Article: Ron Gardenhire Out As Twins Manager

[zchrz]

Mientkiewicz would be my choice but that would be a pretty damn bold thing for TR to do.  Martinez and Maddux both intrigue me as guys that will bring a drastically different approach to managing than we are used to.  I like Molitor in his current role but I don't think he is a real long term solution. 

 

No one is talking about the dark horse candidate though, the one the only Saint Nicolas Punto!  The fire of a phoenix, the grit of a sand blaster, and all the gaming strategy of a man that would dive head first into the bag like it was a giant fluffy pillow.

[nicksaviking]

Dan Barreiro it seems falls under the "Ozzie Guillen is the Only Latin Coach I can Think of" spell.

 

He says he doesn't think the Twins are brave enough to bring in that kind of controversy.  I don't give the Twins a ton of credit these days, but if dodging Guillen is cowardly, then I'm fine with them being yellow.  There are more level headed mangerial candidates, Hispanic, African American, Asian and boring old Caucasian, that won't demand the spotlight from his players.

[Mike Sixel]

Guillen just isn't that good a manager......there are millions of Hispanics in this country, there must be another option.

[D. Hocking]

There might have been a time when I would have considered Ozzie, but he seemed to get more unbalanced and narcissistic as time went on post-2005.  His comments went from being uncensored and entertaining to being all about him and his team seemed secondary in his thoughts.  I am guessing Dan has also managed to find a way to blame Mauer for this as well (unless he has stopped beating that horse).

[drjim]

Dan Barreiro it seems falls under the "Ozzie Guillen is the Only Latin Coach I can Think of" spell.

 

He says he doesn't think the Twins are brave enough to bring in that kind of controversy.  I don't give the Twins a ton of credit these days, but if dodging Guillen is cowardly, then I'm fine with them being yellow.  There are more level headed mangerial candidates, Hispanic, African American, Asian and boring old Caucasian, that won't demand the spotlight from his players.

 

Seems Mike Berardino is falling under the same spell. Calls him the best outside the org candidate. No No No.

[drjim]

There might have been a time when I would have considered Ozzie, but he seemed to get more unbalanced and narcissistic as time went on post-2005.  His comments went from being uncensored and entertaining to being all about him and his team seemed secondary in his thoughts.  I am guessing Dan has also managed to find a way to blame Mauer for this as well (unless he has stopped beating that horse).

 

Now that's funny. Criticizing Mauer is 95% of his baseball coverage.

[70charger]

No one is talking about the dark horse candidate though, the one the only Saint Nicolas Punto!  The fire of a phoenix, the grit of a sand blaster, and all the gaming strategy of a man that would dive head first into the bag like it was a giant fluffy pillow.

 

 I am simultaneously amused and horrified.

[Mike Sixel]

Younger guy who understands this is 2015, not 1995.......

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

I would never bring Punto in as manager... but what about as a third base coach?

[h2oface]

I would never bring Punto in as manager... but what about as a third base coach?

 

do you think anyone would see him?  maybe it would teach him to look?

[diehardtwinsfan]

I would never bring Punto in as manager... but what about as a third base coach?

1B coach, so you can watch him give the slide signal for every ground ball.

[Dantes929]

I personally think the job is way overrated. Probably the most important thing is the evaluation of who should be the hitting and pitching coaches. There are no geniuses out there and I am not sure big league experience is mandatory. Honestly, if I had my choices for leadership and strategy, overall and in game, I would go with former Cretin and St. Thomas coach, Dennis Denning. Best option would be finding a young version of him.

[Jerr]

Been a lot of complaining about "doing it the Twins way" and it has been deserved. BUT, the press conference with Gardy there, that's the way it should be done!

 

Thanks Gardy for all you have done and nothing, but the best for your future!

 

And thanks Twins for being classy and bringing tears to this long time fan's eyes, today. It needed to be done and you did it well!!!! Very well!!!!

[twinssouth]

This had to happen, best of luck to Gardy for a long, successful run but it was time.  I will miss his quotes and I'm sure the umps won't miss him but it sounds like he wants to continue managing.  Wouldn't surprise me if he gets hooked up with another team.  I just don't see where the Twins had a choice.  Now they can go forward and create some excitement.

[jokin]

This is a good thing.

 

+1 Brevity. Soul.... Wit.

[jokin]

Younger guy who understands this is 2015, not 1995.......

 

+ 2 Brevity.... Part Deux

[bird]

The decision may have been somewhat surprising, but what isn't surprising is the graciousness and class shown by Gardy, Ryan, and the organization.

[LaBombo]

 I am little surprised that this thread isn't already full of gloating. (But I'm happy about it - let's keep it that way.)

 

Your surprise is probably at least partly due to Gardy Fatigue Syndrome.  Some people who were ready to see the Twins and Gardenhire part ways last year (including me) just got too worn down to add the disclaimers anymore.

 

Over time, posts like 'Gardy is a good manager but he drives me crazy sometimes, and the organization should move on' in the 2012 or 2013 seasons became just 'Get rid of Gardenhire already' this season.  The former gives the impression that he's well regarded but that change is needed, while the latter looks more like 'Fire Gardy because he stinks'.

 

In other words, for many people who wanted to see him replaced there's nothing to gloat over.  He's a good guy and a good manager.  Why celebrate a guy like that losing his job?  It's a shame, but that's how this business works.

 

And as for me, I'm hoping and looking forward to the Twins making a good choice with his replacement, but there's a part of me that will miss the Roaming Gnome at the dugout railing, and picturing him in a Twins uniform as he charges red-faced onto the field to break the AL career record for manager ejections.

Edited September 29, 2014 by LaBombo

[Platoon]

I listened to some of the press conference. He was forthright, relaxed, humorous and affable. He actually sounded relieved! He will and somewhere when he wants to. It could turn out a blessing in disguise for him also. Sometimes one needs to step back and regroup.

[SydneyTwinsFan]

The right move, but hard to make all the same. I'm not surprised though.  Maybe these are not [Jim's] father's Twins after all.

All of the coaches going is a sign of collective responsibility on the part of the whole bench team.  The new guy will have an opportunity to bring some back, and I'd expect at least Bruno and maybe Cuellar for a bit of continuity.  I can't see any way Anderson comes back.

I've said before I think this group of emerging players needs a new voice in the clubhouse.  If that's an internal candidate my choice would be Dougie Baseball.  If they go outside I'd hope they get Dave Martinez.  Either of those guys would be fine by me.

As others have said, very classy on all parts on how this has been handled.

[LaBombo]

The two coaches that I thought had a noticeable positive impact on the club were Bruno and Molitor - they do not deserve to lose their jobs, but I understand the situation.

 

My gut tells me Molitor gets the gig and Brunansky, Steinbach, and Cuellar return.

Those are exactly the three names that came to mind when the news broke.  They are the three newest, Bruno and Steinbach both seem well-regarded and are familiar names, and Cuellar seems like a fine choice to succeed Anderson and continue to be a bridge to Spanish-speaking players.

[Platoon]

I just hope a new manager is named sooner rather than later ... not sure I can handle 50 new threads daily on who the new manager should be.  

50? The trib story is at 576 and counting! Unreal. And I don't have to read them to know that they are primarily "snarky"

[Squirrel]

50? The trib story is at 576 and counting! Unreal. And I don't have to read them to know that they are primarily "snarky"

Not posts ... threads, with multiple posts

[PseudoSABR]

Wow.  The opportunity was there with Gardehire's retirement vesting (do I have that right?), the possible in-house replacements (as Steiny's name is already being mentioned for other jobs), and the radical roster change over the past year (and the following one).  As much as players liked playing for him, too often the team has been unwatchable in each of the last four season's second halves.  The August and September swoon were a stale staple of Gardenhire's recent teams.  That Gardenhire didn't make losing unpleasant was probably part of the cultural problem.   

 

Best of luck to Gardenhire, whom I hope the Twins retain in some Spring Training Specialist /token job kind of way, where Gardy can just meander around and praise everyone for battling their tails off, without doing in long-lasting psychological damage. 

[Craig Arko]

Not posts ... threads, with multiple posts

You know how to use the lock button.

[D. Hocking]

50? The trib story is at 576 and counting! Unreal. And I don't have to read them to know that they are primarily "snarky"

I think the trib comments tend to lean more towards poisonous bile than snark (or at least the last time I read them, maybe they are much more thoughtful, civil, and rational now).

[one_eyed_jack]

Had to happen, probably overdue. 

 

But I tip my cap to Gardy who is a good manager and a good guy.

 

A good Gardy memory that will always stick out to me is the 2009 season.  The Twins were sitting at .500, 7 games behind Detroit on September 6th.  Morneau was done for the year.  They were pretty much written off.  But they went on to win 18 of the next 26, getting unexpected contributions from scrubs and September call-ups, to set up the epic game 163 in the Dome's final season.

 

It was one hell of a fun month of baseball.  And I'm not sure just any manager could have done it.

 

So thanks for the memories and best wishes, Mr. Gardenhire.

[Platoon]

Even if Terry Ryan is still around, dismissing Gardenhire seemingly will have a domino effect on the kind of players that the Twins will be looking for this off-season. There's no need for a third catcher, the bullpen can remain relatively "small" - it may mean that the Twins make some interesting moves this offseason for position players that would not have been considered otherwise...

 

This move also makes the reams of digital ink we used assessing potential rosters for next years Twins nothing but mere vapor on the inter web. Once a new manager is named, we have to start all over. Also, as at least one other poster mentioned, this is terrible news for 3rd string catchers. I would imagine several have their agents on the phone as we type!

[brvama]

Had a feeling this morning there would be news from the Twins. Have mixed emotions but I do believe there could be no other alternative at this point. I have enjoyed many of the thoughts and well wishes expressed here. I also think we should celebrate the class that the Twins and Gardy show.

 

 

Regarding the next manager - I probably tend to side with internal candidates vs. outside ones. That is if the internal ones have experienced ML baseball outside of the Twins domain within the last 5-6 years. Being familiar with the cast of characters is an advantage. But it is also important that one has experienced how others operate. Bottomline - get the best manager available and preferrably someone that has a new perspective. Don't want any retreads.

 

 

I will be satisfied with whomever, in or out, as long as they understand that this team is going to be primarily young with potential. Improve the weaknesses and maintain the strengths. I also hope that somehow Molitor, Steinback, Cuellar, and Brunasnky are involved or people with similar skills.

[LaBombo]

I listened to some of the press conference. He was forthright, relaxed, humorous and affable. He actually sounded relieved! He will and somewhere when he wants to. It could turn out a blessing in disguise for him also. Sometimes one needs to step back and regroup.

From what it looks like so far,  the Gardy/coaches PC was the exact opposite of the Vikings AP public relations train wreck.  Everybody got something good out of it.

 

1.The Pohlads got a ton of free 'We know it's messed up and we're fixing it' PR with the dramatic firing of a relatively popular manager of a team that hasn't fired a manager since Reagan was president.

 

2. Ryan got to advance the company theme of hope and change, but got to avoid being the villain with the thinly veiled admission it wasn't his call with the 'It was a mistake to say he'd be back; I have bosses' remark.

 

3.  The coaching staff got an entire offseason to land new gigs, with no bridges being burned with the organization for possible re-hiring.

 

4.  Gardenhire got to demonstrate to potential employers in MLB and the sports media that in addition to other fine qualities, he is either

 

a}  A class act for how he handled the public loss of a job he still liked or loved, or

 

b}  A smart team player who was ready to move on anyway but realized that ownership needed to publicly sack him rather than let him resign because of the need to send a message, just a little less shocking than a ritual sacrifice, to the season ticket base that losing is not ok.

Edited September 29, 2014 by LaBombo