Reusse: Falvey will need time

[Kwak]

 

Bringing up Beresford and Albers was a sign by management that they no longer gave a crap.  The players acted as expected by giving up when these perplexing choices were made.  

 

If you remember, there were reports that the Twins were telling Dozier to stop pulling and that they were even considering benching him for it.  He then went on a home run tear, almost immediately.  My suspicion is that this was him telling the coaching staff to stick it where the sun doesn't shine, that he can hit the ball however he damn well wants.  His home runs were NOT opposite field hits.  Dozier vented his frustration with obtuse coaching advice by crushing the ball like he knows how.  

The rot set in before Albers and Beresford--consider the 13-game losing streak! 

 

Dozier--a different subject. One, it wasn't "rot" that caused his anemic performance in April and May. In fact, Dozier didn't "check-out" until the couple games of the season--he "played"--"his way". Dozier, like Plouffe, was a "failed" SS who was provided another chance. In his case 2B. Players (and their agents) notice things. Like how MLB truly pays for HRs, but not so much for hitting behind the runner and the sort of unselfish play that can help a team more than it "helps" the player. Other Twins "noticed" too. We saw a parade of players flaying away (especially the "skinny" guys) trying to hit HRs. After two months the team was buried so deep that the next four months were meaningless from a team standpoint. I would add so were Dozier's HRs. 

 

True, Dozier's agent will emphasize his 42 HRs when the time for a free agent contract arrives. But I am confident he will omit that most of them were irrelevant for the Twins--their season was effectively over! Dozier had his opportunity to display leadership in an attempt to "right the ship"--and chose to stay committed to personal aggrandizement. He will be handsomely compensated for his selfishness. True, this is professional baseball ("it's about the Benjamins!") and we should expect that players will "look out for #1", but that doesn't mean we should glorify them for it! The "rot" was there at the start when the "rookies" tried to be "stars" (and failed). The veterans set the tone and all tried to emulate. 

 

The leadership of the team was virtually non-existent. Molitor and Mauer were ignored as irrelevant. The Dominicans tried to be David Ortiz and failed. Some tried to be Dozier--but sadly they succeeded at "being Dozier" because Dozier stunk in April and May. Therefore, I contend that any leadership provided in 2017 will yield a better W/L record and further, that management from the top on down must be held accountable for wins next year. If they can't show a big improvement in the W/L record next season there must be a near total house-cleaning before 2018.

[dxpavelka]

 

No, I remember when people thought it was a steal when they got La russa. I don't recall people celebrating Stewart and I certainly don't remember them cheering Hale who was seen as a hard-nosed old school manager even though that's exactly what they just fired in Kirk Gibson.

 

I don't think La russa is a very hands-on president, not in the vein of Epstein, Beane or Freidman anyway. I think he looked at it as a low-effort retirement gig where he could be a figurehead and delegate responsibilities. He should have been fired too; I wonder if he may have some ownership percentage that people aren't talking or don't know about.

Maybe old age is affecting my memory but I seem to recall a lot of folks hoping Hale would get our gig.  Truth be told he's getting canned after a better 2 year run than our guy has had but that may be more of a reflection of the lack of return on their asset investment.

[dxpavelka]

 

No, I recall no one who said those were good ideas.

Pretty sure there were a lot folks pushing Hale for this job.  They're pretty quiet these days--not that Hale's done worse than our guy.

 

[jimmer]

Sure. 90 losses is 72-90 on the season.

 

Which is why I said the goal should be a win total somewhere in the mid 70s. It's a big jump but given the young talent on this team and the possibilities of trading Dozier, that's not unreasonable.

base runs had us at 71-91. We had the worst record in the AL when looking at Baserun records too. Lots of work to do, but a win total in the 70s can happen for sure.

[USAFChief]

base runs had us at 71-91. We had the worst record in the AL when looking at Baserun records too. Lots of work to do, but a win total in the 70s can happen for sure.

then there's no reason to think with normal improvement and some good off season GM work they can't be .500 or better next yr. That's a 10 game improvement. Personally I expect more.

[Mike Sixel]

 

Pretty sure there were a lot folks pushing Hale for this job.  They're pretty quiet these days--not that Hale's done worse than our guy.

 

Of the three....he was the least worse...

[nicksaviking]

I think the Twins talked about Hale, but I don't recall Chip Hale backers here, maybe they were. If so, I'd guess it was the folks who like callbacks to the past in the form of former Twins. Seems to me there was a lot of Dave Martinez and Doug Mientkiewicz support with some hoping that Ozzie Guillen and Sandy Alomar would be considered, then when it got down to only a couple of candidates Terry Lovello was the horse most people were cheering for here.

[prouster]

 

The rot set in before Albers and Beresford--consider the 13-game losing streak! 

 

Dozier--a different subject. One, it wasn't "rot" that caused his anemic performance in April and May. In fact, Dozier didn't "check-out" until the couple games of the season--he "played"--"his way". Dozier, like Plouffe, was a "failed" SS who was provided another chance. In his case 2B. Players (and their agents) notice things. Like how MLB truly pays for HRs, but not so much for hitting behind the runner and the sort of unselfish play that can help a team more than it "helps" the player. Other Twins "noticed" too. We saw a parade of players flaying away (especially the "skinny" guys) trying to hit HRs. After two months the team was buried so deep that the next four months were meaningless from a team standpoint. I would add so were Dozier's HRs. 

 

True, Dozier's agent will emphasize his 42 HRs when the time for a free agent contract arrives. But I am confident he will omit that most of them were irrelevant for the Twins--their season was effectively over! Dozier had his opportunity to display leadership in an attempt to "right the ship"--and chose to stay committed to personal aggrandizement. He will be handsomely compensated for his selfishness. True, this is professional baseball ("it's about the Benjamins!") and we should expect that players will "look out for #1", but that doesn't mean we should glorify them for it! The "rot" was there at the start when the "rookies" tried to be "stars" (and failed). The veterans set the tone and all tried to emulate. 

 

The leadership of the team was virtually non-existent. Molitor and Mauer were ignored as irrelevant. The Dominicans tried to be David Ortiz and failed. Some tried to be Dozier--but sadly they succeeded at "being Dozier" because Dozier stunk in April and May. Therefore, I contend that any leadership provided in 2017 will yield a better W/L record and further, that management from the top on down must be held accountable for wins next year. If they can't show a big improvement in the W/L record next season there must be a near total house-cleaning before 2018.

 

I demand Brian Dozier show us all his birth certificate.

[Doomtints]

 

The rot set in before Albers and Beresford--consider the 13-game losing streak! 

 

The losing streak started right when Albers was first called up and Molitor gave up on much of the rotation.  

 

Also, I'm not knocking on Dozier for doing what I suspect he did.  He proved some things that needed to be proven.  

[DJSim22]

 

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 don't see much if anything about the "Twins Way" these days.  They don't play defense, they walk a lot of batters.  Besides Buxton they are not overly fast.  They strikeout an embarrassing amount without walking all that much. The current Twins look more like the old White Sox teams the Twins used to toy with. 

[Doomtints]

 

I don't see much if anything about the "Twins Way" these days.  They don't play defense, they walk a lot of batters.  Besides Buxton they are not overly fast.  They strikeout an embarrassing amount without walking all that much. The current Twins look more like the old White Sox teams the Twins used to toy with. 

 

The last "Twins Way" player to come up was Brian Dozier, and even he isn't quite the right mold that the Twins Way describes.  Dozier might even be closer to that White Sox profile you brought up.  

 

The majority of players coming up in the past five years can't hit and many can't play defense either.  That was never part of the Twins Way.  And that's just the position players  The pitching has been such a vacuum that it's impossible to analyze the problem and perhaps not even worth it.  It's probably better just to clean the slate, star potential prospects like Berrios be damned.

 

I'm uncertain why anyone would still be talking about the Twins Way, it's not only dead and long gone but it was mostly a myth in the first place.  It was a marketing tactic to try to describe the difference between the Twins and the high-spending Yankees.  

[Han Joelo]

 

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

Let's hope it wasn't the Bobs who hired Falvey…"he's got upper management written all over him."

[dxpavelka]

 

Of the three....he was the least worse...

Don't that kinda make your head spin a bit.

[Mike Sixel]

I hope Falvey says to his manager, that he should read this:

 

"“I hate waiting for the ninth inning,” Francona told The Ringer’s Ben Lindbergh in September. “I never did understand that. You know, you wait around, wait around, and you lose a game in the eighth. Well, wait a minute, that might’ve been the most important inning of the game.”"

[wsnydes]

 

Grossman was absolutely brutal at something like -21 DRS.

I'm kind of shocked that he was even that good.

[wsnydes]

 

I hope Falvey says to his manager, that he should read this:

 

"“I hate waiting for the ninth inning,” Francona told The Ringer’s Ben Lindbergh in September. “I never did understand that. You know, you wait around, wait around, and you lose a game in the eighth. Well, wait a minute, that might’ve been the most important inning of the game.”"

Sometimes this is hindsight, but I think a good manager has to be able to feel that and understand that.  The great ones do.

[Willihammer]

According to the Twins, Falvey “will be responsible for establishing the vision and related strategies for the club’s baseball operation. Specifically, he will oversee all aspects of the department including:  major league team, coaches, and support staff, contract negotiations, player development, scouting, research and development, medical and communications.”

 

I wonder how the GM position will change?

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

Sometimes this is hindsight, but I think a good manager has to be able to feel that and understand that.  The great ones do.

Well, no one will get it right 100% of the time, which is why it's important to play the odds and be ready for blowback from the peanut gallery when you break tradition and things go awry.

[wsnydes]

 

Well, no one will get it right 100% of the time, which is why it's important to play the odds and be ready for blowback from the peanut gallery when you break tradition and things go awry.

No doubt.  I was trying to convey that the great ones are correct far more than they're wrong.  

 

It still comes down to execution by the players, but putting the players in a position to succeed starts with the manager.