It pains us to say this because we thought Mike Pelfrey was due for a big year -- so much so that we made a friendly wager with Jon Marthaler about it -- but it might be time, at least temporarily, to let Pelfrey cure what ails him out of the bullpen instead of the starting rotation. In his place, the Twins could seamlessly insert Sam Deduno -- either their best or second-best starter last year, depending on your perspective of Kevin Correia.

Pelfrey's velocity is down from a year ago, which as Nick Nelson notes is quite odd for a pitcher in his second year back from Tommy John surgery. He doesn't look overly confident on the mound, which is one of those "eye test" things but can be an important intangible.

Deduno has a 1.84 ERA in 14.2 innings out of the bullpen. He's been part of a very effective relief group -- one that has a run of 25 consecutive scoreless innings -- but his role as a long reliever is not nearly as important as a potential role as another solid starter in a rotation that could use some more stability.

Maybe Pelfrey gets one more try to sort things out. Or maybe, if the Twins are serious about continuing to be proactive about their roster, they make the move now.