Hosken Bombo Disco

If this game is rained out before five innings, I will confront the god of thunder and lightning personally, and then punch him in the face.

I am almost lock step with this roster. I do like Centeno and how pitchers seem to do well with him. I would also like to see a nice bullpen arm come in from the outside. The pitching staff still needs work.

I thought JRM lost his balance taking Sano's throw, otherwise why not just swipe across the front and get the tag down that way. A better throw and the runner is out, no question. It's 2016 now and Plouffe is already too immobile to be of much use in the field anymore except for balls hit right at him. He had a nice run but it's over. Designating Sano as a full time DH this soon does not improve the third base position for the Twins. The best option going forward is to drill Sano for another season at third. He needs a lot of work I agree, yet he's played third much of his career already, so it's a concern. If it comes to a breaking point, they can slide Polanco to third and use Escobar at short and figure out what to do with Sano when that time comes. It might just be a matter of maturity and experience too. I think Sano deserves a fair shot next spring to concentrate on third without Plouffe around or all the other drama the Twins might create for him.

let Buck be Buck and let him keep the leg kick as long as it's working. I just don't want the Twins to try turning him into a slap ground ball hitter just because they feel he has the potential to beat out a lot of infield ground balls.

I hope this is it and not something else.

"We may need to rethink what we are trying to do with Buxton, given all the power he is showing lately." Anybody else hear this quote from Molitor after the game tonight?

Ironically, the same ball that went under Sano's legs today was the same ball that popped Plouffe in the jaw last week. The second hop hit right on the lip of where the grass meets the dirt and in both cases took an unpredictable hop. Go take a look. But Sano gets nasty looks and Plouffe gets asked by the trainer if he's ok to continue playing. That's how the ball bounces, as they say. Sano needs to work on his throws, no doubt. I'm not sure those can be coached as easily as grounders. Anyone know? I think Mauer would have saved Sano's throw today but Plouffsie just doesn't have the athleticism for that stretch play. I prefer Vargas at first in lieu of Mauer but as long as Plouffe is raking and Mauer's quads are holding him back, you leave Plouffe in the lineup. My 2 cents.

Rosario leads off 11th-- he should try bunting for a hit *takes self back out of game thread*

What are the chances we run out of players today -- September callups were allowed, right? *shows self back out*

What will be harder for Buxton to get next: the triple or the single?

agree completely

It felt like all work and no play http://images.entertainment.ie/images_content/rectangle/620x350/theshining.jpg

And I also approve of that which just happened there on that pitch, as well.

http://i1.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/006/026/futuramafry.jpg

I've reported this to the mods several times. Nothing.

I thought the second one was a nice play slightly harder than routine.

Buxton might hit for the cycle tonight

You'd never know by reading the game thread that Sano just hit a monster 600 foot home run a few minutes ago.

oooooooooooohhhhhh

You are a good fan, Charlie Brown.

*breathes sigh of relief every time Sano makes a play*

I actually believed Meyer had shoulder problems. Joke's on me (again).

In the spirit of putting stream-of-conscious rants in the blogs section, where nobody will ever see them or have to look at them, I submit this frustrated piece of work in response to the insanity thread poster Shane Wahl started. You have been warned! Another angle I come at this insanity from is the public messaging; in other words, the people who cover this team for the public. Let's start with the television guys, the guys with the most reach. I didn't see any of the broadcasts Jack Morris worked this spring when Dozier was slumping, but reading through the game threads you get the impression Morris's criticism of Dozier was bordering on abuse. Not sure what the purpose of it was. Then you have Dick in the other chair praising whatever the front office does. Yes, Dick, Robbie Grossman was a nice waiver wire find. But Fangraphs also has him ranked 87 out of 88 in UZR150 for outfielders with 550 innings, so maybe Cleveland isn't pulling hair and gnashing teeth about losing him, after all. Another example. On the radio, after each game, the producers and broadcasters (usually Kris Atteberry and Dan Gladden) rehash the biggest moments of the game, conversation style. It's entertaining and smart. Last night, however, the big play was Polanco's sac fly in the fifth, when Buxton scored but Dozier was thrown out trying to advance to third base. Hey wait a minute: Dozier didn't even make the first or third out of the inning! But according to Atteberry, that was the turning point of the game somehow. I like Atteberry and it's obvious he's an extremely hard worker and good at his job but he is way off base much of the time. There were two other plays last night--occuring later in the game-- that had a higher impact on the win expectancy than Dozier being thrown out at third. The liner Schafer misjudged in the sixth (didn't see it) that would have been the third out was the difference maker by far, and the low throw behind the runner by Wimmers after the sac bunt that Plouffe should have caught but didn't. That was in the eight and it was a one run game. It was a tough play but very makeable and I feel like Mauer with his experience, stretches forward to make that catch. (I could be wrong and welcome input from experienced first baseman who have read this far.) However, the camera did show Molitor glaring out to first base at the conclusion of the play. Atteberry didn't even mention that play in the post game. I also detect a very strong pro-Plouffe bias in Atteberry, which I don't really care for, and practically all the broadcasters and journalists on all broadcast outlets pin as much blame to Rosario whenever possible, which I also don't care for. I'd go to war with Rosario. There's a lot of energy there that will contribute to a championship if harnessed correctly. Of course, I also said that about Arcia once. Then there's LaVelle. Enough said. One of the first things I would do as a GM/POBO is suspend his press privileges. I am also worried about Phil Miller slipping to the dark side. Please don't! The last thing this front office needs is for their broadcasters and journalists to keep telling them how smart and right they are about everything. I assume that's what's happening. That's how it looks from the outside. I assume it began as a benign effort to keep everyone cheered up, but has evolved, or devolved, into a performance art. "How well can we spin this poor turn of events" has become the name of the game. Fun for a while, and anyone who has worked politically will recognize it, but it's no way to go through life, year after year. And you never hear anything in the media, from anyone, ever, about how or why Danny Santana plays full time, or about all the base running blunders he regularly makes. Think about how the fans turn against this team's best players. At least that's what I'm seeing. Think about "bilateral leg weakness" and how many people in this market genuinely dislike Mauer. Think about the dislike for Gardy (I plead guilty). It would have been better for everyone and a really obvious, non-controversial move to part ways with Gardenhire after 2013, but they let him linger on. Then you had Morris attacking Dozier earlier in the season, causing many fans to become enraged by Dozier's long slumps. And now, the weight jokes about Sano are of course great sport for the LaVelle and Reusse types--black pots and kettles if there ever were any. The work ethic and weight gain whispering campaign against Sano in the media has taken the desired effect, and many fans have now taken the sport up themselves. Or maybe this is how the media and the fans are. I just don't know. I don't get it. I don't get any of it. Rant over. I agree completely--it's insanity!

Let me summarize where I think this conversation has gone. We should trade Dozier because... ...because he might be at his highest value right now and he will bring back players who will provide value in the future. I can understand this, but cannot get on board with it completely. ...because this team needs more young talent in the organization, even though our farm system has been rated at the top for several years? ...because other teams will trip all over each other to send us their best pitching prospects, and it will be sweet having all these great new pitchers on our team? I doubt it. ...because no team ever goes from last to first, or flips a W-L record by 20-25 games? ...because it's foolish to take the wild card game seriously, even though wild card teams have won the World Series? I am hoping to go into 2017 optimistic. Not fair to the fans or players to punt on a season before it even starts!

So at least we agree bringing them back for 2017 is not a winning option, then. But yes, Plouffe is seeing the ball and hitting line drives very well right now.