Mientkiewicz on Buxton, "It's surprising that Buxton's doing as well as he is."

[tlkriens]

"It's surprising that Buxton's doing as well as he is." Doug Mientkiewicz, who was a manager in the Twins minor league system, says they messed up developing Byron Buxton.

 

 

[chpettit19]

I'm little confused on who he's trying to blame. He starts off talking about "losing Terry Ryan," and it sounds like he's trying to say losing him was the problem. Talks about interviewing for the gig before they gave it to Molitor. Talks about Byron in A ball hitting leadoff vs 3 hole. Talks about "not needing a number." All these things sound like he's trying to take shots at the new FO. But the timelines don't work. Everything he's complaining about happened under Terry Ryan.

[Squirrel]

7 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

I'm little confused on who he's trying to blame. He starts off talking about "losing Terry Ryan," and it sounds like he's trying to say losing him was the problem. Talks about interviewing for the gig before they gave it to Molitor. Talks about Byron in A ball hitting leadoff vs 3 hole. Talks about "not needing a number." All these things sound like he's trying to take shots at the new FO. But the timelines don't work. Everything he's complaining about happened under Terry Ryan.

Yeah, was just going to comment on all of this and pretty much say take anything Mientkiewics has to say with a grain of salt. He has a most definite agenda here. He was fired for good reason, and not just because his management style wasn’t in line with the current FO, and that’s all I can say about that. There’s a reason he’s completely out of baseball and never got a top job. And noticed lately he’s in the media recently taking pot shots at former teammates. 

[Richie the Rally Goat]

1 minute ago, chpettit19 said:

I'm little confused on who he's trying to blame. He starts off talking about "losing Terry Ryan," and it sounds like he's trying to say losing him was the problem. Talks about interviewing for the gig before they gave it to Molitor. Talks about Byron in A ball hitting leadoff vs 3 hole. Talks about "not needing a number." All these things sound like he's trying to take shots at the new FO. But the timelines don't work. Everything he's complaining about happened under Terry Ryan.

Yup, and deflects mistakes then asks for credit. He did say the “we made a mistake in developing Buxton”, but really disjointed. That was weird

[FlyingFinn]

Amid some inconsistencies, interesting to hear some of the discussions that do take place between minor league managers and the front office. Thanks for posting this.

[chpettit19]

1 minute ago, Richie the Rally Goat said:

Yup, and deflects mistakes then asks for credit. He did say the “we made a mistake in developing Buxton”, but really disjointed. That was weird

Also did the whole "they blamed the minor league coaches (aka him) for the guys not being ready, but after they were in the bigs for a year they were in the playoffs" rant that doesn't make sense to me. So they weren't ready when they got to the bigs. Spent time with the big league coaches and. apparently, got better and were able to win. But he wants thanks for them being good? Don't follow that logic.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

2 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

Also did the whole "they blamed the minor league coaches (aka him) for the guys not being ready, but after they were in the bigs for a year they were in the playoffs" rant that doesn't make sense to me. So they weren't ready when they got to the bigs. Spent time with the big league coaches and. apparently, got better and were able to win. But he wants thanks for them being good? Don't follow that logic.

That video was full of nuggets!

TR says “don’t bat him third, bat him lead off”: I read that as “get him the most at bats possible”, and Dougie Baseball read it as “I’m right and don’t need numbers to tell me that the three hole gets more sliders”. Why the heck would position in the lineup dictate how you pitch to him?

[Blyleven2011]

Grumpy old men ...

[Rod Carews Birthday]

Sounds like a guy who wants some attention and this is a good way to do it.  That’s unfortunate because I thought he was a pretty good guy.  Here he just talks in circles like a self crowned expert with all of the answers.  Who does he think he is?  A TD poster?

[ashbury]

8 minutes ago, Blyleven2011 said:

Grumpy old men ...

You rang?

[CRF]

I always thought that Dougie baseball had a decent future ahead of him as a manager. Now, I'm not so sure he'll ever get back into baseball again. If he keeps doing this kind of stuff, the choice probably won't be his. He also needs to fire his maid.

[Squirrel]

1 minute ago, CRF said:

I always thought that Dougie baseball had a decent future ahead of him as a manager. Now, I'm not so sure he'll ever get back into baseball again. If he keeps doing this kind of stuff, the choice probably won't be his. He also needs to fire his maid.

He probably wasn’t going to get back into baseball in any capacity which is why he is probably doing this stuff.

[Craig Arko]

“Mistakes were made, but not by me.”

[AceWrigley]

I read all the posts up to here before I watched it and I'm not sure we all watched the same video.  I don't think he was throwing anybody specific under the bus or even ranting or looking for attention, just giving his point of view.

When you hire a minor league manager to do you want him to develop your players as he sees best or just follow the dictates of the front office? Granted the right answer is a plan that involves both but you have to trust your minor managers as they pursue getting the young players ready for the next level.

Oh, and if they won't I will. Thank you Doug Mientkiewicz for your work in the Twin's minor league system.

Side note: Minky was part of one of the weirdest baseball trades July 31, 2004. I'll let you check it out (BB Ref is good) and see if you can wrap your head around it. Also, Willi Castro and Caleb Thielbar played for Minky at Toledo 2018-19.

[Nine of twelve]

6 hours ago, Squirrel said:

 He was fired for good reason, and not just because his management style wasn’t in line with the current FO, and that’s all I can say about that.

I heard a story from a very reliable source (it's not my place to name names) about a person in the Twins organization who was let go for a very good reason. The person who was let go was not identified in the telling of this story, but it took place at about the same time Mientkiewicz' contract was not renewed. I put 2+2 together and realized that the person let go had to have been Mientkiewicz. Good riddance.

[Riverbrian]

I don't have any inside information on his time with the Twins. 

However... I have interviewed people who have been fired from previous jobs. 

He sounds exactly like a majority of them. 

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

The best Mientkiewicz story is the 2004 World Series ball, which he caught for the final out, and kept for more than a year. Mientkiewicz said he was mad that the Red Sox didn't ask for it back, and then he said he was mad because the Red Sox sued him for it, and they sued him when he was trying to clean up during the aftermath of a hurricane. 

Then when the Twins fired him, he said it was nasty that they fired him him while he was cleaning up in the aftermath of a hurricane!

"Aftermath of a Hurricane" is kind of a running theme with Doug Mientkiewicz. 🙂 

 

[Seth Stohs]

2 hours ago, Hosken Bombo Disco said:

"Aftermath of a Hurricane" is kind of a running theme with Doug Mientkiewicz. 🙂 

Well said. Remember that he was fired (or not brought back) over the phone while he was helping neighbors near his Florida Keys home... 

Dude is bitter... No question about that. He didn't want to play nice with the new front office. I'm sure he has full respect for Terry Ryan... and he should. I do, probably more than anyone I've ever met in the game. But Mientkiewicz was all about winning... which obviously is great, and they did win in Fort Myers and much of the same team won in Double-A too. He was the manager for the likes of Buxton, Sano, Rosario, Kepler, Berrios, etc. 

But, he just wasn't interested in the analytics, and he wasn't interested in providing the front office staff with the reports they were asking for... and all that matters in the development too... and just in general, no one wants to work with someone who is insubordinate. 

[wabene]

Poor Dougie baseball, lol

 

[Twodogs]

Before I pass judgement I'd like to see the whole video.  Seems like there are things missing?  Maybe not?