John Bonnes

I'm looking forward to seeing Brock hobble around on painkillers. And Seth, that's EXACTLY why we schedule this on weekdays.

I don't think we have a problem with someone copying a paragraph to illustrate a point from the story, or summarizing an article. We just don't want someone going out an lifting a full (or most of a full) story and republishing it here. We want people to respect our intellectual property. We should respect theirs.

Up to this point, Twins Daily hasn't had an official policy regarding comments; it's mostly been "be civil." Sometimes this has worked. Sometimes it hasn't. We've talked a lot amongst ourselves about being a little clearer and decided that whatever we adopt will have a link on the footer of the site and be re-posted occasionally to make sure everyone knows the rules. I'd like to propose this as the new policy, which we based on the policy for MLBTradeRumors.com. But before we charge ahead, I think it's important to get the community's feedback. Comments of this nature are not allowed: 1. Personal attacks or insults towards other commenters, the post author, journalists, teams, players, or agents. 2. Inappropriate language, including swearing and related censor bypass attempts, lewdness, and crude terms for body parts, bodily functions, and physical acts. Overall, we don’t want any language that a parent would not want their kid to see. 3. Juvenile comments or extensive use of text message-type spelling. 4. Copying entire stories from elsewhere on the internet. 5. Comments about how you're sick of this topic or it's not newsworthy. 6. No inappropriate avatars or images are allowed. 7. Anything else we deem bad for business. Breaking the rules will result in deleted posts and bans. Attempts to circumvent bans will results in all accounts being permanently banned (along with their IP address). I suspect the rules that will be most concerning are #2 and #1 (though I encourage feedback on all of them), so let me quickly address those two. I'm a big free speech guy, and I wrestled with both, but I've come to embrace them. Here is why: #2 - I have recently received emails from parents of minors who love these boards for Twins news. I'm not naive enough to think they don't know vulgarity (I think I was at the height of my vulgarity as a teen) but I don't see any compelling reason to have this language on the board and I can think of plenty of reasons to not have it, such as increased credibility for threads that offer terrific debate and can even be newsworthy. #1. It's one thing to say "Gardenhire is stupid to always bat a middle infielder second." It's another to say "Gardenhire is stupid." I wrote about five paragraphs in the forum last week criticizing Phil Mackey's latest salary story, so I'm not saying we can't be critical. But I cringe when five comments later I read "Mackey is an idiot." That's just a personal attack. I'm not suggesting this to protect players feelings or get the Twins or media to like us. I'm suggesting this because 1. It adds nothing to the discussion. These comments will not be missed. 2. It makes us - and I mean the whole community - look bad. Twins Daily was not started to be a playground. It was started to raise the overall quality of baseball coverage. If we want to do that - if we want to gain credibility, if we want to continue to draw in independent voices and readers, if we want our content to be cited and used by others - then we cannot look like rube chat. OK, that's the proposal. Please provide your feedback below.

We'll miss you! Now let's hear from some gold that can make it.

You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?950-Impromptu-Thursday-Night-Twins-Daily-Meetup

Here's the problem: nobody is "happy" with a minor league job when a major league job is available. This offseason, there are going to be some hitting coach positions available in the majors and I gotta imagine they'll want to interview Bruno.

It sounds to me like Gardy wants to see Vazquez up here. So do I. I'd love to know the inside story here. I wonder if Walters is definitely coming up and they're worried about finding a spot for Vazquez (assuming Duensing goes to the bullpen). Or if Duensing's last outing gave them hope that he's a starter. Or whether the front office is suggesting a six man rotation or Gardy is. I'll say that I'd love to see Walters and Vasquez get some starts in Sept. I'm down with putting Duensing back in the bullpen. Give me the other 3 Ds, Hendriks and the callups every 6th day. I'm fine with that.

Sorry about that. I'll be honest - I haven't even seen these on the site. We'll see what we can do.

If the club is looking for incentive for a strong finish, here it is. http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/blog_article/minnesota-verging-on-unwanted-franchise-history/ He notes that they went over .500 in 2006 after dropping below in 1997.

While I, too, question the medical staff of this team (see the Pavano article), I think luckylager's post is about right. So essentially the answer is: "We just don't care that much."

Pretty good story by Shipley.

When? Where? Just wondering.

You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?943-Why-I-Will-Watch

Tonight The Voice of Reason™ and I went to a St. Paul Saints game. We soaked in a gorgeous Minnesota summer night, watched a bunch of kitsch and thoroughly enjoyed a game in which we had almost no emotional investment. Because it’s baseball. And it doesn’t last forever. I hear Minnesota sports fans lauding the turning of the calendar page, anxious for football and the (albeit limited) hope new seasons bring. I’ll enjoy watching the Gophers and Vikings too. But I’m a baseball guy, and I can’t devise a night much better than I just had. So go ahead, tell me how tough it is for you to watch a Twins game right now. Or take it a step further; tell me how you won’t watch a Twins game right now. I won’t be upset. More like puzzled, because I see all kinds of things that are exciting to watch over these last six months of the season. Let’s count down the top six. 6. Sam Deduno The original sin in baseball is to overestimate how much you really know. Sabermetrically and historically, Deduno doesn’t make any sense. But maybe we don’t know everything about this game just yet. I’m very excited to see how this ends. 5. Chris Parmelee “Prospects” kind of get lumped together, and we’re poorer as fans for it. So let’s be clear – nobody has had a season like Parmelee is having in AAA since the Twins moved to Rochester. Not Cuddyer. Not Kubel. Not Morneau. That doesn’t mean he’s a star in the making. But I sure want to see what he can do. (And that includes what he can do – shudder – in right field.) 4. Liam Hendriks & Brian Dozier Two guys who were rushed through AAA, brought up to the majors and predictably struggled. I’ve seen enough from both to think they’re on the right path, they just have a ways to go. I’m convinced these stories are going to have a happy ending. 3. Denard Span & the Twins Medical Staff When Span is deemed unavailable for the 15th straight day, will the Twins finally feel comfortable putting him on the DL? Or perhaps they'll decide that they don’t need their medical staff any more, relying solely on the player’s self-diagnosis. When they need a second opinion they'll draw cards from the board game Operation. (The Wacky Doctor Game!) 2. Other September Callups I think we’re going to be disappointed by how few additional September callups there are, but I’m hopeful we’ll get to see some pitching. I’d love to see if Esmerling Vazquez’ recent hot streak represents a breakthrough. I’d like to see if Anthony Slama and his video-game-like stats prove the organization’s brain trust wrong. I’d like to see if Deolis Guerra could have a role next year. 1. Joe Mauer and Ben Revere As a Twins fan in the 70s, it wasn’t uncommon to have nothing more than a Carew batting title to root for come August. I’ll readily admit my fascination with Mauer and Revere’s longshot chances are based on that being an annual occurrence of my childhood. I’d likely be just as fascinated if they brought back the bullpen car. (Of course, who wouldn’t?)

Tonight The Voice of Reason™ and I went to a St. Paul Saints game. We soaked in a gorgeous Minnesota summer night, watched a bunch of kitsch and thoroughly enjoyed a game in which we had almost no emotional investment. Because it’s baseball. And it doesn’t last forever. I hear Minnesota sports fans lauding the turning of the calendar page, anxious for football and the (albeit limited) hope new seasons bring. I’ll enjoy watching the Gophers and Vikings too. But I’m a baseball guy, and I can’t devise a night much better than I just had. So go ahead, tell me how tough it is for you to watch a Twins game right now. Or take it a step further; tell me how you won’t watch a Twins game right now. I won’t be upset. More like puzzled, because I see all kinds of things that are exciting to watch over these last six months of the season. Let’s count down the top six. 6. Sam Deduno The original sin in baseball is to overestimate how much you really know. Sabermetrically and historically, Deduno doesn’t make any sense. But maybe we don’t know everything about this game just yet. I’m very excited to see how this ends. 5. Chris Parmelee “Prospects” kind of get lumped together, and we’re poorer as fans for it. So let’s be clear – nobody has had a season like Parmelee is having in AAA since the Twins moved to Rochester. Not Cuddyer. Not Kubel. Not Morneau. That doesn’t mean he’s a star in the making. But I sure want to see what he can do. (And that includes what he can do – shudder – in right field.) 4. Liam Hendriks & Brian Dozier Two guys who were rushed through AAA, brought up to the majors and predictably struggled. I’ve seen enough from both to think they’re on the right path, they just have a ways to go. I’m convinced these stories are going to have a happy ending. 3. Denard Span & the Twins Medical Staff When Span is deemed unavailable for the 15th straight day, will the Twins finally feel comfortable putting him on the DL? Or perhaps they'll decide that they don’t need their medical staff any more, relying solely on the player’s self-diagnosis. When they need a second opinion they'll draw cards from the board game Operation. (The Wacky Doctor Game!) 2. Other September Callups I think we’re going to be disappointed by how few additional September callups there are, but I’m hopeful we’ll get to see some pitching. I’d love to see if Esmerling Vazquez’ recent hot streak represents a breakthrough. I’d like to see if Anthony Slama and his video-game-like stats prove the organization’s brain trust wrong. I’d like to see if Deolis Guerra could have a role next year. 1. Joe Mauer and Ben Revere As a Twins fan in the 70s, it wasn’t uncommon to have nothing more than a Carew batting title to root for come August. I’ll readily admit my fascination with Mauer and Revere’s longshot chances are based on that being an annual occurrence of my childhood. I’d likely be just as fascinated if they brought back the bullpen car. (Of course, who wouldn’t?)

I'll admit, I didn't see this coming. I thought Blackburn might be moved to the 'pen, or maybe even optioned, but DFAed? Wow.

Here's my twitter length synopsis of Law's take on each player: Sano – Helluva hitter, both power and contact, but doesn’t seem to care much for defense. Rosario – Played CF and looked good there. Offensively, he’s interesting but seemed off balance in that game. Vargas – Legitimate power, but Law is afraid he won’t make contact at higher levels and he has a DH’s body. Taylor Rogers – Reliever looks like a legitimate left specialist. 87-89 fastball with a slurve.

Nope, sorry. Even if it wasn't insider only, we still can't allow the story to be copied over. It's a copyright issue. But thank you for the link.

You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?940-Gleeman-and-the-Geek-Ep-55-Demoted-Dozier-and-Brutal-Blackburn

Aaron and John talk about Brian Dozier's demotion to Triple-A, Nick Blackburn's ongoing awfulness, whether the Twins are collapsing down the stretch again, the latest "day-to-day" injury proving anything but, where and when Chris Parmelee will play, KFAN producer Ryan Donaldson's puking story, and preparing for the return to full-time podcasting. Here are: the podcasts the rss feed if you want to subscribe and the podcast on iTunes.

Aaron and John talk about Brian Dozier's demotion to Triple-A, Nick Blackburn's ongoing awfulness, whether the Twins are collapsing down the stretch again, the latest "day-to-day" injury proving anything but, where and when Chris Parmelee will play, KFAN producer Ryan Donaldson's puking story, and preparing for the return to full-time podcasting. Here are: the podcasts the rss feed if you want to subscribe and the podcast on iTunes.

Blackburn's continued presence in the rotation has a lot more to do with the contract that he has than Gardy's attitude towards him. And that contract was not given by Gardy. If you want to blame someone for the harm that Blackburn has inflicted on this pitching staff, the line begins with the front office, not the coaching staff.