SockNet

I wouldn't say that what your calling a pause in the set position isn't really a pause because every pitcher has that when turning his pivot foot after the rocker step. His rocker step just happens to be forward. He is not reposition himself to pitch from the stretch so wouldn't need to step off. That looks like one motion to me and is not intended to deceive which is the purpose of the rule. The rule does state the free foot gets one step back and one forward and it looks form that angle he takes two forward. If we want to be picky.

I still think the second WC rewards undeserving teams and allows cheap(er) teams to not make moves to be real competitors because this faux playoff race keeps fans coming to the stadium making money for the owners which is all owners really care about. But I'm probably a hypocrite. GO TWINS!

I think you're giving Smith too much credit for Sano. Maybe he spent a little more than TR would have but the Twins don't even sniff at Sano until the Pirates scout started a smear campaign against him and scared of the higher offers. That's what I got from Pelotero anyway.

Ha! I enjoyed this. And now I want a box of Hit Cluster for my amateur team.

Michelobe Golden Light is brewed in STL and only found in the MN, WI, the Dakotas and Iowa. It was developed specifically to compete with Miller Lite in this region and has been MN's number one seller a number of times. I'm more a Premium guy myself.

I'd like him for bullpen help this year as it looks like it is scuffling a bit right now. Maybe available for a spot start if necessary.

At one point, not sure if it was with the Twins, Hunter use Gritz "my life be like" When I was playing amateur in Marshall, MN I had it cued up to the third verse for may walk -up as I was a St. Paul kid. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-yCg-0-baE

Has anyone else had trouble with the "At the Ballpark" app? I have it for Android os and have never been able to "check in" when at various parks I've been to and wasn't able to download the app to my ipad mini last month. I'm not very tech savvy so I might be overlooking something basic but any thoughts would be nice.

Absolutely it has, as one would expect due to the specialization of relief pitching. I'm all for looking at and maybe changing how mound visits can be done. But does that third or fourth pitching change make up the additional 29 minutes over the past 10 years the article mentions? Get rid of "God Bless America", mascot races, foundation recognitions and the rest of the between inning stuff and see where we're at. Add a little hustling on and off the field and you will have a pace that resembles a college baseball game, and thats with pitches and defensive positioning being called from the dugout. Once you have 2.5 minutes between innings though commercials won't be done before action resumes.

For 100 years warm up pitches, mound visits, and pick off attempts were not a problem. Now all of the sudden they are? This is a problem of MLBs making by trying to squeeze every lost dollar out of advertising by lengthening breaks for commercials and by adding between inning pomp and circumstance. Now they are trying to fix something they broke by changing the way the game is played so they can keep their dollars. If you have to do it by not shortening inning breaks, fine. I'd like to see how a pitch clock works with runners on base because I don't think it will. If a pitcher takes too long automatic ball. If a batter takes too long to get in the box, automatic strike. It shouldn't have to be that way but I guess it is. I think it will take out a lot of interplay between the pitcher, batter, and catcher that has always been there since forever without hampering pace. This should be as easy as umpires controlling the game, keeping the pace moving and Joe Torre controlling his umpires. Organizations and managers may have to deal with player entitlement to do whatever the hell they want but umpires certainly do not. Sure Angel Hernandes will push the boundaries of what is reasonable but players and managers to that too. Just look at how long a replay takes. It's not the umpires who hold that process up. I think ultimately if umpires could stick to their guns and a slow pace starts costing balls and strikes and outs the players will get on board real fast.

Should: Platoon Hicks and Schafer. Will: Acia hits 15 day DL with a stiff back. Rosario gets called up and moves to center when Arcia comes back. Hicks or Schafer gets sent to Rochester.

I never liked the 1st round Levi Michael pick. I felt he had far more in common with Matt Tolbert, a career backup, than a starting middle infielder. Plus I would have expected a 20 year old D1 first round pick to be more polished and move through the system faster. I could have just been bitter about not drafting high end pitching that year. Like every year prior to Stewart.

I will see you at the game! I love skipping work for day games.

I'm looking forward to this. I missed it last year. I even convinced my friend (a Red Sox fan) to join in the fun (he will be wearing a Twins hat). FYI, the links to the page to buy tickets says the page is lost.

yeonis cespedes

The Twins will probably not make the playoffs. And if they do can't be expected to do much. I read Meyer is struggling. Why not call him up and see if he's worth his salt. He is 24 years old. Isn't is "s**t or get off the pot" time? If he doesn't do well, at least then we know.

If this signing is a statement to the fan base that we are legitimately chasing the play offs, don't we still have issues in the rotation to address? If they are serious, don't they have to get Meyer up to replace Correia or Deduno? Maybe even May for the other? If not I think its just a stunt to try and put butts in the seats.

Junior Ortiz and meat... Okay, really probably Puckett or Morneau but who doesn't like a guy who wore single 0?

I feel talent w/o leadership is the same as leadership w/o talent. No one cares. I wonder if our teams best player shows up and plays with a little piss and vinegar in him, it will rub off on others even if his numbers don't change. My guess is that's what they went after in Pierzynki. A productive player with a little edge to stir the pot. I also agree with "I think it directly relates to how much they smile on TV." Maybe he has more P&V or leadership than we see, but I feel we would have heard reports of how well he leads if that were the case.

Competing in Mauer's prime is over with. The management is always "building for the future" and never embraces the now. Two years from now if we are in contention and need one piece to make a legit run, they wont make the trade. They didn't in 2010 when they just needed one more decent starting pitcher. I'm of the opinion that if they go all in for a few years when we are close and at least get to the WS, the fan base will be forgiving for the couple years the farm is depleted. Its better that being the best bad team in a bad division that doesn't really deserve to be in the play offs because the East has 3 teams with a better record and the west has 2.

What am I assuming? Other than the comment about height, I qualified every statement I made. You are assuming Sano's size equals less agility. You don't know that. I addressed your concerns about Sano bulking up and his agility which is finely tuned mobility. I would tend to agree NBA players couldn't play 3b because, well, they are trained to play basketball not Major League 3b(I've never liked comparing sports, difficult to defend and/or refute). Again though, that's an assumption. As for his fielding, he may be bad now but when was the last time a polished 19 year old infielder broke into the majors? The last two position players I can remember are Andruw Jones and Bryce Harper, both outfielders. I just think it's too early to be having this discussion with regards to Sano. He is at least a full year away and likely more.

Thank you! What's the difference in two inches? Probably not much. Weight should not matter as long as it is good weight (muscle) and as long as that bulk does not affect his mobility. Does he have acceptable range both ways? Can he read balls, charge and retreat well? Can he throw? Does he know where he needs to be and when he needs to be there? No one is ever forced to change positions because of their size. They are forced to change because they are not good enough. Sano's size does not imply any lack of ability and/or potential ability. Sano is being judged on markers. The Twins want X amount of skills developed by Y dates to be ready for the majors by Z age/year.If he falls behind on those markers he will be moved.

Interesting to think of. I think Mauer will be one of the first players to loose votes because he didn't live up to the expectations of his contract in the era of the mega deals, even if his numbers alone still suggest he should be in.

Agreed here. Just get something decent(regardless of issues) to stop the revolving door until you can get an equal to or better, younger, long term solution.