The Alex Meyer Dilemma

During a radio panel at TwinsFest last week, Twins’ general manager Terry Ryan said that the fifth spot in the starting rotation will be determined based on performance in spring training. He went on to say that Alex Meyer, No. 29 on the recently released Top 100 prospect list from MLB.com, has the “stuff” that Twins starters have been lacking for some time now.

The Twins No. 3 prospect

You might be wondering what exactly Ryan is alluding to when he refers to Meyer’s “stuff”.

What the GM was trying to say is that Meyer has an arsenal of strong pitches that has been deemed ace-caliber since he was drafted by the Washington Nationals in the first round of the 2011 draft.

Most notably, Meyer boasts a fastball that sits in the high 90s and has good movement on the tail end. He also has a plus-slider and an improving changeup, which should give him an ideal mix of options to keep batters off balance.

Future Ace?

The 6’9’’ right-hander has spent the last four years in the minor leagues with solid if not highly-impressive results, suggesting he has had more than enough seasoning to take another step forward.

This leads to a good problem for the Twins to have when the season starts. Do they:

A) Call Meyer up to the big league rotation, making him susceptible to a rough transition and giving the Twins one less year of team control.

B) Call Meyer up to the big league bullpen, allowing him to get somewhat of a feel for pitching to the best in the business without wearing him out.

C) Keep him in the Triple-A rotation until mid-season, giving Meyer extra seasoning and the Twins that extra year of team control.

Meyer made his Target Field debut in last year's Futures game. 

All of these options come with questions and concerns.

If he starts the year in the big-league rotation, as many fans are demanding, what happens if he is ineffective? What if his confidence is damaged from being unleashed to MLB hitting too early?

If he starts in the bullpen, which is already quite crowded, who do the Twins bump off? How will the team determine when it’s time to stretch him back into a starter?

If they send him back to the minors, what more will he have to prove before he can be called up? He already has shown great results and will be 25 years old next season.

Like I stated before, this is a good issue for a team to have. After all, he still has monster potential, he is still pretty healthy and the team will still have control for years to come. The only variable is when he should be unleashed.

Fun fact: Meyer doubles as a substitute teacher in the off season 

Many great starting pitchers have opened their big league careers in the bullpen. Some notable names in that category: David Price, Drew Smyly, Johan Santana and Jeff Samardzija (who didn’t become a regular starter until his fifth year with the big league club).

Also, fans shouldn’t get too worked up over the fact that Meyer is considered pretty old to still be a prospect. After all, the great Randy Johnson didn’t make his debut until he was 25, and he is headed to the Hall of Fame.