getting a good look at Quintero. i’m guessing this isn’t designed as a long-term move. i’m guessing they’re hoping Towles finds his stroke, gets some confidence, and they can bring him back up. if Towles continues to struggle, Ausmus is Ausmus, and Quintero excels in limited playing time, I’m sure they’ll reassess the distribution of playing time. as a short-term solution, they’re probably favoring the verteran catcher who has worked more with the pitchers and will be less of a transition.

man, i really hope Towles can have some success at RR and get his confidence back. what you’re saying is absolutely true. we’re just giving away outs at this point, and who knows what the solution with Bourn is.

Adam Everett and Morgan Ensberg both had terrible hitting stats when they first came up in 2001or 2002 (can’t recall which year); they were sent down to AAA after a couple of months. When Everett and Ensberg returned the next year, they performed much better and became fixtures. Luke Scott bombed when he was given the starting assignment in 2005 and he was sent back to Round Rock. The next year he returned with a vengeance to the major league team. This kind of move is fairly normal for a rookie starter, and it doesn’t mean that the rookie won’t eventually figure things out.

not likely to part w/ him unless it’s a very very good offer. And while we may have a lot of pitching in our minors, none are high prospects like they would probably demand.

I wonder how their draft of Smoak will affect their current 1B/DH/C situation?