Correa's Leadership, Part 1: Define Your Terms

[Greggory Masterson]

2 hours ago, davidborton said:

Those fans weren't in the clubhouse nor was I. From the moment I saw his first interview, I said, "OMG, what a clown. Why him for $+20MM?"

I'll say what I've said before on this topic: Josh Donaldson can be a healthy, functioning part of a team. His energy and whatnot can be beneficial. However, if he's on a team that doesn't respond well to his shenanigans, his antics don't work. Beyond that, he probably isn't suited to be the primary leader on a team. If there was someone who could have been slotted in ahead of him on a hypothetical "leadership hierarchy," like there is in New York, it would have shaken out differently. Nelson Cruz might have been that person, but that's a maybe. Maybe a future installment of this series will include the concept of shared leadership and how leaders can coexist.

[Greggory Masterson]

16 hours ago, DocBauer said:

While some fans don't understand this, teams and agents have a great respect for the Twins organization, despite pockets not being nearly as deep as the major market teams.

I'll probably write on this topic down the line--probably closer to the offseason when it's more relevant--but if you accept the idea that things that come up in other types of organizations (i.e., the business world) can be applied to some degree to sports teams, then, to some extent, non-monetary incentives can fill in monetary gaps. It's rarely the difference between 10 million and 20 million, but it's never a nonfactor.

[Jocko87]

5 minutes ago, Greggory Masterson said:

I'll probably write on this topic down the line--probably closer to the offseason when it's more relevant--but if you accept the idea that things that come up in other types of organizations (i.e., the business world) can be applied to some degree to sports teams, then, to some extent, non-monetary incentives can fill in monetary gaps. It's rarely the difference between 10 million and 20 million, but it's never a nonfactor.

While money still matters a lot to agents and unions, we are seeing a shift in all sports of priorities for the players themselves.  The days of needing the best money to survive are long gone and players are choosing on other factors as the difference between 70 and 80 mil isn't that big a deal.  Location, chance at winning, chance at getting playing time faster, chance at endorsements to make up the difference etc.  Tom Brady is the poster boy for taking less to further other goals.

[Woof Bronzer]

24 minutes ago, Greggory Masterson said:

 If you're right, and Correa can't be looked to as a moral leader, he can still lead in other ways, such as lighting a fire under someone or the team as a whole or working with someone on their mechanics.

Looking forward to it!  I think you're right, there are different ways/types of leadership.

[Woof Bronzer]

23 minutes ago, Jocko87 said:

 

Over and over again is also doing that same thing until they got caught.  Was there something I'm not aware of after the trash cans?

 

They did the trash can thing in like 120 games - from May onwards in that season..  It wasn't a one time thing.  For 5 months Correa woke up every day and decided yep, I'm going to cheat today.  And I respectfully disagree on the notion that Correa was too young to know right from wrong.  

But the OP makes a great point, there are different types of leadership.  And like you say, people do make mistakes - I try not to judge people on their worst moments, since I certainly wouldn't want people to judge me based on my worst.   So I'm probably being too rigid here, and am open to seeing how this year goes because I do think Correa's in more of a position of leadership now that he's here long term.  But I also think the cheating thing is a much bigger deal than you are suggesting and needs to be part of the Correa story.  

[Jocko87]

23 minutes ago, Woof Bronzer said:

They did the trash can thing in like 120 games - from May onwards in that season..  It wasn't a one time thing.  For 5 months Correa woke up every day and decided yep, I'm going to cheat today.  And I respectfully disagree on the notion that Correa was too young to know right from wrong. 

What he was thinking is not in evidence and speculating that we know his thoughts at the time is reckless.

I didn't say that he didn't know right from wrong, that would be mind reading.  I will say emphatically that knowing right from wrong is a heck of a lot different from rising above to stop the thing the elders are doing.

Agreed that it is part of the story, 100%.  I see it as unfortunate that it happened and believe he is a better person and leader for going through it. 

I also contextualize it by noting that the tradition of cheating in baseball is only rivaled by the IOC, NASCAR, the NCAA and the United States Congress.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

1 hour ago, Jocko87 said:

On Correas part, this is what he said in 2020 after the investigation finished.  "We were wrong for everything we did in 2017. It's not what we stand for. It's not what we want to portray as an organization, and we were definitely wrong about all that and we feel really sorry. We affected careers, we affected the game in some way, and looking back at it, it was just bad."

That's a proper apology.  No waffling, no half accountability, no I'm sorry if you fell bad about the bad thing I did. 

Then, in a really advanced leadership move, he defended his teammates from the accusations growing out of control.  Take responsibility for your mistakes but do not let your people be defamed with things they did not do.  Watch the Ken Rosenthal interview.  He is taking bullets for his teammates when he didn't have to.  If you are ever in a situation where someone does that for you, you don't forget it.  That's what leaders do. 

Correa also said Altuve was too humble to use the trash cans to cheat, the trash cans. Now cue the video of Altuve shaking his jersey collar and reminding teammates not to touch his jersey as he jogged into home plate after his home run off Chapman. But, no trash cans, see? That reads to me like some high level Cris Carter clubhouse lawyering right there. Good for Altuve, sure. Of course Correa will defend his teammates, and no teammates are going to speak ill of another teammate, Twins or Astros. Some Astros apologized and stayed quiet and minded their own business when this came out. Correa, to me, seems incapable of being quiet. So, regarding how Correa handled the scandal, we are going to have to agree to disagree. Amicably I hope!

Let's hope Correa is a new person and brought a new ethic to the Twins, absolutely.

 

[jkcarew]

I don’t see how we can possibly know or judge Correa’s leadership value. Players are not going to lift the veil, beyond obligatory sound-bites, when it comes to what goes on in the clubhouse, on the road, etc. All we can expect to get is a general feeling of whether a player is liked or respected…or not. But that really doesn’t have anything to do with leading…all leaders have to start out as ‘respected’, but not all ‘respected’ players lead or want to be considered a leader.

You’d hope your leaders emerge from a small pool of the best players. So, in that sense, Correa would be a great candidate. But how ‘good’ or ‘natural’ he is in that role…is probably known to some, but speculation for us.