Bob Sacamento

That's just where the camera snapped with the best picture of his face The trainer is sitting by him. As a Doctor who works with plantar fasciitis, I know the symptoms when I see it. Like I said could be nothing, but he was rubbing the length of the fascia and the metatarsal heads as well as dorsiflexing his foot and extending toes which is the hallmark stretch for the plantar fascia. It could be a one time thing but it's usually not as it takes awhile to irritate. In my clinical experience, the biggest culprit usually is when a patient starts to run especially if it isn't done incrementally. Sound like a plausible scenario for our career infielder Sano who's not accustomed to running as much as he has been in the outfield....just saying something to look out for and I'm sure the trainer is on it. And heel spurs are NOT synonymous with plantar fasciitis, it often leads to plantar fasciitis but the two are not the same

LOL, like I said probably nothing. I only reported it because in all my years of going to spring training, gcl, extended spring, instructs, I've never seen a player (minor or majors) take just a shoe off and start vigorously massaging the bottom of their foot....just saying

As of right now LaMonte Wade is designated to the Low A workout group so unless something shocking happens in spring look for him to start the year in Cedar Rapids.

On Friday, the major league club had a scheduled game at 1pm in Bradenton, the home of the Pittsburgh Pirates, and because of that the team bus left Fort Myers around 930am. In most cases, this being one of them, most of the MLB players DO NOT make the bus trips to visiting teams. I believe the MLB rule is 4 MLBers must be on the roster for visiting games and most teams take that to heart by sending only four players. The rest of the team didn't take to the field til about 10am and it was apparent that the Twins bus ride didn't contain many MLB caliber guys as Buxton, Sano, Rosario, Dozier, Plouffe, Park, Mauer, and Suzuki appeared from the locker room to take the field. Practices like these are usually very abbreviated with less structure, giving the players more free time to converse with each other and fans. As the players took to the field, they started with light jogging warmups and soft tossing before they started their hitting, fielding, and base running practice. The first group to the batting cages were Plouffe, Park and Mauer while Sano, Buxton, and Rosario worked on reads and running down balls in the outfield. Afterwards, they the trio came back to the dugout where Sano could be seen and heard complaining about his right foot. Now it could have been nothing but from my own medical background and personal experience, the area that was bothersome looked to be the plantar fascia which is an issue no one wants just ask Albert Pujols. Park said through his translator he was trying to work on his follow thru, thus swinging at the tee with his backhand solely on the bat. Whatever he seemed to be doing worked out as he hit a grandslam in his next at bat the next day. All while this is going on at or near Hammond Stadium, Field 2, 3, and 4 were being used by the lower level minor leaguers whom were mostly all in town despite their report date not being til the 8th. Players of note were Nick Gordon, Stephen Gonsalves, Kohl Stewart (hair about shoulder length), and many others. I can tell you first hand that Nick Gordon spent ALOT of time in the weight room this offseason in Orlando and it looks like it has paid off as the SS has added at least 10 pounds of muscle. Even with the added pounds, Gordon still moves extremely well at SS making a few nice picks and throws. Here are the official Workout Groups for the Minors, Group 1 is the AA squad, Group 2 is High A, Group 3 is Low A, and Group 4 is E-town/GCL. None of it is written in stone as guys in MLB camp get sent down but it gives one a good idea what the organization is thinking about slotting which player and where. I didn't see any big surprises. The minor leaguers start playing real games the 16th but start facing each other the 13th. (Full Roster and Schedule coming up later this evening upon scan) Til next weekend!

I might see you around on Friday if you are there before game time, I'll be spending most of the time on the backfields with the minor leaguers. Personally, this close to games, I just get the cheapest at the gate and sit wherevers open OR if you are smooth enough get one of the players to leave you tickets for free.

Look forward to seeing ya down here. I'll be on the backfields tomorrow from 9am til quitting time. I'm pretty easy to spot, Zack Galifinakis lookalike with a yellow camera and red backpack.

I said in another thread, but a comp to Mark Kotsay sounds fair. Kepler gets alot of love for his 2015 season but he needs to prove it was the REAL Kepler (which I believe it was) and not a mirage. Kepler doesn't have one outstanding tool but rather is good across the board; he's a tweener. Doesn't cover enough ground to be a CF daily and doesn't project to be a big power threat as a LFer. So ya I'm holding to Kotsay prime, 20/20ish .290/.350/.450/.800

Video of Sano working out in some outfield drills 2/19 Jose Berrios throwing in the bullpen 2/26

I'll make it short and sweet, No. Long answer: eh, maybe but more like a 10% chance even in that scenerio. Kepler still needs more seasoning in the minors to prove that 2015 was the real Kepler (and I believe it was) and not a mirage. Everyone has all this love for Kepler based on his 2015 stat line but the kid is a tweener, he doesn't have one outstanding tool but rather a good overall mix, Not great range to play Center, not enough power to play LF...I see him as a Mark Kotsay type player

I've seen Santana with both groups, mostly infield but I have seen him working with the outfielders as well. He didn't look "lost" at least but I think many are underestimating just how valuable having Buxton in CF is defensively. Byron makes plays look easy, he glides in the OF and covers tremendous ground, his plus arm doesn't hurt matters either. As long as he posts up a .680-.700 OPS he's gotta be starting in CF, that's how much his D means.

If Plouffe goes to arbitration next year, Twins are on the hook for about 10M at his current pace. Given the current state of free agent 3B next offseason (Justin Turner, Martin Prado are the tops), it might behoove Terry Ryan to deal him. Of course that will coincide with how much development Sano makes in RF but there cupboard is bare at 3B organizationally. So a 3YR deal/extension isn't ludicrous at the right price (something like 3YR/30-36M)

Well he's not even taking any reps at 3B in spring training which is just asinine. He's solely working on OF defense and lord knows he needs to but not taking any infield practice is just stupid at this point. Positional flexibility is highly underrated.

Yes, Oswaldo's hip lingered for much of the 2015 year and it altered his swing. Here is Arcia's swing so far this spring training Arcia Video 1 2/12 Arcia Video 2 2/19 Arcia Video 3 2/26 Park can hit the ball very far and very hard, I've seen him hit a 500ft shot this spring already in BP. The question is can he hit a MLB curveball or slider. Park Video 1 2/12 Park Video 2 2/19 Park Video 3 2/26 Here's Joe Mauer working on turning on that inside fastball in the cage Sorry only things I have on Buxton so far are: Buxton Batting Practice 2/26 Buxton Bunting 2/26

Watch Buxton bunt yourself, as if you were Halsey Hall and Bob Sacamento Enjoy!!!

Kennys Vargas chatting with a TD Legend