Neil Allen Fired

[Loosey]

It isn't a real surprise this happened.  Falvine were given a year to evaluate things.  I assume he would have been let go last year but with Molitor in limbo for a season it wouldn't have made sense to fire and hire a pitching coach then hire a new manager who would possibly have wanted to bring in his own staff.  Molitor survived and got extended so now the front office can start cleaning house and building the model they envision now that they have some stability for a few years.

 

I think this off-season could be fun.  For once they aren't rebuilding.  Finally they can just make improvements where they are needed in order to take the next step.  Start with coaches, in a month or so start improving the roster.  

 

The next few months could define what Falvine era is going to be.  If Pohlad opens up the pocket book a bit (which he claims he has in the past) this Front Office could do some things Terry Ryan never did.  I have stated on here a few times before I Terry Ryan was frugal with the Pohlad's money more than Pohlad didn't let him spend.  We will find out shortly.

[dbminn]

The coaching staff will be an interesting mix after they replace Allen. I'm not sure, but I think you can separate the coaches into separate camps:

 

Strategy/Teaching - Falvine's group: Rowson, Pickler, New Pitching Coach

In-Game/Relationships - Old School Twins: Molitor, Smith, Glynn, Guardado, Hernandez

Other - Vavra

 

Now that Allen is gone, the FO will control hitting/pitching philosophy throughout the organization. They will rely on Molitor to manage the players, media and relationships at the MLB level. 

 

All of this is speculation. Glynn and Smith provide help with defensive technique, so it's not a perfect fit. And I don't even know what role Vavra plays. Still, it makes sense that Allen's replacement was non-negotiable for Molitor. 

[Guest]

Allen's comments after being let go were respectful and realistic. I'm sure he'll get another job. Hopefully it is a better fit for his skills and allows him to continue to grow his career.

[Brandon27]

Just throwing it out there why not get Bert Blyleven out of press box into the dugout as the pitching coach he does it anyways for world baseball Classic or another one comes to mind is Frank  Viola I do believe he is the pitching coach in the minors for the Mets 

[Guest]

I just hope the FO has some idea whom they're going to hire next. Seems like the Twins haven't had a great pitching coach in a long while.

 

Rick Anderson's system had some good years, until the league changed and he and/or his bosses refused to change along with it. In some ways, Allen's hiring was based on a similar, insular way of thinking, of trying to implement a new "system," without taking into account the changes in the competitive landscape.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

LaTroy Hawkins is needed daily in the clubhouse in some capacity.

[ashbury]

Falvey seems to prefer a curveball emphasis, Allen was a changeup guy.

Somehow I don't think it quite comes down to this. Changeups and breaking pitches are complementary, and both can fit into a repertoire. Moreover, it seems to me one is a skill, the other is more of a talent - with both needing hard work and repetition to master of course. I doubt either Allen or the front office is extreme in espousing one over the other.

 

Allen was certainly known for suggesting the change, to anyone who would listen. FalVine may like breaking pitches. But a preference wouldn't be a dealbreaker. Allen didn't tell Berrios to ditch the bender.

 

I think it just came down to results. Allen's job was to find answers, and at the end of the day he didn't find enough.

[SweetOne69]

 

Just throwing it out there why not get Bert Blyleven out of press box into the dugout as the pitching coach he does it anyways for world baseball Classic or another one comes to mind is Frank  Viola I do believe he is the pitching coach in the minors for the Mets 

First, the WBC is only a 1 month gig every 3 years.

 

Second, why would Blyleven want to give up his cushy 100 games/year gig for the stressfull rigors of pitching coach.

[beckmt]

I believe Frankie Viola was let go by the Mets(I could be wrong).  Blyleven seems to be able to get results with the Dutch pitching staff, so he would be a good choice, but do not think he will give up the cushy booth.  

Talent level may not be as good as we were lead to believe, so hope the new FO finds good teachers for the pitching staff.

[yarnivek1972]

How about Phil Hughes for pitching coach?  Most expensive one, EVER.

 

But seriously, there is some speculation about the future of John Farrell in Boston. Could mean The Big Train, Carl Willis is out too.  4 Cy Young winners in 12 seasons as a MLB pitching coach.

[Vanimal46]

I believe Frankie Viola was let go by the Mets(I could be wrong). Blyleven seems to be able to get results with the Dutch pitching staff, so he would be a good choice, but do not think he will give up the cushy booth.

Talent level may not be as good as we were lead to believe, so hope the new FO finds good teachers for the pitching staff.

Regardless, why would the Twins want someone from an organization that has ruined almost every single one of their best pitchers?

[nicksaviking]

Well if Falvey was going to go country club recruiting at his old stomping grounds, I wouldn't need any convincing that he should start with raiding Cleveland's pitching minds.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

 

Just throwing it out there why not get Bert Blyleven out of press box into the dugout as the pitching coach he does it anyways for world baseball Classic or another one comes to mind is Frank  Viola I do believe he is the pitching coach in the minors for the Mets 

because Circle Me Bert has been suspended at least once for not being able to filter himself on live TV as a commentator and blatantly gave the finger to a TV camera, as well as he's been off loaded by the Pirates and Twins for being "disgruntled".

 

In short, if he's an outspoken pain in the booty, he's probably not a good influence on young players.

[prouster]

 

Sounds like they may have some names already in mind.

[spinowner]

 

Just throwing it out there why not get Bert Blyleven out of press box into the dugout as the pitching coach he does it anyways for world baseball Classic or another one comes to mind is Frank  Viola I do believe he is the pitching coach in the minors for the Mets 

No.

[nicksaviking]

 

Sounds like they may have some names already in mind.

And those names are probably currently still on teams playing baseball.

[jctwins]

I like to see so many wishes that we do one more reunion with a name we know, because after all that is the best way to change the culture in this organization....

[jimmer]

 

Just throwing it out there why not get Bert Blyleven out of press box into the dugout as the pitching coach he does it anyways for world baseball Classic or another one comes to mind is Frank  Viola I do believe he is the pitching coach in the minors for the Mets 

Oh please no.

[yarnivek1972]

I like to see so many wishes that we do one more reunion with a name we know, because after all that is the best way to change the culture in this organization....

Yes, Carl Willis’ best year as a player was 1991. But he is a highly regarded pitching coach and has been for a long time with 3 different organizations. And, as I mentioned, has produced 4 Cy Young winners under his guidance.

 

I know your post wasn’t specifically addressed to me, I’m just saying that I think he is extremely qualified and might be available.

[bizaff]

I don't think I'm a fan of Bert being pitching coach.

 

I can't remember where I read it but it was something along the lines of you don't want a great pitcher as a pitching coach.  If they were great, they often are quite naturally gifted, which you can't really teach.  You want someone who had to work incredibly hard to eke out every little advantage they could to remain competitive.  Those are the guys that can help and teach.

[yarnivek1972]

I don't think I'm a fan of Bert being pitching coach.

 

I can't remember where I read it but it was something along the lines of you don't want a great pitcher as a pitching coach. If they were great, they often are quite naturally gifted, which you can't really teach. You want someone who had to work incredibly hard to eke out every little advantage they could to remain competitive. Those are the guys that can help and teach.

Like Carl Willis.

[old nurse]

 

Yes, Carl Willis’ best year as a player was 1991. But he is a highly regarded pitching coach and has been for a long time with 3 different organizations. And, as I mentioned, has produced 4 Cy Young winners under his guidance.

I know your post wasn’t specifically addressed to me, I’m just saying that I think he is extremely qualified and might be available.

Why would the Red Sox not retain him?

[drjim]

Why would the Red Sox not retain him?

Looks like Farrell is probably out, might clean house completely.

[yarnivek1972]

Why would the Red Sox not retain him?

If the Red Sox make a managerial change it is pretty likely that whoever it is will be someone of some standing. In other words, someone with the clout to hand pick much of his staff. That’s the way it is with major market teams. Those are the types of guys they usually pick.

[jimmer]

Red Sox are ridiculous.  They let Francona for no real reason and now Farrell too?  Hilarious.

[old nurse]

 

Looks like Farrell is probably out, might clean house completely.

Willis was likely Drombosky's hire as pitching coach.

[old nurse]

 

 

If the Red Sox make a managerial change it is pretty likely that whoever it is will be someone of some standing. In other words, someone with the clout to hand pick much of his staff. That’s the way it is with major market teams. Those are the types of guys they usually pick.

Yup, Drombosky will let the person he hires tell him what to do

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

Willis was likely Drombosky's hire as pitching coach.

Willis was named Red Sox pitching coach while Dombrowski was still employed by the Tigers (May 2015).

 

Dombrowski didn't move to the Red Sox until August 2015.

[Parker Hageman]

The more I think about it, the more I don't think this front office will grab an established name.

 

When they fired Tom Brunansky, there was a lot of speculation on known commodities but, in the end, they went with a somewhat unknown James Rowson. They seem to like the guy behind the guy. 

 

As I mentioned on Twitter, Ruben Niebla is a name to look out for. He's the Indians MiLB pitching coordinator and, from what I've been told, he's the guy who has been helping create all the pitchers the Indians have been churning out from their system -- more so than Mickey Callaway. There are plenty of other names like that out there. Jim Brower might be another to consider. He's the Cubs' MiLB pitching coordinator. These are two guys who I have been told are "rock stars" when it comes to developing pitching. There's plenty more out there as well. 

 

If the Twins/Falvey wants to implement new ideas/methods into the pitching system, I would imagine they would want to get someone who is at the cusp of the innovation rather than recycling someone like Willis, et al. 

[Parker Hageman]

This is kind of a postmortem on Neil Allen but this is a portion of an interview I had with him in spring training. The article was never finished because I wasn't granted access to Falvey during that time to talk overall pitching philosophy, but that's neither here nor there. Anyway, if you are interested in some of Allen's thoughts from this past March, here they are:

 

Your guys were able to get to 2-strikes a lot last year but were unable to turn those into strikeouts. How do you get guys to get that third strike in those situations?

 

What you gotta do is you gotta be able to work the four quadrants of the plate with your fastball. You gotta be able to go up-and-in, down-and-away, up-and-in, down-and-away. You gotta make hitters uncomfortable. We didn’t pitch inside to both sides of the plate effectively the way we should have last year. We got ahead, we didn’t finish. But then again we didn’t send that message during that AB to get guys uncomfortable. So therefore guys went into swing mode than we would have liked them to be and that’s the reason the results the way it was.

 

How do you instill that in pitchers coming up through the system?

 

At the lower levels, you should be able to throw your four-seam fastball to both sides of the plate. That’s the focus, that’s where you should be. When you get to High-A ball you’re starting to find yourself a breaking ball, whether it be slider, curveball, whatever it may be. You start mastering your changeup so when you get to Double-A level -- which I call that the men’s league because that’s the turning point in the minor leagues, and you got better hitters and guys been playing for two or three years -- that’s when you start putting it all together a little bit. Now we see what kind of breaking ball we got, we see how we elevate, how we get people off the plate. You got to keep people honest, you can’t let them hang over the plate. You’ve got to pitch inside, you’ve got to elevate and change eye levels, so when you go back into the zone, they are going to think about it. If you are capable of having a good fastball plan to get strike one, you can double up in the twice knowing you can come back throwing your pitches for strikes.

 

You have a lot of guys coming into camp with new routines, like Ryan O’Rourke and the weighted balls, and new mechanics, like Kyle Gibson, how do you as a pitching coach work with that?

 

First of all, you let them be themselves the first couple of weeks, in BP sessions, the first few games, and you watch them. Let them build off the confidence that they are feeling with their new mechanics, new arm slots, whatever it may be. And let’s see how we work out. Don’t take that away, don’t criticize it, don’t critique it until let them go out and get some results on their own. Then you start talking about it. Just to come out and say I don’t like that or I don’t like this, that’s wrong. Let them show you what they’ve been working on then feed off of it later on in camp. We’re getting to the point now we’ve got the potential to say, it’s been two or three weeks now, where you start seeing what a guy is capable of doing and then you try to give him some advice or pointers that you think might benefit him, but don’t take away his hopes and dreams of everything he’s been working on all winter. Let’s see the results first before we start critiquing.

 

What do you have to do this year to be better as a staff?

 

We’ve got to pitch inside. We’ve got to pitch inside to both plates and be effective to both sides of the plate because the staff, like you just said, we can throw strikes. We did an OK job of getting ahead but we got to improve on that even. But once we get ahead we got to establish the innerhalf of the plate and get people off the ball.