Can Conflict be Both Positive and Negative on a Team?

[Greggory Masterson]

There were some emotions Thursday night. Let’s talk about it.

Image courtesy of Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

Sonny Gray had a rough outing last Thursday night, even if the box score indicates he only gave up two runs. After escaping a fourth inning in which Gray labored through a single and three ugly walks, having given up only one run, manager Rocco Baldelli pulled the plug. As documented, Gray prefers to stay in games as long as possible.

As visible on the Bally Sports North broadcast, the manager and pitcher disagreed. Viewers could see some level of emotion, seemingly from both parties, as they talked it over in the dugout. What does that mean for the relationship between a player and a manager or the team overall?

Those who have read my writing, specifically those articles that delve into emotion, relationships, and psychology, will know that I don’t like to assume to understand everything between teammates and coaches in the clubhouse. However, this is an excellent time to examine conflict within a team and what interactions like the one Thursday can mean.

When I use the term "Conflict," the definition that I like comes from a 2003 article by Carsten De Dreu and Laurie Weingart (it’s been cited 4,500 times, so apparently, a lot of other people like it too): “a process resulting from the tension between team members because of real or perceived differences.” Conflict as a concept is pretty self-evident, but a definition always helps and serves as a basis for analyzing different types of conflict.

One way that conflict can be broken down is into task conflict and relationship conflict. This method of separating types of conflict is generally attributed to a 1995 article by Karen Jehn (cited over 6,000 times). It’s again self-explanatory: task conflict is conflict that arises out of performing tasks, and relationship conflict is conflict that arises out of interpersonal interactions. They’re both the natural result of people working together.

Let’s take a look at task conflict first. Task conflict isn’t necessarily a bad thing. A complete lack of task conflict actually indicates issues like a lack of attention or commitment or even something like groupthink. When people work together, they’ll disagree on the best way to do whatever the group wants.

For a baseball team, that disagreement can take the form of strategy and approach, for example. Players may have differing views with teammates and coaches about the best way to approach a plate appearance against a specific pitcher or even the right way to play the game (running out a grounder, etc.). If we use our imagination, we can see a disagreement between a hypothetical pitcher wanting to stay in the game for the fifth inning and a hypothetical manager wanting to pull his starter.

Hey, I didn’t use names. Those are in your head.

In that situation, it’s perfectly reasonable for a disagreement between the two to arise. It’s reasonable to expect a heated discussion. For the most part, there’s nothing wrong with that type of conflict. Opinionated competitors will have competitive opinions, and they’ll discuss them. I’d go so far as to say it’s healthy.

Relationship conflict, on the other hand, is seldom healthy. Relationship conflict refers to things like annoyances over other people’s actions, disagreements over non-team-related manners, or lack of trust. It’s again natural because who hasn’t been annoyed by one of their coworker’s simple presence? However, it should be avoided.

Within a baseball team, this type of conflict could be related to things like card games gone awry or a teammate eating animal crackers in the hotel bed. They could arise because one teammate is a general nuisance and pain in the tuchus.

Relationship conflict can also emerge from task conflict. Let’s consider another hypothetical. Imagine one player, who is a notorious hothead, batting with a runner on second (who would hypothetically later in his career chase a .400 batting average for the Miami Marlins). Imagine that as the batter dug in, he noticed that the runner was not paying attention and was instead facing into the outfield.

The two may have some understandable task conflict. The batter believed the runner should pay better attention, and conflict could ensue. However, if that conflict devolves into a shouting match, teammates start taking personal digs at each other, and feelings are hurt, it’s now relationship conflict (not saying that did happen).

Relationship conflict isn’t productive. It’s a hindrance to good team functioning. It must be worked through for a team to perform optimally, and it takes time away from more important matters. Even if it sits dormant, it can cause future task conflict to devolve into relationship conflict.

So, then, the key is keeping conflict on the task side. Saying things like “You are ugly!” takes players away from their objective—winning games—and refocuses their energy around interpersonal matters.

By all accounts, there was visible task conflict in Thursday’s game, but that doesn’t mean there was also relationship conflict. In his postgame comments, Gray was clear in his position; he wants the opportunity to work through trouble and compete, and he understands that, at times, the manager will make decisions that go against those wishes because Baldelli sees it as the best thing to do.

By his comments, at least, this seems to be firmly in the differences in beliefs category, and if it’s handled well, both parties can grow from it. Gray even acknowledged that the two likely need to discuss it. So long as it doesn’t become personal, that’s a good thing.

On the other hand, if there is conflict bubbling under the surface and one or more parties reach the point that they have active disdain for the other as a person, then you’re talking about trouble. To be frank, you’re probably talking about trouble even before active disdain gets involved.

Of course, I want to reiterate that I don’t know the actual status of their relationships. All I know is what a bunch of dry papers and books written by stuffy academics have taught me. So long as the episode between the manager and player avoids getting personal, even if it’s conflict that reappears a few times during the season, it’s not the end of the world.

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[mickster]

Rocco is the reason that Sony won't even entertain a new contract with the Twins.    Needs a longer leash for sure - he of any of the SP has earned it.   The short leash, weakens the overall bullpen and keeps the train going back and forth from St. Paul.  Rocco needs to have more trust in the SP and how they feel and not the numbers on a sheet.

[wsnydes]

Conflict works really well in music.

Until it doesn't.

[wsnydes]

17 minutes ago, mickster said:

Rocco is the reason that Sony won't even entertain a new contract with the Twins.    Needs a longer leash for sure - he of any of the SP has earned it.   The short leash, weakens the overall bullpen and keeps the train going back and forth from St. Paul.  Rocco needs to have more trust in the SP and how they feel and not the numbers on a sheet.

Money is the reason he won't entertain a new contract.  He wants to be a free agent.  At his age, I don't blame him one bit.  If it comes out that the Twins outbid everyone else and he still signed elsewhere, then I think it's fair to say that.  As it is, simply wanting to test the free agent market is hardly an indictment of this situation.

[mickster]

1 minute ago, wsnydes said:

Money is the reason he won't entertain a new contract.  He wants to be a free agent.  At his age, I don't blame him one bit.  If it comes out that the Twins outbid everyone else and he still signed elsewhere, then I think it's fair to say that.  As it is, simply wanting to test the free agent market is hardly an indictment of this situation.

I would agree with the fact he has earned the FA attempt and should try and get that final payday.   To be clear, I think any offer the Twins make will have to be significantly above others in $$ or years for him to come back and be a 5-6 inning pitcher every start

[wsnydes]

25 minutes ago, mickster said:

I would agree with the fact he has earned the FA attempt and should try and get that final payday.   To be clear, I think any offer the Twins make will have to be significantly above others in $$ or years for him to come back and be a 5-6 inning pitcher every start

He's been a 5 to 6 inning pitcher his entire career.  His mentality certainly wants to go longer, but his command and efficiency don't allow for it on average.  

But he knows he'll make more money on the open market.  I honestly don't think it matters what team he currently plays for, he wants to hit the open market.  You may be correct that it'll take significantly more to bring him back, but at this point it's all just conjecture.

[chpettit19]

25 minutes ago, mickster said:

Rocco is the reason that Sony won't even entertain a new contract with the Twins.    Needs a longer leash for sure - he of any of the SP has earned it.   The short leash, weakens the overall bullpen and keeps the train going back and forth from St. Paul.  Rocco needs to have more trust in the SP and how they feel and not the numbers on a sheet.

The Twins are 3rd in baseball for innings per start (at least they were as of Friday when I last checked). Sonny Gray has been terrible at going deep into games since 2015. I would've put Sonny out there for the 5th, but I'd also tell Sonny if he wants to stay in and fight deeper into games he needs to quit throwing 20 pitches an inning. Be better and you get to stay in longer. Not too complicated.

[chpettit19]

Like the article said, conflict is healthy. When you have 26 players, and a dozen coaches, all working, and traveling, together from February through September (at a minimum) you're going to have conflict. Even some big conflicts. I don't understand why fans think there shouldn't be, or isn't, conflict in clubhouses. The question is just how the conflict is handled. 

None of us know what the relationship between Rocco and Gray, or anyone else in the clubhouse, is like. I'd be much more concerned if Gray just put his head down and went to the clubhouse after Rocco took him out. Being willing to speak his mind is a sign that the relationship is healthy, and neither of them were worried about breaking it by being honest. When people stop pushing back it's typically because they've just given up. And that's a far worse situation than a public disagreement like we saw between Rocco and Sonny.

[wabene]

7 minutes ago, mickster said:

I would agree with the fact he has earned the FA attempt and should try and get that final payday.   To be clear, I think any offer the Twins make will have to be significantly above others in $$ or years for him to come back and be a 5-6 inning pitcher every start

Sonny Gray has averaged around 5.5 innings a start since 2017. Before then, early in his career it was more like 6.5. This change happened as he aged and was well before his arrival with the Twins. On the other hand this year the Twins starters have been among the league leaders in innings per start. I don't see how anyone can think this idea that Gray can have a valid beef  with the Twins holds any water. 

[Craig Arko]

It’s not quite Billy Martin and Dave Boswell.

[farmerguychris]

Heck we had conflict on our beer softball league team - I would expect some conflict where things actually  matter to happen.  Conflict simply shows people care and are passionate about doing what they feel is best for the team.  Its ok to have conflict as hopefully the compromise is better than either individual idea.

[whosafraidofluigirussolo]

On the last Gleeman and Bonnes podcast, they made a good point: Gray himself said, "I wanted to stay in the game, but I always want to stay in the game; I never want to get pulled." Taking it at face value, that means there will be repeated instances, and many of them, where Gray's manager makes a decision to pull him from the game that Sonny doesn't like.

Of course, if this is happening to some degree all the time, some instances will be ridden with more conflict than others. Certainly there must be times when Gray exits the game with 6 or 7 innings or 100+ pitches and the decision is less controversial. It's understandable how this could have been a more conflict-ridden case, but I don't think we can conclude that either this start or Gray's history with the Twins is causing a rupture between the player and the team.

[Aggies7]

Get the best you can for gray before the deadline 

[chpettit19]

2 minutes ago, Aggies7 said:

Get the best you can for gray before the deadline 

Why? And what if there's nothing offered that's better than having Gray for the rest of the season, and a #30-35 pick next year?

[Aggies7]

7 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

Why? And what if there's nothing offered that's better than having Gray for the rest of the season, and a #30-35 pick next year?

Then don’t? Why not? He won’t be here next year anyway.

[Parfigliano]

41 minutes ago, Craig Arko said:

It’s not quite Billy Martin and Dave Boswell.

Yet.

[chpettit19]

Just now, Aggies7 said:

Then don’t? Why not? He won’t be here next year anyway.

There's still more of this year, though. And they can put a QO on him which would then lead to them getting something in return for him, or him being here next year. Your statement was just to get the best you can for him before the deadline, and I was curious if the other options were intriguing to you as well, or if you were advocating for them to just dump him no matter what.

[Aggies7]

1 minute ago, chpettit19 said:

There's still more of this year, though. And they can put a QO on him which would then lead to them getting something in return for him, or him being here next year. Your statement was just to get the best you can for him before the deadline, and I was curious if the other options were intriguing to you as well, or if you were advocating for them to just dump him no matter what.

We might be able to get a team to overpay on a starting pitcher before the deadline, like we did for Mahle. Gray’s presence here for the rest of the season won’t make a big difference for a team who’s absolute highest ceiling is another first round exit.

[Major League Ready]

10 minutes ago, Aggies7 said:

We might be able to get a team to overpay on a starting pitcher before the deadline, like we did for Mahle. Gray’s presence here for the rest of the season won’t make a big difference for a team who’s absolute highest ceiling is another first round exit.

I could see it if they could get a big overpay but they are not going to just sell off.  This team is underperforming offensively and there are a couple teams most years that get on track the 2nd half of the season.  

[Aggies7]

4 minutes ago, Major League Ready said:

I could see it if they could get a big overpay but they are not going to just sell off.  This team is underperforming offensively and there are a couple teams most years that get on track the 2nd half of the season.  

This same argument happened last year. The team was in first place in an awful division, but struggling to hold on. Playoffs were a possibility. The FO decided to be buyers and made several moves, hardly any of which have worked out. And the overpay for Mahle looks worse by the day. 
 

Gray is about the only guy who they could get a meaningful return for. 

[Eris]

If Sonny Gray wants to pitch deeper into games, perhaps he should pitch better. 
 

Justin Morneau and Tori Hunter almost got into a fight. I believe the issue was that Justin Morneau was not hustling on a play. 
https://www.postbulletin.com/news/hunter-morneau-nearly-came-to-blows

 

Edited June 19, 2023 by Eris

[Major League Ready]

1 minute ago, Aggies7 said:

This same argument happened last year. The team was in first place in an awful division, but struggling to hold on. Playoffs were a possibility. The FO decided to be buyers and made several moves, hardly any of which have worked out. And the overpay for Mahle looks worse by the day. 
 

Gray is about the only guy who they could get a meaningful return for. 

I was against doing anything beyond shoring up the BP last year.  I share your opinion that being in first place in a very bad division does not make them a real contender.  It will put such a team in the playoffs and there is the argument that anything can happen but hoping a bad team is all the sudden good is not a good plan.  I would have never made the Mahle trade.

The thing that remains the same is that they do have a roster with potential, but they don't have much of a chance against the elite teams in the playoffs.  While I would not invest a lot in such a team, I also would not be inclined to sell.

[wabene]

3 minutes ago, Eris said:

If Sonny Gray wants to pitch deeper into games, perhaps he should pitch better. 
 

Tori Hunter had attributed some of the success in his career to a fight he had with Justin Morneau. Tori was not hustling on a play and Justin tore into him afterwards. If I find the write up I will post. 

https://www.postbulletin.com/news/hunter-morneau-nearly-came-to-blows

Here is an article I found. It's sounds from this report that Morneau got angry first. What I remember from back then is Morneau was partying a lot and not taking his career seriously enough which Torii didn't appreciate. Morneau had said as much. 

[Guest]

I thought this was going to be about Jorge Lopez....

We need more Sonny Grays, not less.

The Twins may become the only division leader in MLB history that wants to be a seller at the trade deadline....

[Dave Borton]

1 hour ago, farmerguychris said:

.....  It's ok to have conflict as hopefully the compromise is better than either individual idea.

Early in my non-bb career,  'collaboration' replaced 'compromise.' Takes longer but much healthier. I just had to turn my head 90.* I was as stubborn as hell before my perspective changed as 'compromise' didn't work. I was an 'either/or' boy.

[mnfireman]

9 minutes ago, Aggies7 said:

On pace to be the worst division winner in baseball history.

Texas won the AL West in 1994 with a 52-62 record, .456 winning %. It was a strike shortened season and there was no WS, the Twins are still (so far) a .500 team, which is 81-81 over a full season.

[Riverbrian]

This for anybody who wants to take a stab at it.

Name a manager who wouldn't get the bullpen up and going after a single and 3 walks in an inning and 75 pitches through 4 innings. 

 

[Aggies7]

31 minutes ago, mnfireman said:

Texas won the AL West in 1994 with a 52-62 record, .456 winning %. It was a strike shortened season and there was no WS, the Twins are still (so far) a .500 team, which is 81-81 over a full season.

Division winners weren’t crowned in 1994. Also, that was a 4 team AL west division then.

Any way you want to look at it, it’s not good.

[Rod Carews Birthday]

14 minutes ago, Riverbrian said:

This for anybody who wants to take a stab at it.

Name a manager who wouldn't get the bullpen up and going after a single and 3 walks in an inning and 75 pitches through 4 innings. 

 

I believe the answer is none that actually manage in the Major Leagues (or probably minor).  However, many astute baseball tacticians here in TD are in favor of letting the pitcher keep on pitching, so that's meaningful, right????

[Rod Carews Birthday]

I think that the answer to the question posed by the article is  "it depends".  Some groups, whether they be athletic teams, musical organizations, or business partners, seem to thrive on conflict.  The presence of conflict fuels their energy, creativity, and productivity.  That can work. . . . for some people, some of the time.  On the other hand, conflict can also tear a team apart if it is allowed to get out of hand and/or erodes trust in teammates/management.  They key is knowing what the relationships involved will respond favorably to.  It's not always obvious and it's not always easy. 

Interestingly, some fans are voicing displeasure about Rocco's supposed lack of being confrontational with his hitters to "light a fire under them".  However, many of this same group would like him to defer to whatever Sonny Gray would prefer in his starts because, after all, Gray has already decided that he hates it in MN and will never resign with the Twins due to Baldelli's style of management.   Hmmmmm. . . . .