Sam Morley

Good news on Landa. What are the plans for him? Are they going to stretch him out to start, or will he be in the bullpen for good? How was his velocity?

6-9 AM, that's when I get to work too!

Maybe his strategy is to make everyone think he'll swing at "ANYTHING" and just as soon as their fooled, he's going to start drawing all these walks everybody around here loves so much. But seriously, when guys first come up they get challenged in the zone a lot; it's hard to draw walks when pitchers are throwing in the zone. Anyway, I'm sure he'll even out. I hope he sticks.

When you see the clip that Parker included, how can anyone even dispute his defensive chops? For a third baseman, he's really the total package. I am in agreement with others, including Terry Ryan, that the errors are not even a concern at this point. It is interesting to ponder though. Why do we make mistakes? Seth, you attribute it here to occasional lapses in concentration. I suppose that's certainly possible. But consider this: a hundred thousand times you stop at a red light, but one time you blow through it. Were you concentrating in that moment, no; but were you really concentrating any more during the hundred thousand other times? I am a carpenter, and say I make a hundred thousand accurate measurements in month, but once in a while I inch trick a measurement- I don't think I am concentrating any less in the instance that I make the mistake. Further, it's the kind of mistake I made much more frequently when I was less experienced- even though I was probably concentrating harder on that type of task than I do now. My point here isn't necessarily to say that Sano's proclivity for defensive mistakes are not due a lack of concentration (who can know what's another's mind at any given time?). My point is to suggest that it is rather (or additionally) lack of experience. Maybe even as simple as muscle memory. Even on plays that appear routine, there must be infinite possibility for subtle differences. It would take countless in-game repetition to become automatic. Sano has only been playing third for a couple of seasons, and the difference between third and short is significant. I will say, as a middle infielder, I wanted nothing to do with third base. It's weird over there. Seth, as you say he is an athlete, he has the hands, he has the arm. He's going to be a third baseman. In my opinion, his bat is ready now. I don't think that what happens with Sano is dependent at all on Trevor Plouffe. Plouffe will be, what, 29 this summer? He's playing really well, as he should, being in his prime. Do we have reason to project continued improvement and increased production from him? Perhaps? I don't know, but it seems to me most players begin trending downward once they reach their thirties. A down-trending Joe Mauer is palatable, and certainly Torii Hunter seems to have bucked the trend altogether, but a down-trending Trevor Plouffe with a lurking Miguel Angel... no way.

Add three more to that total. I'm following the game on gamecast, and they just intentionally walked him to pitch to Harrison who promptly doubled in two runs.

I'd like to see him hit even more homers!

If we traded Buxton or Sano for Cole Hamels, I would cry.

I can't really imagine a realistic trade in which I would be happy about losing Santana. You mention you think he is playing above his potential, but that's unknowable, and I think it's as or even more reasonable to predict that he will get much better.

Went to the game last night in hopes of seeing a Rosario debut. Thought the chances were good with the righty Chavez going, but alas, not even a pinch hit.

See: Ricky Rubio.

just watched the video of the Buxton dinger. Noticed Mentkeiwitz coaching third. Is that normal?

there's a highlight of Schafer's double on mlb gamecast. there's a replay shot from behind the pitcher. The ball breaks down and away pretty hard from left handed Schafer (from right handed Hahn). I've never seen a two seamer move that much. does Hahn throw a screw ball. It looks like a slider going the other way.

ohhh! take the fork out of him!

Rosario for Schafer, please?

trying to find the record for fastest grand slam in history...

Hopefully, while on the DL, somebody talks to Arcia about his troublesome affinity for chasing wide bitches.

Did anyone see else see Pelfry hit three batters in one inning last night? He sure was having a hard time locating his bitches. When Molitor came out to pull him, I read Pelf's lips before he covered his mouth with his glove and he said, "Where my bitches at, Paul?" I didn't understand at the time, but after reading this thread, I understand. I love TD.

Great to hear a positive report on Sano's D.

Great threads. Great reports. Anybody else notice Chris Parmelee in the box score from the Rochester game? Looks like he still crushes AAA.

We've all been dogging Nolasco for weeks; it's definitely a healthy reality check to hear from a real baseball player. Thanks for the insight, Mr. Batts.

interesting to see some power from Goodrum, especially in Ft Myers. Seems like with all of the other talent in the system, he's kind of fallen out of prospect status. he might shoot right back into the picture if his power is for real.

The kid in the Sano home run video that gets the ball is awesome. First, he makes a great sliding play to swoop in and pick up the ball in front of two other kids, and then he just about takes flight skipping down that berm with his arms a flapping and his shirt billowing about like a parachute, he gets a high five from a stranger, and then he does this cool little ball toss and catch move like, 'oh yeah, I'm the man', and he should've left it at that, but then he picks something unidentified up off the grass and does crazy tweaker 180 seizure move which is hilarious but totally undignified.

ah. rats.

I probably should've ended my post without bringing up that trade scenario. It probably just distracted from any good points I might have actually made formerly. I don't think that hypothesizing whether or not Pelfry might garner any trade market value adds anything to the argument that he should continue to pitch. He should continue to pitch as long as he continues to pitch well. If Noloasco were ready to pitch today, I would not send Pelfry to the bullpen to make room for him. Neither would I send anyone else on the rotation to the bullpen or to AAA to make room for Nolasco. As for what to do with Nolasco... What happens if the Twins just reassign him to Rochester? That's not the same as cutting or releasing him. We would still have to pay him according to his contract, yes? but wouldn't it force him to consider asking the club for a release so that he could seek MLB employment elsewhere, which wouldn't that then excuse the Twins from his contract?

Maybe it is high, if someone else had said the same thing, I would think it was high. It seems like you know what I mean by low level plus starter, but to clarify anyway: some one at low or high A with a plus fastball and average/potential second/third offerings, maybe someone even better or higher up but recently had TJ surgery? I think with Pelfry's velocity, he's probably more valuable than Correia, and all this hinges on his performance over the next couple months. If his stuff maintains, and he's healthy, and his era is between three and four, and teams are always desperate for starters. All that being said, objectively, I probably agree more with your critique than with what I originally wishfully hypothesized.