Tim Stauffer will compete with Alex Meyer, Tommy Milone, Mike Pelfrey and Trevor May for the fifth starter role this spring. "If he can't handle it, then he goes to the bullpen," GM Terry Ryan told the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.

Stauffer will compete with Alex Meyer, Tommy Milone, Mike Pelfrey and Trevor May for the fifth starter role this spring. "If he can't handle it, then he goes to the bullpen," GM Terry Ryan told the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Analysis:

It seems most likely that Stauffer will be a swing man/long reliever in the bullpen this season, but the competition for the fifth starter job appears wide open at the start of spring training.