Puckmen

The White Sox are coming. 2020 might well be the last year the Twins are better than the White Sox. So the window to win is now. In a vacuum, I wouldn't trade Graterol for Maeda. But in the context of going for it in 2020, I like the trade.

No, Mr. Stanozoltana is suspended without pay.

Trout stolen bases in 2013 = 33 I believe I had that.

The Verlanders

8. Trout will not experience the dreaded sophomore slump. Trout will put up good hitting numbers, but there is no way he gets 49 SB's again. He came into camp at 240 pounds this year...even if he drops some pounds during camp, stealing bags at that weight will put a pounding on his body. I doubt the Angels will let him steal like he did last year (and with Hamilton and Pujols hitting behind him, they don't really need him to run wild). I say Trout steals about 30 bases this season.

Yikes, I think you might have been hitting the vodka a little too hard when you wrote that!

Another Japanese middle infielder might not be working out...who could have seen that coming? Don?t be surprised to see A?s shortstop Hiro Nakajima open season with Triple-A Sacramento | Oakland Athletics : The Drumbeat | an SFGate.com blog

And he struck out the side in the 11th. Impressive A's debut for Neshek.

Pat Neshek just came in the game for the A's in the 10th inning, and he got the last out of the inning with just two pitches. Go Pat!

Nice, and while you are at it, could you fix things so the Twins play better? Thanks!

Sano hit the grand slam off of a pitcher named Goforth. Go forth and prosper, Sano!

I have seen Appel pitch in person 6 times this year (live close to Stanford). There is no issue with his velocity...he routinely throws 94-95 and can hit 97 whenever he wants (but he does dial it down to 91 when he needs to throw a strike). The concerns (based on conversations with scouts at these games) are lack of movement of his fastball and the lack of a top-notch secondary pitch (his breaking pitch is hard to describe...sort of a hybrid curve/slider). That said, the last game he pitched for Stanford in the NCAA regional last weekend was pretty incredible as he was pretty much unhittable for the first 6 innings and cruised to a complete game 4-hitter with 11 K's. The only pitcher I saw play at Sunken Diamond (Stanford's baseball stadium) this season who threw harder than Appel was Chargois of Rice. He hit 99 with many of his fastballs and was fun to watch.

I spoke with a couple of scouts for Seattle at the Fresno St. vs. Pepperdine game this afternoon. For what it is worth, they expect Houston to take Appel (as has been reported all over this site today) and the Twins to take Buxton.

I wouldn't take Appel with either the first or second pick, but I think he is going to have a very solid pro career. I saw him pitch at Stanford tonight and he was pretty much unhittable for the first six innings. He was hitting both sides of the plate with 94-95 mph heat and his breaking pitch was moving more than I have ever seen it before. He lost a bit of rhythm after Stanford had a long inning at the plate in the bottom of the 6th, but ended up going the distance while giving up only 4 hits and striking out 11. I hope the Twins take Carlos Correa with the second pick.

Zunino is hitting .245/.312/.457 in SEC games this year (25 games so far). Not exactly awe-inspiring numbers.