Squirrel

What are you saying? That the Twins still have a chance of winning the division?

If only Molitor could/would think this way ...

Yes!

Hmm s tht wh y r nvr brf?

TWINS 1. Joe Mauer (L) DH 2. Brian Dozier (R ) 2B 3. Max Kepler (L) CF 4. Eduardo Escobar (S) 3B 5. Eddie Rosario (L) LF 6. Robbie Grossman (S) RF 7. Logan Morrison (L) 1B 8. Ehire Adrianza (S) SS 9. Bobby Wilson (R ) C Kyle Gibson (R ) P WHITE SOX 1. Leury Garcia (S) RF 2. Yolmer Sanchez (S) 3B 3. Jose Abreu (R ) 1B 4. Nicky Delmonico (L) LF 5. Matt Davidson (R ) DH 6. Omar Narvaez (L) C 7. Jose Rondon (R ) 2B 8. Tim Anderson (R ) SS 9. Adam Engel (R ) CF James Shields (R ) P

Today is also 'Wish Vanimal a Happy Birthday' Day

What are you saying? That there’s still a chance for the Twins to win the division?

Did he think he caught that or did he not think the runner would try for two?

Lol @the guys in the Sox booth on that fouled off pitch. ‘Where’d that get him? He has his shin guard on. Let’s take a look. Oh! Eeee! Ow!’

Blake likes to confuse us all 4:10 is Pacific time; 6:10 is Central time.

1. Joe Mauer (L) DH 2. Brian Dozier (R ) 2B 3. Max Kepler (L) RF 4. Eduardo Escobar (S) 3B 5. Eddie Rosario (L) LF 6. Mitch Garver ( R) C 7. Logan Morrison (L) 1B 8. Ehire Adrianza (S) SS 9. Ryan LaMarre ( R) CF Lance Lynn (R ) P 1. Leury Garcia (S) 2B 2. Yolmer Sanchez (S) 3B 3. Jose Abreu ( R) 1B 4. Nicky Delmonico (L) LF 5. Welington Castillo ( R) C 6. Daniel Palka (L) DH 7. Trayce Thompson ( R) RF 8. Tim Anderson ( R) SS 9. Adam Engel ( R) CF Hector Santiago (L) P

I wouldn’t call it logical, I’d call it the easiest answer ... the easiest to point to and the easiest to deal with, IMO, if it is indeed the only answer. But the guy is just HUGE. I think his body type is just wrong for baseball and wonder if he will ever be able to weigh that much less. It’s not like he’s a flabby mess. He wasn’t, at all, in ST when I saw him doing drills and workouts. But I just don’t think it’s exactly logical to say if he’d lose weight he’d be better. And I don’t think his weight is a factor in his mindset at the plate. What is going on there? Is it logical to say if he lost weight he’d have better plate discipline? That doesn’t seem logical to me. So what some of us are trying to say ... we think there is more than just weight going on here and just losing weight isn’t going to solve the over all problem. It would be nice if it’s as easy as that, but I don’t think it is. But it is certainly fair to have that be a part of the conversation. But it’s not fair or logical to have it be the only part of the conversation.

I’m beginning to wonder if we’ve over-estimated his star abilities. My concern is that’s it’s not his weight or an unwillingness to adjust or a host of other reasons why his performance has been so bad; it’s that he is just not the player he was hyped to be and we’d hoped he’d be.

/swat! Such faith you have.

Whew! And I already had my chicken.

If they keep him on the roster, and build their team around him knowing that, yes. If he’s unwilling to do what it takes, then cut him, trade him, demote him and don’t put a large chunk of your eggs in his basket. If they are unable to solve the problem that is Sano and keep him around, whatever the problem may be, then yes, it's on them. But I’m leaning more towards that it’s not that he’s unwilling, it’s that he’s unable to meet expectations. How much longer must be be patient with this?

And if he’s not willing to do that, I put more of that on the Twins. Why do the Twins have players on their roster who can’t do their jobs to expected levels? Whether Sano is unwilling or just can’t because he’s just not that kind of player, the Twins need to either find a way to turn it around or cut it off. Maybe he’s not that talented. Maybe he’s genetically predisposed to be large and no amount of diet or conditioning changes that. Maybe he doesn’t have the right mental makeup to recognize what to do differently or is unwilling to change. Who knows what the real problem is? Obviously the Twins can’t figure it out, either, so what’s the solution? But whatever the cause or the reason, this team will go nowhere if that’s what we’re built around.

I’m not going to make any assumptions about what Sano is or isn’t doing because I don’t know. None of us knows because A, B must be the reason. So I’m not going to speculate on his conditioning, weight, or anything else because none of us really knows ... we are assuming and guessing because of what we see, we think we know what’s going on behind the scenes, and so is Reuse. But what I do know ... Sano is not contributing to expectations like we thought he could or should. I don’t know if that’s on him or if that’s on the Twins or if that’s on us and misplaced expectations. He’s not contributing and I can’t help but wonder if he ever will, no matter what the reason. And with Buxton out, too ... what do we have? Pieces of a team built around two players who look more and more like they will be unable to contribute at the levels needed in order to compete. And without them contributing at the levels necessary, our weaknesses are exposed in a major way. I really like some of what we have, but without those two performing at expected levels, it doesn’t matter because what we have in place of them can’t get the job done. And even with them I believing more and more, the job can’t get done. I think Reuse is making Sano the scapegoat and that’s just lazy writing. Sano isn’t the problem. Sano isn’t the solution, either. I think he’s a symptom of larger issues. The evaluation of players, construction of this roster and how it’s utilized is all just, well, piss poor, IMO. So Reuse can keep writing these articles and we can continue to react to them ... it’s all a deflection from where our frustration should be directed. Again, IMO.

I’m done with this team. Buh bye.

You've seen my neighborhood ... you have to admit it's a good neighborhood.

Not sure what that's supposed to mean, but I live on the south side ... in a great neighborhood.

No, no, no, yes. I'm working tonight so not at the game. Was not wishful thinking, just keep looking at Wunderground. Definitely not a meteorologist. Yes, I brought an umbrella with me to work today because when work is over around 10pm, I have to go home and thought it might be raining then. Not that any of this is any of your business, but whatever.

Rain is coming ... but likely won't see the worst of it until after game time ... that's my prediction.

Well, last season he didn't do any home games, so maybe that changed again for this season. Edit: Yep ... he's only doing Sunday day games at home. That's it. I know the previous season (or two) he was off home games because he'd drive back and forth to his home somewhere in Indiana between games, and that was too much for him, so he was in the booth for away games. But this year ... home games, only on Sunday afternoons. I think it said he's only doing 20 games this year, so far reduced from past seasons.

White Sox posted their lineup. That's optimistic given the weather coming this way. Edit: Actually ... the weather is looking more promising ...