The year that wasn't, turned back into the year that wasnt!

[Platoon]

I think there used to be a tv show, "That Was The Week That Was". The Twins version would be "This Was The Year That Wasn't"

 

While we are not mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, mathematicians are not very good ball players. This begs the question? Now what? There are far more of those questions than answers, some don't have specific answers. Following are a few thoughts from watching this team.

 

Starting at the top: Terry Ryan. While I doubt he will, and if he does I fear it will just end up being Rob Anthony, it might be a good time for him to retire. And it will have to be retire, as he has more job security than the Pope. Some of his decisions and player movements, and lack thereof this year have been head scratchers. Some guys are brought up, Tonkin, Fryer, Hermann, Fryer, Hermann, Duffey, Santana, et al and then sent back down when they did not perform. Others not performing just sit here, their under performance overlooked or ignored. My problem isn't moving players, my problem is that there is no rhyme or reason. TR seems very reactionary, unwilling to do anything until backed into a corner. He has had 4 years to prepare this team for an influx of younger players, and still hasn't got a discernible grip on the roster. I will only mention in passing, extending Suzuki, Pelfrey, and not letting several RP go during arbitration. And I really do not think that Torii Hunter was the fit for this team. It's not that he can't play some. We just did not need a 40 yr old OF. But I will give Ryan credit for having the cajones not to make an idiotic deadline trade. The holes in this team are to widespread to fix that way.

 

Molitor? I like some of his out of the box thinking, his expanded shifts and his calm demeanor. I am not a huge fan of his love affair with the bunt, his use of the bench, and what appears to be a major dislike of pinch hitters. I am also disappointed he has not dealt with the Mauer in the top of the order problem. I was hoping some of the sacred cows would no longer be sacred. Plus the handling of May is and was very strange.

 

The pitching staff? It's a mess. Loaded with expensive #4 pitchers, low strikeout rates, and no one that can pick you up and drag you back into the win column when all is seemingly lost. A bullpen who strikes out no one, and to whom inherited runners are people to be gotten off the bases as quickly as possible.

 

Shortstops? None! Lots of guys playing there, but not one who excels at either the glove or the bat. The worst of two worlds.

 

Dozier: Since they have started pitching him almost exclusively away and down, he has become a miniature version of Arcia. About the same amount of SO and home runs. The biggest difference is Waldo can hit almost any pitch over the fence, and admittedly swings at most of them. And he plays poor defense. BD basically will hit only one pitch over the fence, but tries desperately to pull the rest. And plays good defense.

 

The corner IF: Much rides on this decision. Someone has to go. Sorry Trevor. Mauer is not going anywhere, and neither is Sano. Plouffe should be packaged up with some prospects, and dealt for a catcher. This does not mean I think Plouffe is a poor player, it's simply that he is the odd man out, and you can't hit Sano in the DH hole all next year. And please do not tell me they will bench Mauer. Please! As for a rotating scenario of the three, there's nothing like not knowing where you will be playing everyday to make you consistent.

 

Catcher: If it's so hard to find a hitting catcher, and if yours isn't into doing either very well, then for heavens sake, put a defensive catcher behind the plate and bat him ninth. If your bench is constructed properly you can PH on occasion. Again, the worst of both worlds. As for Pinto, see below.

 

OF: Get Buxton up here. If he can bat in Rochester, he can hit here. To the best of my knowledge the bats in Rochester are also made of wood. Correct me if I am wrong. He needs the reps in the majors. Same for Arcia. Let Arcia, Hicks, Buxton, and Rosario play there the rest of the year. Let Torii be a very limited fill in and PH for the rest of the year. He can still mentor, play the boom box, and lace the dugout with expletive loaded tirades. But the cynic in me seems to think that they are seldom useful, or it would be done daily. This winter thank him profusely and promise him good references.

 

The BP: Sheesh. Nothing seems to work. I guess I would try to emulate some of the Cards theories and move in some minor league starters and relievers who throw hard. And I would let them settle in, not bounce them back to whence they came after a couple outings. This does not mean keeping the course of endless jogs out to the mound to remove the latest disaster. It's just a realization that RP have a day to day existence. Unfortunately we have taken that and made it a month to month,or more, existence.

 

Bench? Clear the bench of Robinson and Nunez. IF Pinto passes his concussion tests, and gets some rehab time in, get him up here. There is no reason he can't be the backup catcher/DH/PH next year.

 

In closing, this whole year should have been all about the future. While it's true that some youth appeared, there were still far too many non contributors left on the roster. Whether the crazy month of May caused the plan to change, or as I suspect there was no plan, it was not handled well. By this time of the year, we should have had a very solid idea of how next years roster will look. Instead, we really don't seem to know what's going to happen. This year is starting to look an awful lot like last year and the years before that. Someone has to take the lead, and make some inventive, tough, and costly decisions. Sadly I don't see that happening.

[Vanimal46]

Jobs with the highest job security in 2015, Ranked:

 

- Minnesota Twins General Manager

- Pope

- Supreme Court Judge

- Dictator of North Korea

 

[Mike Sixel]

Amen

[D. Hocking]

 

Jobs with the highest job security in 2015, Ranked:

 

- Minnesota Twins General Manager

- Pope

- Supreme Court Judge

- Dictator of North Korea

 

I at first thought that said dictator of North DAKOTA.  I have never been there, but I had always heard that ND was a different place, and wondered it there was a no-man's land at the border like the picture below that made it hard to enter and harder to escape (the pic actually looks a little like ND).  

 

If Pope Francis was our next general manager -- he would basically be locked in for life.  He might have some good ideas - he likes to shake things up.

 

[i can think of nothing to say about the Twins right now - every time I try to give them any significant thought I feel my soul get a little more crushed (or I get a little irritated - one of the two.)]

 

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/130319233059-north-korea-dmz-9-horizontal-large-gallery.jpg

 

[Platoon]

 [i can think of nothing to say about the Twins right now - every time I try to give them any significant thought I feel my soul get a little more crushed (or I get a little irritated - one of the two.)

I felt/feel the same way. And when I tried to itemize the things seemingly wrong, they piled up. I know every team has troubles, but the good ones have less of them. Sherlock Holmes used to tell Watson, (to paraphrase) "to get to the solution, eliminate all the things it cannot be, and what is left Is what it can be". But the Twins have so many things it can be, I am not sure that applies here. I know this is a gross generality, but I really believe the biggest problem here has been roster mismanagement. There were and are players with talent, but a lot are sent packing for seemingly unknown reasons, and others are here indefinitely for the same unknown reasons. Could it be TR is too much of a fan, and not enough of a GM. That could explain his unexplained passion for stable veteran players, vs possibly mercurial talented ones? Likely another straw grasp, but frankly what's left?