Doubles

Yes, it is speculation on my part. As I'm not on the inside, it's what I do. I made zero mention of Mauer's contract, but thanks for adding that in there. From Berardino's gamer: "After Yoan Moncada drew a four-pitch walk and stole second one out later in the fourth, first baseman Mitch Garver booted Nick Delmonico’s soft grounder to his right for a run-scoring error. Garver was playing first for the third time since being called up last Friday, but before that the natural catcher hadn’t played there since June 9 at Triple-A Rochester. In five games (four starts) at first for the Red Wings this year, Garver had been charged with one error. “I think it was a broken bat,” Garver said. “I knew I had to get over there and try to make a play on the ball. I think it hit off the heel of my glove and I ended up slipping.” The ball kicked away far enough for Moncada to score from second. “He’s going out there and he’s working on his defense,” Molitor said of Garver. “We’re trying to make him as versatile as we can. We don’t have a lot of options against left-handed pitching right now. He’s made some plays.” So you're saying you're okay with running a guy out to an infield spot- who has a lot of learning to do about the position- over a guy many people feel is playing defense at a Gold Glove level? Sorry, but I'm not. And unless Joe is dealing with some sort of malady that makes it impossible for him to strap it on- then yeah, I'm demanding more. I'm not blaming Garver at all. I'm questioning why a guy with only a handful of games played at first base this season is being asked to learn an extremely difficult position on the fly at the major league level. Meanwhile, Mauer, and his remarkably good glove- sits two games & DH's another in the last week.

Anybody else disappointed Mauer wasn't in the lineup? Easy to pile on given the error at first base, but come on, Joe. Team is fighting for a playoff spot. No idea what Mauer's numbers are vs Holland, but it's not like he's Randy Johnson out there. This should be a time of year when a manager has to drag a guy out of the lineup, kicking & screaming. That's not the feeling I get from Mauer.

Extend a player who is still under contract through the end of next season? Unless he is a franchise cornerstone that could be build around for years to come, I would ask why? Did we learn nothing from Phil Hughes? Or, Wild fans, Jason Pominville? Locking up guys long-term is great. Extending guys before their contract ends, only to have them hit the wall in performance with years to go, and now you've got contract millstones hanging around the franchise's head. Let it play out, then go from there.

I'd like to see another big bopper to protect Sano as well, but Vargas ain't it. Can any team withstand 450+ whiffs in the middle of their lineup?

Buxton has been tasked with trying to figure out how to hit against the absolute best pitchers on the face of the planet at the absolute highest level of the occupation. I tip my hat to him for having the mental toughness to stick with it, and especially for not letting his offensive struggles get in the way of playing the best centerfield I've ever had the privilege to witness. I guess I'm not always convinced that most people realize how hard hitting is, and how incredibly good and talented major league pitchers are.

There are times I see Dozier not hustling out ground balls. That drives me nutso, but he's far from the only one who doesn't always run them out hard. Many times it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to know who the team leaders are if you're not on the inside. The guys you may think are the leaders from watching on TV aren't necessarily always so. By the same token, there are guys on every team that are leaders that would have most fans soiling themselves if it became common knowledge.

I didn't realize Ortiz was an extremely talented defensive player before he compromised his agility and got so big he had to turn in his glove for a mostly full-time DH role. Terrible comp.

Thanks for taking the time to put together a response very much like what I had in mind when I requested what people didn't like about the column. My apologies- I should have responded to this sooner. Please see my responses in bold below:

Sano's weight has been a thing for a while now. The surprising Twins season, and especially Sano's good season, can make it easy to forget that. Sano has far surpassed my expectations as a third baseman. The guy is a flat-out athlete. Are we all in agreement that Mauer was more valuable behind the plate than he is at first base? While an eventual switch to first was probably inevitable, that move was hastened by his concussion issues. There has been plenty talk of Sano eventually moving to first base. The only reason for that to happen anytime soon would be if his weight cut down on his agility and compromised his ability to play third base. I think Sano has more value at third base than he does first. Would be a shame if he had to be moved from a key defensive spot that he excels at because of something that is within his control. Again, I'd be surprised and frankly disappointed if Sano's size was of zero concern to the Twins front office.

He didn't say the injury was weight-related. He said the recovery may be. There's a bit of a difference. "The injury was caused by a foul ball. His recovery might be affected by the amount of man that shin must support." I just don't see the level of salaciousness or whatever you want to call it that many other people are seeing. Guess we'll just agree to disagree.

I totally get what you're saying. I also agree with you on being glad the FO hasn't gone public if they have any of these concerns. Few worse ways to go about isolating a player, especially one of your essential building blocks, than calling him out for that. "According to my information, Sano’s weight has gradually risen all season and is now well above 260 pounds, which is the number listed on the Twins roster. He might be 20 to 25 pounds heavier than that." I'm not really sure what could be considered 'proof' or 'first-hand info' that Sano's weight has gone up since the season started. Do we really expect a columnist to say, "According to members of the team's training staff..." I can almost guarantee it would get back to the FO who sold out Sano. Maybe that's another issue at play here, anyways. I'm taking Souhan at his word that Sano's weight has increased over this season. And if true, that should be a concern. What Souhan does know first-hand is the lifestyle of a major leaguer. It is drastically different than most people would know, and many of those differences are not necessarily healthy.

Sorry Seth. I hate 'contrarian for contrarian's sake' more than anyone. I can assure you that's now what I'm angling at here.

I can hear part of this argument. Yes, there is some opinion here. But there are also a lot of compliments paid to Sano, as well. Sano's talent and work ethic are both praised. I guess I am just not as offended by suggesting that a bit of 'dietary discipline' could eventually be standing in Sano's path on the way to greatness. And if the organization has none of the same concerns, I'd be very surprised, if not disappointed.

"Sano possesses Hall of Fame talent, and he works at the game. He has improved dramatically at third base and he takes intelligent at-bats. This isn’t about work ethic, and it certainly isn’t about weight shaming. It’s about diet. Sano’s bulk simply makes him even more vulnerable than most ballplayers to the pitfalls of the big-league lifestyle." These paragraphs sound more like cautionary words to me than a hatchet-job.

This pretty much sums up where I stand on this. Especially the part about most commenters not even reading the article before posting about it.

"But there are those in the Twins organization who are concerned with Sano’s weight, whether or not it contributed to this injury."

This is very much a 'generalization.' I very much respect your opinion, and your right to it. But I asked for specifics people hated about the column.

I don't think anyone is saying carrying an extra 20 hinders Sano from hitting the ball his hardest. From Souhan's column: "Sano should play at about 260 pounds, if not 250. He would have more energy, would run better, would have a better chance of staying healthy and would remain powerful enough to hit the ball out to any field in any ballpark. He would also be able to remain at third base, where his strong arm is an asset." I find that paragraph hard to disagree with. Especially as it relates to Sano's chances of staying at third base. Better conditioning = better agility = a better ballplayer.

I'm not really here to take one side over the other. Are you saying that there wouldn't be much variance in Sano's performance if he played at 250 or 260 versus the 280+ that he's playing at now?

Okay, I'll bite. Lotta twitter bile being flung at Souhan based on his column on Sano & his weight. I'm curious to know specifically what people didn't like or took issue with about the article. Let's hear it!

I don't like the level of risk inherently tied to a 35 year old with a $28MM salary. Not sure I'd even want the risk of spending FA dough like that, much less having to give up prime prospects.

Doogie just said that there have been no contract talks between Molitor and Jim Pohlad or the front office. As his current contract is up at season's end, and we're already into August, this makes things pretty clear. So if Molitor is indeed not retained, who would you want to see at the helm?

As intriguing as Greene is, isn't anyone skeptical about going 1.1 on a pitcher that only threw 28 innings? I mean, aside from having a lightning bolt for a right arm, what else is there possibly to glean from that? I realize that minimal wear & tear on his arm could eventually be a good thing, but still...

Gotcha.

Did you hear this directly from a Twins source? I'd find it extremely hard to believe they weren't aware of him or whatever "on the Twins' radar" means. Remember, around draft time a favorite cliche' of NFL executives is you know they're lying when their lips are moving. Not saying the Twins are lying, I'm saying I'd be shocked if they weren't well aware of Greene and all potential first round picks leading up to this draft quite some time ago.