Jim Crikket

You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?971-A-Long-Weekend-With-the-Snappers-Kernels

Talked with some people with the Kernels this weekend and I can just say that they had heard about Coleman's comments and it will be an issue they'll be taking up with Twins officials as a part of any discussions held between CR and the Twins after 9/16. Cedar Rapids wants a long-term relationship and if they get a sense that they'd just be a stopgap while the Twins wait until St Paul is doable, I don't believe we'll see the Twins in Cedar Rapids next year.

Rosario did DH on Saturday night and sat out Sunday, so he hasn't played the field during the first two games with the Kernels. He did coach 1B some on Sunday, which usually indicates the player is just getting a day off. On Sunday, Vargas DH'd. It seems like they're just making sure their studs are getting a little rest before the playoffs start.

Originally published at www.knuckleballsblog.com. It seemed to me like the first game of this Snappers/Kernels series on Saturday night was a long one… and it was. The game took three hours and twenty minutes to play and since the Snappers pretty much dominated the entire game, on their way to a 13-2 rout of their hosts, there really wasn’t enough excitement to make the game feel like it was moving along. Fortunately, I was in the “all you can eat and drink” picnic area, so I managed to stay well fed and well lubricated. I also had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Horrorpants and his brother-in-law, who were down from the Twin Cities to check out the Snappers. You should go check out his Twins Daily blog post and his pictures from the night by clicking here. Nate Roberts went 3-6 on Saturday night and three different Snappers (JD Williams, Tyler Grimes and Drew Leachman) hit home runs. Amazingly, Beloit scored 13 runs while their number 3 and 4 hitters, Eddie Rosario and Kennys Vargas, combined to go 0 for 10 on the night. Cole Johnson gave up 2 runs in his 5 innings of work. Corey Williams threw 3 shutout innings and DJ Baxendale finished off the night with a scoreless inning, as well. Twins uber-prospect Miguel Sano was not in the lineup Saturday night, but he seemed healthy during pregame workouts, so there seemed little cause for concern. Sure enough, Sano returned to his spot at third base for the game Sunday afternoon. I’ve been looking forward to seeing Sano and Eddie Rosario in the field during the series to gauge how much they’ve progressed defensively. Through the first two games, however, Rosario hasn’t taken the field. He DH’d on Saturday night and was not in the lineup Sunday. I’ll say this about Sano, however. He made several plays in the field on Sunday that I don’t believe he would have been capable of making when I saw him here in Cedar Rapids back in April. He may never be another Brooks Robinson at third base, but he has improved this season. If he works hard and continues to improve every season, I wouldn’t rule out the possibility of him sticking at the hot corner by the time he’s playing ball at Target Field. Sano was certainly an offensive star of the game on Sunday. He had four hits in six at-bats, including two doubles and his 27th home run. Vargas and Stephen Wickens both homered in the game, as well. The game itself was one of the better games I’ve seen in person this season… and I arrived too late to see the first highlight of the afternoon. I was late getting to the ballpark and arrived during the top of the second inning. Moments before I arrived, Vargas got the Snappers on the board with a solo home run that cleared the top of the Kernels’ video board in right center field. I haven’t seen that done in the 11 years the Kernels have been playing in this version of Veterans Memorial Stadium. The Snappers put up three runs off of Kernels starter Cam Bedrosian and continued to nick a string of relief pitchers. Snappers pitcher Jason Wheeler gave up four runs in his six innings of work before Mason Melotakis came on to throw 1.2 hitless innings. Melotakis was consistently hitting 94 mph according to the scoreboard speed sign. That sign has a reputation for being a bit over 1 mph slower than scouts’ speedguns. Zach Jones came on to relieve Melotakis and three a couple mph harder. Unfortunately for the Snappers, he lacked Melotakis’ control and ended up giving up three runs and sending the game in to extra innings. Taylor Rogers went 2.1 innings without giving up a run to the Kernels as neither team could push a run across the plate in the 10th, 11th or 12th inning. In the 13th, Wickens lifted a fly ball to the outfield with Nate Roberts on third base. That’s when things got interesting. The throw was on target and beat Roberts to the plate, where Kernels catcher Zach Wright was blocking Roberts’ path… but the ball came out of Wright’s glove… but Roberts went over the top of Wright and never touched the plate… but it took a moment for Wright to get the ball back. Wright and Roberts did a little dance together as Wright attempted to tag Roberts and Roberts attempted to get a toe on the plate. In the end, umpire Dustin Klinghagen declared Roberts safe and the Snappers had the lead. The weirdness that inning did not stop there. With JD Williams at 3B, the Kernels pitched around Sano, walking him to bring up Kennys Vargas. On a full count, Sano broke for 2B, Vargas struck out and Wright threw to second, attempting to throw Sano out. Williams broke for home, the throw to 2B was cut off and thrown home, nailing Williams at the plate, for one of the more peculiar “strike em out, throw em out” double play I’ve ever seen. In the 13th inning Tim Atherton walked Wright to start the inning and then threw two wild pitches, moving Wright to 3B. One out later, Drew Martinez singled in the tying run and stole second base. From there, he scored on an Alex Yarbrough walk-off single, giving the Kernels the 9-8 win. The game, which started a half hour late due to rain, took 4:19 to play. Quite a game… quite a weekend. And there are two more games left in this series. With that, I leave you with a few pictures from my weekend at the ballpark. http://i530.photobucket.com/albums/dd347/JimCrikket/KernelsSnappers/SnappersPepper2.jpg Some of the Snappers indulge a game of “pepper” prior to Saturday night’s game. http://i530.photobucket.com/albums/dd347/JimCrikket/KernelsSnappers/KernelsStadiumPicnic.jpg Perfect Game Field at Veterans Memorial Stadium from the left field picnic area http://i530.photobucket.com/albums/dd347/JimCrikket/KernelsSnappers/WheelerSanoAug2012.jpg Pitcher Jason Wheeler and third baseman Miguel Sano http://i530.photobucket.com/albums/dd347/JimCrikket/KernelsSnappers/BedrosianAug2012.jpg Kernels pitcher Cam Bedrosian, son of former MLB pitcher Steve Bedrosian http://i530.photobucket.com/albums/dd347/JimCrikket/KernelsSnappers/WheelerAug2012.jpg Jason Wheeler http://i530.photobucket.com/albums/dd347/JimCrikket/KernelsSnappers/LeachmanAug1012.jpg Snappers first baseman Drew Leachman http://i530.photobucket.com/albums/dd347/JimCrikket/KernelsSnappers/RosarioCoachAug2012.jpg On Sunday, Eddie Rosario got a day off, but did coach first base. http://i530.photobucket.com/albums/dd347/JimCrikket/KernelsSnappers/MelotakisAug2012b.jpg Snappers relief pitcher Mason Melotakis http://i530.photobucket.com/albums/dd347/JimCrikket/KernelsSnappers/WilliamsAug2012a.jpg JD Williams in left field http://i530.photobucket.com/albums/dd347/JimCrikket/KernelsSnappers/WickensAug2012.jpg Shortstop Stephen Wickens flashes a sign to his middle infield partner http://i530.photobucket.com/albums/dd347/JimCrikket/KernelsSnappers/JonesZAug2012a.jpg Zach Jones was hitting 96 mph http://i530.photobucket.com/albums/dd347/JimCrikket/KernelsSnappers/RobertsAug2012a.jpg Leadoff hitter Nate Roberts http://i530.photobucket.com/albums/dd347/JimCrikket/KernelsSnappers/RodriguezAug2012.jpg Catcher Jairo Rodriguez http://i530.photobucket.com/albums/dd347/JimCrikket/KernelsSnappers/RogersAug2012.jpg Relief pitcher Taylor Rogers http://i530.photobucket.com/albums/dd347/JimCrikket/KernelsSnappers/SanoAug2012a.jpg Miguel Sano looks more comfortable at 3B to me. http://i530.photobucket.com/albums/dd347/JimCrikket/KernelsSnappers/VargasAug2012.jpg Kennys Vargas went very, very deep in the 2nd inning. http://i530.photobucket.com/albums/dd347/JimCrikket/KernelsSnappers/KernelsScorboard.jpg The scoreboard tells the story at the end. Oh… and Vargas’ home run cleared the “Perfect Game Field” sign at the top of the scoreboard, which is set several feet behind the 390 ft wall. I also had a few conversations this weekend with various, “sources close to the Kernels,” as they say in the trade, about the upcoming discussions between the Kernels and various potential MLB affiliates. But we’ll talk about all of that in another post, another time. http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif - JC All Photos by Jim Crikket/Knuckleballs

Originally published at www.knuckleballsblog.com. It seemed to me like the first game of this Snappers/Kernels series on Saturday night was a long one… and it was. The game took three hours and twenty minutes to play and since the Snappers pretty much dominated the entire game, on their way to a 13-2 rout of their hosts, there really wasn’t enough excitement to make the game feel like it was moving along. Fortunately, I was in the “all you can eat and drink” picnic area, so I managed to stay well fed and well lubricated. I also had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Horrorpants and his brother-in-law, who were down from the Twin Cities to check out the Snappers. You should go check out his Twins Daily blog post and his pictures from the night by clicking here. Nate Roberts went 3-6 on Saturday night and three different Snappers (JD Williams, Tyler Grimes and Drew Leachman) hit home runs. Amazingly, Beloit scored 13 runs while their number 3 and 4 hitters, Eddie Rosario and Kennys Vargas, combined to go 0 for 10 on the night. Cole Johnson gave up 2 runs in his 5 innings of work. Corey Williams threw 3 shutout innings and DJ Baxendale finished off the night with a scoreless inning, as well. Twins uber-prospect Miguel Sano was not in the lineup Saturday night, but he seemed healthy during pregame workouts, so there seemed little cause for concern. Sure enough, Sano returned to his spot at third base for the game Sunday afternoon. I’ve been looking forward to seeing Sano and Eddie Rosario in the field during the series to gauge how much they’ve progressed defensively. Through the first two games, however, Rosario hasn’t taken the field. He DH’d on Saturday night and was not in the lineup Sunday. I’ll say this about Sano, however. He made several plays in the field on Sunday that I don’t believe he would have been capable of making when I saw him here in Cedar Rapids back in April. He may never be another Brooks Robinson at third base, but he has improved this season. If he works hard and continues to improve every season, I wouldn’t rule out the possibility of him sticking at the hot corner by the time he’s playing ball at Target Field. Sano was certainly an offensive star of the game on Sunday. He had four hits in six at-bats, including two doubles and his 27th home run. Vargas and Stephen Wickens both homered in the game, as well. The game itself was one of the better games I’ve seen in person this season… and I arrived too late to see the first highlight of the afternoon. I was late getting to the ballpark and arrived during the top of the second inning. Moments before I arrived, Vargas got the Snappers on the board with a solo home run that cleared the top of the Kernels’ video board in right center field. I haven’t seen that done in the 11 years the Kernels have been playing in this version of Veterans Memorial Stadium. The Snappers put up three runs off of Kernels starter Cam Bedrosian and continued to nick a string of relief pitchers. Snappers pitcher Jason Wheeler gave up four runs in his six innings of work before Mason Melotakis came on to throw 1.2 hitless innings. Melotakis was consistently hitting 94 mph according to the scoreboard speed sign. That sign has a reputation for being a bit over 1 mph slower than scouts’ speedguns. Zach Jones came on to relieve Melotakis and three a couple mph harder. Unfortunately for the Snappers, he lacked Melotakis’ control and ended up giving up three runs and sending the game in to extra innings. Taylor Rogers went 2.1 innings without giving up a run to the Kernels as neither team could push a run across the plate in the 10th, 11th or 12th inning. In the 13th, Wickens lifted a fly ball to the outfield with Nate Roberts on third base. That’s when things got interesting. The throw was on target and beat Roberts to the plate, where Kernels catcher Zach Wright was blocking Roberts’ path… but the ball came out of Wright’s glove… but Roberts went over the top of Wright and never touched the plate… but it took a moment for Wright to get the ball back. Wright and Roberts did a little dance together as Wright attempted to tag Roberts and Roberts attempted to get a toe on the plate. In the end, umpire Dustin Klinghagen declared Roberts safe and the Snappers had the lead. The weirdness that inning did not stop there. With JD Williams at 3B, the Kernels pitched around Sano, walking him to bring up Kennys Vargas. On a full count, Sano broke for 2B, Vargas struck out and Wright threw to second, attempting to throw Sano out. Williams broke for home, the throw to 2B was cut off and thrown home, nailing Williams at the plate, for one of the more peculiar “strike em out, throw em out” double play I’ve ever seen. In the 13th inning Tim Atherton walked Wright to start the inning and then threw two wild pitches, moving Wright to 3B. One out later, Drew Martinez singled in the tying run and stole second base. From there, he scored on an Alex Yarbrough walk-off single, giving the Kernels the 9-8 win. The game, which started a half hour late due to rain, took 4:19 to play. Quite a game… quite a weekend. And there are two more games left in this series. With that, I leave you with a few pictures from my weekend at the ballpark. http://i530.photobucket.com/albums/dd347/JimCrikket/KernelsSnappers/SnappersPepper2.jpg Some of the Snappers indulge a game of “pepper” prior to Saturday night’s game. http://i530.photobucket.com/albums/dd347/JimCrikket/KernelsSnappers/KernelsStadiumPicnic.jpg Perfect Game Field at Veterans Memorial Stadium from the left field picnic area http://i530.photobucket.com/albums/dd347/JimCrikket/KernelsSnappers/WheelerSanoAug2012.jpg Pitcher Jason Wheeler and third baseman Miguel Sano http://i530.photobucket.com/albums/dd347/JimCrikket/KernelsSnappers/BedrosianAug2012.jpg Kernels pitcher Cam Bedrosian, son of former MLB pitcher Steve Bedrosian http://i530.photobucket.com/albums/dd347/JimCrikket/KernelsSnappers/WheelerAug2012.jpg Jason Wheeler http://i530.photobucket.com/albums/dd347/JimCrikket/KernelsSnappers/LeachmanAug1012.jpg Snappers first baseman Drew Leachman http://i530.photobucket.com/albums/dd347/JimCrikket/KernelsSnappers/RosarioCoachAug2012.jpg On Sunday, Eddie Rosario got a day off, but did coach first base. http://i530.photobucket.com/albums/dd347/JimCrikket/KernelsSnappers/MelotakisAug2012b.jpg Snappers relief pitcher Mason Melotakis http://i530.photobucket.com/albums/dd347/JimCrikket/KernelsSnappers/WilliamsAug2012a.jpg JD Williams in left field http://i530.photobucket.com/albums/dd347/JimCrikket/KernelsSnappers/WickensAug2012.jpg Shortstop Stephen Wickens flashes a sign to his middle infield partner http://i530.photobucket.com/albums/dd347/JimCrikket/KernelsSnappers/JonesZAug2012a.jpg Zach Jones was hitting 96 mph http://i530.photobucket.com/albums/dd347/JimCrikket/KernelsSnappers/RobertsAug2012a.jpg Leadoff hitter Nate Roberts http://i530.photobucket.com/albums/dd347/JimCrikket/KernelsSnappers/RodriguezAug2012.jpg Catcher Jairo Rodriguez http://i530.photobucket.com/albums/dd347/JimCrikket/KernelsSnappers/RogersAug2012.jpg Relief pitcher Taylor Rogers http://i530.photobucket.com/albums/dd347/JimCrikket/KernelsSnappers/SanoAug2012a.jpg Miguel Sano looks more comfortable at 3B to me. http://i530.photobucket.com/albums/dd347/JimCrikket/KernelsSnappers/VargasAug2012.jpg Kennys Vargas went very, very deep in the 2nd inning. http://i530.photobucket.com/albums/dd347/JimCrikket/KernelsSnappers/KernelsScorboard.jpg The scoreboard tells the story at the end. Oh… and Vargas’ home run cleared the “Perfect Game Field” sign at the top of the scoreboard, which is set several feet behind the 390 ft wall. I also had a few conversations this weekend with various, “sources close to the Kernels,” as they say in the trade, about the upcoming discussions between the Kernels and various potential MLB affiliates. But we’ll talk about all of that in another post, another time. http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif - JC All Photos by Jim Crikket/Knuckleballs

Man, the Surf brings back a memory or two. Haven't actually been there for a concert since I was in HS (no... that was NOT pre-Buddy Holly!). Those were some very kind words for me, thanks! Given that I had been drinking pretty steadily for about an hour and a half before I met you, I wasn't really sure what kind of impression I made! Really glad you enjoyed yourself. It was great to meet you, and your brother in law, as well! Oh... and there's actually a Joensy's in CR just a couple of miles SW of the ballpark now... same great tenderloins (both battered and grilled versions for those of us conscious about that kinda thing).

I can only say that Sano was stretching and playing catch with teammates before the game tonight and looked fine.

Great! Now all of Twins Daily will have a place to crash when we go down for Spring Training, right?

I wouldn't have liked it if the Twins had just let Morneau and his salary go for a waiver claim to dump salary, either. But with some kind of pitching prospect in return as well? Might make sense and at this point I wouldn't begrudge Morneau from wanting to get in to a post-season situation.

No it won't stop the griping. Lee County still has to cough up their share and with the biggest pro-baseball county commissioner losing his primary battle, it's going to be interesting to see whether the county ends up backing out on their deal with the Twins.

Per the LA Times story on the Red Sox/Dodgers deal (hat tip Phil Mackey): "A four-time All-Star first baseman, Gonzalez was the prize in the deal. The Dodgers inquired about him leading up to the July 31 nonwaiver trade deadline and approached the Red Sox again after a failed attempt to land Minnesota Twins first baseman Justin Morneau last week." My first thought was, "Did the Twins refuse to trade Morneau and, if so, why?" But then the story just says the Dodgers failed to land him. Every AL team and most NL teams would have to pass on Morneau before the Dodgers would get the waiver claim. Would be interesting to know if he was claimed by someone else (Toronto maybe?) and that prevented the deal from going through.

Yeah Trout's dad, Jeff, was a Twins farm hand, but even that turned out to be worthless from the Twins standpoint. The scout who signed Trout was Greg Morhardt, who was Jeff Trout's former AA teammate and spring training roommate in their days playing in the Twins organization. Problem is, Morhardt was scouting for the Angels.

Buxton in 2015 might be too early, but then again, I'm not so sure. It would take a Mike Trout-like ascension whereby he covers both levels of A ball in 2013 and AA-AAA in 2014. More aggressive than the Twins typically are with a young player, but the Twins haven't had a lot of top-of-the-draft players like Buxton to compare to lately. I don't see Diamond as a rotation topper, at least not for a competitive team. I also can't imagine Sano being a MLB 3B at this point, but I'd love to be wrong. I think Doumit will be long gone by 2015, so maybe Sano is your DH and Plouffe can stick at 3B? I don't know who will be the SS in 2015, but I have trouble envisioning it being Dozier. Rosario may never be a great glove at 2B, but if he can be passable, the Twins should have enough offense to afford to sacrifice some offense at SS and plug in the best defensive SS they can find, regardless of his ability to use a bat. Maybe it's Florimon, Escobar or Beresford. Also shouldn't rule out Michael for a 2015 arrival, I guess.

Wow, I really didn't realize it had been so long since I checked in on James! The good news is that Beresford is kicking things up a notch just as the Rock Cats are trying to scratch their way in to the Eastern League playoffs. As of this morning, it looks like the Cats are one game behind Reading for the wild card spot with about a week and a half to go. Over his past 10 games, James is hitting .303, with a .343 on-base percentage and his five doubles over that stretch has his slugging percentage up to .455. I realize a .797 OPS wouldn't exactly make him a candidate for slugger of the year, but it's over 150 points higher than his season OPS, which means he appears to finally be finding some gaps just as his team is trying to grab that final playoff spot. Perhaps more importantly, at least from a personal career standpoint, a strong finish will hopefully leave an impression on the Twins as they consider his role within the organization for 2013 and beyond. Best of luck to James and his Rock Cats team mates as they sprint toward the season's finish line.

OK I went back and actually listened to the interview with Coleman and you have to really try hard to take what he says as any kind of indication that a potential Class A team is anything but a "maybe someday" possibility. It's all Reusse who pushes the Twins affiliation thing and he's never been accused of doing a thorough job of researching anything before spouting opinions.

I agree that a AAA team would make a lot more sense, but if the new stadium is going to be a 7,000 seat stadium, that's relatively small for AAA, isn't it? (I think Tuscon got bought and is moving to El Paso, isn't it? Or am I thinking of another PCL team?) MWLFan, travel would be an obstacle. As I think I've mentioned, by rule, they have to schedule an off day any time a minor league team has to travel more than 500 miles (unless they fly). Every team in the current Western Division of MWL would be under that distance (CR at 243 is the closest, Peoria at 422 is the furthest, with the rest running between 264 and 372). Every team but one in the Eastern Division would be OVER the 500 mile mark (South Bend at 493 is the closest, Bowling Green at 808 is the furthest, with the rest running between 560 and 761). Could that hurdle be overcome by spacing out road trips? Maybe... Bowling Green is also way outside the footprint of the rest of the MWL... but a relocation would, I believe, require approval of other MWL teams and there is no doubt that moving an existing team to StPaul would increase everyone's travel costs (which are paid for almost entirely by the minor league affiliate). Not a lot of Western Division teams are operating in the black, so any increase in costs could be problematic. I've been told that there was an effort a few years ago to put a MWL team in Marion IL (near southern tip of IL) and it got nixed due to travel distance.

Interesting. If the Twins only sign a 2-year PDC with whichever MWL location they end up partnering with this fall, that might be telling. Most "new" partners want a four year agreement and then extend for subsequent 2 year extensions unless there's a really strong tie developed. A separate Class A team beyond the Saints makes some sense for a couple of reasons. (1) because the only way StP could get a MWL team would be if an existing community sold their franchise. It wouldn't be beyond reason to see the Twins actually buy out a struggling community's franchise, like Beloit, and then move the team to StP. (2) I can't see the Twins approving invasion of their local market by a Class A team they did not control... that could result in an affiliate of another MLB team eventually being in StP. This situation would potentially exist if the Saints current ownership was allowed to own the "new" Class A team in StP. On the other hand, I have trouble seeing how two minor league teams... one affiliated and one independent... could survive in one location (never mind using one stadium). Ballfields need time to recover during road trips to avoid becoming over-stressed (I've heard that's happening in Rochester this year where the Yankees AAA team is using Frontier Field for a lot of their "home" games while their stadium is being renovated). Beyond logistics, however, the bottom line is that, all other things being equal, affiliated teams can charge far less for tickets and concessions than independent teams can. If the Saints have to pay their players/coaches out of their own revenues and a Class A team doesn't have that expense, there's a huge competitve advantage for the Class A team. How would the Saints survive? Would the local population really support BOTH teams well enough? Maybe... but it seems unlikely. On the other hand, this is exactly the public stance St Paul would probably have to take. They can't say they have an agreement with the Twins, because that would place the Twins afoul of MLB Rule 56 and cost them a hefty little fine, not to mention screw up the team's negotiations with potential Class A affiliates next month.

I'm good with it, for all of the reasons you cited, John. More to the point, I don't need more people telling me I'm a %$#&%$@ idiot. That's what I've got family for.

“Like butterflies with hiccups” is our tagline at Knuckleballs and today it’s a pretty appropriate heading for the following post. I seem to find myself in a “very little to say about several unrelated things” situation a lot lately. Maybe I’ll make this a quasi-regular thing here. Or maybe this will be a one-time thing. Anyway, there are a few things I’ve read here and there that I feel inclined to comment about. Most are baseball related, but not all. The Twins http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/P3070002-225x300.jpg Will Nick Blackburn be at Twins Spring Training in 2013? On Monday, the Twins outrighted both Nick Blackburn and Tsuyoshi Nishioka, meaning they both cleared waivers and were removed from the Twins’ 40-man roster. Arguably, they were among the last remaining “scholarship” players on the Twins roster and clearly Terry Ryan finally had seen enough of both of them. I certainly won’t be surprised to see both players invited to Spring Training next year and given opportunities to regain spots with the Twins. Then again, I won’t be surprised NOT to see them in Ft. Myers, either. With 42 games remaining on their schedule, through Monday night, the Twins are 51-70. That means, in order to improve on their 99-loss record of a year ago, they need to go 13-28 from here on out. A bit more than half of their remaining games are against teams that currently still have some playoff hopes, so winning 1/3 of their remaining games may not be as easy at you’d think it should be. Factor in that the final month’s games will pretty much all include line ups with at least one “September call-up” and the task of avoiding 100 losses gets’ trickier yet. Still, I’m looking forward to seeing some of the Rochester and New Britain players show us what they can do in a Twins uniform. It will at least give me some reason to pay attention to the games, which I admittedly have struggled to muster much interest in doing lately. The Playoffs Way before MLB announced its new playoff structure, with 2 wild cards playing a single “play in” game in each league, I was on record here of liking that format. I’ve certainly seen nothing so far this year to change my opinion. I understand that some people (in particular, managers and players) aren’t as enthusiastic about it as I am. But even in expressing their dislike for it, they actually make the exact case FOR the new format. In one of Jayson Stark’s recent pieces over at ESPN.com, he related the following quotes from the Braves’ Chipper Jones: “I’m not a big advocate of playing 162 games for a one-game playoff,” Jones told Rumblings. “You could easily see two teams in the same division have the two best records in the league, and one of them has the luxury of waiting a couple of days to play a best-three-out-of-five [series], while the other one has that one-game playoff. And I don’t see that as fair. “It’s basically a Game 7, right off the gut,” Jones went on. “It’s win or go home — and three other teams [in that league] get to sit back and watch it. So that’s why, at least for the guys in this clubhouse, we’re putting the utmost emphasis on every game from here on out. For us, these are must-win games the rest of the way, because we don’t want to put all our eggs in one basket, for that one game.” Exactly, Chipper! Winning your division SHOULD mean something. It should give you an advantage over a team that just happens to make the playoffs as a wild card for no other reason than that there happens to be an odd number of divisions in each league. We’re already seeing writers speculate “what if” scenarios where managers may have to decide whether to use a Justin Verlander or Jared Weaver in the wild card game. Unlike many recent years, we won’t be seeing every playoff manager spend the final two weeks more concerned about setting his rotation than winning baseball games. I have read that the new format meant there weren’t enough “sellers” at the non-waiver trade deadline for all of the potential playoff teams to pick from to help fortify their rosters. Gosh, I guess more teams will just have to try to win primarily with the players that they had on their rosters during the first four months of the season. Such a shame. #sarcasm Keith Law on Miguel Sano ESPN’s Keith Law got the attention of many of us who pay close attention to the Twins’ farm system last week when he Tweeted that he would be in Beloit over the weekend to watch the Twins’ prospects there. We were all anxious to find out what he had to say about Miguel Sano, Eddie Rosario, et al. Law’s Monday post requires ESPN Insider membership to read, so we certainly will respect ESPN’s copyright to the material and not paste all of what he had to say here. In a nutshell, however, Law was impressed with Sano’s offensive talent and potential, but called Sano out for what he termed his “obvious disdain” for playing defense. He went on to compare Sano’s enthusiasm for defense to that of his own daughter’s enthusiasm for cleaning her room. Ouch. http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Sano2012g-300x227.jpg Miguel Sano Then again, Law admittedly only watched one game on the Friday night of that weekend. I have nothing against Keith Law and he may be a pretty good judge of baseball talent. That said, I believe if you’re going to call in to question a young player’s work ethic (which he certainly did in this case), you should provide a little more information concerning the basis for doing so. Was it body language? Did he lollygag around the infield? Did Law speak to coaches, team mates, scouts or front office types? I’ve seen Sano play 6-7 times this year and will see him some more this weekend. His defensive skills are not good at 3B. This is not news. But if there’s cause to question his work ethic and his interest in improving those skills, that IS news… and I’d be interested in knowing the basis for that conclusion (giving Law benefit of the doubt enough to assume it’s not based on seeing Sano play one game). Joe Poz on JoePa I’ve made no secret of the fact that I’m a big Joe Posnanski fan. I may have also mentioned at some point that I’ve never been a huge Joe Paterno fan (even before the Sandusky s**t hit the fan). If you also happen to follow Poz, you are probably aware that at the time of Paterno’s abrupt dismissal as Penn State’s football coach last November, Posnanski had pretty much moved his family to Happy Valley and was spending the better part of a year shadowing Paterno, his family and the Penn State football program as he researched an authorized biography he was writing on JoePa. Talk about finding yourself in the eye of a hurricane! In the days and weeks that followed Paterno’s dismissal and, ultimately, his death, Posnanski kept almost completely mum on the subject of the coach. Frankly, I wasn’t even sure if the plans for the book were even going forward. However, now we know. The book, cleverly entitled Paterno, hits bookstores today (August 21) and excerpts have been in GQ (and on GQ.com) in the days ahead of the book’s release. I can’t help but feel Posnanski’s in a no-win situation in terms of the public’s response. Based on the excerpts I read, I’m pretty sure that Paterno’s family and defenders will object to much of what’s written and will probably feel betrayed for having allowed Posnanski inside their “circle.” I’m even more convinced that the anti-Paterno crowd will accuse Posnanski of going too soft on Paterno. That’s enough for today. Maybe I’ll post some sort of “review” after I’ve read Paterno. Almost certainly, I’ll be posting something (a bunch of pictures, if nothing else) during or after the Snappers four-game series with my home town Cedar Rapids Kernels this weekend (the series runs Saturday through Tuesday). Until then, someone let me know if the Twins do anything noteworthy, ok? - JC

“Like butterflies with hiccups” is our tagline at Knuckleballs and today it’s a pretty appropriate heading for the following post. I seem to find myself in a “very little to say about several unrelated things” situation a lot lately. Maybe I’ll make this a quasi-regular thing here. Or maybe this will be a one-time thing. Anyway, there are a few things I’ve read here and there that I feel inclined to comment about. Most are baseball related, but not all. The Twins http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/P3070002-225x300.jpg Will Nick Blackburn be at Twins Spring Training in 2013? On Monday, the Twins outrighted both Nick Blackburn and Tsuyoshi Nishioka, meaning they both cleared waivers and were removed from the Twins’ 40-man roster. Arguably, they were among the last remaining “scholarship” players on the Twins roster and clearly Terry Ryan finally had seen enough of both of them. I certainly won’t be surprised to see both players invited to Spring Training next year and given opportunities to regain spots with the Twins. Then again, I won’t be surprised NOT to see them in Ft. Myers, either. With 42 games remaining on their schedule, through Monday night, the Twins are 51-70. That means, in order to improve on their 99-loss record of a year ago, they need to go 13-28 from here on out. A bit more than half of their remaining games are against teams that currently still have some playoff hopes, so winning 1/3 of their remaining games may not be as easy at you’d think it should be. Factor in that the final month’s games will pretty much all include line ups with at least one “September call-up” and the task of avoiding 100 losses gets’ trickier yet. Still, I’m looking forward to seeing some of the Rochester and New Britain players show us what they can do in a Twins uniform. It will at least give me some reason to pay attention to the games, which I admittedly have struggled to muster much interest in doing lately. The Playoffs Way before MLB announced its new playoff structure, with 2 wild cards playing a single “play in” game in each league, I was on record here of liking that format. I’ve certainly seen nothing so far this year to change my opinion. I understand that some people (in particular, managers and players) aren’t as enthusiastic about it as I am. But even in expressing their dislike for it, they actually make the exact case FOR the new format. In one of Jayson Stark’s recent pieces over at ESPN.com, he related the following quotes from the Braves’ Chipper Jones: “I’m not a big advocate of playing 162 games for a one-game playoff,” Jones told Rumblings. “You could easily see two teams in the same division have the two best records in the league, and one of them has the luxury of waiting a couple of days to play a best-three-out-of-five [series], while the other one has that one-game playoff. And I don’t see that as fair. “It’s basically a Game 7, right off the gut,” Jones went on. “It’s win or go home — and three other teams [in that league] get to sit back and watch it. So that’s why, at least for the guys in this clubhouse, we’re putting the utmost emphasis on every game from here on out. For us, these are must-win games the rest of the way, because we don’t want to put all our eggs in one basket, for that one game.” Exactly, Chipper! Winning your division SHOULD mean something. It should give you an advantage over a team that just happens to make the playoffs as a wild card for no other reason than that there happens to be an odd number of divisions in each league. We’re already seeing writers speculate “what if” scenarios where managers may have to decide whether to use a Justin Verlander or Jared Weaver in the wild card game. Unlike many recent years, we won’t be seeing every playoff manager spend the final two weeks more concerned about setting his rotation than winning baseball games. I have read that the new format meant there weren’t enough “sellers” at the non-waiver trade deadline for all of the potential playoff teams to pick from to help fortify their rosters. Gosh, I guess more teams will just have to try to win primarily with the players that they had on their rosters during the first four months of the season. Such a shame. #sarcasm Keith Law on Miguel Sano ESPN’s Keith Law got the attention of many of us who pay close attention to the Twins’ farm system last week when he Tweeted that he would be in Beloit over the weekend to watch the Twins’ prospects there. We were all anxious to find out what he had to say about Miguel Sano, Eddie Rosario, et al. Law’s Monday post requires ESPN Insider membership to read, so we certainly will respect ESPN’s copyright to the material and not paste all of what he had to say here. In a nutshell, however, Law was impressed with Sano’s offensive talent and potential, but called Sano out for what he termed his “obvious disdain” for playing defense. He went on to compare Sano’s enthusiasm for defense to that of his own daughter’s enthusiasm for cleaning her room. Ouch. http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Sano2012g-300x227.jpg Miguel Sano Then again, Law admittedly only watched one game on the Friday night of that weekend. I have nothing against Keith Law and he may be a pretty good judge of baseball talent. That said, I believe if you’re going to call in to question a young player’s work ethic (which he certainly did in this case), you should provide a little more information concerning the basis for doing so. Was it body language? Did he lollygag around the infield? Did Law speak to coaches, team mates, scouts or front office types? I’ve seen Sano play 6-7 times this year and will see him some more this weekend. His defensive skills are not good at 3B. This is not news. But if there’s cause to question his work ethic and his interest in improving those skills, that IS news… and I’d be interested in knowing the basis for that conclusion (giving Law benefit of the doubt enough to assume it’s not based on seeing Sano play one game). Joe Poz on JoePa I’ve made no secret of the fact that I’m a big Joe Posnanski fan. I may have also mentioned at some point that I’ve never been a huge Joe Paterno fan (even before the Sandusky s**t hit the fan). If you also happen to follow Poz, you are probably aware that at the time of Paterno’s abrupt dismissal as Penn State’s football coach last November, Posnanski had pretty much moved his family to Happy Valley and was spending the better part of a year shadowing Paterno, his family and the Penn State football program as he researched an authorized biography he was writing on JoePa. Talk about finding yourself in the eye of a hurricane! In the days and weeks that followed Paterno’s dismissal and, ultimately, his death, Posnanski kept almost completely mum on the subject of the coach. Frankly, I wasn’t even sure if the plans for the book were even going forward. However, now we know. The book, cleverly entitled Paterno, hits bookstores today (August 21) and excerpts have been in GQ (and on GQ.com) in the days ahead of the book’s release. I can’t help but feel Posnanski’s in a no-win situation in terms of the public’s response. Based on the excerpts I read, I’m pretty sure that Paterno’s family and defenders will object to much of what’s written and will probably feel betrayed for having allowed Posnanski inside their “circle.” I’m even more convinced that the anti-Paterno crowd will accuse Posnanski of going too soft on Paterno. That’s enough for today. Maybe I’ll post some sort of “review” after I’ve read Paterno. Almost certainly, I’ll be posting something (a bunch of pictures, if nothing else) during or after the Snappers four-game series with my home town Cedar Rapids Kernels this weekend (the series runs Saturday through Tuesday). Until then, someone let me know if the Twins do anything noteworthy, ok? - JC

Just a quick update... Found out Quad Cities actually has new ownership since the Twins last had their PDC with QC, so it would seem unlikely that there's any residual relationship issue that would preclude a reunion. However, there are also apparently reports that the Cardinals and Bandits are nearing a renewal agreement that would effectively remove QC as a potential partner for the Twins and eliminate the Cardinals from Peoria's list of possibilities.

Todd, Jason, Bob, Carl, Sue... once a guy is no longer in the Twins organization, who really remembers or cares what his name is, anyway, right?

You're probably right, John. Then again, Brunansky sounds like a guy who has found a calling that he enjoys and that's teaching young players to hit. He doesn't have to deal with MLB egos, guys who already think they know everything about hitting. If his home is near San Diego, he's not going to be there much regardless of whether he's working in Rochester or Minneapolis. The travel is easier at the MLB level, certainly. As for compensation, there's no reason the Twins couldn't pay him him at the same level he'd get as a MLB hitting coach if they believe he's worth keeping. It's going to be interesting to see what happens to him. Terry Ryan seems impressed with him and it would certainly be a shame to lose him to another organization.

FWIW, I think Augusta recently extended with the Giants, so that's one less team in the pool this year. At one time, I thought the Twins might look at Bowling Green as a possible new MWL location, if BG didn't extend with the Rays. I figured BG was just a quick drive down the highway from the Twins Appy League affiliate in Elizabethtown. Then I realized the Twins Appy League affiliate isn't IN Elizabethtown KY... it's in Elizabethton TN... and that's a few hundred miles of what I assume might be Appalachian driving from Bowling Green KY. That would mean it's probably just as well to have their MWL team in any city with an airport with decent connections through Chicago or other major hubs. Looking at the list, I remain convinced the Twins will end up in Cedar Rapids or back in Beloit. Clinton might be possible, I guess, or they could hook back up with the Quad Cities (I haven't heard whether that relationship ended amicably when they broke up last decade), but I just don't see a lot of other logical landing spots for the Twins.