Sano and the Outfield

Torii Hunter is teaching Miguel Sano the nuances of right field this spring.

Think about that.

I know there are a lot of Torii supporters in Minnesota, but the one thing Torii was not good at was playing the outfield after his speed left him. He depended on that speed and his natural athleticism early in his career, but he never truly learned the nuances of the outfield position himself. He often got caught flat footed and out of position later in his career. The nuances escaped him.

Now, he's trying to train a man with great power and average speed how to play the outfield...

The Twins have placed themselves into the position where this is far more than an experiment. Right field will be Sano's for the foreseeable future unless he seriously hurts himself (or others) while playing there. Blunders, especially early, will be ignored.

Mauer IS the Twins first baseman. He's not going anywhere.
Park IS the Twins DH. He's not going anywhere.
Plouffe IS the Twins third baseman. He's not going anywhere.

The only exception? If somebody gets hurt.

The Twins have built this expensive house of cards. It will tumble if they start messing with it.

Let's all hope that Sano is a quick learner and adequate. No one expects him to be a gold glove award winner. He merely has to not look like Delmon Young out there.

Curry: 12 3-Pointers, Half-Court Buzzer Beater at End Of OT!

And he has the all-time record for three-point plays in a season with over 20 games to play.

Did I mention Golden State WON?

Wow. Just wow.

Aging Player Contracts

Jose Bautista has told the Blue Jays that after this season he wants a 5-year, $150 million contract. The problem is that before the beginning of NEXT season, he will be 36-years old. That's a lot of money to pay someone between the ages of 36-41.

Jose learned how to hit, really hit, home runs relatively late in his career. There's no way any team should invest that kind of money in him when he's that old. He may even have an average year of hitting this season as injuries are starting to take their toll.

I don't see him ever getting that type of payday. The odds of him hitting 45-50 home runs a year for the next 6 (including this season) years are practically nil.

Negotiating in public is never a good idea. He'll have to back down from his stance after this year.

Being gracious now would have been a better idea. He probably could have secured a 4-year deal in the $100 million range (including a renegotiation of this season), but that time has passed.

That "extra money" demand was just greed on his part. And he will suffer the public's ridicule because of it.

I wouldn't be writing THIS blog if he had been smarter in his business dealings. I used to like him.

Notice the "past tense" in that last sentence.

Rule 6.01 (j)

"A baserunner breaking up the double play has to slide, he has to touch the base, and he has to make an effort to stay on the base. He also can't swerve out of his pathway."

The newest rule to the baseball rulebook is now in place. No more rolling blocks. No more going way out of your way to hit the pivot man, no more shenanigans of any kind when breaking up a double play.

Chase Utley's playoff game-deciding cheap shot in front of a huge national audience on television, resulting in a broken leg, late last season, was all it took.

This is a great change. I'm surprised it took so long. They'll even have replay appeal on those plays.

The only problem? In the past, pivot men were allowed to be "in the vicinity of second base" without actually touching it in double play situations. That was to protect them from the hard slides that are now banned. That's going to be changing with replays on those types of plays. If replays show the runner was sliding legally into second, the pivot man will be expected to touch the base as well.

So if the guy slides hard, the fielder might still get his leg broke or knee taken out in the impending collision.

I've always liked the vicinity play at second base. Protecting the fielders' legs was always the priority. The new rule helps but not at the expense of the fielder having to touch the base. I sure wouldn't want to play short or second either way if the the baserunner pulls off a questionable slide. There might even be more leg injuries...

My suggestion (Joe Posnaki said it first): The replay should be at full speed. IF it isn't clearly wrong at full speed on replay, let the play stand.

The frame by frame analysis at super-slow motion, an ability that no viewer or umpire has, should NOT overrule judgement calls.

Curry Breaks Three-Point Record, Tosses In 51

He also made a half-court shot at the buzzer, while knocking down 10 threes.

That gives him 128 straight games with at least one three-pointer giving him sole possession of that record.

Curry and the Warriors are on quite a role.

Starters

Fans have been discussing an opening day starter for the Twins. Though it SEEMS like a big deal, it really isn't. The Twins are hoping each of their staters will stay healthy and pitch 30-35 good games each this season. A sixth guy coming out of the bullpen once in a while to give them all a little more rest would be great.

As luck would have it, the Twins HAVE six starters on the roster right now. Though none are Cy Young award candidates at this point, there is reason for increased optimism this year.

Kyle Gibson was great last year. He led the starters with innings pitched and ERA. As a bonus, his strikeout rate was also better last season. Most are hoping for a breakout year from him.

Phil Hughes two seasons ago had the best strikeouts to walk ratio in baseball history. Last year? Let's just say it was an off year. There's no talk of injuries or sore arms for him this spring and all reports are that he came to camp in far better shape than last season. If he could look anywhere near as good as two seasons ago, Twins fans will be happy.

Ervin Santana sat out the first half of last season with a PED suspension, BUT in his last seven starts last year he put up an ERA of 1.62. As the highest paid pitcher in team history, many would like him to see him at that kind of level the entire season this year.

Those three are the best guess for opening day starters. My guess? If all are equally healthy, Santana will get the nod. The Twins will want their money's worth from him.

What about the other three potential starters you may ask?

Tyler Duffy was excellant in his half season last year with the Twins and veteran Tommy Milone was looking better after his arm trouble went away from the previous season.

That leaves Ricky Nolasco who has had two lousy seasons in a row. I think he'll be that sixth starter stuck in the bullpen. He's going to have to pitch his way into the starting rotation.

Of course we're talking baseball here. At least one of these guys will go down to an injury, and we'll be looking for starting help before you know it. Spring training should show us our top minor league prospects for that help.

51-5

Golden State won again last night. Stephen Curry has now made a 3-pointer in 127 straight games, tying the all-time record. 89 straight is the third highest total, so IF he breaks the record, it will probably be safe for quite awhile.

Last year he made 286 3-pointers for the season, also an NBA record. He's already made 260 this year, so barring injury, he should shatter that mark as well.

He got the MVP award last year and there are still people talking about him deserving the most improved player award as well. His scoring is way up and his defense has gotten considerably better. IF I could watch most of his games I would. He's a once in a lifetime type athlete. No one is better in their chosen sport right now.

No one.

Justin Morneau

Justin won a batting title just two years ago at 33 years of age. He got hurt last year playing in only  49 games with less than 200 at bats. He hasn't even turned 35 yet.

No one has offered him a contract for this season. His career might be over, barring a last second signing by some club because of a major injury to their first baseman...

Spring Has Sprung

Twins pitchers and catchers reported to spring training yesterday.

(Big smile.)

Jorge Polanco

Polanco has all the tools to be a regular, everyday major league player. He's been on the main roster before but currently specializes at the shortstop position in the minors. The the general consensus is that his arm strength isn't what it needs to be to play that position in the majors. He's a perfect choice for a second baseman, BUT the Twins have Dozier locked in to a multi-year deal there.

Obviously he can't play third either. Plouffe is there for two more seasons AND there's that arm strength again...

I wouldn't be surprised if he's on the main roster this year, because he's a good hitter, but he is not currently a great fit for the infield even as a utility player.  The Twins don't want him languishing  in the minors much longer either.

Sometimes I'm glad I don't have to make these types of decisions. Trade or injury is the only way for him to get him the position he needs and you really don't want to see either happen.

Wild Club Blackhawks Like Baby Seals

I don't get into the NHL brand of hockey much as most of you know, BUT the streak the Wild are on right now is kind of sweet.

Outdoors? Check. Perfect game conditions? Check. 50,000 rabid fans? Check. Destroying their biggest division rival? Double check.

Hockey fans enjoyed the momentous day so I can celebrate with them.

Go Wild!

Two Games

Mediacom, my local internet provider, has been having difficulty lately with speed issues, so I'm forced to watch cable TV in the evenings rather than on-demand, or my Apple online selection. Last night two NBA games were going head to head: the Wolves on Fox North, and the Warriors on ABC.

Guess which one I chose?

Golden State had an early lead. Struggled toward the end, yet won. The Wolves started out down 11-1, and didn't really get any closer. They lost.

Me? I watched a House marathon on WE. Though I was frequently switching to  the Warriors game during commercial breaks, the House reruns were still much better. The NBA is still the NBA even if it is the Warriors playing.

And House is still the best adaptation of Sherlock Holmes I've ever seen, so it was no contest.

Golden State Crushed

The Trailblazers beat them by 32 last night. They were reminded how easy losing can be.

Speaking of losers, the Wolves were  a perfect 31 for 31 last night from the free throw line. They also made 11 three-point plays. The first time all year they made at least 10.

They still lost. I was so bored with TV viewing last night that I switched back to the game several times. I even saw the play of the night, Vince Carter throwing in a 3/4 quart shot, to end the 3rd quarter.

I doubt I'll watch many more games this season. Watching no sports is better than trying to watch the Wolves.

I noticed the Wild have won three straight under their new coach. It looks like Torch has lit a fire under them.

For those of you even less acquainted with the Wild than I am, John Torchetti is their new interim coach.  Torch is his nickname. I hate having to explain jokes, but I get paid by the word so why not?

And no, I don't get paid by the word. That was just another really lame joke.

The Void is a terrible trap of meandering nonsense. Man, I miss football. And I can't wait for baseball to start...

Duensing and Punto

Just when you think a career is over...

The KC Royals signed Brian Duensing to a minor league deal yesterday. The Royals have had the best bullpen in the league for awhile now so why are they giving the aging Duensing a chance? They have a POWER bullpen. Duensing will be someone different, and left-handed. He actually might make the main roster coming out of spring training.

As to Nick Punto, he's calling it a career after 14 utility seasons. He's best known for filling any spot in the infield that you need and playing it better than the guys he's filling in for. He never hit very well, but he was ALWAYS walking and stealing second (or third). His on-base percentage for someone who hit so poorly was unreal. We'll see if any team hires him as a coach. His baseball I.Q. was always off the charts.

And the teams he played for were always winners. I don't think that was coincidence.

The Void Day 2

Watching sports debate shows is getting tough. Mike and Mike, First Take, Pardon the Interruption, and all the shows like them, have nothing to talk about now that only basketball is in the forefront. Their primary focus right now is the NBA draft deadline, and if a few of the NBA "not quites" may be switching teams today. Dwight Howard is on that list, but so is Kevin Love, and even Ricky Rubio.

Even these hosts have a hard time making these what-if scenarios seem important. Until something actually happens, this type of conjecture is merely time-filler. They all talk about the same scenarios the same way, while begrudgingly admitting at the end of these shows that none of these scenarios really matter to the teams or their fans. Were not talking blockbuster trades involving REAL superstars from great teams, were talking about the annual reshuffling of talent to get bad teams' fan interest back.

But even fans of these teams grow weary of the what-ifs. Will the T-Wolves really be better with or without Rubio? I don't say I want to see him traded, but will their record noticeably  improve or get worse once he's gone?

The quick answer is, "no."

The long answer? Probably not.

And that's the problem with the NBA right now. The really good teams tend to stay really good for long periods of time. The really bad teams tend to stay bad for long periods of time. There's a few on the cusp of being good, but when it come to playoff time, we're going to be looking for the same teams in the conference finals year after year.

The T-Wolves aren't the only cellar dweller going nowhere year after year.

That describes most of the league. There are four or five elite teams. There are four or five really good teams that will fill out the bulk of the playoff schedule. And there are the perennial losers. Getting Dwight Howard won't help any of them. They'll just have less money to spend on draft picks and free-agents next season.

The new salary cap? Watch rich players get richer. Watch everyone else stay the same.

The Great Void

Spring training is NOT the beginning of baseball season. It merely means that we can start thinking about the upcoming season which is still about 45 days away. 45 long days. Football ended over a week ago, and the biggest gap filler in the last week was the NBA's all-star festivities.

That's barely a blip on the radar for baseball and football fans. No, the next 45 days is the Great Void for fans like me. No scores to check, no real games to watch. No items of interest. I can anticipate the coming Twins season, but preseason games are difficult to get into. Pitchers pitch an inning or two, and most of the players are unknowns and will never make the roster. It's practice plain and simple.

IF the T-Wolves were any good, I could watch them. If hockey ever became interesting I could watch the Wild. But that's just wishful thinking.

As it is, I have 45 days until there's something to watch. I can talk baseball, but that's not nearly as interesting as watching it. I can see why Netflix is so popular. There's a lot of people filling viewing gaps in their lives.

Duensing and Boyer

Blaine Boyer and Brian Duensing had 123 combined appearances for the Twins last year. The Twins released both outright during the offseason. Duensing has yet to sign another deal with anyone, even though he is left-handed. Not even a minor league deal. At 33, his strikeout ratio has dropped dramatically the last three seasons. He averaged over eight per nine innings three seasons ago. 2013 it was 5.5, and last year it was a paltry 4.4. The handwriting was on the wall. His effectiveness was gone. Boyer's was only 4.6. He's younger than Duensing, and managed to land a minor league deal with Milwaukee, but he might have seen his last major league action as well.

The Twins have 9 of their top 11 (at least twenty relief appearances) relievers back this season, though Aaron Thompson only has a minor league deal. ALL had better strikeout ratios. Boyer's and Duensing's total innings will be missed as someone will now have to step up to fill them.

We'll see what spring training brings.

Humor Day

Zack LaVine Repeats as Slam Dunk Specialist

The T-Wolves have some good young players. Zach is just one of those guys.

I'm still waiting for those guys to WIN, though.

The Wild have become just another example of Minnesota bad teams. After losing more games in a row than thought possible, they got rid of their head coach yesterday. His name?

As the Rock used to say, "it doesn't matter what his name was."

Joe Mauer

Joe Mauer admitted to the Pioneer Press's Brian Murphy this week that he was still suffering from concussion symptoms last season, primarily blurred vision caused by bright light. That affected his daytime stats some last year. Just to be clear, his night time stats weren't all that good either, at least when compared to a younger, healthier Joe Mauer.

Joe will be wearing sunglasses during day games in spring training this year, even though he says the vision problems seem to have cleared up.

As to aging, wear and tear over time, and bad knees? Let's just say the sunglasses won't help much with that. Joe will turn 33 in April. He plans on playing out the remainder of his contract. He's not going to leave all that guaranteed money on the table by retiring early, even though most of us would like to see that.

Joe still had the best on-base percentage for the full-time starters last year, so there is that. Is he worth what the Twins are paying him? I think the Twins could spend that money more wisely IF Joe chose to retire.

But I keep on thinking Nolasco wasn't that good a deal for us either. Sometimes teams waste money hoping they are doing the right thing. My guess is it will be quite a while before the Twins offer anyone a long-term, high end contract like Mauer again. At least I hope they learned from this mistake.

Louisiana

Democratic Governor John Bel Edwards says his state is out of money, approximately a billion dollars in debt. He's telling the good folks of Louisiana that if THEY don't pay a lot more taxes SOON, that some drastic cuts will have to be made. Those include health care for those who can't afford it and closing ALL colleges in the state because there will be no money to keep them open.

LSU is in Louisiana. LSU FOOTBALL is in Louisiana. He said as early as April, every single student will be given an incomplete for their classes making all LSU football players ineligible for the fall semester. That means LSU will have no longer have a football team.

Republicans in the state are unhappy with the governor's scare tactics and billion dollar tax increase. They have been giving him more and more money each year and Edwards just keeps on increasing state spending. They say it isn't a matter of not enough taxes being paid, it's a matter of government spending ever increasing amounts of other people's money.

In an escalating socialistic country, where everyone feels they are entitled to get everything everyone else already has, we'll see this more and more often. Bernie Sanders is currently at the forefront of this movement.

I don't like where we're headed.

History has taught us many things. The one that we always fail to learn? Making rich people poor does not make poor people rich. It makes everyone poor. There aren't enough rich people to make a real difference, even if you redistribute it all.

Democrats have learned one thing though, if you promise lower income people more free stuff, they'll vote for you.  And the only way you'll get them to keep voting for you is to keep giving them more and more stuff.

That's why Louisiana doesn't have enough money. All that new stuff every year costs a lot of money.

Government should provide basic services for everyone. Those extra services? They make everyone more dependent on government. Adults should really be responsible for themselves.

My own personal philosophy? Help people when they need help. Realize that isn't a life-long commitment. Knowing the difference would make all this unnecessary spending go away.

Jordan Schafer

My guess is that most Twins fans wouldn't be able to name last year's opening day center fielder. I'll give you a hint, his name is the headline of this blog. The Dodgers have invited him to their spring training this year with the thought of making him a pitcher AND a fourth outfielder. The thought being that he could give you two or three innings of relief work each week, while giving the regular outfielders a day off once a week. He could even be a late-inning defensive move in the outfield after pitching on the mound. Instead of leaving the game, he'd just take up the center field position while the center fielder would leave the game.

Pretty cool, huh?

The idea behind this, of course, is to have two roster spots taken up by just one individual thus having an "extra" roster player available. Schafer was never known for his great arm from center field BUT he was extremely accurate in his throws. I guess he had some real success in winter ball as a pitcher, and he thought now was the time to try such a move. Like most ballplayers, he pitched a lot in high school and college, so this position is not new to him.


The Dodgers are willing to give him the chance. I look forward to future reports on Jordan and wish him great success.

Daniel Bryan

Professional wrestling takes a toll on a person's health. After missing from WWE's roster since April of last year, 34-year old Daniel Bryan retired Monday night on RAW. The reason? Too many concussions over the years, and a risk for serious brain injury if he has any more.

He didn't wrestle long enough on the big stage to be considered the greatest wrestler of all-time. He only held the world title twice. His career was much shorter than John Cena's, Hulk Hogan's, Steve Austin's, The Rock's, Ric Flair's, Brett Hart's, the Undertaker's, and Shawn Michael's, but he was my favorite wrestler of all-time. Shawn is still a close second, but I've never enjoyed a wrestling performer more than Daniel Bryan. No matter how bad a gimmick or storyline they threw at him (and there were many bad storylines) he came out shining like their brightest star. His talent rose to the top.

And smart wrestling fans appreciated that.

I've been watching much less wrestling since he was hurt. I don't see that changing much in the near future. Sami Zayn is showing real potential down in NXT, but he's not on the main roster yet. I hope he's given  the chance to succeed soon. He may not be Bryan, but he's the best chance WWE has to  succeed him. Sadly, I don't think the braintrust at WWE realizes that. They were awfully slow at pulling the trigger on Byran, too.

Golden State Warriors Now 47-4

Stephen Curry's team has not lost a home game in over a year. That's 42 straight wins at home. The Bulls, featuring Michael Jordan, once (1995-1996) had 44 straight wins at Chicago. This is an interesting run by a great team. They even make the NBA seem interesting.

I Hate Rubbing It In But...

Proof!

Here's the photograph making the rounds the last day or so. There was a time when it clearly touched the ground AND he wasn't in control. One still shot is worth a thousand words.

Batman Wins!

Watching the game last night, you realize more than anything, this was not a battle between Peyton and Cam. This was a battle between the BEST defense in the league AND another very good defense. The QBs were just incidental canon fodder.

And the oldest canon fodder won his second Super Bowl.

It was great to see Cam sacked repeatedly. It was great to see him in a foul mood after the game. It was great to see him "not positive." It's easy to be a fun role model when you win, but it's a lot harder when you lose. The other side of Cam wasn't gracious in defeat. That says a lot more about him than celebrations in the end zone.

All of that being said, there was ONE controversial play again that set the tone of the game last night. IF that catch would have been called complete instead of incomplete, the first TD of the game would not have occurred for Denver. I think the refs got the call right. I think replay removed all doubt. And I know that there's a lot of fans that would disagree with me. Either way, it proves my point, refs determine big game winners far more often than players or coaches.

The game as a whole was difficult to watch. When neither team gets their offense rolling, it ends up being a lot of runs up the middle and punting after three downs. That's what Denver needed to win. Some Denver players are saying this is the greatest defense of all-time, and most commentators are laughing at them.

Maybe they weren't great all year long, but in their last three games, they gave up just ONE passing touchdown. The opposing quarterbacks? Big Ben, Brady, and league MVP Newton. A streak like that is hard to ignore. The pressure on Brady and Cam the last two games was incredibly, bone-rattling effective.

Denver didn't really have an offense last night and yet they still won by two touchdowns. If I'm Peyton, I'm riding off into the sunset on my Bronco defense. He knows how good they were more than anyone.

Forecast

Football.
Food.
Friends.
Freezing winds and snow.

It's the kind of blizzard you can really get into.

Who could ask for anything more?

Batman Vs. Superman

Warner Bros. entertainment will be releasing a HUGE movie soon that comic book fans are getting pretty excited about.

Me? Along with 100 million others, I'm going to watch a preview of that movie tomorrow. Peyton Manning vs. Cam Newton is that same type of match-up. The wily, cerebral, aging veteran that knows how to beat anybody, even without super human skills, will be tackling the most physically gifted quarterback of all-time. He even has the nickname of "Superman".

Can experience and intelligence defeat pure brute force?

We'll all find out together, tomorrow.

Batman has always beaten Superman in the comics when they are on opposing sides.

In real life, there could be a significantly different outcome.

Jeff Samardzija Vs. Calvin Johnson

Jeff and Calvin were collegiate stars at the same time (2007), one (Calvin) went on to become possibly the greatest receiver in football during his tenure, the other (Jeff) went on to be a very mediocre professional baseball player. As a pitcher, Jeff led the American League in runs and hits allowed last year. He also just signed a 5-year deal worth $90 million dollars.

IF he completes that contract, Jeff will make more in his career than the recently retired Calvin did in his.

I keep on thinking, with all the concussions and injuries that football brings, it sure doesn't pay very well, comparatively speaking of course.

The Super Bowl

I miss football. Sunday can't come soon enough.

Women's Soccer

I've never, ever liked professionals in the Olympics, but with nearly ever single top Olympian with an endorsement deal of support, that ship has already sailed.

Now the U.S. Women's soccer team is threatening to strike before the next Olympics after talks have stalled with the World Organization about a  missing collective bargaining agreement.

WHAT!?!?

They say they want equality.

I don't even know what any of this means. IF you want to represent the U.S. in soccer, do it. If you don't, do something else. IF this IS your career, something is already wrong with the system. Being on a U.S. team in any sport should not be a full-time job year after year. There's something really wrong with that. Ban soccer from the Olympics. Individual teams from individual countries striking for better pay and more political power is against the very essence of a world-wide cooperative sporting event.

That's entitlement not patriotism.

Now let's all swim in the gulf down in Brazil and get really sick or die before the real Olympic athletes beat us to it.

Spring Training

With all that snow to move yesterday, it's nice to know pitchers and catchers begin reporting Feb. 21. I can almost smell the freshly mown grass already.

Carlos Quentin

Carlos WAS a great hitter for the White Sox 7-8 years ago. He retired with bad knees last May.

He's 32.

The Twins signed him to a minor league deal yesterday worth $750,000.

I don't get it.

X-Files

The limited return of X-Files is half-over as of last night. I was afraid the newest incarnation was going to be too much like the movies. Serious mythos, with way, way too much interference from mysterious, undefined sources in the government.

My fears were definitely allayed last night. There is no way anybody could tell me they were taking this return too seriously. And that's a very good thing.

Mulder has become the cynic and the skeptic. He sees where he may have wasted most of his life on these cases, and now he needs REAL proof.

Last night, he got it, and we were laughing all the way while watching him attain it. The best episodes were always the funniest ones. Last night was the X-Files at its finest. They may go into a serious story arc now to wrap up this latest incarnation, but that's okay. A well-told adventure yarn is plenty pleasing, too.

Scully? She's just happy to be back to go along for the ride. She never truly believed in any of this. She's there because she likes Mulder.

A very welcome return is the very pleasing result. I would be up to more of these mini-returns on a very regular basis. They've still got it.

Johnson Retiring

He's the best "BIG" receiver of all-time, and it looks like he's retiring.

Calvin Johnson of the Detroit Lions told a couple of his teammates before the season started this year that this would be his last. Well, it looks like he was telling them the truth. Unless he has a change of heart over the next couple of months, he won't be back for the Lions next season.

The primary reason? He's had enough of getting beat up. Nine years of pain and nagging injuries are enough.

Bears, Packers, and Vikings fans will be able to breathe easier now when Detroit comes to town.