The trade of Ryan Doumit has added yet another arm in the race for the 5th spot in the Twins starting rotation of 2014. I can count 9 arms that will battle for that spot this Spring. Those names are Kyle Gibson, Vance Worley, Sam Deduno, Alex Meyer, Trevor May, Scott Diamond, Andrew Albers, Kris Johnson, and newly acquired Sean Gilmartin. Is there a better way to sort this out than a 9 man Royal Rumble? That's easy, no there is not.
As the contestants enter the ring and the announcer is announcing our contestants Twins number 1 pitching prospect Alex Meyer leans into Trevor May and tells him, "Trev, let's face it, the Twins are moving Correia to make room for me by July 31st at the latest. Let me help you out by taking a dive to help you out bro. Plus it'll keep my shoulder healthy." Trevor responds with, "Thanks Al, with you out of the mix I think I'll have a legit shot!"
As the bell sounds to begin the rumble Trevor takes down Alex and puts him in the figure four submission and Alex immediately taps out leaving us with just 8 to continue the battle for the 5th spot in the Twins rotation this upcoming season.
Suddenly our attention goes to the battle of the lefties. As returning lefties in Scott Diamond and Andrew Albers are locked on taking each other out and throwing lefty haymakers back and forth, Kris Johnson, another soft tossing lefty acquired from the Pirates this offseason tries to take Albers and Diamond out at once. He grabs a chair and sprints his way over to try and knock them both out with one swing of the chair and misses. Albers and Diamond look at each other quick and then both grab Johnson and suplex him. Diamond then holds him down as Albers climbs the turnbuckle and jumps off giving Johnson the ole elbow off the turnbuckle and they both pin him down for the 3 count. As Albers goes to give Diamond a high five for what they just accomplished, Diamond grabs Albers's arm and puts it in an armbar forcing Albers to tap out and dropping the total to 6 left to duke it out for the final spot.
Next we see Gibson and May on each side of Worley holding him against the ropes across the ring a crazed Deduno is getting ready to charge at a restrained Worley. Deduno shoves his necklace in his mouth and charges and at the last second Worley throws his foot in the air and catches Deduno in the face and he drops. Worley then flips both Gibson and May to the ground and gives the crowd a Vanimal like roar. Worley then gets on top of an out cold Deduno for the 3 count. As he rises from that he takes a tandem clothes line from Gibson and May. Gibson gives his own roar and May tries to catch Gibson off guard throwing a haymaker his way. Gibson ducks and grabs May and choke slams him lifting him way into the air and throwing him down. Gibson covers May for the 3 count, leaving our final four for the spot down to Diamond, Gilmartin, Worley, and Gibson.
Diamond goes over to Gilmartin just as Gibson is covering May and tells him, "Us lefties got to stay together, with Worley still out cold let's tag team Gibson." Gilmartin smiles and heads Gibson's way, Diamond then gives the crowd an absolute evil smile and kicks Gilmartin in the knee from behind, dropping him to his knees. Diamond then quickly puts Gilmartin in a sleeper hold and doesn't let go until he gets the tap out from Gilmartin. Gibson hears the commotion and quickly gets up and goes after Diamond.
As Diamond and Gibson continue to battle back and forth, Worley begins to wake up, but makes sure that Gibson and Diamond do not notice. Gibson backs Diamond into a corner and begins delivering plenty of punches to the mid section of Diamond. Worley now gets to his feet and picks up a chair, Diamond sees him but with Gibson facing the opposite direction he has no idea what's coming, and Diamond ducks as Worley swings the chair and catches Gibson. Diamond falls to the ground just trying catch his breath after all the Gibson haymakers as Worley covers Gibson for the 3 count.
That leaves us with Diamond and Worley left for the final spot in the rotation. Both out of minor league options, loser likely no longer a Twin. They would battle back and forth, ultimately Worley's lack of being in shape and Diamond's craftiness would be the deciding factor. After the long back and forth Worley happens you throw Diamond into the corner, completely out of breath and energy he picks up the chair and takes one last swing with everything he had left at Diamond. Diamond ducks and rolls grabbing Worley as he rolls catching him completely off guard and pinning him for the 3 count.
And we have our winner in Scott Diamond! Not the strongest or fastest guy, but out smarted his competition.
The real competition this Spring won't be nearly as entertaining, but should be interesting to follow. Especially with the fact that both Diamond and Worley are out of options. The Twins actually seem to have depth now that they added 2 starting pitchers in Nolasco and Hughes. I think the 5th spot should go to Gibson, but I see the Twins starting him in Rochester to control his innings. I believe Deduno will start the season on the DL to ensure his shoulder is completely healed from off season surgery. Leaving the last spot truly up to Diamond or Worley and the loser could either end up in the bullpen, or on another roster since both are out of options.
All in all, it will be interesting to see who grabs that spot this Spring, who finds a way to stay on our roster, and who is unfortunately no longer here.
Written by Nick Calo, follow me on Twitter for more updates and sports thoughts @PRH1987
As the contestants enter the ring and the announcer is announcing our contestants Twins number 1 pitching prospect Alex Meyer leans into Trevor May and tells him, "Trev, let's face it, the Twins are moving Correia to make room for me by July 31st at the latest. Let me help you out by taking a dive to help you out bro. Plus it'll keep my shoulder healthy." Trevor responds with, "Thanks Al, with you out of the mix I think I'll have a legit shot!"
As the bell sounds to begin the rumble Trevor takes down Alex and puts him in the figure four submission and Alex immediately taps out leaving us with just 8 to continue the battle for the 5th spot in the Twins rotation this upcoming season.
Suddenly our attention goes to the battle of the lefties. As returning lefties in Scott Diamond and Andrew Albers are locked on taking each other out and throwing lefty haymakers back and forth, Kris Johnson, another soft tossing lefty acquired from the Pirates this offseason tries to take Albers and Diamond out at once. He grabs a chair and sprints his way over to try and knock them both out with one swing of the chair and misses. Albers and Diamond look at each other quick and then both grab Johnson and suplex him. Diamond then holds him down as Albers climbs the turnbuckle and jumps off giving Johnson the ole elbow off the turnbuckle and they both pin him down for the 3 count. As Albers goes to give Diamond a high five for what they just accomplished, Diamond grabs Albers's arm and puts it in an armbar forcing Albers to tap out and dropping the total to 6 left to duke it out for the final spot.
Next we see Gibson and May on each side of Worley holding him against the ropes across the ring a crazed Deduno is getting ready to charge at a restrained Worley. Deduno shoves his necklace in his mouth and charges and at the last second Worley throws his foot in the air and catches Deduno in the face and he drops. Worley then flips both Gibson and May to the ground and gives the crowd a Vanimal like roar. Worley then gets on top of an out cold Deduno for the 3 count. As he rises from that he takes a tandem clothes line from Gibson and May. Gibson gives his own roar and May tries to catch Gibson off guard throwing a haymaker his way. Gibson ducks and grabs May and choke slams him lifting him way into the air and throwing him down. Gibson covers May for the 3 count, leaving our final four for the spot down to Diamond, Gilmartin, Worley, and Gibson.
Diamond goes over to Gilmartin just as Gibson is covering May and tells him, "Us lefties got to stay together, with Worley still out cold let's tag team Gibson." Gilmartin smiles and heads Gibson's way, Diamond then gives the crowd an absolute evil smile and kicks Gilmartin in the knee from behind, dropping him to his knees. Diamond then quickly puts Gilmartin in a sleeper hold and doesn't let go until he gets the tap out from Gilmartin. Gibson hears the commotion and quickly gets up and goes after Diamond.
As Diamond and Gibson continue to battle back and forth, Worley begins to wake up, but makes sure that Gibson and Diamond do not notice. Gibson backs Diamond into a corner and begins delivering plenty of punches to the mid section of Diamond. Worley now gets to his feet and picks up a chair, Diamond sees him but with Gibson facing the opposite direction he has no idea what's coming, and Diamond ducks as Worley swings the chair and catches Gibson. Diamond falls to the ground just trying catch his breath after all the Gibson haymakers as Worley covers Gibson for the 3 count.
That leaves us with Diamond and Worley left for the final spot in the rotation. Both out of minor league options, loser likely no longer a Twin. They would battle back and forth, ultimately Worley's lack of being in shape and Diamond's craftiness would be the deciding factor. After the long back and forth Worley happens you throw Diamond into the corner, completely out of breath and energy he picks up the chair and takes one last swing with everything he had left at Diamond. Diamond ducks and rolls grabbing Worley as he rolls catching him completely off guard and pinning him for the 3 count.
And we have our winner in Scott Diamond! Not the strongest or fastest guy, but out smarted his competition.
The real competition this Spring won't be nearly as entertaining, but should be interesting to follow. Especially with the fact that both Diamond and Worley are out of options. The Twins actually seem to have depth now that they added 2 starting pitchers in Nolasco and Hughes. I think the 5th spot should go to Gibson, but I see the Twins starting him in Rochester to control his innings. I believe Deduno will start the season on the DL to ensure his shoulder is completely healed from off season surgery. Leaving the last spot truly up to Diamond or Worley and the loser could either end up in the bullpen, or on another roster since both are out of options.
All in all, it will be interesting to see who grabs that spot this Spring, who finds a way to stay on our roster, and who is unfortunately no longer here.
Written by Nick Calo, follow me on Twitter for more updates and sports thoughts @PRH1987