Reusse: Falvey will need time

[gunnarthor]

http://www.startribune.com/speed-of-change-won-t-decide-whether-falvey-can-be-fixer-of-twins/395567601/

 

Nice little article but the interesting thing to me was this section:

 

"The legend has grown that Falvey was down the list on the Twins’ preferred candidates. Actually, he was on the radar early with the help of the Korn-Ferry search firm.

The Twins would have taken a strong look at Ben Cherington. I’m not sure if it was him wanting to stay in the East that he went to Toronto, or if he wasn’t interested in running the Twins specifically.

There have been reports that Alex Anthopoulos (spread by his agent, you would have to guess) rejected an overture from the Twins. In truth, he wasn’t on the interview list, so the rejection wasn’t a problem for their party."

 

In any event, Falvey will probably keep some, if not all, front office guys around.  Reusse mentions Rob Antony, Mike Radcliff, Brad Steil and Deron Johnson.  I like Steil a lot.  I'm not smart enough to know about the others either way but Radcliff is old enough to be a Ralph Houk-type guy and he's gotten some credit for improving the drafts since 2012.

[Jerr]

Hope he just cleans out all front office, manager, coaches and all the rest!  

 

Sorry, but a fan since 1961 and I am tired of the "Twin's Way" , hasn't worked for too long ....embarrassing!!!!!!

[Cory Engelhardt]

Cleaning out the front office will take some time. The Cubs article on here a few days ago said as much. Come 2019 Falvey will probably have his guys in place, but for 2017, keeping a lot of the guys together makes some sense.

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

Cleaning out the front office will take some time. The Cubs article on here a few days ago said as much. Come 2019 Falvey will probably have his guys in place, but for 2017, keeping a lot of the guys together makes some sense.

 

This.  I want him to fire people who need to go, not fire for the sake of firing.  That will take time. He's got to get a handle on the organization.  I'm guessing he will start adding more heads initially than removing them.  But like you said, by 2019, you'll definitely see a few less familiar faces around One Twins Way.

[Squirrel]

This.  I want him to fire people who need to go, not fire for the sake of firing.  That will take time. He's got to get a handle on the organization.  I'm guessing he will start adding more heads initially than removing them.  But like you said, by 2019, you'll definitely see a few less familiar faces around One Twins Way.

Right. Concur. As much as I've wanted FO change and have always advocated that if you want real, substantial change, it comes from the top down, I would be skeptical of a new hire who just came in handing out pink slips right and left. The Twins aren't some small 'mom and pop' shop, it will take time (how much or how little I don't know and won't predict). But I do want to see some kind of immediate indicators that he's working to move the organization in his direction and not the organization directing him.

[Doomtints]

 

 

"There have been reports that Alex Anthopoulos (spread by his agent, you would have to guess) rejected an overture from the Twins. In truth, he wasn’t on the interview list, so the rejection wasn’t a problem for their party."

 

 

 

Weird.  So he was trying to win brownie points with his current employer or apply some leverage to win some battle.  Pretty scummy.

[Blake]

 

Cleaning out the front office will take some time. The Cubs article on here a few days ago said as much. Come 2019 Falvey will probably have his guys in place, but for 2017, keeping a lot of the guys together makes some sense.

concur.

[Blake]

 

Hope he just cleans out all front office, manager, coaches and all the rest!  

 

Sorry, but a fan since 1961 and I am tired of the "Twin's Way" , hasn't worked for too long ....embarrassing!!!!!!

The "Twins Way" used to be bring up players who play good solid fundamental baseball and work at their profession.  

 

There was and is nothing wrong with that attitude. However, a lot of younger current players don't seem to know how to play fundamentally sound baseball.

 

The front office also avoided signing free agents to long term contracts, especially players on the wrong side of 30. 

 

There were other factors but over the last few years, these two things seem to stand out, at least from my perspective. (granted, I may be basing this more on my perceptions than reality)

 

Hopefully, Falvey is the first step in righting the Twins organization.

[Riverbrian]

In my opinion... Putting a winning baseball team on the field will be easier to do than changing culture in the front office. 

 

Changing culture takes time and it takes even longer when the old culture remains in place. 

 

I don't want him to walk in and hand out pink slips and bring in his own people without investigation. Judging by his past experience with one club... he probably doesn't have his own people yet. 

 

I do want him to immediately trace everything in the baseball department back to find where the issues are and then make as many changes as necessary. 

 

I have no idea who or what the issues are... I just know that they are obviously there and in fairly large abundance. 

[Mike Sixel]

 

Weird.  So he was trying to win brownie points with his current employer or apply some leverage to win some battle.  Pretty scummy.

 

? that's how the world works, not scummy at all, imo.

[beckmt]

I feel it is more the field staff has the problems with fundamentals. Fixing that is the first issue. Players from the Ryan era phase 2 have just started to reach the majors, drafting and player procurement will take another year or two to evaluate. I also do not want change for the sake of change. However all of us want to see the problems fixed as fast as possible. I hope international procurement has extra money assigned to it, as this is the fastest way to add talent at the price of reasonable money. Good luck

[gunnarthor]

 

I feel it is more the field staff has the problems with fundamentals. Fixing that is the first issue. Players from the Ryan era phase 2 have just started to reach the majors, drafting and player procurement will take another year or two to evaluate. I also do not want change for the sake of change. However all of us want to see the problems fixed as fast as possible. I hope international procurement has extra money assigned to it, as this is the fastest way to add talent at the price of reasonable money. Good luck

I agree.  I think the biggest problem was on the ML staff.  Nearly every player - veterans, inexperienced players, rookies, hitters, pitchers - struggled this year.  If it was only the rookie hitters having trouble, it might suggest one thing but everyone seemed unprepared for the season.  That, to me, suggests the coaching staff was having problems getting the players set up.

 

Say what you will about Gardy and Andy, they had much worse talent on some of those teams and got much better results.  Time to move on from this staff.

[HitInAPinch]

MLB Rumors quote from Falvey:

 

“It’s a tremendous honor to have the opportunity to lead the Twins baseball operation.  This is a proud, resilient franchise, and I’m eager to return championship-caliber baseball to the Twin Cities,” says Falvey. “We will work diligently and collectively to select and develop top-performers, advance our processes, and nurture a progressive culture that will make fans across Twins Territory proud.”

 

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2016/10/derek-falvey-favorite-twins-front-office.html

[Doomtints]

 

The "Twins Way" used to be bring up players who play good solid fundamental baseball and work at their profession.  

 

 

We may want to start calling this the "Twins Myth."  Generally speaking, the Twins have done very well in years where they had good defense, a good bullpen, at least two good hitters and at least two good starting pitchers.  How they accomplished those things hasn't mattered.
 

 

 

 

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

Weird.  So he was trying to win brownie points with his current employer or apply some leverage to win some battle.  Pretty scummy.

I think Anthropolous or his agent could have been asked about it, and given an honest answer of disinterest, even if they weren't on the list.

 

Or Reusse could be mistaken about the details -- maybe Anthropolous didn't make the "interview list" because he declined Korn Ferry before the Twins even got involved making their list.

 

Jon Morosi reported that Anthropolous was a "confirmed candidate" at one point, maybe that report was erroneous but prompted the press to ask him about his interest anyway.

 

I don't think we know nearly enough to judge Anthropolous or his agent here.

[diehardtwinsfan]

maybe it's just saving face... 

[Mr. Brooks]

I hope he brings in "the Bobs" from Office Space to make everyone interview for their jobs.

[Craig Arko]

Well, yeah. He's got all that weight to lose before Spring Training.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

I agree. I think the biggest problem was on the ML staff. Nearly every player - veterans, inexperienced players, rookies, hitters, pitchers - struggled this year. If it was only the rookie hitters having trouble, it might suggest one thing but everyone seemed unprepared for the season. That, to me, suggests the coaching staff was having problems getting the players set up.

 

Say what you will about Gardy and Andy, they had much worse talent on some of those teams and got much better results. Time to move on from this staff.

theres a significant issue with acquiring and developing pitching, as well as some seemingly rigid hitting ideas that look fairly pervasive of this organization for the better part of the last 15 years.

 

It's more than just the ML staff and like others here, I hope Falvey has the patience to dig deep to make sure that the right people are retained, as well as the support from St Peter and Pohlad to do so, as well as their support to fire the people that need to go, even the ones that are popular amongst their peers in the organization.

[DocBauer]

Agree with everything stated already. Doubtful he really knows or has much experience with the FO staffers that are mentioned. Keeping some or all of them, adding to the core, allows for a smoother transition as well as the gathering of information.

 

What if it's not scouting and drafting that is the problem but a series of systematic teaching principals, for example, that have held some guys from reaching their potential.

[drivlikejehu]

The Twins need to do better in the draft. I'm pretty sure Falvey will want to make changes there. International scouting seems to be performing better and might require less of an overhaul.

[Monkeypaws]

 

Hope he just cleans out all front office, manager, coaches and all the rest!  

 

Sorry, but a fan since 1961 and I am tired of the "Twin's Way" , hasn't worked for too long ....embarrassing!!!!!!

 

But at least it worked, twice. How about the Vikings way, or the Wolves, North Stars/Wild way? How's that worked out?

 

Lynx are the new gold standard aroung here.

[TheLeviathan]

It's wise advice.  This whole thing is going to take some time.

[Jerr]

The Twins Way was once GREAT, BUT where did it go, as the prospects coming up recently???

Highly rated, but are lacking in those fundamentals, of when Twins Way was good  

[Brock Beauchamp]

Overall, I agree with everything in the article except the last paragraph. Reusse is taking a tempered approach and I commend him for that. We need to give this guy some space to do what needs to be done, as hard as that is in the short-term.

 

But this line didn't really sit with me:

 

"The Twins will be fortunate if the quote from Falvey’s front office next fall is, “We were just trying to get organized and we made it to fourth place in the division.’’

 

I don't buy it. That's setting expectations a bit too low, in my opinion. Overhauling this pitching staff in a single offseason is going to be a monumental task but this Twins offense is too good to finish fourth place.

 

The goal should be mid 70s wins. Yes, that's a huge jump but not an entirely unreasonable expectation. Buxton surged at the end of the season. Polanco looks like a solid piece. Kepler will likely have growing pains but should hold his own out there. Sano should be primed for a bounce back season. Berrios is the wild card right now but if he can turn into an average pitcher, that's a 5 WAR swing in itself.

 

And that's not even bringing up Dozier. He's either with the team and posts 4-ish WAR or he's flipped for a guy who can help the team in 2017. At least that's what I want to see.

 

Pick up a smattering of competent bullpen pieces and this team should go from horrible to just bad.

[ShouldaCouldaWoulda]

 

Hope he just cleans out all front office, manager, coaches and all the rest!  

 

Sorry, but a fan since 1961 and I am tired of the "Twin's Way" , hasn't worked for too long ....embarrassing!!!!!!

I posted elsewhere that he wouldn't do that, simply because he would likely want to take a year to see who can sink/swim with the way he wants things done. He will take a year to evaluate this, and it will make it smoother in the turnover process the following few years. He also might just do some micro-managing the first year anyway, in order to make sure everyone knows how he wants things done. 

[Brock Beauchamp]

Yeah. Anyone who has gone through the pains of populating a department staff knows how hard it is to find good people who work well in your system.

 

I'm sure Falvey has people he wants to bring on board. He'll pursue those people with vigor and integrate them into the front office... But firing people without a plan for replacement is a good way to bury yourself in a deeper hole, at least in the short-term.

 

Firing a mediocre employee means you need to go find a good employee to see an actual gain in performance. And you have to integrate and train that person into both the established system and the new system you want to put in place. That takes time. Lots of time. For every hire you make.

 

Never mind the fact that Falvey, by writing a slew of pink slips on day one, might be firing some pretty damned good employees; people he'll end up replacing with mediocre employees, which means he's working against himself. He'll spend a bunch of time training someone who will ultimately be worse than the person he canned.

 

So, yeah. Patience. It's a bitch.

[gunnarthor]

 

Overall, I agree with everything in the article except the last paragraph. Reusse is taking a tempered approach and I commend him for that. We need to give this guy some space to do what needs to be done, as hard as that is in the short-term.

 

But this line didn't really sit with me:

 

"The Twins will be fortunate if the quote from Falvey’s front office next fall is, “We were just trying to get organized and we made it to fourth place in the division.’’

 

I don't buy it. That's setting expectations a bit too low, in my opinion. Overhauling this pitching staff in a single offseason is going to be a monumental task but this Twins offense is too good to finish fourth place.

 

The goal should be mid 70s wins. Yes, that's a huge jump but not an entirely unreasonable expectation. Buxton surged at the end of the season. Polanco looks like a solid piece. Kepler will likely have growing pains but should hold his own out there. Sano should be primed for a bounce back season. Berrios is the wild card right now but if he can turn into an average pitcher, that's a 5 WAR swing in itself.

 

And that's not even bringing up Dozier. He's either with the team and posts 4-ish WAR or he's flipped for a guy who can help the team in 2017. At least that's what I want to see.

 

Pick up a smattering of competent bullpen pieces and this team should go from horrible to just bad.

Damn straight.  We're the best 100+ loss team ever!

 

By baseruns - which was thrown around a lot last year - we were a much more respectable 71-91.  Only the Rays (-13) were worse than our -12 game differential.  Another reason to fire the coaches.

[Jerr]

 

I posted elsewhere that he wouldn't do that, simply because he would likely want to take a year to see who can sink/swim with the way he wants things done. He will take a year to evaluate this, and it will make it smoother in the turnover process the following few years. He also might just do some micro-managing the first year anyway, in order to make sure everyone knows how he wants things done. 

I get it, I'm just sooooo mad about the Twins this season!!   

[Rosterman]

Well, I would hope he meets with one and all and asks them what their plans are for their departments and how they expect to improve/change/handle matters. Everyone is on notice to come on-board a shared direction, which should be set sooner rather than later. But overall, the organization needs direction above and beyond "being competitive" which got them Target Field. The resources are there, or the Twins (like Trump) have squandered millions with little to show. No more lip service, magic mirrors. All or nothing.We have seen nothing. It is easy to produce NOTHING. The Fans don't need us to win-it-all next year. There are so many promising resources that will come together in the next couple of years that there is hope! Old ideas of "The Twins Way!" need to be changed. Maybe you can keep the "old-timers" around as a consulting board who can share the knowledge of what is currently in the system and all, but over the course of three years, with players alone, the Twins will have at least 60% if not more turnover in both majors and minors, so need directions are totally on tap!