Leadership...

[Twins_Fan_in_NJ]

I've always felt that in team sports, player leadership and peer pressure go a long way in setting the tone for a team's performance and effort. In 1992, the Twins let Danny Gladden and Jack Morris go and may have upgraded their sports with John Smiley and Pedro Munoz but they a big part of the heart & soul of that WS team. In 2015, Torii Hunter almost single handedly had the Twins in the post-season and then the wheels fell off when he retired.

As much as I blame Rocco and Popkins, when things get this bad, players need to look at themselves and step up. Correa's been lauded for his leadership for years. Vazquez, too. If the reports are true and their was legitimately a closed-door, players only meeting after this game, then hopefully Correa or someone else says what needs to be said.

Enough is enough.

[Unwinder]

If this team is really just the Timberwolves then maybe a players-only meeting is what they need to turn it around.

[Mike Sixel]

We have no idea what the locker room is like. But I'm hoping that something changes, because this is unwatchable.

[LastOnePicked]

No. They've talked plenty. Correa "takes the blame" every time a microphone is put into his face. There is literally nothing to say at this point. Stop talking. Start playing. Lead by example. Who would take any stock in anything chronic underperformers like Correa or Vasquez would say anyways? Can you imagine being Lewis, Kirilloff or Jeffers, lectured to by Carlos "Double-Play" Correa? No thank you. 

If there's talk to be had, the players should go to the FO and demand a better coaching staff.

[nicksaviking]

I'm more than happy to hold veteran players accountable, but the team K% has gone from 22% to 27% and pretty much everyone has seen an increase in whiffs despite the leaguewide K% only going up .8%.

There's no way that this is a coincidence, this has to be some kind of organizational (?mis?)calculation. Which is not surprising because even though fans like to complain about the same-old, same-old Twins, this organization is actually constantly changing their approach and style of play. Lately, quite unsuccessfully. Except for the starting pitching. I'm happy to give them that.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

5 minutes ago, LastOnePicked said:

No. They've talked plenty. Correa "takes the blame" every time a microphone is put into his face. There is literally nothing to say at this point. Stop talking. Start playing. Lead by example. Who would take any stock in anything chronic underperformers like Correa or Vasquez would say anyways? Can you imagine being Lewis, Kirilloff or Jeffers, lectured to by Carlos "Double-Play" Correa? No thank you. 

If there's talk to be had, the players should go to the FO and demand a better coaching staff.

There is video of Derek Falvey saying that Trevor Larnach is one of the team leaders, add to that Royce Lewis and his leadership qualities, and I just didn’t see the need to bring in a leader from the outside. 

The pitchers have their own thing going on which is still working, so that’s good. 

As far as the coaching, yeah, I don’t know if you listen to radio but they spent a lot of time talking about the great coaching on Atlanta after the game today. 

[SD happy]

Considering Rocco’s after the game blunt assessment and talking about possible changes to the Twins offense, I’m guessing Wallner and/or Larnach will be in the lineup for Fridays game. The question is what move will they make.

[nicksaviking]

28 minutes ago, Hosken Bombo Disco said:

There is video of Derek Falvey saying that Trevor Larnach is one of the team leaders, add to that Royce Lewis and his leadership qualities, and I just didn’t see the need to bring in a leader from the outside. 

The pitchers have their own thing going on which is still working, so that’s good. 

As far as the coaching, yeah, I don’t know if you listen to radio but they spent a lot of time talking about the great coaching on Atlanta after the game today. 

Probably pretty hard for Larnach to lead from St. Paul. 

But I completely agree. This team needs they young guys to be the leaders, but there's too many 'leader' vets in the way. The young guys aren't going to step on the toes of Kepler or Gallo or Vazquez, they need to have the floor cleared so they are FORCED to step up.

This team needs an earth rattling wakeup call. I know the organization would think a big shakeup would look like throwing in the towel, but unexpected moves often lead to the energy missing. It's happened in every sport, so many times. Correa can keep short. Buxton to the IL. Castro, Taylor, Vazquez and Farmer can be the rotational guys and every other batter on the roster should be made up of guys with only a couple years of experience and every one of them starting. Throw them in the deep end. And maybe to give them some level of familiarity, bring Nate Spears over from St. Paul as hitting coach.

Did I just bury the lede there?

[CRF]

It's painfully obvious to even the casual Twins fan, that changes need to be made. Now...when, and what happens, is anyone's guess, but this team is broken. It just isn't working. It isn't just one or two guys...it's just about all of them. There's plenty of blame to go around...the players aren't performing, the manager and coaching staff could be the reason, and the moves this FO has made haven't worked out for the most part. I think there's an organizational and philosophical failure from ownership on down. It's complete apathy. If our pitching staff wasn't holding up, we'd be a complete dumpster fire...and we're not too far away from that now. Shuttling guys back and forth to StP isn't the answer, but we need to get a few of those kids up here and plug them in and see what they've got. They won't be any worse than what we've been trotting out there. The product on the field right now, isn't producing and isn't watchable. It's embarrassing. I'm sure the players and management know that...what they do about it remains to be seen.

[Mike Sixel]

1 minute ago, nicksaviking said:

Probably pretty hard for Larnach to lead from St. Paul. 

But I completely agree. This team needs they young guys to be the leaders, but there's too many 'leader' vets in the way. The young guys aren't going to step on the toes of Kepler or Gallo or Vazquez, they need to have the floor cleared so they are FORCED to step up.

This team needs an earth rattling wakeup call. I know the organization would think a big shakeup would look like throwing in the towel, but unexpected moves often lead to the energy missing. It's happened in every sport, so many times. Correa can keep short. Buxton to the IL. Castro, Taylor, Vazquez and Farmer can be the rotational guys and every other batter on the roster should be made up of guys with only a couple years of experience and every one of them starting. Throw them in the deep end. And maybe to give them some level of familiarity, bring Nate Spears over from St. Paul as hitting coach.

Did I just bury the lede there?

Dreamer.

[nicksaviking]

12 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

Dreamer.

Surely.

This front office has been pretty aggressive with free agents and trades. Perhaps we'll get lucky and they'll get aggressive with the prospects here shortly. Like ASAP shortly. The fear would be that they wouldn't be able to understand doing so IS the aggressive move. 

Though taking a few minutes to think about this, if I was going to go with the full-blown youth movement, it might actually be better to do so AFTER Cleveland takes over the division lead. I think the young guys would feel less pressure and have more blood-thirsty energy if they were charging the gates, rather than defending them.

Not that I in anyway think that the front office is sly enough to come to that conclusion. If that occurred, it would certainly be coincidence.

[purplesoldier4u]

2 hours ago, Unwinder said:

If this team is really just the Timberwolves then maybe a players-only meeting is what they need to turn it around.

I wonder if Glen Taylor can sit down and look eye-to-eye with Buxton or Correa? It worked so well with the underperforming Wiggins.

[TopTwinsFan]

Im not sure I have ever followed a team that has less understanding of sports psychology.

Having a FO that is 50/50 on good vs idiotic decisions over the past 6 years combined with the worst manager in Twins history makes it hard for a competitive person to watch the Twins. Too frustrating.

And I...and Im sure many others could see this coming.

June meltdown. Just like last year. Weak, unintelligent, carefree baseball. 

The FO is a mixed bag. The manager should have been dismissed two years ago. 

The Twins will never win a playoff series, and likely never win a game with Baldi-ball.