Jham

Isn't this his third start back? How is he still on an 80 pitch limit? And aren't pitch counts already obsolete with long innings and pitches out of the stretch counting more?

Yeah, Mejia reminds me of Liriano after surgery. A little hump to the slider, but a smooth but somewhat violent 3/4 delivery with great arm speed and deception.

WTH.... Wow Molly. Quick hook.

AFTER his TJ surgery?

Mejia really reminds me of a young post TJ Liriano. Hopefully he learns to pitch like Frankie did!

It's frustrating, but it should be enlightening to these young players. The Yankees have always been first class and absolutely devoted to winning and winning professionally. Hopefully this young team can learn from the Yankees and Indians on how you need to raise your game and intensity when you get to September. The Yankees did their part anyhow.

Dear Mr. Manager, Can you please get thrown out of 1 game ever? Just to break up momentum or stick up for your players or earn an extra call or two? Come on, Molly. This team is looking around to each other for fire and leadership and someone to get the big hit. Lead by example. We're running out of time. And you, Mr. Manager are definitely running out of time. Also, stop bunting your 3 hitter. Sincerely, Faith hanging by a 2-3 threads.

I'm ready to fire Molitor now.

"When" you mean... SMH...

We've been trying to replace Escobar for 4 years now. But true to form he just keeps battling and fights off all challenges. He's a clubhouse favorite, and now a fan favorite. He's not expensive. Keep him and Adrianza who looks to be improving rapidly at the plate and looks sneaky comfortable in the field. I'd trade Grossman, last night's game not withstanding. Vargas trade/ waive. Palka waive. Escobar's type is inherently valuable. Embraces the utility role. Plays well whenever and however called upon with no complaints.

Some pretty close guesses in there with a few weeks to go. I was too optimistic. He started slow... again!! Finish like last year and we'll see you in October.

I mean, that's fine. That's my point even. We can agree to disagree and have some fine discussion in the process. Why can't you just agree to disagree with Souhan? His opinion has been stated 10 times over on our forums, but he has supported his view with that of actual team sources. Why take him to the whipping block if disagreeing is no biggie?

Query: who has more trade value, Rosario or Kepler? Who is the better player? Who has more upside? Who is more likely to reach their ceiling? Who would you rather have going forward? Who would other teams rather have?

Isn't this just a bunch of posters suggesting that they can write a column better than Souhan? Time constraints, length constraints, pressure from editors, and editing itself is something bloggers don't even have to deal with. Walk a mile in a man's shoes. Souhan may see it as his duty to criticize. If no one else has the guts to do it, then his column would actually fill an important function, showing the other side of the story. So much of this thread is hypocritical finger-pointing and a straight-up witch hunt. Imagine if there were a whole thread of posters plus a handful of bloggers taking shots at the way you do your job. You might react somewhat defensively. So much of his message is being lost due to distaste for the messenger Or vice versa. That's not fair. It honestly makes me sick. This forum has always ALWAYS been a pleasure to read and interact in because the posters often disagree. The healthy exchanges of viewpoints backed with what evidence can be provided is what makes the site so entertaining and what makes Twins fans, forums, and blogs some of the best and most knowledgeable in baseball. Now we're just killing a local columnist for sharing inside info (which we all crave) and taking a controversial stance (that many of us have also previously taken). The irony being, of course, that this very disagreement is what this forum is built on. If you think Souhan, as a columnist, should be held to a higher standard, well then you just made the point of his second post for him. Disagree with the message all you want. Don't read his column if you want. But the posts suggesting that he sit on information we want to know or that he should feel bad for writing his honest opinion is absurd for a forum based on the free exchange of honest opinions. I'm guessing most of us could have a great conversation with Souhan, Ruesse, Terry Ryan, Molitor, or any other knowledgeable baseball fan whose baseball philosophy differs from our own. At least I'd like to think so.

But he's REPORTING. You can't sit on comments then publish them months later and call it fair to your sources. I guess my issue is that Souhan, apparently, has not drawn a distinct line between news and op ed. Read his column as an op ed and no one should have any heartburn. You're talking about censoring the message (not disclosing something news worthy because of fear of being the murdered messanger). And I have a huge issue with that, in sports or other more important news.

Uhhh... on a really really quality forum with tons of great dialogue, with many reliable bloggers who often disagree, it shocks me that the velvet rope is even controversial. We literally had a respected poster break a Brian Dozier trade this off-season... that never happened. Access matters big time. In fact I think it's hypocritical to suggest otherwise, as our favorite bloggers frequently post whenever they get inside access. And we all love it. Access should be limited. There has to be a velvet rope. One could easily assert that Souhan deserves to be outside. Clearly his sources trust him to be in the inside. He literally for information that no one else had, but we have all probably wondered about. He added his own opinions which confused as to what was organizational concern and what was his own conjecture. Anyone can start a blog. You don't need a journalism degree or even a GED. Limiting access to responsible journalists makes sense for everyone. Souhan supports the velvet rope, but he doesn't out it up. His attitude about it is very offputting, but that isn't really the point. I remember him begging bitter about Randy Moss getting a dream sports reporting gig with FOX after trashing the media in Minnesota. It was hilarious to see Moss go straight to the front desk while Souhan continues to struggle as a mere local personality. He is what he is. Appreciate the access, ignore the opinion.

It seemed to me that Mauer's bat speed slowed. He appeared to have to start earlier and guess more. I assumed this was part of the natural aging process and byproduct of an inside out swing that allows the ball to travel deep. In retrospect, I think the starting early and guessing more (striking out more) was a byproduct of the shifting and a conscious attempt to pull the ball more. I've also noticed that Mauer's pull swing has tended to be a power swing which he does not execute very well. In his HR derby attempt, he did not try to go oppo as expected, but instead pulled low liners to right in a pretty poor showing. In other words, he overswung. The muscling up caused a decline in bat speed, exacerbating the problem. This year, as others have pointed out, he has gone back to stroking the ball smoothly to center and left. BUT he also seems to smoothly pull the ball this year. Fewer HR onto the plaza (any?), but more doubles into the corner and line drive singles vs. easy grounders.

Control is streaky. Feel comes and goes. Gee is dealing with that right now. This is why i was skeptical of duffey's initial success throwing half curves. Gibson's fastball runs so much he has to have good feel to locate it. And his slider alternately bounces, sails, and rolls off the table top. He is what he is. Frustratingly inconsistent. But streaky and sneaky good. I would expect his feel to improve with experience and better emotional control. But I suspect his stuff will begin declining in the next few years too.

We were also leaving the most men on base in the league. If you're good enough to get them on, you should be good enough to get them in. Now we are. I think having several black holes in the line up led to a lot of strands. Now those black holes are carrying the team, or nursing a concussion.

Run Differential: normalizing.

So they've traded our closer out of a thin and inexperienced bull pen for a guy who gave up 8 runs in 2 plus A-ball innings last night and paid $4.5 million for a guy BBProspectus "projects to be a swingman/5th starter" to the team we're currently trailing by 1 game in the Wild Card race.... Hmmmm....

Tigers fan forum says stros, Cubs, Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers, Baltimore, and... Atlanta. We were not mentioned. No prospects mentioned. Our forum is way better. Pirates outrighted Nicasio. He'll never get to us. But one can dream.

Orioles can lose anytime soon!! Please? Or... Aaron Judge asks Aaron Hicks if there's any beer in the fridge as they watch the Twins host the O's from his Manhatten penthouse?

Orioles could lose any time now.... 92mph to end the game!

Souhan article recounting Buxton's reckless playing style limiting his potential in 10... 9... 8... #pilingon