Twins sound ready to dump Mike Pelfrey from rotation - MLB

Mike Pelfrey turned in another terrible start for the Twins today, allowing five runs in four innings against the Dodgers to drop to 0-3 with a 7.99 ERA on the season.

Pelfrey was also terrible for the Twins last season, going 5-13 with a 5.19 ERA in 29 starts, yet for some reason Minnesota felt the need to re-sign him and gave him a two-year contract worth $11 million.

And now, five starts into that deal, it sounds like they’re preparing to dump him from the rotation. Manager Ron Gardenhire told reporters after the game that the coaching staff will meet to discuss the options with Pelfrey, but Samuel Deduno is available to step into the rotation if needed and the Twins also have top prospect Alex Meyer waiting in the wings at Triple-A.

Re-signing Pelfrey struck me as a bad idea at the time and certainly looks even worse now, with a slight drop in velocity and horrendous control suggesting that he may not be at full strength physically in addition to simply not being all that good.

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ST. LOUIS — Miles Mikolas is sticking with the St. Louis Cardinals.

The right-hander signed a three-year, $55.75 million contract on Friday that will carry through the 2025 season.

The new deal replaces a $68 million, four-year contract signed in February 2019 that covered the 2020-23 seasons and was set to pay $15.75 million this year.

Mikolas will receive a $5 million signing bonus payable July 1 and will make $18.75 million in 2023 and $16 million in each of the following two seasons. Mikolas can earn a $250,000 bonus for winning a Cy Young Award, $50,000 for All-Star election or selection or winning a Gold Glove, $100,000 for League Championship Series MVP and $150,000 for World Series MVP.

Mikolas is scheduled to make the second opening-day start of his big league career next Thursday when the Cardinals host Toronto. Mikolas went 12-13 with a 3.29 ERA last season while helping St. Louis to the NL Central title.

“Miles stands among the top pitchers in the game today, and has continued to provide a steady presence for us both in the rotation and inside the clubhouse,” St. Louis general manager John Mozeliak said in a statement.

Mikolas is 45-40 with a 3.79 in 143 games with San Diego, Texas and St. Louis. He recently pitched six shutout innings in two appearances for the U.S. in the World Baseball Classic.