ewen21

Dozier will give us very little in return. He is 31, having a down year, there are a lot of good second baseman in the game and he is just a rental. Sorry to say, but teams aren't lining up for him and we are not in a position of strength

How players play seems not to matter. All this talk earlier in the year about just throwing Buxton out there and giving him at bats because he "isn't going to learn anything at AA" while he hits .150 in the majors was maddening to me. Don't call up players that are not hitting. Period. The problem is, Rochester is a consipiracy of ineptitude offensively

Huh?

An update: http://www.1500espn.com/twins-2/2018/06/derek-falvey-progress-byron-buxton-miguel-sano-jorge-polanco/ In five games with the Miracle, Sano’s hitting .250/.400/.300 with seven strikeouts and five walks in 25 plate appearances. The slugger was sent to the Twins’ complex in Florida to work on both his conditioning and pitch recognition. In a small sample size, the strikeouts are still high, but Falvey said his conditioning has improved since arriving two weeks ago. “We talked about the holistic plan around Miguel,” he said. “The conditioning has gotten better and better. He’s lost weight, done a good job. It’s not just the weight number, we want to make sure he’s strong. We’ve seen some things from an offensive standpoint in terms of adjustments. He’s progressing.” In two weeks his conditioning improved. As I said yesterday, he could have done nothing until New Year's Day and still come into camp in shape. If committed, given all the resources and time he had, it should have been a slam dunk. Even if he did nothing until New Year's Day!

Let's call a circle a circle and a square a square. He messed up this off season and there is no way around it. Doesn't make him a bad person. When I was his age I was a college dropout. Dropped out after my Junior year and damn near lost my mind for about six months. It took me almost a full year for me to get past whatever it was that caused me to struggle, but it was ALL ON ME and I pulled it together. Far be it from me to turn on this kid. I am not saying he is a terrible person or saying anything controversial by questioning his work ethic. It needs to be questioned because of where he is at. If there is some kind of compelling issue that impeded him from preparing for a season post microfracture surgery, I haven't heard of it. I have to simply take it on its face, and again....this is fixable. If he can push through this year and show some life, then come into camp next year refreshed and in good condition a lot of people will give him a mulligan.

Who cares? That is what you think and feel. That is what I am saying. If anyone thinks it is an assumption that he didn't work hard enough because he didn't care enough they are going to have to give me something concrete as to what else could have impeded him, otherwise they are making assumptions themselves. This is simple stuff. People don't fall into a situation like Miguel is in without being neglectful, irresponsible and far to sedentary. This idea that "you really don't know what he was doing" is ridiculous to me. I know when he came into camp the Twins and the media remarked immediately on his appearance. I know I reserved judgment until I saw him because there have been criticisms about his weight before and I did not think it was a big problem. That changed when I saw him this year for the first time. This is a guy that had microfracture surgery and for him to gain weight rather than rip down (not asking much, 10 or 15 pounds) is a terrible job by him.

"Matt Belisle is the man. When I saw that, I was pumped. I even texted Hildy. I was like, 'Dude, give Matty B a big old hug for me.' I was happy to see that. I love Matty B" Sorry, but Booze sounds like a dimwit here smh

Maybe you need to consider that the answer is actually more obvious than you want to think. It gets silly when people try to over complicate something simple. You want me to be more sensitive? I am quite aware of the circumstances Sano has encountered over his career and it all started with Pelotero Ballplayer (which I have seen about ten times). I don't think I could be more sympathetic to toward this player than I have already been dating back to the day he was drafted. I think the Twins were doing a terrible job with Latin players during the Gardy and Ryan years and when Sano got suspended in New Britain for that home run trot I was furious. I defended him like a pit bull and slammed the Twins for their insane overreaction. Before the year started there was plenty of discussion about Sano and I defended him again. I even expressed a lack of concern about his weight because I though he was strong enough. I no longer feel this way because we have hit a tipping point. I can no longer defend him. Seems as though you are accusing me of not thinking this through and you couldn't be further from the truth. I have explored a variety excuses in my mind trying to give him the benefit of the doubt for quite some time now and I cannot do that in this scenario because it is as simple as 1-2-3. Make whatever excuse you want to make for him, but in the five months of off season that he had he went significantly backward and the excuses are just not good enough, sorry. I understand his daughter died, but that was four years ago. He played through that back in AA with aplomb, but that was then and this is now. Are we to assume that there was some exceptional event that prevented him from eating properly and working out to a level that would achieve a reasonable level of fitness? Seems as though you want me to operate under that assumption. Sorry, not gonna operate under an assumption Everyone goes through times in their life where they need to do some soul searching and Miguel is there on his own volition. For a professional athlete to let themselves go the way he has is unacceptable. I defended him when a teammate made comments about him being a "ticking time bomb". I went off on Plouffe and May for weighing in on the #metoo incident. This is different. This is simple and cut and dried. Over the off season he let himself go and it isn't up to me to come up with the WHY. I have read people insist that it is genetic or his real problem has to do with mechanics (while the connection to his physical state and its affect on them gets treated like an afterthought). All of these excuses attempt to take the emphasis away from the fact that he was irresponsible and he let his team down (and himself down). Time for him to act like an adult. Have fun on the ballfield and style all you want when you hit a HR. Wear the dreads long and the doo-rag. Wear war paint if you want, I honestly don't care. But when it comes to doing your job and personal responsibility cut it out with the excuses. I don't want to hear the excuses anymore. This isn't rocket science. He has five months every off season to work on his body. If he had a reasonable diet plan (not that hard!) and worked out an hour and a half a day six days a week (also not hard given that is his only baseball responsibility) he would be a lot better off. Don't give me excuses because you weren't there either. It isn't like you know exactly what impeded him from doing what he needed to do. He has more control of this situation than what you suggest. I have been in his corner until now. Not this time. This is one area where a player can put his stamp on his career. He has all the talent in the world and what is he doing with it? Not much by the looks. The great thing is that this is fixable. If he comes back next year in excellent shape and a renewed spirit people will get in his corner again.

I don't see it that way at all. Not at all. He came into camp and there were rumblings from the Twins in the media right away before most of us even saw him. When most saw him it caused a reaction. No one had seen the guy for almost five months and he put on bad weight after having microfracture surgery on his shin. He had nothing else to do over a five month period but to eat properly and train effectively. He failed miserably in that department because whatever he did he didn't do nearly enough. YOu want to talk about maturity? I don't want to hear it. Take a look at other young star players in the game, guys even younger than Miguel, and you will see a great many of them commit themselves to being in the best possible condition they can be. Sano isn't an EMT, a police officer, a school teacher or whatever. He is a professional athlete and it is HIS JOB to be sure stuff like this doesn't happen. He didn't do what his employer needed him to do. SImple as that. The sad part is he could have done virtually nothing for three months and then whipped himself into shape over the last six weeks of the off season. I have done body transformations while I working a full time job, I have seen others with all sorts of physical limitations do the same. THis guy has five months of free time and he comes back needing time to condition himself? That was the Twins judgment and they are much closer to the situation than anyone else. I keep reading people are drawing conclusions they cannot draw due to lack of information. Well, apparently the Twins are concerned about his conditioning to where he is in A ball to get his body conditioned. If that doesn't tell us all something I don't know what will.

I defended Sano long enough. He is the one responsible for where he is right now with regard to conditioning. He was irresponsible in that area this winter. I don't where anyone can dispute that. If people want to call that lazy I don't understand what the problem is. I fell out of shape in my life and it was because I got lazy. He is a professional athlete and has all the resources you and I could ever want at his fingertips for months on end. He also had microfracture surgery on his shin.

My problem with this whole debate is the constant berating people get from those who believe nothing can be discerned about one's physical fitness through observation. This refrain I keep seeing.... "you don't know because you weren't there watching him" or "you can't say things about his character" is getting very annoying. I am saying nothing about his character unless you assume that anyone who is 30 to 40 pounds overweight has character issues. I do not make that assumption and I am not making an assumption or going after his character if I say he is out of shape and should have done a better job. People who noticed this early shouldn't be on the defensive and I feel anyone who has been critical of his conditioning HAS BEEN put on the defensive for a perception that his "character" is being attacked. With that I am walking away from this unless someone wants to quote me or PM me.

Holy overreaction. To say we know nothing about them, what they care about and how they work doesn't compute with me. HE didn't care enough to rip down in an offseason where he needed to because of the microfracture surgery. This is idea that we "know nothing" about what he did, cares about or how he works makes zero sense. It is pretty simple to draw conclusions about people if we are talking about fitness. If he were working hard and doing what he was supposed to do he would not be down in Florida conditioning his body DURING the season. He allowed this to get this way all by himself. That doesn't happen unless you go completely off the reservation for five months. Period. End of story. You and others seem to think people can discern nothing from hours, days, weeks, months and years of observation. You will remember right away there were questions about his weight and physical condition once he arrived in camp by the Twins and the media. Then we saw him and it was pretty clear he put on some weight after microfracture surgery on his shin. What does that say about his preparation? If ever there was a season for him to rip down and ease the load on those legs it was this season and he was ill prepared (to say the least) People want to say it is "mechanics" yet don't realize/accept/fathom that his physical conditioning (or lack of it) affects execution. It is so simple it is silly. 5 X 5 = 25 and that will always be, just as out of shape athletes are going to have a variety of problems 10 times out 10. At 25 years old he has a lot to learn with what it takes during the five or six months of off season that he has.

When it comes to weight some people are blunt about it with themselves. I know that I am when I am carrying like 10 or 15 pounds and I know other people who are the same way. The comments some people directed at Sano are things I heard many people (myself included) say about themselves. I don't see that as assailing one's character. Good people can have bad habits. Lord knows I have a few and I am VERY honest about them with myself and I will rip myself about these things to make sure I'm on the straight and narrow. I don't have coaches, five months and change of free time and an endless amount of resources like Sano does. He did a horrible job this offseason and you would hope he learns something from this

Anyone with two eyes and one serving of experience in life could have discerned this problem. The idea that this issue had nothing to do with his hitting was a big time assumption. There was an assumption that his conditioning was not the issue, but rather it was mechanics. Well let me tell you, conditioning effects one's attitude and ability to execute the hitting mechanics necessary to be successful. When we are talking about the hardest thing to do in sports it could mean only two clicks on the dial off kilter. To shut down conditioning as a possible root cause would be ignorant. The Twins commented on this right away and they are belatedly doing something about it. Oh well

I would be down with that if Wade actually deserved a shot. He isn't remotely in that area as of today

In my 52 years on this Earth I have been in and out of shape. When I was in shape I looked like I was in shape. Why? Because I put in the work with diet and exercise. When I was out of shape I looked like I was out of shape. Why? Because I got lazy in the area of diet and exercise and I in every case I readily admitted it to anyone when I got on the topic. I am sure there are a lot of people like me here who have been through this and understand that forgetting about conditioning and diet affects how we feel, our appearance and what we are capable of doing physically (in Sano's case it probably affects his swing mechanics, attitude and overall ability). If this calls into question his character then so be it. He has five to six months of offseason and he is a 25 year old professional athlete. IN this day and age you have to keep up with your peers, many of whom work out and get in amazing shape during the offseason. This is a fixable thing. He can change.,

THere was a lot of blowback about "questioning his character" when people made the observation that Sano was out of shape a few months ago. Can that please stop? YOu don't get out of shape working hard and being a go-getter. I wasn't watching him this winter, but I will bet he lived a little too high on the hog this past winter and who can blame him? He grew up with nothing and now he's enjoying the spoils of a life in the major leagues. At least half of this is on the Twins. Remember when he got suspended for the home run trot back when he was in New Britain? I always thought it was more about other things than him taking his time rounding the bases after a home run. The Twins went out of their way to make a point to him for "not respecting the game" as an indirect way to send a message to him about other areas of his game. Heaven forbid they call him out for his work ethic, or lack of a decent one. What is wrong with saying the kid needs to refocus and work harder? What is wrong with telling the kid that he lost his way? I was in my early 20s once and I needed some people to get in my face in order to keep me on the path. No shame in that.

That is nice that he did that, but I couldn't care less about those kinds of things. As long as the guy plays with heart, is a good teammate and contributes (check, check and check) he is A-OK in my books. If he signed autographs and was a "nice guy" but was a loafer and a clown? He could sign autographs and kiss babies until the cows come home and I wouldn't appreciate him one bit. I don't need players to talk to me or give me anything but 100%, some production and zero off the field BS. If a player can do that then that is all I ask as a fan

How is Wilson.s blocking, defense, framing and pitch calling? Is it so good that we need to keep him even though he has proven he cannot hit at the major league level? He's also 35 years old. YOu do realize this, don't you?

Proof that offseason conditioning is a big deal

They are busting him in and he can't do much about it. Look, I am not saying this is THE issue, but it's hard to get around the fact that he isn't in very good shape and he came off micro fracture surgery. HIs quick twitch muscle reaction just isn't what it was. This has reeked havoc on his confidence and ability to handle those pitches and that has an affect on what Parker calls pitch recognition. His conditioning and mindset go hand and hand and those two things are the root cause for a lot of his issues. If that questions his work ethic or character as a ballplayer then so be it. I have been a huge Sano backer since I saw Pelotero Ballplayer. I have been rooting for him and even when the allegations came through this winter I was still in his corner. Right now it is hard to brush off how he got to where he is. It is more to do with his own inactivity and overconfidence he had in coming back from the surgery without doing the work necessary.

It's becoming less and less important understanding that Buxton is a good kid who listens. etc. That is all very well and good but it doesn't absolve him from anything. This is the major leagues. He needs to put on his big boy pants and stop pressing so much. If he can't do that then maybe he doesn't have the makeup to be a major league ballplayer. Sano, needs to understand that he put himself in this position because he has terrible off seasons. We are talking five and six months at a time that he has to get healthy and in top shape. This what today's player has to do. If he doesn't understand that he will have a short career

NO ONE wanted this to happen. It would have been hard to stomach this if someone told me this would happen last October. This shows that a player can take two steps back over the winter if they aren't careful. Being a professional athlete requires a lot of attention all year round. TO refuse to accept ANY correlation between the drop in production to the changes in his body over the last several years would be to shut down a possible solution. Some people get angry about "questioning his work ethic" and such. Who cares? To spiral downward the way he has invites all kinds of questioning and it entirely reasonable to site conditioning as one of the causes. Not THE cause, but a cause. To say it has NOTHING to do with it is a far bigger assumption to make

Let's not get carried away about any Solarte, Hicks or Goodrum. If we are bemoaning the loss of them then we really need to step back and look at what we have. Buxton and Sano aren't getting all the blame, but the sure as heck need to be doing a lot better. Both are totally clueless this year and they have been given so much rope. Are they supposed to not be held accountable for their poor play? If you think the Twins are bad at developing players I agree with you. That, however, doesn't excuse Buxton or Sano for dreadful performances. There are plenty of players younger than them outperforming them by a wide margin. I am tired of hearing "give them time" These are supposed to be blue chippers. They should be performing at a much higher level and Sano really needs to take ownership of the fact he had an awful winter preparing for baseball. That is on him. Let's just face facts.

Nick, as always, excellent work. THere is one thing, however, that I have comment on with regards to this offense. This article didn't say go there, but other articles recently have with regard to the negative affect the Buxton and Mauer injuries have had on the lineup. Thus far this year these two players have given the Twins 228 at bats and have produced a COMBINED 12 extra base hits. Buxton has given us at .158 average and an OPS of .383. When these guys come back Joe is going to need to do more than just walk, hits singles and bat around .280 and Buxton is going to need to hit the reset button back to zero, pretend this is a new start, and get his act straightened out. Talk about his speed and defense all day long, but if he can't .200 in his first 15 or 20 games back I am done waiting. A demotion has to be in order. There needs to be accountability on the Twins end