The Immediate Aftermath Anger Rankings

[RandBalls Stu]

Some people are responsible for the Minnesota Twins playoff run ending. Some are more responsible than others. Here are seven of them.

Image courtesy of Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

In the wake of a season-ending 3-2 loss to the Houston Astros, it’s important to note how wildly successful this year was for the Minnesota Twins. Ending a decades-long playoff drought, running away with a bad division in the second half, the rise of young stars like Royce Lewis and Ed Julien.

But.

As noted by a friend of mine, the season ends badly for every playoff team except one. Minnesota is not that one. So before the hurt and frustration wear off and the anticipation for building on the successes in 2024 begins, let’s vent one last time. Here are the things I'm still angry about on Friday.

1. The offense. My god, fellas. I know we’re all (correctly) furious at the next group on this list, but even Rob Deer thinks you strike out too much. Hit the ball! Make them play defense! Please!
2. The umpires. As a Minnesotan, you have two divine rights:
   1. To say where you were and what you were doing during the Halloween Blizzard of 1991; and
   2. Hold a seething, unfathomable rage against professional sports referees. Would it surprise you to learn that Wednesday’s home plate umpire blew the biggest call of the game in Houston’s favor? Of course not! You just saw another Minnesota team get worked over by the refs in deference to their sport’s defending champions last Sunday. ‘Twas ever thus. And the second you notice it, much less complain about it, some smug [redacted] will say the mistakes balance out and good teams overcome it. My response, honed by years of careful observation and hard-won experience, is this: No they don’t and [redacted] you, [redacted].
3. Byron Buxton’s body. Anyone who watched him try to run this year, and his admitted mental struggles with the DH role, knew a Kirk Gibson moment was wildly unlikely. The soft pop-up on Wednesday was, sadly, the appropriate end to his nightmare of a year. One of the most gifted athletes you’ll ever see in your life, constantly betrayed by his own body. The six biggest what-ifs of 2023 are as follows:
   1. Healthy Byron Buxton.
   2. Healthy Carlos Correa.
   3. Healthy Royce Lewis.
   4. What would the Twins have done without Michael A. Taylor?
   5. What would Game 5 in Houston have been like? (I honestly think the Twins win, that's how in the tank I am for Pablo.)
   6. Cutting the cord on Joey Gallo in June instead of September.
4. Regression. As Sonny Gray or anyone who crammed for an accounting final will tell you: Math is cruel.
5. Regular prices at Target Field. The family values sections, where you could get relatively cheap popcorn and Budweiser, didn’t exist for the playoffs. How are people on a budget supposed to be super loud and verbally abuse the opposition without cheap beer and salty snacks? Speaking of which…
6. Arguing about how loud/not loud Target Field crowds are. If you thought Target Field crowds were plenty loud prior to 2023, the raucous, ear-splitting noise that literally assisted the biggest play of Game 2 versus Toronto should make you reassess. Admit you’re wrong! Apologize to Dan Hayes! He's a sweet, gentle boy!
7. Bullpen games. I’m actually OK with Rocco’s quick hook of Joe Ryan and the plan in general. But I’m not OK with the pace of play when you’re hauling in new pitchers every inning. This is more of an aesthetic complaint than a strategic one. The pitch clock is the best pace-of-play innovation in baseball since they stopped putting amphetamines in the coffee.

And with that, I would like to thank the 2023 Twins for being good enough that it was challenging to make fun of them every Friday. They were fun! 

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[Hrbeks Divot]

The baseball gods giveth and they taketh away. It took much too long for the giveth part but the taketh, not so much. See you in the spring!

 

[Streif Lightning]

Seeing a ton a shade thrown at Rocco on the socials and I just don't get it. He has the highest winning percentage of any manager we've ever had, broke the longest playoff losing streak in American sports, won the division 3 out of 5 years, and completely changed the way our team plays and operates. And people are calling for his head?! Just don't get it

[saviking]

Did anyone find it kind of strange Jeffers caught every game?

[BobAzar]

may I add 5a: increase concession prices. not only did they take away the value stands, they increased the prices of the other stuff by about $1 or so. 

[LastOnePicked]

17 minutes ago, Streif Lightning said:

He has the highest winning percentage of any manager we've ever had, broke the longest playoff losing streak in American sports, won the division 3 out of 5 years, and completely changed the way our team plays and operates.

First of all, fun article, Stu. Your what-ifs hurt my heart.

As for this comment, I'm not a Rocco "hater" per se, but here are what would likely be a few rebuttals to your defense:

1) He has had the luxury of talented rosters and the highest payrolls of any Twins manager.

2) He also established the longest playoff losing streak in American sports.

3) This was the easiest division in all of MLB during those years. 

4) Arguably, some of those changes don't seem to be getting the team very far in the postseason.

I think when I'm frustrated with Rocco's Twins, it's when they're favored to win and just can't/don't come through. Not pulling out a single win at home against the Astros really stings. Is that solely his fault? No. Does he bear shared responsibility? Absolutely yes.

But he'll be back. We'll all get to continue this debate in due time.

[DJL44]

28 minutes ago, Streif Lightning said:

Seeing a ton a shade thrown at Rocco on the socials and I just don't get it. He has the highest winning percentage of any manager we've ever had, broke the longest playoff losing streak in American sports, won the division 3 out of 5 years, and completely changed the way our team plays and operates. And people are calling for his head?! Just don't get it

He's not an abusive jerk and the abusive jerks of the world don't like him because of that.

[DJL44]

11 minutes ago, saviking said:

Did anyone find it kind of strange Jeffers caught every game?

Not really, they were trying to win.

[Logi_Clevs]

Always look forward to Friday mornings on TD thanks to you Stu. I think #8 on this list could be Jose Abreu and his beard hair tie. No one should be able to hit a ball that hard with facial hair like that. 

[chinmusic]

2 minutes ago, Logi_Clevs said:

No one should be able to hit a ball that hard with facial hair like that. 

 

3 minutes ago, Logi_Clevs said:

No one should be able to hit a ball that hard with facial hair like that. 

If only. Were that the case, there might have been a rendez-vous in Houston tonight.

 

 

[chinmusic]

Given the bittersweet nature of the season, I thought the tone of this article was appropriate. Respectful, even. Well done. Thanks!

[Muppet]

1 hour ago, saviking said:

Did anyone find it kind of strange Jeffers caught every game?

If Vazquez had the chance to replace 4 of Jeffers' strikeouts with his own, all of Minnesota would have guillotined Rocco for blowing their chance at the world series.  

[Rod Carews Birthday]

1 hour ago, LastOnePicked said:

First of all, fun article, Stu. Your what-ifs hurt my heart.

As for this comment, I'm not a Rocco "hater" per se, but here are what would likely be a few rebuttals to your defense:

1) He has had the luxury of talented rosters and the highest payrolls of any Twins manager.

2) He also established the longest playoff losing streak in American sports.

3) This was the easiest division in all of MLB during those years. 

4) Arguably, some of those changes don't seem to be getting the team very far in the postseason.

I think when I'm frustrated with Rocco's Twins, it's when they're favored to win and just can't/don't come through. Not pulling out a single win at home against the Astros really stings. Is that solely his fault? No. Does he bear shared responsibility? Absolutely yes.

But he'll be back. We'll all get to continue this debate in due time.

Agreed about the high quality of the article, even if it did throw me for a loop without reports from Stan in Ely or Brad in Fairmont.  

@LastOnePicked, your examples are interesting.  I take particular note of number 2.  He did not establish any such streak.  He contributed to it, AND he broke it. That seems more likely to be a plus than a minus. Taken as a whole, these could all be pointed at Ron Gardenhire, Paul Molitor, and some even to Tom Kelly.  

I’m neither a Rocco lover or hater.  I just don’t think that most managers make a whole lot of difference in the bottom line results - good or bad.  These are professional players.  Establishing a positive atmosphere is important, but these guys aren’t really “learning how to play” for the most part. From my point of view, whatever Rocco is doing, his team got further than they have gotten in 20 years, so I think that earns my support.  

 

[Twins GFP]

#3 hits it on the head.

I think after some time, when the dust settles on this season, this has the biggest "what if" potential of any team since Liriano went down in 2006.

So many things went wrong, so many primary position players were terrible and/or produced below expectations.  How many more wins would a "normal" Buxton, Correa, Vazquez have brought to the table?  Add a healthy year from Lewis, Kiriloff, Polanco...  Could easily be in the same discussion with the Braves...

Thanks as always Stu!

[spanman2]

Love the Rob Deer shout out...

[Johnny Ringo]

On 10/13/2023 at 9:29 AM, DJL44 said:

Not really, they were trying to win.

To your point:

Ryan Jeffers 2023 WAR 3.3

Christian Vasquez 2023 WAR -.3

So, no. I didn't find it strange at all.