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... By having something on the audio that you would listen to anyway.  Even if you weren't in a car.  Remember Ray Charles' wit and wisdom:  you don't watch TV; you listen to it.  :- )  Traffic jam time is TV time.

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In today's ballgame, Chris Taylor has another 2-for-2 going as we speak.  He hit the following up-and-in* pitch to RIGHT field for a ringing triple:

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What would be the category, one long notch below "Best Bet"?  A couple of games into Taylor's career, we thought he fit the MLB game like cookie dough and ice cream.  It's spring training for us too, so leave us remember what Taylor does to match up so well against pitchers' pitches:

• KBIZLT swing (bat on plane of pitch, hits "inside half" of the ball.  Inherently better coverage
• Takes a looooooong look at the ball, every flippin' pitch (holds up well on curves)
• Can get to all four corners of the zone
• Rawhide-tough focus.  Doesn't get fazed by better players
• Refuses to swing at a ball
• Mini Derek Jeter
• Excellent minors track record

This template can be successful at a new level quickly; Taylor isn't up there guessing, needing to know the pitch before he swings.  He's much more "see ball hit ball" than, um, Brad Miller.  The learning curve is by default (not in actuality) much shorter.

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THIS spring, Taylor is putting more steam on his swing than I remember.  Ketel Marte he is not.  Chris Taylor hits the ball with authority.

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:- ) It says here that MLB scouts can see what you and I can see.  Chris Taylor is a whale of a great bet to rack up 2.5, 3.0 WAR a year -- for $0.5 M per year -- and to do so very shortly.  If you've got a hole at shortstop?  That's gold.

The M's want to know whether Brad Miller is ready to post his 4.0, 5.0 WAR.  If so, he's in there.  If Miller feels iffy, then they make the "prudent" move with Taylor.  That's all.

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It also says here that Chris Taylor's trade value, at the moment, should be comparable to that of Nick Franklin when HE was dealt.  A quickie recap of Zduriencik's recent deals of such ML-ready assets:

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Zduriencik is taking the Tacoma traffic jam and dealing it for a string of established 2.0, 3.0 WAR veterans.  If he were to trade Chris Taylor -- grabbing a Chris Woodward RLP type to back up Miller -- you'd expect back a solid, unsexy hitter or pitcher.  But!  The current M's have absolutely no place to put such a player.

So we're back to Stars & Scrubs:  a 2-for-1 deal.  SSI would be interested in trades like:

• Taylor + LoMo + ? for Edwin Encarnacion or Chris Davis
• Taylor + Ackley for Alex Gordon
• Taylor + Ackley + ? for Jose Bautista
• Taylor + Elias (Happ, LOL) for David Price or Cole Hamels

We haven't checked whether the Jays and Royals need a SS; you can do that kind of stuff.  Point here is, if you like Franklin-for-Jackson, there's nowhere to go with that.  But Chris Taylor is soommme kinda asset.  Same as Nick Franklin was.

Buy long,

Dr D