse Aaron Hicks…now that’s he no longer on the Yankees but on the Twins, he’ll just stop trying and the Twins will be on the hook for the dead money. Magically everyone seems motivated once they get to NY…
Hopefully someone can show Pineda how to hide the pine tar
And show him how to use the uber app.
Pineda and strong 2015 and 2016 campaigns do not have an equal sign between them….anybody that saw him pitch new that while he might have a very good game 1 start would implode the next.
His ERA in both seasons was well above 4 and he never was considered a back of the rotation starter so he couldn’t be given a pass with those numbers and never was he an innings eater either.
Don’t know where the writer came up with this!
Bounce back.
He never was there…how can he bounce back and to what!
The author omitted Freddy Peralta from the Brewers potential starters. He started 14 games for the Brewers last season after his call up, threw 78 innings, gave up only 49 hits and struck out 96. He made the playoff roster and pitched effectively in the post-season. I think he’s in their plans this year.
Wasn’t meant to be comprehensive, but you’re right. Apologies to Peralta. He’s in the mix too.
It is indeed an interesting mix. I’d force rank it this way to start but a lot to be determined in ST:
Chacin
Burnes
Nelson
Anderson
Peralta
Woodruff
Davies
Guerra
I still think Miley is added to the depth mix too. Can’t believe how well he pitched when healthy last year.
Anyone counting on Nelson being remotely close to pre-surgery has no idea what labral repair consists of.
He tore the front portion not the back. Basically, the portion that does not accelerate the throwing motion like 100% of the known cases but the deceleration portion. His prognoisis is extremely favorable but you are correct patience is prudent. This is the first ever case for a starting pitcher. There are several noted orthopedic surgeons who have weighed in on this and no doubt those interested in sports medicine are watching closely.
The scary thing is with a year off, given the dynamic of injury, he could very well throw harder then 2017 when he was 9th in cy young voting. Daunting reality for stl and chi as he would represent the biggest off-season upgrade in the division.
Miley is a FA
He said added… as in re-signed
Seager should be a good comparison for Didi Gregorius. It sounds like Didi could miss the whole season based on Seager’s timeframe.
Not really. Seager had surgery at the end of April. Didi had surgery in October.
If Seager had surgery in April, and they’re hoping he’s back by this April, wouldn’t that put Didi on track to come back in October, if at all this year? If they were on the same track (which no two people are) I can definitely see why he interpreted it that way.
@shelton Exactly. It doesn’t sound like Seager would be playing if there were games right now. He’s not ready yet.
The fact that Opening Day is in jeopardy sets the timeframe on a return at 1 calendar year. Initially they said July/Aug for Didi. That doesn’t sound realistic at all. Best hope is to have him tune up for the postseason in September. Might be tough for him.
Seager has surgery in May.
Twins look like they could win the AL Central this year as weak as it still is. I doubt they match up well against the rest of the American League though.
Win the division? LOL! The twins as currently constructed would be lucky if they win 80 games.
The Twins have a hit or miss roster. If every risk pans out they would easily have the most talent in the division that has the Tigers and Royals who wont even contend at all, the White Sox who might be one year away from contending even if they land Machado, and a Cleveland team that has taken steps back this offseason. The twins wouldn’t even need every risky player to play well to win the division if the Indians sustain too many injuries to their rotation. 80 games could legitimately win this division this year if that happens.
Historically, teams who make the playoffs start the season with the expectation: “Unless this and this and this happens, we will make the playoffs.”
whereas teams who don’t make the playoffs start the season with the expectation: “If this and this and this happens, we could make the playoffs.”
The Twins are a very good example of why the CBA is going to result in a major work stoppage or major adjustments to service time. I think there will probably be 2 years of pre-arbitration and 2 years of arbitration for a total of 4 years of control instead of 6.
If Levine has his way we will be in the bottom. He’s the cheapest GM I have ever seen
Is he the only GM you’ve ever seen?
Didn’t he just set a team record payroll last year?
He doesn’t want to spend unless he knows the twins will have a winning season. If a core group of young guys put it together, (bux & Sano) then he will spend. But they have to prove it.
Winning 80 games might be all it takes
The AL Central is very weak with the Indians taking a step back. It might not take that much more than 80 to win the division. I’d be very surprised if the AL Central winner has more than 84 wins this year.
This is the most boring off season ever.
It’s mlb. No one is irreplaceable, definitely not jhoulys chacin. Pineida could be a lights out multi inning reliever. When he was on the Yankees, his biggest issue always seemed to be that he never had all his pitches working at the same time. By the time he figured out what was on that day, he’d be down 4-1. If he just went fastball & slider he could be scary.
I think itd be a real error to give up on his change up. Its filthy. He does have consistency issues though. Thered be times where he’d go off and post up 16k. He just needs to be more consistent. The physical tools are there (although, maybe not after this surgery, but at least they were)
The Twins gm sayin machado and Harper are front runners type of signings is why the twins won’t be winners, and why baseball will die in 2021 when the at least season long strike comes about, crying billionaires robbing 20 year olds of their most productive years, this and last offseason are completely pathetic
Do you want teams to make bad signings for your amusement? Thats the only perspective where I can see someone thinking that these last few offseasons are pathetic. Get a grip. Superteams do not work in baseball as they do in basketball.
The only pathetic things (so far) in the last 2 offseasons are the contracts given to Hosmer, darvish and santana.
The twins gm is irrelevant.
If top prospects starting their debut seasons at AAA (i.e being held back for service time reasons) has truly “become the norm” – which I agree it has – it is time for the MLBPA to seriously consider filing a grievance. I doubt I’m saying anything they haven’t thought of first. What was once one team (Rays – Longoria) saying “What? Nooo, he needs a little more seasoning!”, is simply out in the open & consider normal, even smart business. But remember, if ownership thought it was kosher under the CBA, the GMs wouldn’t have hid it with “Bryant needs 2 weeks in Iowa to improve his defense” lines. Everyone needs to keep their eye on the ball here, so to speak.
As long as the big paydays (arbitration, free agency) are tied to service time, this will always be the case. I heard a suggestion to start service time when a player reaches AA or AAA. This would just cause the prospect to be kept at a lower level for the extra month or so.
There’s going to be very interesting CBA negotiations in a couple of years.
My friends and I have been debating the following idea. Your clock starts once you are added to the 40 man roster, but the rule 5 draft just means teams have to add the selected player to their 40 man roster rather than the MLB. This would prevent clubs from being able to ‘delay the clock’ so to speak.
But you can still have players take two or three years to make the majors once they’ve been added.to the 40-man, especially international players signed at 16.
This is an issue I don’t think the PA can really do anything about. Other than use it to get concessions elsewhere.
Free agency earlier in a player’s career is the main bone of contention. I’m predicting the end of arbitration Major league minimum for four years, rather than the current three, then free agency. Or instead of arbitration, there’s some sort of restricted free agency.
If they go with restricted free agency, I’d like to see them go back to the free agent draft they had in the 70’s. . In 1976, free agency was tied to a re-entry draft. In order for teams to have the right to bid for a player, they first had to draft bargaining rights. A player could only be drafted by a maximum of 12 clubs. If a player was drafted by three or more teams, only those teams could negotiate with him. If the player was drafted by two teams or fewer, then he would be free to talk contract with any of the ball clubs.
It’s a complicated situation for the PA, since kids being called up likely means a vet loses their MLB job. Not as simple as one might think and I can understand why the PA has not acted in a big way yet. I do think that it’s better for the overall product if the best players are playing though.
The Dodgers need Seager back at 100% and any question of that happening is discouraging.
“The Twins signed Pineda to a two-year, $10MM guarantee last December…” means December of 2017, right?
Yes for 2018 and 2019 seasons. As the article mentions they’d hoped to get him back mid season 2018 but that didn’t happen
I don’t want to change the historical qualities of the game, however I think something needs to be done to protect these pitchers from themselves. They’re throwing so hard, and the motion so violent, that the body can’t physically stand up to it. How can we get them to pitch rather than throw? Could you remove the mound, remove the pitching rubber and move them up to 60’ so it takes away the leverage away from the pitcher yet still makes it more difficult for the batter?
Maybe just have them pitch underhand and use softballs. I hear some of those girls are pretty badass.
What worries me is The Game being watered down by a set of ‘Stickball Conventions’.
Like today’s Pro Bowl game, it’d be tough to stomach.
Nobody wants injuries or loss of service time. But short of cancelling the games altogether, there will always be risks.
Nobody wants to move the pitcher closer to the batter. One right back at them could kill them
Wily Peralta isn’t a Brewer anymore. Maybe that link should’ve gone to Guerra.
Freddy
i think the Royals did well holding onto Zim. could work out well for them, he’s got some intriguing potential still.
Really glad Dayton Moore stayed in KC and didn’t come to ATL. We dodged a bullet there.
The Twins seriously need to pull themselves together. I mean, sure, if all those guys can bounceback and play to their capabilities then they will probably be a contender for the playoffs. However that pitching staff is mediocre at best. If they are serious about actually contending then they should make a serious push to get both Kimbrel and Keuchel. They have the available funds to accommodate both of them now, and in the future. Plus It would drastically improve their team and would also let Cleveland know that they aren’t gonna be able to let their guard down. With the rest of the division still pretty weak, this is the time to go for it. What have they got to lose?
Not listed in this report is the Cardinals. On paper they look like a good team. However, numerous Starting players are coming off injuries! These players have a history of lengthy injuries to year ending injuries. The loss of any player of this group will decrease the chances of making the playoffs for a 4th straight year. Ozuna, Fowler, Carpenter, DeJong, Wong, Molina, Wainwright, Wacha, C. Martinez, Reyes, Miller, Leone, Gregerson, etc. Count on injuries recurring with Carpenter, Wainwright, Wacha, C. Martinez, Fowler