Doubles

Couple things on the play Gordon scored on: *The new rule where catchers can no longer block the plate definitely came into play here. Castro was positioned up in front of the front line of the right-handed batter's box when he caught the throw. Accordingly, Gordon's head-first slide to the outside part of the plate necessitated Castro to have to reach back try the swipe tag. I thought he had time to secure the ball with his bare hand while protecting the ball with his glove. Difficult play for sure, but one I'd bet Castro would say he should have made. *I totally get the new rule and its purpose in keeping guys safe, but I believe this rule has led to runs being scored that otherwise wouldn't, and I'd submit this play last night as Exhibit A. Is it worth upping player safety? No question. But I wonder if there isn't a solution somewhere that keeps catchers safe without compromising their ability to make a play. *Lost in all of this was how aggressively Kepler played this, got to the ball, came up throwing, and fired a one-hop strike. Fantastic play that we'd all be raving about had the outcome been different. Kepler is well on his way to really being an impact player here for years to come. Big-time like.

Late to the party here, but totally agree. I look forward to these each morning, and the interesting convos that ensue. That's a fun part about baseball to me- bantering and second-guessing. Baseball was made for that.

On Gibson- IF he can put up 3-4 more effective starts the rest of the way here, do we truly know what he is? May be worth a deep- dive to analyze what has made Gibson successful over his last several starts. May also be worth trying to determine if it is in any way remotely possible that it's sustainable?

Huge win that came in a big time of need. Gotta say I hated Polanco bunting in the 8th inning after Mauer's lead off single. ESPECIALLY given how dangerous Polanco has been lately. Hate giving away one of the six outs you have left, hate trying to only TIE the game, just hate everything about it. Now you have essentially the same situation in the 9th inning. Kepler leads off with a single, bringing up Esco. If you chose to bunt in the 8th inning, why wouldn't you choose the same thing an inning later? I'm not 100% adverse to bunting. I just didn't like bunting in that spot last night.

I've seen Gleeman RT a Tweet someone sent, something to the effect of Granite hitting better than Buxton and being just as good defensively, and that Buxton should be traded. I've seen him RT that multiple times. For what purpose? To make himself feel better by tearing others down? Is that what Gleeman is all about?

I acknowledged it's not cool. Not sure what more you want me to say. Gleeman went on KFAN this morning and claimed he wouldn't get into personally insulting anyone or criticizing their appearance, etc. Really? Since when? Since going nuclear himself on Twitter & calling Souhan's initial column on Sano 'Bull----'? Since making the blatantly false accusation of claiming Souhan called Sano "soft" & "blamed Sano" for being injured? Since calling Souhan a "----head" on his podcast on Sunday? I've said it before, I think Gleeman could have come out of this smelling like a rose had he taken the high road all along here. He's trying to go down that path now, only after making plenty of his own personal attacks, then taking to the radio waves to denounce such behavior while claiming to be above it. Now that the toothpaste is out of the tube, taking the high road tack looks awfully disingenuous, at best. As I've said, when things deteriorate at such a personal level that goes way beyond debating the merits of a newspaper column, nobody looks good.

Have a day, Esco.

From Reusse's article: "The No. 1 flaw for the Twins in their Sano strategy was not the idea of putting him in a corner outfield position. The No. 1 flaw was making no impact with their pleas to Sano to get in prime condition." I happen to completely disagree with Patrick's statement above. The Sano to the outfield experiment was ill-fated from the get-go, and it seems Twins management were the only ones who refused to figure it out. That notwithstanding, in no way does that absolve Sano of being culpable for reporting to spring training above the weight his team wanted him at, and furthermore for not appearing to work to remedy the situation during camp.

It's amazing the heat Mauer took, even as he was well on his way to a career that could have ended with him as one of, if not THE best-hitting catcher of ALL TIME, and surely enshrined in Cooperstown. Between the big contract and then the injury / conky issues, Joe had little, if any chance, to escape considerable criticism.

Now this I can agree with. Well done, Riv!

After all this, here's where I'm at: * I have zero issue with Souhan's initial column. Does anybody really think a third baseman approaching three bills is not a dicey proposition? Twins would be completely naive to ignore this issue. And more than one media member- including LaVelle- has corroborated Sano's weight IS a cinder for the org. Nowhere did I read Souhan was calling out Sano for being fat or was weight-shaming in any way. * In the initial column, Souhan writes: "Sunday night, the Twins placed Sano on the 10-day disabled list because of a stress reaction in his left shin. The injury was caused by a foul ball. His recovery might be affected by the amount of man that shin must support." The longer Sano is out of the lineup, the more it appears there may be something to wondering if Sano's weight may be prolonging his recovery. With regard to the timing of the column, Souhan absolutely would have been trashed for writing that Sano's recovery was prolonged after the fact. Instead, he was criticized for trying to get out in front of the story. * I think Gleeman was over the top with his critique of Souhan's column. You don't have to like or agree with everything you read. But at least be fair & rational about what you take issue with. Gleeman accused Souhan of writing things- that Sano was "soft," that Souhan blamed the injury on Sano's bulk- both claims that were patently false. * I think Souhan's blog response to the criticism went too far. I totally get a journalist wanting to defend his integrity & professionalism. I don't think going nuclear with weight-shaming, name-calling, & cheap shots was the best way to get his message across. * Gleeman seems to be thriving on the attention from all of this. I submit he could have gone about criticizing the initial column in a more dignified way that didn't thrust himself into such a negative light. The fact he keeps engaging in "kimono" & "Cinnabon" references as punchlines leads me to think he is reveling in the attention brought to this. * I still think the initial column was met with resistance more so because of who delivered it, than what the message was. Even the column John wrote- "On Velvet Ropes"- that I believe contains many great points made by an extremely talented writer that I have the utmost respect for- made a leap referring to Souhan's initial piece as the "Sano's Too Fat" column. I think this has deteriorated into personal issues between the parties involved that has gone way beyond debating the merits of a newspaper column. In the end, no one looks good when it reaches this point. Wait a second- what are we all arguing about again?

Joe Mauer is on the short list of most-polarizing athletes to ever hit the Twin Cities' sports scene. His 2009 MVP season is probably the only season he hasn't been subject to one level of criticism or another. To wit: "Singles are great & all, but why can't / doesn't Joe drive the ball more?" "Why doesn't he pull the ball more?" "Pitchers know by now they just tube the first pitch and start his ABs 0-1. Why doesn't Joe jump on that first tasty-looking pitch? We all know it's coming!" "A six-foot seven-inch singles hitter? Really?" Even in his best seasons- 2009 aside- Joe has always heard these criticisms. As he winds down a pretty GD good / great career, I doubt those impressions are gonna change in the twilight of his career, even if they rightly should. Don't believe that? Keep your ears to the ground the next time Joe has a big AB with a runner on first & rolls over a grounder up the middle. You'll hear more frustration vented than for almost any possible outcome for any play in a Twins game. Guaranteed. Joe is always gonna be a lightning rod here in the Twin Ciites. He's been here too long for fans in general to change their opinion of him. Generally speaking, whatever most fans impressions of Mauer is at this point, is what it will be whenever his career ends.

I mentioned in another thread that I've seen all I care to from Perkins at this point. I would much rather see what these youngsters are about. Not only that, but as Seth mentions, guys like Hildenberger & Busenitz have emerged as guys who have earned shots in high-leverage situations. I'd much rather see someone who has a chance to be a critical part of the Twins' future than see a guy trying to get back to near what he used to be, & should be doing it elsewhere aside from the major league club chasing a playoff berth.

If Souhan is to be reprimanded for fat-shaming, is Gleeman calling him a *feces* head on his podcast somehow any better?

Also from the article: "The injury was caused by a foul ball. His recovery might be affected by the amount of man that shin must support."

I believe this take will be met with a great deal of resistance.

Agree, and this point furthers my belief that people had as much, if not more issue with who wrote it than what was written. Messenger-killing.

Yes, the access thing has been bantered about here. No, I don't consider access to be the end-all, be-all. But I definitely believe it to be a sign of legitimacy. In other words, you can crank out good content without access. But you ain't gonna get access without proving you can put out quality content. We tried for two years to get access to the Minnesota Wild. Their PR Director was set in his ways and wouldn't budge. Now that's not the reason our blog went under, but I firmly believe having access would have been additive to our product. Good on the Twins for being more progressive in giving legit media- mainstream, digital, or otherwise- a look behind the curtain.

I think it's worth calling out Twins Senior Director of Communication, Dustin Morse. Dustin was smart enough to recognize a site like Twins Daily providing outstanding content, whether they use access or not. To that end, good on Twins Daily for building their brand by cranking out consistently high volumes of great content. Dustin has recognized the Twins would be silly to discount the value Twins Daily brings to Twins fans, and therefore the ball club. Also, good on the guys at Twins Daily. The TD spot as a legit outlet has been well-earned. And good work in rewarding Dustin's faith in getting credentialed. To me that says a lot.

Think I've seen about all I need to see from Perk this season. He just doesn't look like he has the stuff to get big-league hitters out at this point. I give him props for making it back- I tore the labrum in my non-throwing shoulder. It's a painful surgery / recovery and rehab process. Can't imagine throwing a ball again after having done that. That said, I'd rather see him take the off-season to see if can fully make it back. Don't need to see him on the Twins mound the rest of the way here.

Baseball, in and of itself, is an inherently boring game. Couple that with the average time-of-game currently at an all-time high of 3:09- and these are not good things. So within that time, I need something to stimulate my brain (please don't take a rip at the hanging curve ball I've left here). Roy explains what is happening and what each side is trying to accomplish. It is that very 'game within the game' that I enjoy about baseball. And with Bert on the mic, we get next-to none of that.

I get what you're saying. But the initial Sano column is where this all started. Agree, the fat-shaming in the follow-up blog was out of bounds. So was Gleeman's Twitter tirade alleging Souhan blamed Sano for his injury and called him soft, when neither of those things happened. Just my opinion, but I lose a measure of respect for Aaron every time he mentions his kimono or Cinnabon. I don't blame him for feeling insulted, but it was at his own behest. He went after Souhan, questioned his professionalism & integrity. Jim took the bait with an inflammatory blog post that crossed the line. I'm not saying that makes it right. But now it looks like Gleeman is reveling in all the attention, and in my opinion, looks worse for doing so. As I said earlier, there are no winners here. Everyone looks bad.

This thing went so far off the rails, there are no winners here. But yes, I will agree the fat-shaming is also not a good look. And in the interest of being even-handed, I should have included that in my run-down on the whole fiasco.

Now, for the non-baseball side of this fiasco: I have forged relationships with people I respect & admire on both sides of this debate. In the interest of full disclosure, I was once a blogger for the MinnCentric team. I enjoy Twins Daily a great deal. I also co-host a show on Souhan's podcast network. Jim felt compelled to defend himself after his professionalism & integrity fell under attack for his August column on Sano. I get that. But I don't think there was much to gain by going after the bloggers. I think I know what he was driving at regarding the "People you should & shouldn't listen to" regarding Twins coverage. But it came across as self-righteous grandstanding. Again, I think I get where he was going here, but some different wording could have given more credence to his point. As for Gleeman's part, I think he's come across here as pretty sophomoric. In his blind rage, he's alleged Souhan has written things that he hasn't. I haven't seen Souhan call Sano "soft" or blame him for being injured fouling a pitch off his shin. If he has & I missed it, please feel free to point that out to me. If Aaron inferred those things from something Souhan wrote, I would put that back on him. If someone infers something that was not written, isn't that on the reader? Jim did speculate that Sano's weight may prolong his recovery. Not sure there's a definitive answer there, but the longer Sano is out, maybe lends that there may be something to that theory. Aaron also likes to post other people's questionable tweets on Twitter in an effort to tear them down or make them look foolish. Right or wrong, this comes across to me as rather petty, & just isn't a good look. John's article here references Souhan's "Sano is Too Fat" article. That may have been how John read it, but that's not how I did. More than likely, our pre-existing biases play a role in our perceptions. Maybe even a larger role than we realize, or are willing to acknowledge. Now this whole thing has (d)evolved into a pissing match. Pick a side, and then defend it vociferously. Logic & reason be damned. From my seat, this entire thing is as much, if not more, about who wrote it than what was written. For my part, I will choose what I read, what I listen to, and what I believe all on my own. I ingest a ton of Twins content, and I can form my own opinions on the legitimacy & credibility of all that I take in. I do believe access is helpful, but I have read plenty of great content that's proven it's not a necessity, and will continue to do so. As a friend of mine said- paraphrasing- 'This whole thing started when people took issue with the notion that a 300lb third baseman is sub-optimal...'

Maybe I should start here. Can we all agree on the following thoughts / assumptions / conjecture / speculation / or whatever you want to call it? *Miguel Sano is a pretty GD good third baseman, regardless of however much he weighs. Today, at 24 years of age. *Sano is infinitely more valuable as a third baseman. His value will decrease if he moves to a lesser-premium defensive position like first base, and will certainly decrease more if he is ever moved to full-time DH. *Sano may be able to play effectively at 285 or whatever, at age 24. Guess what? He ain't gonna be 24 forever. Most people are susceptible to gaining weight as they age. It would be extremely short-sighted, if not flat-out negligent, for the Twins to turn a blind eye to this. The sooner Sano addresses this, the easier it will be to remedy. It would take a lot of work & discipline for him to get down to 250 or 260. It will take a whole lot more effort than that for him to get down to 260 if he keeps putting on weight as he heads towards and passes the 300 mark. *At some point, the Twins are going to have to decide whether or not they will be willing to commit to Sano long-term. Anyone think they aren't extremely nervous about committing big money & term on a guy whose size is going to have a major impact on his future? And if you don't believe that, can you at least acknowledge the uncertainty about where Sano will play in the field (if he's in the field at all) a mere five years from now, before Sano even hits 30?