Badsmerf

I'm pretty sure he just has to be on the 40 man and it doesn't burn an option. That is why rosters expand and so many minor league guys get looks.

Why are you assuming Worley would be a big part of the rotation? I don't get these types of assumptions.

What I find troublesome is that some are insinuating that Sano will become disgruntled with being disciplined. Really? He isn't Manny Ramirez, and even Manny dealt with disciplines at the MLB level during his career. He is a 20 yo kid from Latin America. I'm pretty sure he knows what discipline is and how to handle it. The Twins have been pretty good to him, I don't think he is going to turn on them because he missed a few games. I was fine with a simple day off after the little HR stunt, but once the mouthing off part came out, it really put this into context. Again, this is a 20 yo being dismissive to the GM of the Twins. Not acceptable. There is no way any adult here (out of college) would accept this in their workplace, baseball is still real life.

From the surface Rosario looks to me like he has the contact ability of Rod Carew with more power. His ceiling might be a .320 BA with 10-15 HR and 30 2b. I'm not sure if he'll develop the patience Carew did, but he has shown some ability to walk. His 2012 numbers in Beliot are looking pretty realistic right now. Some guys can just hit, and I think Rosario might be one of them. Its going to be hard to keep him off the roster.

This is pretty strange to me. He has had nothing but set-backs since he started the season, so perhaps he is unhappy with his progress. It could also be that he will not be able to pitch the rest of the season and would rather focus on getting healthy outside the organization. I have a hard time believing a 31 year old is going to throw in the towel, but its possible. I had high hopes Harden would make it back healthy this season and provide some Ace potential in the rotation. I hope we hear more about this.

That is so hard to answer. To SF I'd say Matt Cain, Joe Nathan and Liriano (I would have done that deal instead). That might have actually produced some playoff wins with Matt Cain. To ATL (would be right before they got McCann) Wainwright, Francoeur. And those would be the only two I could make sense. It would be difficult to trade Joe for what he would be worth since he hadn't actually had any success yet. So far he's had a HOF career and I doubt the Twins would have received that kind of value for him.

I feel the same way as KLaw. He needs to be challenged and right now he is feasting. Let him see some real pitchers.

I'm fine with the attitude, not fine with the action. If I was the other team... he'd be hit in the next AB. Try doing that in the pros, almost guarantee very next AB he gets hit, or the next batter gets hit. I watched the video and kept thinking to myself "shouldn't he be at 1b by now?" Nope, he flipped the bat and finally left the batters box after the ball had left the park. No problem with sitting him a few days as a lesson. Just like I had no problem with Rosario sitting a few games. They are not bigger than the game, no matter how much talent and how well they do. Respect should always be given. I don't think Buxton will ever have this issue.

Missed my point. I don't feel like this trade was as amazing as others. Ryan and his scouts identified some guys that had talent. It makes me wonder where these guys went, because he hasn't been able to identify it since. The trade worked out, and has been easily his best trade. That trade alone doesn't excuse the poor decisions and lack of effort he's shown since. I'm a hater, can't help it.

I hate this discussion. The Giants were idiots for letting AJ go. If he had stayed there and produced what he did during those years he would be a top 10 catcher during that duration. Joe Nathan was obviously pretty good too. BOOF! and Liriano however, didn't produce much IMO. Liriano had a half season of elite play and another season of good ball. Besides that, he didn't do **** and was a constant headache. He is glorified because of his dominance in a small sample along with potential that he delivered on for one season. BOOF! was a terrible pitcher. His best season he had a lucky 4.22 ERA and was out of the league in 4 years. I will argue up and down about this trade. Sure Nathan was great, so was AJ. Liriano had great talent and his 1.5 great seasons combined with Nathan's career was more valuable than what AJ did. I just hate this argument as a feather in the cap of Terry Ryan. It is more a representation of how misguided the Giants were than Terry Ryan's ability to manage a team. Without that trade, he would not be the GM right now.

To ask the same question, which you'll probably answer before I'm done posting, is how? I've struggled to get where I'm at and I come from a wealthy family and have a good education. Salaries at lower end jobs just don't provide enough incentive for people to not only just keep them, but accept them in the first place. I'm starting to think Fight Club isn't a bad idea.

How are you going to narrow that gap? I struggle with this too. I believe the gap is far far too wide between the socioeconomic groups. The rich are too rich and the poor too poor. The distribution used to be much more gradual, and now... exponential would be an understatement. I feel liberal when I look at it (and a little dirty and sexy at the same time...). But it is real. Outside of taking this money away from these people, I don't see it changing. Unfortunately this reality is the America that we live in. It is not the opportunistic society that existed 30 years ago.

I understand your points Brock, and I think you have some very valid points. At the very base of the issue though, I blame the people who are committing the crimes. It is the personal responsibility model I have been raised by which looks at an event that happens and the easiest way to change the outcome is by my actions. Outside influences only play a part. I don't disagree with the sentencing being proportional, I don't disagree that white people play a part or that lower class citizens deserve to have more respect. However, it isn't easy to respect a group of people (not all BTW) that are in the position they are for the continued choices they make.

I completely agree. But the bigger question should be why is this happening! I don't think the answer is quick and easy. I don't think ending racism is the answer or realistic. I think the answer is more complicated and more difficult, which is why it has been a major problem for nearly a century. I really haven't spent enough time in discussions, research, or time spent brainstorming to come up with a valid solution (we all know I could if I wanted to though).

I'm going to call a name, Brock, if you want you can edit my post. Naive. That is what people are that ask this question about race. You want to know why black males get racially profiled? Project America: Crime: Prison Population: Prison Population by Race Quick and dirty graph, but it illustrates why. Black males are far and away the most likely profile to be in jail. Now, I understand there are other factors that can contribute to black males being in jail more often than white males. However, the discrepancy is far too great to attribute it to simple things like money to fight cases (especially since that itself is profiling white males). That is my problem with people pulling the race card. Simply put, the numbers support black males being more likely to commit crimes. I've seen this in many more places than this one site, and would be open to anyone providing real evidence that states otherwise. Just like in baseball, when the numbers point to something so obvious, you can't just ignore it. Part of the problem is "the system" but there is also a cultural problem. Anyone that has spent time in urban Minneapolis can attest to the diseased attitude that exists there. Since we want to discuss race in this case, I think you have a point Brock. However, I would be playing the numbers (like L vs. R splits IMO) if I found a young black male that looked suspicious. Is that racism or is that recognizing trends? This is where I believe things get too murky. If the black community wants to stop this they need to stop getting put in jail. I'm sure somebody will have evidence that refutes what I've written, and I claim to be no expert in racial criminal justice.

Just to be clear, never thought Pseudo was being a dick to me (he's a softy and I'm usually the one being a dick). I've been busy and haven't been able to comment, sorry for missing the convo comrades. Why does race have to be pulled into any situation where a white person kills a black person? It goes the other way easily as often and for blatant racism that doesn't get near the attention. I understand racism is bad, but the story being inflated into something that wasn't supported by evidence has led to a murder being without any justice. Zimmerman acted in a way that was negligent, not in a way that he hated black kids. If anyone wants to debate black people getting profiled we can start a different thread about it, as I don't think that is really what this thread is about. There are many cases I would agree that racism is a motivation, this is not one. Hooded teenager, regardless of color would have been in his radar. I'm also in the camp that "hate" crimes are a shortsighted attempt by the courts to end racism. I don't agree that we can attribute special circumstances to a crime that was done for any specific reason. We don't punish sex offenders more severely if they like boys more than girls. In fact, in order to classify a "hate" crime you have to prove what motivated it, which is much different than actually proving if a crime was committed.

Wow. I wish I could be eloquent right now, but I'm hung over and just trying my best to spell words correctly right now. Zimmerman would be in jail if the prosecution weren't idiots. This isn't about race, this is about definition of the law. Self defense is self defense, there is a reason we have it. This case is an illustration of how self defense can be manipulated. Don't try telling me this is about ****ing race. To Zimmerman it might have been, but to the definition of the law, it is not.

Has there ever been a prospect that didn't do well that actually made it to the MLB? I'm not even talking about being good, just a replacement level player. I'm looking up guys now. Plouffe: .719 OPS at age 18 Can't find any other examples of guys that were sent there and struggled. A lot of guys skipped that level. I'd keep looking, but am past caring now.

Landa is eating up the Appalachian league. That league must be terrible. All the Twins prospects destroy it whether they are pitchers or hitters. I don't really see the value in it anymore. The stats tell us nothing. Perhaps it is just another short season league for guys to develop in and nothing more than getting reps. That sucks to think of it that way.

Not much new here. I really like Berardino though, and read anything of significance he posts. I feel like he has a great approach to his job. I'm guessing JR is going to hold his cards pretty tight. If things go right the Twins will be a playoff caliber team in 2015 and more from then on. Next year they could even surprise people.

I'm glad we have some film of him pre-professional baseball. It will be fun to compare how his delivery is refined.

Tonight he came back against Bristol again. The results were much different this time. 5 IP 5 H 1 ER 2 BB 6 SO. Another nice game. Updated season stat line: 22.1 IP 13 H 5 ER 9 BB 25 SO 2.01 ERA .171 AVG Berrios only threw 14 innings in E-Town last year and started in CR. I wonder how much longer Jorge will have to stay down. It really doesn't seem like this league is challenging him much right now.

Pitt having that many good prospects on an already good team...

Well, I know what baseball looks like when the whole field is toasted... not very pretty.