How Can the Twins Communicate More Effectively About Player Injuries?

[Squirrel]

5 minutes ago, Nine of twelve said:

Dang. I'm canceling my trip to KC on account of that.

You're going to KC for the games? Are you well enough to do that?

[Nine of twelve]

2 minutes ago, Squirrel said:

You're going to KC for the games? Are you well enough to do that?

There's no reason to go if I can't watch Craig play.

[Woof Bronzer]

20 minutes ago, Nine of twelve said:

If you think a prospective ticket buyer is entitled to know someone's personal medical information then you and I disagree.

Baseball is for fans, fans should know who is playing and who isn't.   I'm not asking for his chart.  

[DJL44]

17 minutes ago, Woof Bronzer said:

Baseball is for fans, fans should know who is playing and who isn't.   I'm not asking for his chart.  

Polanco is on the injured list. He isn't playing.

[Woof Bronzer]

6 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

Polanco is on the injured list. He isn't playing.

Thanks!  I never knew "a business should be upfront with its customers about its product" would be so controversial!

[Doctor Gast]

Good solutions Jamie. IMO the lack of information from the FO is that they want to avoid confrontation from fans for their mismanagement of player's health & the consequences from those decisions. Polanco's health problem is the effect of the abuse that was done last season & FO wants to minimize it. 

I looks like the team is on the right track now & the injuries will be less severe & fewer. After Polanco becomes 100% hopefully  the FO will become more transparent.

[Mike Sixel]

44 minutes ago, Woof Bronzer said:

Baseball is for fans, fans should know who is playing and who isn't.   I'm not asking for his chart.  

Every player not on the active roster isn't playing What more do you want to know? That's the question....no one is complaining about guys listed as out.....

[Mike Sixel]

1 minute ago, Doctor Gast said:

Good solutions Jamie. IMO the lack of information from the FO is that they want to avoid confrontation from fans for their mismanagement of player's health & the consequences from those decisions. Polanco's health problem is the effect of the abuse that was done last season & FO wants to minimize it. 

I looks like the team is on the right track now & the injuries will be less severe & fewer. After Polanco becomes 100% hopefully  the FO will become more transparent.

You know this how? I'd guess they aren't talking about Polanco more because it is hard to predict with any accuracy.

[JD-TWINS]

6 hours ago, DJL44 said:

The only people who need clear updates on sports injuries are the players, management and people gambling on the games. There are no issues with the first two interested parties and I don't know why the team should care about the third party.

Able to read, hence fan of sports for over 50 years, and certainly curious about injuries. Not really at all concerned with the communication about injuries from the front office. To each his own but am tired about “the lack of transparency” comments from the FO. If a guy’s hurt and he’s going to need some time to heal, within a range, to get better - enough said……it’s not an exact science. 

Maybe we are as fans surprised by some extended time to heal but how does that have any affect on anything?

Carl Anthony Towns was out from November to late March……..he had a January set-back. He was “close” to being ready many times……no real good reports from Wolves other than, he isn’t ready!

I gotta think Fantasy owners want to know who & how long to sit guys & gamblers are wondering about their picks to get to the playoffs - win totals - etc.

IMO, try to be accurate as a FO with injury news while protecting any sensitive/competitive issues. Update guy’s injuries every couple weeks - maybe the 1st & 15th of month so management & fans are clear about the information timing. Sound reasonable?

[Doctor Gast]

13 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

You know this how? I'd guess they aren't talking about Polanco more because it is hard to predict with any accuracy.

I observe things, I observed that after Polanco injured himself, there was no big deal. IDK if they even acknowledged the injury, they just kept on playing him. I observed he was playing hurt and seriously wondering why they weren't placing him on IL right away & treat whatever was wrong. And after they placed him the IL, they rushed to get him off it.

I was very concerned that Polanco was kept from ST from an injury that FO was not concerned about because Polanco is a type of player that bounces back very quickly, so I expected him to be 100% coming. This could have been just a simple injury with minimal down time if treated properly. But because of their gross mismanagement, his down time has greatly been multiplied.

These are only my assumptions of what I observe, 

1st they said it was tendonitis but now they say it's a bone bruise, don't you think they knew this from the beginning? How do you think the fanbase would respond if they came out being honest & said before ST that Polanco was going to be out until 2 wks. after season opener from such a minimal injury? It'd be easier if they hope Polanco would pull off another quick recovery & avoid any questions about how they handle him last year. & if he doesn't they can string us along until  he's back and by that time we are so happy to have him back that we forget how we got to this point.

Don't get me wrong, I'm 100% how they are bringing him along now. If they'd resort to their old ways & rushed Polanco thru, they'd make things much worse & jeopardize his career. 

[Mike Sixel]

8 minutes ago, Doctor Gast said:

I observe things, I observed that after Polanco injured himself, there was no big deal. IDK if they even acknowledged the injury, they just kept on playing him. I observed he was playing hurt and seriously wondering why they weren't placing him on IL right away & treat whatever was wrong. And after they placed him the IL, they rushed to get him off it.

I was very concerned that Polanco was kept from ST from an injury that FO was not concerned about because Polanco is a type of player that bounces back very quickly, so I expected him to be 100% coming. This could have been just a simple injury with minimal down time if treated properly. But because of their gross mismanagement, his down time has greatly been multiplied.

These are only my assumptions of what I observe, 

1st they said it was tendonitis but now they say it's a bone bruise, don't you think they knew this from the beginning? How do you think the fanbase would respond if they came out being honest & said before ST that Polanco was going to be out until 2 wks. after season opener from such a minimal injury? It'd be easier if they hope Polanco would pull off another quick recovery & avoid any questions about how they handle him last year. & if he doesn't they can string us along until  he's back and by that time we are so happy to have him back that we forget how we got to this point.

Don't get me wrong, I'm 100% how they are bringing him along now. If they'd resort to their old ways & rushed Polanco thru, they'd make things much worse & jeopardize his career. 

I don't think more than a hundred or so fans care if they'd change their talking about Polanco, frankly.

[Doctor Gast]

19 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

I don't think more than a hundred or so fans care if they'd change their talking about Polanco, frankly.

So that's where you're coming from

[Squirrel]

2 hours ago, Woof Bronzer said:

Thanks!  I never knew "a business should be upfront with its customers about its product" would be so controversial!

I think there’s a lot of gray area here. Are you buying tickets the day off? How far in advance? And sometimes things are just as they, day to day and they really can’t be more certain. Many seem to want black and white answers when it’s all gray

[DJL44]

2 hours ago, JD-TWINS said:

I gotta think Fantasy owners want to know who & how long to sit guys & gamblers are wondering about their picks to get to the playoffs - win totals - etc.

So gamblers and gamblers care about transparency when it comes to injuries. Everyone else can figure out that a player on the injured list isn't playing tonight.

[DocBauer]

I may be wrong, but I feel any angst regarding injuries to Twins players is more about just caring about the player, the team, and any ACCURATE information as possible regarding such. And I'm in that boat. As a fan, I just want to know if player X is going to be back relatively soon, or had a set back, or is now done for the year. 

So is this about a lack of transparency...which we aren't really entitled to for various reasons...or just a frustration as fans based on multiple injuries...mostly in 2022...in which initial prognosis were very incorrect?

I hate Twitter. I don't do Twitter. But I read TD, look at articles on MLB, and MLBTRADERUMORS, and read articles by Do on the Twins website, and listen to Gleeman and the Geek both free and Patreon, and I have yet to see any lack of information or transparency, overall. 

I sure wish the Twins had just told us last year that all of the projected players expected back after X number of weeks suffered setbacks and such, and we might not see them again. THAT, IMO, was something fans were allowed to know. But was that poor communication, poor public relations, or poor management by the training staff is hard to know.

Just a few posts above is a listed timeline of Polanco injury updates. The Twins were forthright. Without going in to great detail, they offered updates they believed true at the time, and then announced setbacks. How are they not being transparent? Do we need confirmation reports from doctors or the training staff? Or are we just discouraged and want to blame someone for Polanco not being ready?

This is akin to so much angst that Buxton will DH a lot in the early going. The guy has been working in the cages, running, shagging balls, and played in milb games. But they've stated they want to DH him a lot to begin the season. Nobody said this was a permanent move. Did they really have to announce they wanted to run him less in early cold weather to make sure his knee felt good? He sure looked fine legging out a triple opening day despite a silly slide in to 3rd base.

Have the Twins been nothing but open about Alex Kirilloff and his surgery and rehab? Soreness, and no pain. A slow ramp up to get confident. Everyone confident this latest procedure will work, including comments from AK himself. Where is there a lack of transparency?

The NFL has a mandated injury report due to gambling. And so, teams are deliberately vague about injuries to stump their competition that week.

The NBA allows games off for "stress management" which stinks. If I spent a few $hundred to watch James or Davis in a Laker game I might feel cheated.

But my very first game at Target Field was last August with my father, my uncle, and some additional family members. I already knew who wasn't going to be in the lineup. But we were there for the experience. 

If we lived closer and attended more games, I might be disappointed to find out Buxton's knee had him on a day off. Or Miranda woke up with a stiff back and didn't start. But that wouldn't mean it wasn't a good game, or the Twins might not win. So should MLB teams post who MIGHT be out the next day due to rest or a last minute "tweak"? 

"Sorry gang, but if you're planning on attending the Twins game tomorrow, it's been reported that Larnach has a stiff ankle and Alcala has a blister. So you might not want to attend if you were looking forward to seeing these two". And I'm over exaggerating, of course!

But other than poor communication with fans about extended injuries that we as fans want to know that extended, I just don't see an issue here. 

IMPROVEMENT? Just give us updates every couple of weeks. Fans want to know. Player X is now at Ft Myers healthy and working back. We hope he's ready to start his rehab. Probably a few games here and there with the thought of level X In a few weeks. That's all. Just some updates for the fans. Other than that, I just don't see an issue here at all.

[Nine of twelve]

8 hours ago, Woof Bronzer said:

I'm not asking for his chart.  

This is a good point. So simply check the 26-man roster on the Twins web site and you'll have all the information you need.

[Woof Bronzer]

12 hours ago, Nine of twelve said:

This is a good point. So simply check the 26-man roster on the Twins web site and you'll have all the information you need.

Maybe, unless the Twins decide to sit healthy players for some reason.  I took my son to a game last summer (we can only afford one game per year unfortunatley, long story).  His favorite player by a mile is Buxton and his favorite thing is when Buxton does the truck honk thing after a homer.  He even has a Twins trucker hat.  Long story short the game we went to happened to be one where they sat an apparetnly healthy Buxton.  (And Correa, coincidentally)  My son was in tears, or at least he was until a little ice cream help him get over it :)  Ended up being fine, but it was really unfortunate.  Obviously would have gone to a different game if we'd known he wasn't playing.  I think a lot of folks here are forgetting that baseball is a game, and sports are entertainment.  Sure, I guess there's no law that says they have to be upfront with all these things.  I also think it's pretty short sighted of the club to do some of these things.  I have 91 and 87 memories to sustain my fandom; my boy has literally never seen them win a playoff game.  He's a Buxton fan first, not a Twins fan first.  And I think the Twins underestimate the fan apathy here especially among young people.  

[Melissa]

On 3/31/2023 at 8:57 AM, Johnny Ringo said:

I listen to a lot of baseball radio and television broadcasts and Gladden is hands-down the worst announcer in the game. Honestly, it's not even close. He possesses the Four Horsemen of incompetency: bad grammar, bad timing, lack of knowledge of the modern game and finally, the inability to be at all truthful about what's unfolding in front of him. Vin Scully spinning viciously in his grave may represent a further threat to the San Andreas fault. 

Why do they keep him around? He has name recognition and he sticks religiously to the party line.  

I’m not on board with all your criticisms of the front office, but I have agree with your comment about Gladden. I listen to the Twins on the radio when I’m driving, so the timing can be random. If it’s Danny’s turn to describe the action I often, quite often, have no idea of what inning it is, what the score might be, even which team is at bat.

Gladden will say “he hit that hard!” Who? Where? With what result?

Corey constantly updates information, which I appreciate. I imagine his level of detail might be overly repetitive if you’ve been listening to the game from the start, but it’s a great approach if the listener has to come and go.

another pet peeve of mine is why in God’s name Tim Laudner keeps getting trotted out as a TV commentator by Bally before and after games. He very rarely adds any real content to whatever his broadcast partner has just said. He calls every Twins player “that young man,” even those in their thirties.

I guess you’re right about name recognition- Gladden and Laudner part of the World Series teams a generation ago.

[Nine of twelve]

13 minutes ago, Woof Bronzer said:

Obviously would have gone to a different game if we'd known he wasn't playing. 

I'm not sure what your expectations are. In addition to checking the active roster, there are numerous web sites that post starting lineups several hours before game time. If you have to choose a game in advance do you expect the team to notify you who will be playing in which games days or weeks before the fact?

[Richie the Rally Goat]

On 3/31/2023 at 8:21 AM, terrydactyls said:

All of this sounds very reasonable, but I do have one problem.  I hate social media and I am not on Faceplant, Instapot, or Tic Tac Toe.  How about communication through internet platforms such as Twins Daily, the Athletic, and other readily available sources?

Or maybe Do on MLB.com?

oh wait….

[Craig Arko]

2 hours ago, Nine of twelve said:

I'm not sure what your expectations are. In addition to checking the active roster, there are numerous web sites that post starting lineups several hours before game time. If you have to choose a game in advance do you expect the team to notify you who will be playing in which games days or weeks before the fact?

I’ll happily send a text out when I know I’ll be playing.

[Johnny Ringo]

3 hours ago, Melissa said:

I’m not on board with all your criticisms of the front office, but I have agree with your comment about Gladden. I listen to the Twins on the radio when I’m driving, so the timing can be random. If it’s Danny’s turn to describe the action I often, quite often, have no idea of what inning it is, what the score might be, even which team is at bat.

Gladden will say “he hit that hard!” Who? Where? With what result?

Corey constantly updates information, which I appreciate. I imagine his level of detail might be overly repetitive if you’ve been listening to the game from the start, but it’s a great approach if the listener has to come and go.

another pet peeve of mine is why in God’s name Tim Laudner keeps getting trotted out as a TV commentator by Bally before and after games. He very rarely adds any real content to whatever his broadcast partner has just said. He calls every Twins player “that young man,” even those in their thirties.

I guess you’re right about name recognition- Gladden and Laudner part of the World Series teams a generation ago.

To some of us, a guy in his thirties is a young man. 😝

This is a really well-crafted response but I don’t think I was hypercritical of the FO. I did call Falvey “competent”. I don’t think his track record earns him higher accolades than that. My post was more of  a comment on the broadcast teams. Amongst copious other flaws, they never even mildly investigate or report injury realities. I realize they aren’t paid to criticize the FO but their “ The Twins got edged 8-0 tonight but Nick Gordon had a double” stuff has gone way too far. 

[Johnny Ringo]

On 4/1/2023 at 4:24 PM, Johnny Ringo said:

To some of us, a guy in his thirties is a young man. 😝

This is a really well-crafted response but I don’t think I was hypercritical of the FO. I did call Falvey “competent”. I don’t think his track record earns him higher accolades than that. My post was more of  a comment on the broadcast teams. Amongst copious other flaws, they never even mildly investigate or report injury realities. I realize they aren’t paid to criticize the FO but their “ The Twins got edged 8-0 tonight but Nick Gordon had a double” stuff has gone way too far. 

 

On 4/1/2023 at 12:10 PM, Melissa said:

I’m not on board with all your criticisms of the front office, but I have agree with your comment about Gladden. I listen to the Twins on the radio when I’m driving, so the timing can be random. If it’s Danny’s turn to describe the action I often, quite often, have no idea of what inning it is, what the score might be, even which team is at bat.

Gladden will say “he hit that hard!” Who? Where? With what result?

Corey constantly updates information, which I appreciate. I imagine his level of detail might be overly repetitive if you’ve been listening to the game from the start, but it’s a great approach if the listener has to come and go.

another pet peeve of mine is why in God’s name Tim Laudner keeps getting trotted out as a TV commentator by Bally before and after games. He very rarely adds any real content to whatever his broadcast partner has just said. He calls every Twins player “that young man,” even those in their thirties.

I guess you’re right about name recognition- Gladden and Laudner part of the World Series teams a generation ago.

You know I really never picked up on Laud's "young man" references but since you mentioned this, I have paid attention and he does say it about 1,000 a broadcast. You should have it as a drinking game at a party. Make sure everyone has an Uber ride.