jimbo92107

This deal could be a big winner for all parties. Pelfrey could go to a contending team and maybe get himself a ring. Meanwhile, the Twins could snag one more very promising arm for the future. I'm for it, assuming the Twins are out of contention. At that point they should be doing a full scale youth movement anyway.

I don't know if we'll see Sano up before the Twins trade Plouffe. Escobar remains the backup infielder. Buxton's situation is much easier. DFA Robinson, plug Buxton in at CF for the next ten years. Hicks goes to whichever corner OF needs better defense, and the other OF goes to the other corner. Hunter becomes the 4th OF and part time DH. That was supposed to be the plan, right? At the moment I'd keep Rosario as the other OF opposite Hicks, but that could change depending on hitting trends. The bear in the room is Joe Mauer. It would take soccer balls to DFA him and replace him with a combo of Vargas, Sano and maybe Max Kepler, but that's the future, folks. Mauer's bat doesn't profile at 1B at all, so he doesn't fit the team anymore. What Mauer should do is retire for a year to see if his brain fully heals, and if so, then try coming back about a year from now with a different team at 1B. Maybe then he'll develop that elusive power stroke and have five more years as a power hitting DH/1B with some lucky team. Meanwhile, the future of this team is about young power bats at every position but shortstop and catcher. Why not start the full youth movement a week or two after the All Star game? It's fun watching them have a good start, but every pundit says this Twins team is an unsustainable statistical mirage. Okay, then let's get a head start on installing the Twins of 2016 and beyond, and that will be enough to keep butts in the seats for the rest of the season. I'm okay with Sano and Buxton having their cold streaks at the plate. But when Sano catches a mistake hanging, then makes the baseball go far away, I want to see it on MLB.com, not the minor league network. When Buxton steals second and just keeps going to third, safe, I want to see that, too. I want to see Max Kepler doing what Joe Mauer wants to do at 1B - hit about .300 and bust some balls over the wall. We've been waiting for the new kids for more than four years now. Turn some pages and let's start a big new chapter for the Twins.

I don't know if Michael Tonkin is going to be a good or great reliever in the majors, but there is absolutely no reason for him to spend another day in the minor leagues. He looks solid, he throws hard, and as far as I can tell, he doesn't crack under pressure. Use him!

I just hope taking off his clothes isn't an early indicator of Torii Hunter's next career. ;-)

But just imagine if he did start taking it all off? Life copies art! The video of Torii Hunter doing a Ned Braeden on national TV would survive into the next millennium. It might last longer then the memory of baseball itself!

It's a classic problem for power hitters. A hard swing usually means you have to start it early, so if a pitcher (like Pelfrey) can throw something with late breaking action, they can make you look like a fool. The problem for Walker is that a lot of major league pitchers can throw a pitch with late breaking action. That's why they're in the majors, they miss bats. The art of hitting at the major league level involves a lot of internal processing of what pitches you're going to look for from a particular pitcher. Brian Dozier has developed a nice formula with the help of Tom Brunanski. He looks for pitches mostly in the middle, trying to drive them flat. But if he sees high and inside, he pounces with those quick hands and bashes it into the left field seats. Walker needs to develop a more sophisticated plan for pitch recognition. I'm sure he and his coaches already know this. A little more plate discipline is AB Walker's ticket to the majors. Doesn't it seem like some aspiring old hitters and software programmers could come up with a VR program to train hitters how to recognize what's coming? You could integrate all the pro tips like a couple dozen physical tells from the pitcher, situational analysis, etc. Then see if the player could guess what's coming and who can guess the soonest. I bet Joe Mauer would be good at that.

I thought the shirt thing was a little much. Sort of crossing the line into slapstick comedy. You want to kick me out? Well then, maybe I'll just start taking my clothes off right here!

Mauer is stuck in the extremes of left or right field. He needs to get back to hitting basics: hammer some baseballs up the middle. Knock some pitchers over, drill some screaming liners over a CF's head. Hit the ball back the way it came, then later you can work on pulling and slicing.

I still think it's a form issue. They're trying to get Meyer to refine his balance point by forcing him to pitch from the set. They may also be working on abbreviating his delivery from the windup, so he can fix his control issues. If that means serving as a bullpen guy for half a season, so be it. Some pitchers end up eliminating their wind up deliver completely. Maybe Meyer is one of those guys.

I find your analysis compelling, but then, I just ate some semi-rotten salad from my refrigerator. Walker looks pretty solid to me. His batting stance and swing were somewhat similar to Chili Davis, and his power looks similar, too. Unlike Davis tho, Walker hasn't developed a top-notch eye for checking his swing on junk pitches. If brought up now, doubtless he will do some flailing, but even clever pitchers will sometimes leave a curve ball hanging or a fastball too much in the middle. Unlike the Twins bench at the moment, Walker has more than enough power to deposit such mistakes into the second deck. I can see him becoming the fourth outfielder and pinch hitter, and sometimes a DH. It's not so much whether Walker's got a lot higher upside but that Sano is nowhere near ready to play RF, or third base. Walker is ready for RF right now.

Good show. Sounds like Tyler Jay will remain in the minors unless he immediately puts up Tommy Milone numbers at Low-A, in which case they might bump him to High-A after a month, and if he keeps it up in High-A, maybe he gets to AA by September, but what are the chances of that against professional hitters? Speaking of which, when was the last time the Twins drafted a pitcher, then promoted him to the majors within a year? Blyleven, maybe?

Thing I like about Jorge Polanco is his attitude. He's a positive force, a gung-ho type personality. He looks eager to play the game in all its aspects. He wants to bunt, steal, hit-and-run, etc. He looks forward to the excitement of situations, and seems to savor his own success. Danny Santana, for all his talent, does not seem to enjoy his own success so much as he finds misery in his failures. The optimist will always be a better teammate.

If you bring up Buxton today, you suddenly have the fastest outfield in the major leagues, with two of the strongest arms. Even Rosario is reasonably fast, and has a good, accurate arm. Then if you leave the infield as-is for awhile, you've got one of the best fielding teams in baseball, with Vargas as DH/1B. Pitchers like good fielding teams. I'd do it right now. Bring up Buxton and turn on the electricity. Double the wattage on the disco ball, and buy a bigger smoke machine. Let him get a taste before the All-Star game, then hit his stride in August. Then, we think about bringing the Sano Lumber Company to town, and maybe even Der Kid, Max Kepler.

Oddly enough, it all depends on Miguel Sano's athleticism. He's listed as 6'4", 260 pounds in the Lookouts roster. Can he run faster than Kennys Vargas? Fast enough to make a reasonable corner outfielder? If not, then he'd be a liability at 3rd, where Pouffe is now thriving. He could compete with Vargas as DH, but Vargas has a distinct advantage of more experience, and he's a legit switch hitter. That mostly leaves 1st base, where Joe Mauer is. Sano's probably got the glove for it, and definitely has the bat for it. When do you want the Twins to bench Joe Mauer? Pinch hitter? DH? Platoon at 1st, along with Sano and Vargas? Tough decisions indeed.

Terry Ryan brought Torii Hunter here for two reasons: 1) To play solid RF and produce some RBI, and 2) To mentor guys like Aaron Hicks, Eddie Rosario, Danny Santana, Kennys Vargas, and later, Sano and Buxton. Hunter has delivered more than expected on all counts. He has single-handedly brought a great atmosphere to this team, helping execute Paul Molitor's pressure baseball philosophy. He's showing Hicks and Rosario what mentality will make their baseball careers successful and enjoyable. Assuming Byron Buxton comes up sometime during the second half, Hunter will become the fourth outfielder, continuing to mentor the young outfielders, contributing wherever he can on the field and at the plate. Hunter's contract with the Twins is working out even better than hoped.

Mike Pelfrey has elevated his "floor" value to the Twins immensely. Now, instead of being a dubious over-30 pitcher on his way down, he looks like an inning-eating mid-rotation guy that can win a surprising number of games if he's supported by good defense and a little hitting. His heater is better, thanks to good movement and better command. He's been keeping it generally down, but clearly he can move it around the zone and avoid the middle, without issuing walks. His slider is nothing amazing, but nobody sits on it, so he can throw it almost any time. The big news is that splitter. Used to be that hitters could sit on Pelfrey's fastball and expect to get something in the middle part of the zone sometime during an at-bat. Now his heat is around the zone, not down the middle, and if you sit on it, he'll throw that excellent splitter, which he delivers with almost the same arm action as his heater. With its late down-left action, it's extremely hard to judge where that ball is going to be when a hitter initiates his swing. Even if they do make contact, it's going to be a weak grounder or some weird little squibber. More likely a lefty fouls it off his foot, and a rightie just whiffs. Thing is, he throws it with two strikes, and it looks like a BP fastball down the middle, so they can't prevent themselves from swinging. The last factor is stamina. Dick and Bert both noticed how strong Pelfrey still looked right into the 8th inning. His heat was still 93mph or better, and his command had not degraded to the point where hitters could really take advantage. Granted, they were starting to zone in on his heat, but a couple good catches ended the game. Maybe Pelfrey needs a slightly different pitch pattern for the eighth inning.

I'm making this call not just because I like Danny Santana, but because I really believe he's got star talent. He just needs to refine his approach at the plate so that he's not giving away so many outs. He also needs to work on stealing bases - a guy with his quickness and speed should be a threat every time he gets aboard. Santana has one of the quickest bats in the organization, yet he strikes out a lot. That means he doesn't go up there with a good enough plan, a way of narrowing down the pitches he's going to offer at, a recognition of the situation, etc. With a bat that quick, seems to me he should be taking the Mauer approach, letting the ball get as deep in the zone as possible, then slashing across it to the opposite field. Of course he won't be another Joe Mauer, but being an oppo hitter is a good foundation for a guy like Santana, and it allows him to punch out at some of those outside pitches. Later he can learn to pounce on inside stuff like Dozier. My drill for teaching the Joe Mauer style: Toss the student a basket of oranges, and he must slice each orange in half with a kitana. Fun and nutritious. Once the student can do this with a grape, he is ready. For what, I cannot say.

If Polanco works his butt off on his fielding form, he'll be hard to beat. That guy's a gamer. Otherwise Gordon could sweep past everybody if he starts hitting. I hope that's not a long-shot 'if.'

Good move, I was wondering why they were keeping Vargas down. Twins can win some games with Vargas at DH. He's so much more intimidating than Esco or Nunez behind Plouffe. Vargas is a legit power threat from both sides, and he will definitely knock in some runs. Meanwhile, Nunez and Esco platoon SS and Left, where they belong. No more pretending to be a scarey DH, just super subs. Speaking of subs, I'd like to hear what you guys think about calling up another super sub. Who would it be, Beresford, Bernier, or somebody else? What all positions do Escobar and Nunez actually play? BTW, should Vargas start getting scarey tattoos and wear spiked armor on his front side? That would look tre cool... ;-)

Just watched Danny Santana wave pathetically at another outside pitch to end a possible threat with two guys on base. Send him down. Now. Please. I like Danny Santana, but as Bert was just saying, he gets down on himself too much when things don't go his way. At this point Santana looks so hopeless at the plate that sending him down would be an act of mercy. The guy is miserable and needs the pressure removed. Let him work on his game and his outlook in AAA. He's got lots of talent, but right now he's letting his emotions get the better of him. Jorge Polanco would be my first choice to replace Santana, but if there's some reason the Twins want to keep Polanco down, then bring up Doug Bernier, a competent SS with a can-do attitude. They could even bring up Argenis Diaz (.298, OBP .385) for a cuppa coffee, just to give Santana a week off. Any way they want to go, Danny Santana today has worked himself into a self-defeating funk. He needs time away from the show to get his head back together, to reset his emotions. Right now he's putting all the pressure on himself, instead of on the opposition. The only way he can push the reset button is with a change of scenery.

Kind of a Catch 22. Changing speeds is such an advanced technique, pitchers that are getting guys out by changing speeds effectively get called up to the majors before AAA hitters see them more than a few times. Thus, guys like Vargas don't get to work on keeping their weight back and flicking their wrists to foul off slow stuff.

If they keep trying to play pressure baseball, I'm okay whatever the result. The Twins played so passive over the last few years, it really wasn't good baseball.

The one guy people aren't talking about much is Mauer's possible replacement at 1st base. Vargas? No, Max Kepler. Der Kid is hitting about .300 in Chattanooga, lots of doubles, good glove, good arm, great athlete, and his power stroke is legit. Kepler isn't another Joe Mauer, but his skill set is a better match for what the Twins need from a 1st baseman. More power, solid play. I expect to see Kepler and Vargas sharing time at 1st base within a year, and then where do you put Mauer? Of course, the moment I'm typing this, Mauer pounds a three run homer to tie the game with Milwaukee. RISP!

Time to send down Danny Santana for some AAA seasoning. 1. Polanco 2. Dozier 3. Hunter 4. Plouffe 5. Vargas 6. Mauer 7. Suzuki 8. Rosario 9. Hicks

If they need a mantra, how about "Find a way to get guys out." It may vary quite a bit from pitcher to pitcher. Some guys can just blow hitters away with heat and a slider; others require a lot more cleverness. But every pitcher has to figure out a way to put up zeros, no matter who comes to the plate, and the way you do it may have to change depending on the hitters. Pitch-to-contact is one tactic among many. As a mantra it is flawed because teams can adjust their batting plan to beat that tactic. They can decide to shorten up their swings, have more plate discipline, etc. A pitcher has to realize when a hitter is running up his pitch count and adjust accordingly by being more aggressive in the zone. One trick ain't gonna cut it.