Neil Allen suspended

[jorgenswest]

I wonder if it is more important that the Twins have someone reliable in the minors working with the young pitchers. Moving up Rasmussen and leaving a void may not be a wise move long term.

[Oxtung]

I remember several years ago many people were criticizing Tubby Smith for keeping Royce White on the basketball team (but suspending him) after White had committed infractions.  Tubby replied there was nothing he could do to help Royce if he was kicked off the team.  On the other hand if Royce was suspended Tubby had leverage and authority to help make sure that White got the help that he needed.  Now in the end it didn't work out but I've always really admired that Tubby took a big picture view and tried to help a young man out that desperately needed it instead of taking the easy way out.

 

This certainly isn't an apples to apples comparison but I think the premise is similar.  I hope the Twins show some leadership in helping this man get the help he needs (assuming Allen is ready to receive it).  We all fall down at times and this is an opportunity to both help Allen on a personal level but also to show the community that there are things more important than baseball.

[David HK]

I could see down the road Rasmussen and Allen swapping roles.  Allen had good success with the youngsters in TB's minors, and had a good rep as a teacher.  And one heck of a lot less glare of publicity, too.  

 

It's a sad situation all around, for him and the club, and it's tough not to have the thought creep in that the level of stink-o-rama baseball this year didn't contribute to weakening his resolve.

[The Wise One]

Rasmussen is in his 60's.  I do not think he is anything but stopgap.  Does a drunk driving charge get you reassigned? Only if the management team thinks the stress at the major league level was too much. He will be somewhere after he is back somewhere after treatment.

[Shane Wahl]

Hard to know if this is a serious issue for him (it really could be) or if it was a one-time thing that was a poor decision and he was unlucky.

[Otto von Ballpark]

At least know we all know the answer to the question, "what Twin would you least like to have a beer with?"

[DaveW]

Hard to know if this is a serious issue for him (it really could be) or if it was a one-time thing that was a poor decision and he was unlucky.

If he is a recovering addict any slip up is a very serious issue.

[twinsnorth49]

Suffice it to say this has far greater impact on Neil Allen than it does the Twins.

 

Hopefully Rasmussen can provide good direction to any youngsters coming up to the team, just don't want this to turn into a lost year of development for any of them. 

[Thrylos]

 

The one silver lining is that Rasmussen gets his chance and hopefully a new voice/guy can help turn things around for this pitching staff as a whole. Hopefully he can run with it.

 

"Rasmussen" and "new voice" are as far as they can be.  Rasmussen has been a Twins' employee since 1991.  He has been the Twins' pitching coordinator since 2008.  Based on the development of pitchers from within the organization, I got to say that he is not part of the solution.

 

He is the posterman (cannot call him "boy", he is 64) of interim.

[diehardtwinsfan]

As someone who has dealt with addiction in his past, I'll simply say that I don't know if firing him (at least for now) is the right thing to do.  It's probably the one thing more likely to drive him deeper into his addiction.  What he needs right now is help.  Get him the help.  If he's not responding properly, ignoring his accountability, etc. then fire him and let him hit rock bottom.  If he's responding properly, then I'd keep employing him.  When it comes to setting an example, this is a good example for the young players.  They need to see these kinds of things. Hiding it from them is not the way to help them overcome their own demons (and I guarantee you they all have them).  It's society's job to punish him for what he did, not us.  He will pay his dues for this offense, and the team rightfully should get him the help he needs and use that as a condition of employment.