Doubles

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.

I had surgery to repair a torn labrum. The injury itself was no fun, the surgery was no fun, and the recovery was no fun. Still have limited range of motion / mobility with that shoulder today. Mine was on my non-throwing shoulder, luckily. I can't even fathom trying to throw, much less pitch, with a torn labrum. Always admired Brad Radke for that.

Hopefully this team can find The Fire Inside, else management may go for a complete Shakedown if the results are Still the Same. Who knows, maybe Paul will tired of playing the role of Beautiful Loser, and ask management at season's end to Roll Me Away.

First off, that's a fine rant right there, Dean. I love me a good rant. Now, here are my thoughts: Agree largely on the knee jerk reactions based on small sample sizes. Where I'll clarify on Buxton is this: To say he has been anything other than a flop at the major league level to this point is pretty much off-base. 'To this point' being the key to that phrase. Buxton has 187 plate appearances over the last two seasons. That's about 1/4 of a full season. There's that snap-judgment thing. He deserves wayyy more time than that before I write him off as a 'bust.' Now am I concerned he may end up being a bust? Frankly, I am, though just a bit. Roy Smalley, whose judgment I trust, has said that he doesn't like Buxton's swing, that it's too long and has too many holes in it. To me, that's a good thing. At least we have a theory on what's up with Buck striking out so ******* much. Now that he's been sent to Rottenchester he can work on shortening his stroke and buttoning up the holes in it. He already plays Gold Glove-caliber defense. Let's give him time to get his swing up to ML standards. Hitting is difficult, people. I'm not sure how many really realize that. I also don't think most people have any idea how much time & preparation great hitters put into their craft. Buxton may turn out to be a flop, but we're a long, long ways from objectively declaring that. I want him to excel right now as much as anyone. But it's not that simple. Completely agree on the talented writing staff here at Twins Daily. We may not always agree with everything they say or all of their opinions (that's the beauty of America & baseball!), but these guys know their stuff and have proven repeatedly over a long period of time that they deserve to be respected. They've absolutely earned it. As for dissenting commenters here in the Twins Daily Forums, I'd encourage you to be thankful for the lively community that y'all have built and continue to grow here. Baseball's a great sport to debate over. It probably lends itself to back-and-forth exchanges as much, if not more, than any other sport. Be thankful for all the commenters that come here and give you something to chew on. After that, it's on you whether you choose to pile any more of what they're serving on your plate. Commenters that are, shall we say, off-base or misguided- provide a valuable service in that they can make the peeps that know their stuff look that much smarter. "If there were no villains, we'd have no heroes." Or something like that. Anyways, the guys that put this site together and contribute all the great content on here should be uber-proud of it. And the many regular commenters that are here deserve credit for keeping the ball moving downfield. If everyone agree on everything all the time, what would we have to pee & moan about?

Nolasco just couldn't give up that lead quickly enough.

BH the DH!!!