Reusse: Fire Molitor

[gunnarthor]

Didn't see this, apologies if already posted.

http://www.startribune.com/twins-new-boss-will-need-authority-to-clean-house/393489751/

 

Nice article from Reusse who thinks the new FO should fire Molitor and the coaching staff.

"The mystery is CEO Jim Pohlad’s commitment to Molitor, as if he carries a cache of loyalty with the Twins’ ever-diminishing audience. Molitor has tremendous credibility as a player, but as a manager?

Forget the bad pitching, the yoke around this club’s neck for six years. The fact the Twins have spent the entire season featuring lousy fielding, asinine base running and stagnation with a hitter such as Miguel Sano (the most important player in the organization) is a troubling reflection on Molitor and his coaches.

The endless blunders the manager has overseen far outweigh any positives of 2015. I don’t know how a new baseball boss could take an objective look at the way the Twins have been managed and coached in 2016 without saying to Pohlad: “I have to fire the whole bunch.”"

 

 

[beckmt]

I agree, thought he should have been fired in May.  Clueless.

[Platoon]

I read a lot of the TC columnists regularly, but I do think this is the first of them to actually call for Molitors head. And even this one is past due. This morning I was thinking of why I even watch anymore, and I do. Either live or DVR, but I do. It's not because I care if they win or not, frankly winning only hurts them at this point. So why? While I like baseball and have since I knew what it was, it dawned on me that in the last couple months, my interest lies more in "what the hell is he going to do today"? The unbelievable lineups, Suzuki as DH, RG in the 3 hole, the inconsistent use of playing time for discipline, the complete misuse of Meyer and Berrios initially, talking about owing veterans on the team a chance to win, offense over defense in defensive positions, never a definite BP rotation. As the song goes, "day after day and night after night it went on and on". Reuesse is right, you can't and won't win without pitching. But that doesn't mean the rest of the team should play at the level of the Dundas Dukes. (My sincere apologies to The Dukes) And with that, I will let the bashing of Reusse commence!

[USAFChief]

I agree with Pat.

 

This team's lack of talent isn't his fault.

 

This team's consistent and persistent inability to play the game properly falls mostly on the coaching staff. And there's no evidence that will change if the talent improves.

[Han Joelo]

Is that the poison pill in the interview process?  

 

"You can't actually fire Molitor, Jason, so obviously this is purely hypothetical.  If you could fire Molitor, how lo--"

 

"Immediately, if not sooner.  In fact, I would start a new department just to develop a time machine so I could go back and fire him even sooner.  Hypothetically.  So, do I get the job?"

[twinsnorth49]

He's right, this team does far too many things wrong beyond its lack of talent.

[jimmer]

 

He's right, this team does far too many things wrong beyond its lack of talent.

I agree Molitor needs to go, but how many Twins players right now do you think would make a 25 man roster for an ALL AL Central team.  Dozier?  That's a problem with talent when there are only 5 teams in the AL Central.

 

How about the ALL AL team?  Probably still Dozier, but he wouldn't be starting, right? Altuve would do that.

 

We certainly we would have no pitching on either team.

 

This team isn't loaded with talent.  Molitor's lineups and in-game management, along with the lack of fundamentals this team has, warrant his firing, but no manager makes this team an 80 win team, or perhaps even a 70 win team.  The talent doesn't stack up.

[beckmt]

Hitting is not that bad, last I saw we ranked about 6th.  Pitching we are dead last in everything and except for Santana pitching has regressed as the season went on.  That could be both talent and mismanagement, overuse and getting pitchers up a lot early this year is a big factor in the decline of the bullpen.  You can make a case for most of the current starters being here next year, Duffey might be in the pen or Rochester until he can get a third pitch. Bullpen except for the youngsters should be mostly gone.

[Otto von Ballpark]

Interesting that Reusse endorses Picollo over McLeod at the end of the piece, contrary to popular opinion here.

[mazeville]

FWIW: I don't like to see people get fired. I believe baseball managers have less power than coaches in other sports like basketball or football. I get that Molitor is a smart baseball man.

 

But all of that should go out the window when a team loses 100 games, as the Twins will this season, and the team is on its fifth horrible season in six years. At the very least, you let the manager go so the new regime can insert its own guy. That's a complete no brainer. 

 

I still believe -- strongly -- that this job should be good and attractive to a lot of candidates. But I don't see how or why ownership would put that yolk around the new POBO's neck. 

 

As a side note, in the same column Reusse also endorsed the Royals' Piccolo for the new POBO position in part because he knows what to do on a budget, rather than any Cubs guy who came from high-profile, high-budget jobs. BS. I want the best guy, period. And I think it's high time this team start acting more like the mid-market franchise that it is, rather than simply try to work on a shoestring.

 

That was Terry Ryan's big problem: He spent so many years perfecting the art of working on a shoestring that he had no idea what to do when the team got some resources.

[Brandon Warne]

 

The unbelievable lineups, Suzuki as DH, RG in the 3 hole

 

It actually makes sense for Grossman to hit there against lefties. Like, that's actually an innovative, smart thing for a manager to do -- especially if Mauer is out.

 

I don't love Suzuki at DH or batting fifth, but against lefties he at least has a pulse. I still think I'd find ways to put Max Kepler out there to get better against lefties, but day-to-day lineups are hard to critique because you don't know if a player needs a mental break, or a physical break. Like for instance, Kepler has like a .500 OPS since Sept. 1. That's a guy screaming for a mental break.

 

And beyond that, it's not like he's leaving that many studs on the bench. The offense right now is kind of a skeleton crew. 

[twinsnorth49]

 

I agree Molitor needs to go, but how many Twins players right now do you think would make a 25 man roster for an ALL AL Central team.  Dozier?  That's a problem with talent when there are only 5 teams in the AL Central.

 

How about the ALL AL team?  Probably still Dozier, but he wouldn't be starting, right? Altuve would do that.

 

We certainly we would have no pitching on either team.

 

This team isn't loaded with talent.  Molitor's lineups and in-game management, along with the lack of fundamentals this team has, warrant his firing, but no manager makes this team an 80 win team, or perhaps even a 70 win team.  The talent doesn't stack up.

This is all I'm really saying, I don't think Mollie needs to be a scapegoat but these reasons alone should get most managers fired.

 

Wins are immaterial in my assessment of him, how much a manager and his coaches can coach up players to the point where it results in more wins is highly debatable. What is less debatable is how much they can coach them up to play with more discipline and to show progress is their abilities as players, especially with young players. When Dozier is the only guy we can point to as being a success story, I think that represents a failure on Molitor and his staff.

[Doomtints]

I'm not too worried about a GM feeling like he/she is married to Molitor.

 

If the team is bad next year and Molitor still seems culpable, a good GM will find a way to fire Molitor before the end of the season.  

[Halsey Hall]

I just wonder how Molitor would have done with a decent team. The first two months the pitching wasn't so bad, but no one could hit a lick. Molly constantly reworked the lineup looking for any spark to get it going. Then, the pitching went south, never to return, as the bats finally showed some life. The season was lost. Molly has aged about 5 years and one wonders if he would even want the job next season. It's very obvious the organization has had false expectations of it's talent in the minor league levels. It just goes back to "hope" things went as they expected and hope doesn't cut it, and hasn't. Major changes are needed and even with that it might be a long stretch before the Twins are competitive again.

[jimmer]

 

I just wonder how Molitor would have done with a decent team. The first two months the pitching wasn't so bad, but no one could hit a lick.

Their April pitching wasn't so bad (depending on what you're looking at), their May pitching was horrific.

[Eris]

 

The fact the Twins have spent the entire season featuring lousy fielding, asinine base running and stagnation with a hitter such as Miguel Sano (the most important player in the organization) is a troubling reflection on Molitor and his coaches.

The endless blunders the manager has overseen far outweigh any positives of 2015. I don’t know how a new baseball boss could take an objective look at the way the Twins have been managed and coached in 2016 without saying to Pohlad: “I have to fire the whole bunch.”"

 

I don't think Molitor deserves blame for Sano's problems..  He has always been a poor fielder and it clear from his off season activities and weight gain that the Twins management was not happy, which is why they ended his winter ball in the Dominican Republic.  Sano should look across the dugout at Brian Dozier and realize that when Dozier was struggling, he worked his tail off to learn how to hit to right field (I realize there was some resistance to this and Dozier was benched a few games to send the message, but in the end he got it).  Can we say the same about Sano?  I don't think so.

[gunnarthor]

 

 

As a side note, in the same column Reusse also endorsed the Royals' Piccolo for the new POBO position in part because he knows what to do on a budget, rather than any Cubs guy who came from high-profile, high-budget jobs. BS. I want the best guy, period. And I think it's high time this team start acting more like the mid-market franchise that it is, rather than simply try to work on a shoestring.

 

That was Terry Ryan's big problem: He spent so many years perfecting the art of working on a shoestring that he had no idea what to do when the team got some resources.

Considering the reason most of us think Pohlad's fired Smith, I think you'll have to live with ownership keeping us on a shoestring budget.  Bottom third constantly in payroll with guys like Sano leaving after their team controlled years are over.  I hope I'm wrong but the Pohlad family isn't likely to increase payroll.

[jimmer]

 

I don't think Molitor deserves blame for Sano's problems..  He has always been a poor fielder and it clear from his off season activities and weight gain that the Twins management was not happy, which is why they ended his winter ball in the Dominican Republic.  Sano should look across the dugout at Brian Dozier and realize that when Dozier was struggling, he worked his tail off to learn how to hit to right field (I realize there was some resistance to this and Dozier was benched a few games to send the message, but in the end he got it).  Can we say the same about Sano?  I don't think so.

I think someone here did a good job debunking the whole Dozier to opposite field narrative a few weeks ago. If I can find it, I'll try to post it.

 

In any event, according to B-Ref, he's gone RF like 56 PAs. (or less than 10% of the time). Basically, the same amount as last year. That's not what's turned Dozier's season around.

 

 

[mazeville]

 

Considering the reason most of us think Pohlad's fired Smith, I think you'll have to live with ownership keeping us on a shoestring budget. 

 

Do you have any evidence of why "most of us think Pohlad fired Smith"? Because that's unfair and may well be wrong. 

 

The Twins were in BAD, BAD shape in 2011 -- worse shape than they are now, by far -- and there was no way on earth that team was spending its way out of the problem. 

 

Also, Bill Smith damn well needed to be fired. His trades were awful and set that team back years. 

[TheLeviathan]

If Molitor helped captain a team that overachieved in wins and losses last year, is that not a factor in dismissing him?

 

I feel like a Molitor apologist with how many of you want an effigy burned every other day, but this is the same coach that helped us out-win our performance by a decent margin last year.  For many of you, the wins and losses are a bottom line, so why is that so quickly dismissed?

 

The organization's fundamentals have been on the downhill for a long time now.  It was a criticism of Gardy the last year he was here too.  Perhaps Molitor is being swallowed by the much larger issues he has no control over.

 

Just a thought.  If he's retained I find it defensible.  If he's fired i find that defensible as well.

[Halsey Hall]

 

Their April pitching wasn't so bad (depending on what you're looking at), their May pitching was horrific.

Ya, it's gone on so long it's hard to even try to remember this sh!t.

[ashbury]

I've said in another thread, an excellent manager is very hard to replace. An average manager is not. Molitor has failed to demonstrate that his ceiling is "Excellent", and this season has been poor. So, even though it is in human terms regrettable to put him through the upheaval and appear to pin blame on him, in Pohlad's position I would not hesitate to let the new PBO and GM make their own decision and probably bring in their own new manager.

[Doomtints]

 

Do you have any evidence of why "most of us think Pohlad fired Smith"? Because that's unfair and may well be wrong. 

 

The Twins were in BAD, BAD shape in 2011 -- worse shape than they are now, by far -- and there was no way on earth that team was spending its way out of the problem. 

 

Also, Bill Smith damn well needed to be fired. His trades were awful and set that team back years. 

 

Only three players played more than 100 games in 2011 and no team has enough depth to cover that.  Looking at that roster isn't quite fair because some of those players would have never played in the majors if not for what was going on, or if they would have played it would have been years later. 

 

The problem is the Twins then got rid of people who they should have kept while continuing to march out players who should not have been in the majors.  They could have solved this problem in 1-2 years if they had made better decisions.

 

There are a lot of things that could have happened to cause Smith's dismissal.  There were injuries on that team, but there were also "injuries" which suggests there was a lot of griping in the clubhouse.  Likely there were meetings with players and higher ups.  It's possible Smith was approached with some of this and didn't handle the criticism very well.  

[Ncgo4]

I don't like to see people get fired either, like the manager at Piggly Wiggly. But a head baseball coach of the worst team in baseball? A team that for several years running has been considered to have one of the top 3 or 4 minor league systems? C'mon, get him gone.

[nicksaviking]

That was a pretty restrained piece by Reusse, it was a good read.

 

Also, Reusse did at one point seem to indicate that Pohlad may be hanging on to Molitor because of the misguided notion that Molitor is a net positive with the fans/attendance.

 

If that is the case, and not because Molitor is a family friend/business partner, and/or Pohlad doesn't want to pay the buyout, then there may be hope that Pohlad sees data showing Molitor moves the needle zero amount and changes his mind.

 

Also, not sure about the Picollo/McLeod take. Yes, McLeod comes from organizations with big pockets, but he's known for his scouting acumen. It has actually been Picollo's Royals who built their club through trades and free agents, KC has no superstars and only a couple of OK players to show for their two decades of high draft picks.

[Guest]

I don't think Molitor deserves blame for Sano's problems..  He has always been a poor fielder and it clear from his off season activities and weight gain that the Twins management was not happy, which is why they ended his winter ball in the Dominican Republic.  Sano should look across the dugout at Brian Dozier and realize that when Dozier was struggling, he worked his tail off to learn how to hit to right field (I realize there was some resistance to this and Dozier was benched a few games to send the message, but in the end he got it).  Can we say the same about Sano?  I don't think so.

Dozier leads the majors in pull hitting. He wasn't "benched to send a message."

[Guest]

I don't like to see people get fired either, like the manager at Piggly Wiggly. But a head baseball coach of the worst team in baseball? A team that for several years running has been considered to have one of the top 3 or 4 minor league systems? C'mon, get him gone.

He'll get a $1M buyout if he's fired. If that's harsh, I'll volunteer to be fired instead.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

Also, not sure about the Picollo/McLeod take. Yes, McLeod comes from organizations with big pockets, but he's known for his scouting acumen. It has actually been Picollo's Royals who built their club through trades and free agents, KC has no superstars and only a couple of OK players to show for their two decades of high draft picks.

Yeah, I didn't get that either.  What do the budgets of the Red Sox and Cubs have to do with overseeing the drafts of Pedroia, Ellsbury, Bryant, etc.?

[Rosterman]

It is unbelievable that Pohlad would say Molitor is still manager come 2017, and even in the recent season ticket recruitment. Instead, you fall on your sword, discuss "total system failure" with hopes for the future looking at what is still a strong system of prospects as well as the search for management to take the team in a different direction to keep it competitive in the new world of baseball.

 

Looking at Molitor, though, we see inconsistent lineups, we see a total lack of fundamentals (of course, if players make errors, the ERA goes down for pitchers and hitters on other team get a batting average nick). With the amount of coaches you command, you have the ability to work with players and lessen those strikeouts.

 

Bullpen management is a mess. There are no roles for the pitchers, we see overwork in regard to appearances. Even now, no pitcher can get more than three outs it seems. And even with a guy like Duffey, who should be getting reps now coming in as a long relief guy since he clearly can't get us anywhere deep into games...it is not the same as Berrios who, at the moment, is being groomed as a starter. Yet I don't want to see Dean or Albers start. They are not going to be Twins in a year or two. Neither might Wheeler, but he should've had the opportunity, too.

 

It's a team of missed opportunities. Again, the Twins aren't spoilers. The Twins are a team on a total rebuild. Suzuki needs NO at bats. We need to see Murphy even catch Santana. We needed to Walker in the DH role if Sano and Mauer are sitting out. I would rather see at bats to Granite than Schafer, and it looks more and more like even Gorssman may be out of the 2017 picture. Guys like them don't lose anything for the Twins because the team didn't spend development monies on them and they cost whatever it cost to pick them up AND they are replaceable. We had replacements for them earlier and didn't go forth in Quentin, Wheeler and Murphy. We had Arcia who was pushed aside because of Sano in the outfield and the signing of Park, a player who along with Mauer, creates a salary logjam. At this point I would just as soon see Walker and Vargas (and dream of what Arcia still might've been).

 

But something isn't clikcing on the field. And that is the manager. You send a message to season ticket holders by firing the field staff, starting with the manager before the season ends.

 

You also send a message by moving full speed on whatever you want to do with the front office. If you are going to do same old same old, do it proudlhy and lay out your field of dreams. Don't just go through the motions to make it look like you CAN do something different. WHhch is my major peeve with the Twins. They want to look competitive (and sure got mileage out of 2015 and the one game away from the Wild Card). It was a weak division. It was a weak league. You had a lot of good breaks. But you still had a lot to do to truly become competitive. Just signing good solid pitchers is one thing, having a plan of a rotation that works is another. Or a bullpen that works. Or building a team with a lineup that works in the Stadium the taxpayers helped pay for so you could double or triple the value of your franchise on paper.

 

The other day when for a home game you fielded the Rochester Red Wings lineup with Dozier...I can go watch the Saints for a fraction of the cost and ten times the fun. I can do a roadtrip to Rochester and see the real thing and visit the Hall of Fame.

 

There is so much you can do to give a little glimmer to a lost cause. Get the players into the community...the future players. Change up the field staff, if even for the last couple of weeks. Tip over the water cooler in the front office. Go sit in the cheap seats (all you front office guys) and listen to fan remarks. Watch the game from the eyes of a fan and look for experiences that the fans may enjoy to bring them back to the game.

 

[KirbyDome89]

 

I agree Molitor needs to go, but how many Twins players right now do you think would make a 25 man roster for an ALL AL Central team.  Dozier?  That's a problem with talent when there are only 5 teams in the AL Central.

 

How about the ALL AL team?  Probably still Dozier, but he wouldn't be starting, right? Altuve would do that.

 

We certainly we would have no pitching on either team.

 

This team isn't loaded with talent.  Molitor's lineups and in-game management, along with the lack of fundamentals this team has, warrant his firing, but no manager makes this team an 80 win team, or perhaps even a 70 win team.  The talent doesn't stack up.

I think if you turned it around and each AL central team or each AL team was drafting players for the next 10+ years you would see a lot of Twins go before other players. I think there is a lot of positional talent on this team, it just isn't seasoned. As for the pitching, well.....