So let’s comb through that list and see who deserves a shot to pitch when the Twins have a little more to play for.

Diamond. The young lefty has been such a pleasant surprise that he deserves a post all to himself, and I promise that one will come out soon. For now, let’s just agree that Diamond has pitched his way onto the 2013 Opening Day roster. The only things that should prevent that are an injury or the discovery that he faked his identity (a la Leo Nunez and Fausto Carmona) to escape from Canada.

Scott Diamond (if that is his real name) is the only Twins' starter who has earned a job next year. Photo by Brace Hemmelgarn-US PRESSWIRE

Blackburn. Another pitcher who deserves his own post, Blackburn already got one. A couple weeks ago I opined that the Twins should cut ties with Blackburn, and I stand by that assertion. He has given the team some good years, but he is too young to be part of a rebuild and not a good enough pitcher to play for a contender. Of course, I don’t think for a second that the Twins actually will release him prior to 2013, but it’s still the right thing to do.

De Vries. Now we’re getting to the interesting pitchers. At first glance, DeVries appears to be a Diamond-like revelation. Like Diamond, the Minnesota native went undrafted out of college, but he clawed his way through the minors and broke into MLB at age 27. He has a 3.81 ERA and five quality starts. And he is actually a better strikeout pitcher than anyone else in the rotation – his 6.3 K/9 is tops on the Twins. But he has also given up an alarming number of home runs: 13 in 59 innings pitched. If he can find a way to cut down the longballs, he deserves a chance to compete for a spot next year. But that might be a big “if.”

Hendriks. Nothing has gone right for Hendriks in the Major Leagues this year, least of all the fact that opponents keep crushing his pitches. He’s 0-5 with a 7.04 ERA and 10 homers allowed in eight starts. But he’s also only 23, which means we have every reason to expect him to get better next year (if you don’t believe me, just look at how much better 24 year old Ben Revere is this year than his age 23 season). The even better news is that Hendriks has shut down minor league hitters at every level. At AAA this year he’s 8-2 with a dazzling 2.14 ERA and a respectable 7.0 K/9. Hendriks will eventually be a competent MLB starting pitcher, it’s just a question of when. He deserves a long look in Spring Training for 2013.

Duensing. Duensing is a Major League pitcher, but does he belong in the bullpen or the starting rotation? A certain internet writer argued a few months ago that Duensing would best serve the Twins as a starter, noting that he had pitched quite well in that role in 2009 and 2010. But his starting record has been spotty in 2012; opponents have put up a .345/.369/.549 line when he starts, compared to .238/.298/.306 when he relieves. And with Glen Perkins likely to be the Twins’ closer in 2013, the team will probably Duensing’s left arm to be available in the bullpen. Thus, unless the Twins somehow find another lefty capable of pitching in the late innings, Duensing should not be in the mix for a starting spot next year.

Walters. Thanks to an offseason spent scrounging for minor league free agents, the Twins have a surplus of 27 and 28 year olds who have had some success in the minors but have never been able to put it together in MLB. Walters is one of them. Before hitting the Disabled List with a shoulder injury, Walters put together a few surprisingly good starts, but he got knocked around in others. He’s a flyball pitcher who has always had homer trouble, and his control has never been as impeccable as the Twins like to see. He put up a 5.40 ERA and a 5.62 FIP in his seven start audition this year. That should be enough data for the Twins not to bring him back in 2013.

Deduno. Deduno is fun to watch, mostly because even he seems to have no idea where his pitches will end up. Through six starts, Deduno is 3-0 with a 3.27 ERA, but it’s hard to tell if that statline is completely the result of luck or if it’s because Deduno is a pitcher like none ever seen before on Earth, one whose “crazy” fastball is as confusing as his curveball is nasty. He also has a slider, but it’s nowhere near as interesting as the other two pitches. It’s difficult to see how Deduno could keep up a sub-4.00 ERA for long, though, since he has actually walked more batters (25) than he has struck out (22). At age 28, it’s difficult to believe that he’ll somehow learn to improve his control, but if he could, his two pitch combo would make him an excellent bullpen candidate. As it is, though, Deduno is a long-shot to wear a Twins uniform next April.

Swarzak. Like Duensing, Swarzak is a pitcher who does not fit neatly into the bullpen or the starting rotation. In a way, he’s like the Nick Punto of pitchers, a utility man who can help the team not by dominating the opposition, but by being available to do the bare minimum needed in any situation. Or if you’re a Vikings fan who remembers the 1990s, Swarzak the baseball version of Leroy Hoard, who once said: Coach, if you need one yard, I’ll get you three yards. If you need five yards, I’ll get you three yards.” Swarzak won’t strike out many batters, but you can count on him to post an ERA between 4.00 and 5.00 and eat some valuable innings. His best role is in long relief with the occasional emergency start.

Baker. The Twins can keep Baker around if they’re willing to pick up his $9 million option, but they’re more likely to decline it and try to sign him to a cheaper one-year deal. If he’s healthy by next spring, he deserves a chance to win a job based on his past production.

Gibson. Like Baker, Gibson had Tommy John surgery, but his surgery occurred last year, which means he’ll definitely be healthy by Spring Training. How effective he’ll be is, of course, another story. Gibson was a solid, but not awe-inspiring, prospect before he got hurt, and most people seem to think he could be a decent #3 starter one day.

To sum it up: Diamond is the only one who deserves a guaranteed job next year. Four others could be starters for the 2013 Twins. Baker and Gibson should start as long as they are healthy and effective. DeVries and Hendriks are long-shots, but they deserve a chance to at least compete for a back-of-the-rotation job. Five pitchers competing for five jobs seems like a perfect fit, but in reality it probably won’t work out that way. At least one or two will likely have health problems or fail to impress in the spring. And even if all five are healthy, none of them is exactly an awe-inspiring presence near the top of a rotation. Thus, the Twins should try to bring in at least one, and preferably two, pitchers via trade or free agency.

Who those others should be will be the subject of a future post.

Marquis is the latest in a long line of Twins DFA'd in 2012. Photo by Benny Sieu-US PRESSWIRE

After a nightmarish start in Milwaukee, the Twins are designating Jason Marquis for assignment. The move likely ends his tenure with the organization. The announcement is not expected to be official until tomorrow morning, and there is no definitive answer as to which pitcher will replace Marquis in the starting rotation. Candidates include Anthony Swarzak, Brian Duensing, Liam Hendriks, and Cole DeVries.

In a sign of how truly awful the 2012 season has been, Marquis is just the latest in a long line of Twins to be DFA this year. He joins Matt Maloney, Sean Burroughs, Luke Hughes, and Clete Thomas in that club.

I wish Mr. Marquis well. By all accounts he is a positive clubhouse presence and a good human being, and he has had a very eventful Major League career so far. That said, I would like to take this opportunity to tell the Twins:

I told you so!

Marquis was never a good fit for the Twins, as I vehemently pointed out last December. As a groundball pitcher who did not even have a track record of good control, Marquis never offered anything that the team did not already have in Hendriks, Swarzak, or Nick Blackburn. You could argue that Terry Ryan was not interested in contending, but rather was focused on rebuilding, but even so the Marquis move made little sense. Why waste $3 million on a 33 year old veteran when a pitcher like Hendriks or Swarzak could lose games just as many games for the MLB minimum salary? And luring him to the American League, given his track record of giving up copious hits in the less-potent National League, was like giving an atomic bomb to a three year old.

Marquis would have been a decent pickup for a National League team that hoped to contend, but just needed someone to shore up the #5 slot in the rotation. None of those traits apply to the Twins, a rebuilding American League team who needs help everywhere.

As it turned out, Marquis only provided the Twins with seven starts and 34 innings pitched. He did not even last as long as some of the Twins’ other infamously bad veteran pitcher signings, like Livan Hernandez (23 starts, 139.2 innings pitched in 2008) or Ramon Ortiz (10 starts, 91 innings in 2007). In those seven starts, Marquis finished with an ERA of 8.47. He actually walked more batters (14) than he struck out (12), and he gave up an astounding 52 hits in his short time with the Twins.

As long as I’m busy saying “I told you so,” I would like to take this opportunity to point out that one quarter of the way through the season, Edwin Jackson is sporting a 3.31 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, and 8.0 K/9 for the Nationals. I argued fervently for the Twins to sign Jackson this offseason. Instead, the Nats got him for a one year deal worth $11 million, which really isn’t much more than the Twins shelled out to sign Marquis, Matt Capps, and Joel Zumaya.

Francisco Liriano: Not DFA... yet. Photo by Jesse Johnson-US PRESSWIRE

Good morning, Twins fans. Our favorite team now sits at 7-21. There has to be some sort of bright side to suffering through all this losing; I’ll try to write a post about it sometime soon.

Francisco Liriano was not a bright side yesterday. Once again, Liriano seems to have done the absolute minimum necessary to keep his job. He managed to make it through five innings but again yielded four runs. He also issued three more bases on balls, which brings his season total to 19 walks in 26.2 innings pitched. The only inning where Liriano looked good on the mound was the second. In that inning, Liriano struck out Mark Trumbo and Howie Kendrick with a couple of his best sliders. Then Vernon Wells worked out a long at bat before hitting an infield single, so even that inning was not completely encouraging. All in all, Liriano has been the most consistent starter for the Twins. In every one of his starts, he has allowed either four or five runs, and he has pitched either four or five innings in all but two. And aside from his first start against Baltimore, Liriano has at least three walks in each of those short starts.

Say what you will about the Twins, but you can’t say they aren’t stubborn. Ron Gardenhire stated that they are going to “keep running [Liriano] out there.” I guess they’re trying to prove some sort of point, but I’m not sure what it is.

Two new Twins got their first hits with the team yesterday. New acquisition Erik Komatsu actually earned a pair of them after going hitless in six at bats at Seattle. His first hit in the third inning mercifully ended all the speculation that Weaver might throw another no-hitter. Maybe it’s crazy, but Komatsu just might have the potential to be a fan-favorite on this sorry team. He plays with a rookie’s energy, he seems to know how to get on base (though that skill might take time to develop at the MLB level), and he has an interesting side gig as a musician. Also, he played the song “Fight for Your Right (to Party) as his walk-up tune yesterday. That decision was presumably an homage to recently-deceased Beastie Boy Adam Yauch, and it should help make him popular among lovers of Generation X music.

Dozier’s already a fan favorite by virtue of succeeding in the minor leagues for a team that is terrible at the Major League level. He flied out a couple of times and grounded out in his first three at bats, but he lined a single in the eighth, long after any sensible person (including this writer) had stopped watching the awful game. Dozier also displayed some impressive range at shortstop by making an impressive play on a gounder. If, like this writer, you turned off the television long before that play happened, you can watch it here.

Finally, Rochester pitcher Cole DeVries has been on a tear this season. Since his 2008 season at Fort Myers, the former Gopher has never put up any sort of impressive numbers. But through five starts in 2012, DeVries has a 2.89 ERA and 27 strikeouts in 28 innings. At 27 years old, DeVries is a big longshot to ever become a regular starter in MLB. But given that the Twins have only one competent starting pitcher on the MLB club (Carl Pavano), and that the team has no chance of being competitive this year, they have nothing to lose by calling DeVries up and giving him a chance to start a few games.