Did the Twins Players-Only Meeting Save The Team From Itself?

[Cody Christie]

Frustrations started mounting for the players and manager, especially in some quotes to the media. Did a players-only meeting save the team from further disintegration?

Image courtesy of Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

The Minnesota Twins have been Jekyll and Hyde this season, with a 7-13 stretch to open the season, followed by a 17-3 stretch, which quickly devolved into a seven-game losing streak. It was the team’s longest losing streak in six years. Following Monday’s 12-3 thrashing by the Nationals, Twins players held a players-only meeting to stop the team’s downward spiral. 

Minnesota’s bats woke up on Tuesday, and they blew out the Nationals by a final score of 10-0. Byron Buxton led the way with a pair of home runs, and the Rally Sausage made a return appearance in the nation’s capital. On Wednesday, the team secured a series victory with good pitching and more bombs, this time from Max Kepler and Carlos Correa. The aura around the team is far from being normalized, especially after some key events over the weekend pointed to internal trouble.

On Sunday, the Twins lost on a walk-off home run, a tough pill to swallow, especially with the team’s star closer on the mound. Jhoan Durán threw a first-pitch curveball to Will Brennan, but stated after the game that he disagreed with that call.

"It's not my decision," Durán told reporters. "I thought that [Brennan] wasn't good with fastballs. I'm an employee here, so whatever I need to throw, I need to throw it." 

So, who should get the blame for the pitch selection? Pitching coach Pete Maki and catcher Christian Vázquez held a mound visit with Durán before facing Brennan. Durán’s comments seemed like an out-of-character move from a typically reserved player.

Twins manager Rocco Baldelli was asked about Durán’s comments before Monday’s game.

"I think he's just frustrated and was looking for a way to vent," Baldelli said, "I thought it was unusual. I wasn't expecting it. I like to handle our stuff here with a conversation in the clubhouse."

Durán took two losses in the Cleveland series, surrendering a go-ahead home run on Friday night against José Ramírez and the game-ender to Brennan Sunday. His curveball was the culprit both times. Durán has seen a drop in velocity this season, forcing him to adjust his pitch selection. Many fans love watching his triple-digit fastball, but his curveball has been his best pitch throughout his big-league tenure. Frustration was boiling over, and that came out of the manager on Monday.  

Minnesota’s offensive woes continued in the first game of the series against the Nationals and Baldelli was as frustrated as he will show the media on camera.

“The guy just stood out there and threw off-speed pitches for like four straight innings,” Baldelli said. “We didn’t do anything about it. We continued to wave at them and look for fastballs, which today, they weren’t coming, especially the first five, six innings. In this stretch of games where we’ve been struggling, that’s been a common theme.

“You can’t take three, four, five innings to adjust to what the starting pitch is doing to you. That’s not quality professional baseball.”  

“I’ve seen a lot of streaky baseball,” Baldelli went on to say. “We all have. This is next-level stuff.” It is interesting that Baldelli would make such harsh comments, especially after calling out his closer for not keeping the “conversation in the clubhouse.”

Any team mired in an extended losing streak will have tension. Thankfully, the Twins ended their brutal losing streak and can focus on some positives surrounding the team. There is still a lot of baseball left to play in the 2024 season, and the Twins need to ensure that the team stays out of their own way.

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Whose comments were more surprising, Durán's or Baldelli's? Will the players-only meeting be a turning point for the season? Leave a comment and start the discussion.

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[arby58]

Baldelli has always seeemed like a bit of a 'rah rah' guy to me. Perhaps because he was a player himself, he has seemed to go out of his way to praise the players and stay away from direct criticism. Those comments seemed out of character. Duran as well, but not quite as much.

[rv78]

Do as I say, not as I do.

[Patzky]

The meeting in 2023 between the Atlanta and Orioles series made things click for the Twins too.

 

If it were only so foolproof they'd have one after each loss, and every team would. Wonder if it was 90 percent introspection and 10 percent sausage delivery order.

[Karbo]

Is there cause for concern with Duran?

[arby58]

1 minute ago, Karbo said:

Is there cause for concern with Duran?

It was the first thing that I wondered about after the Guardians series. He's a power pitcher, and if he has lost some mph on his pitches, that is reason to be concerned. He did so well coming off the injury - maybe there are some lingering issues?

[JD-TWINS]

13 minutes ago, rv78 said:

Do as I say, not as I do.

That directed at who about what? ………the Manager gets interviewed 1-2 times every day - he’s the face of the Club …….he’s supposed to support Duran’s comments by saying, “yep, we shouldn’t have had asked him to throw his most successful pitch”?? Duran’s comments were chicken sh.. stuff, from any clubhouse at any level of baseball.

Shake the guy off or speak up on the mound conference OR make a quality pitch!! Whose fault was the home run on Wednesday v. Nationals - the hitting coach - some fan yelling - weak comments by Duran outside of the Team construct!!

[JD-TWINS]

1 minute ago, arby58 said:

It was the first thing that I wondered about after the Guardians series. He's a power pitcher, and if he has lost some mph on his pitches, that is reason to be concerned. He did so well coming off the injury - maybe there are some lingering issues?

Concerned.

Cleveland, velocity wasn’t a concern at 100 & 95 with Splinker (down a touch)……..his velocity yesterday started at 97 - 98 …….,something seems to be bothering him. Can’t imagine issues between his ears over past couple rough outings would affect him, but who knows. At 99Mph on last couple fastballs Wednesday.

Hopefully, they get him a second day off on Friday and he can regroup. 3 straight outings with HR is a bit alarming, no matter who is calling the pitches.

[Peter]

Needed to be done!!! As fans we have to have demands and expectations for twins and ALL of our Minnesota teams!!! With that said it’s time for twins to get back to winning series/another long winning streak to get back into division race!!! As for wolves they need to get their s—t together after last night!!!(referees screwed them) state of Minnesota desperately needs a championship!!!

[MABB1959]

They are professional MLB players being paid millions of dollars to perform.  It should not take a team meeting to get them to play at their potential

[Jkeady12]

I have felt like Duran isn't being able to call his own game and his comments proved that true. Catchers call the pitches as they should but great closers know their stuff, especially during the game and throw what is working. I probably wrong but I feel like Rocco overmanages all the time

 He is a 100% analytics guy and doesn't do a good job of managing situations based on the moment he relies completely on analytics,  which is great when it works but the great managers have an interesting feel for the game.

[Whitey333]

Meetings, schmeetings.  Just win baby.  Now that we had a players meeting only and won 2 straight games against a reeling Nationals team we can now print our playoff tickets lol.  Go Twins!

[bighat]

Glad Baldelli called them out - he's rarely offered any type of criticisms, so that statement was extremely unusual. Nice to see some fire from him and from the team. 

I think it's way too early to say if this meeting "saved" anything. The Nats are 21-27 and will be hanging with the Marlins in the NL East cellar most of the year. 

Overall you have to appreciate seeing some fire, which is something that's been lacking in the Baldelli era, regardless of whether a team is struggling or not. 

[Patzky]

33 minutes ago, JD-TWINS said:

Concerned.

Cleveland, velocity wasn’t a concern at 100 & 95 with Splinker (down a touch)……..his velocity yesterday started at 97 - 98 …….,something seems to be bothering him. Can’t imagine issues between his ears over past couple rough outings would affect him, but who knows. At 99Mph on last couple fastballs Wednesday.

Hopefully, they get him a second day off on Friday and he can regroup. 3 straight outings with HR is a bit alarming, no matter who is calling the pitches.

Brock Glass in case of emergency? He's on the mend it seems. I haven't kept track but is there some Vazquez/Jeffers distinction regarding Duran's pitch choices and effectiveness?

[Patzky]

7 minutes ago, Whitey333 said:

Meetings, schmeetings.  Just win baby.  Now that we had a players meeting only and won 2 straight games against a reeling Nationals team we can now print our playoff tickets lol.  Go Twins!

All I will add is that the Rangers are reeling too. It's not who you play it's when you play them.

[Bodie]

Find it worrying that the team needs multiple explicit reminders that they are professionals, and should act like it ...

[arby58]

47 minutes ago, Jkeady12 said:

I have felt like Duran isn't being able to call his own game and his comments proved that true. Catchers call the pitches as they should but great closers know their stuff, especially during the game and throw what is working. I probably wrong but I feel like Rocco overmanages all the time

 He is a 100% analytics guy and doesn't do a good job of managing situations based on the moment he relies completely on analytics,  which is great when it works but the great managers have an interesting feel for the game.

Ultimately, Duran throws the pitch - I simply do not believe that the Twins will tell their best relief pitcher that he needs to throw the pitch the pitching coach/catcher call 'or else.' Or else what? I still think this is on Duran.

Baldelli criticism to me seems hindsight driven. He makes a lot of moves, so when they don't work out, it is subject to criticism. I suspect he doesn't get enough credit for times when those moves work out.

[Jeff K]

55 minutes ago, MABB1959 said:

They are professional MLB players being paid millions of dollars to perform.  It should not take a team meeting to get them to play at their potential

Professionals across all organizations need to get together and talk things over; regardless of their pay.

[Dave The Dastardly]

I spent 25 years of my life coaching; basketball, football, volleyball, track, boys and girls, from junior high to junior college and learned a few things. Coaching isn't all about teaching skills, it's mostly "head" coaching. You have to get your players to believe in themselves, their teammates and you. If you can accomplish that you'll not only have a successful team, you'll also have a "fun" team; everyone (players and coaches) will enjoy coming to practice and learning new skills, game plans and strategies. They'll laugh and joke going through drills, they'll tease each other in a good-natured manner, they'll congratulate each other when they win and console each other when they loose.

Fun teams don't call team meetings.

Disgruntled teams do.

And that means they either don't believe in themselves, or their teammates, or their coach(es).

Which indicates a "head" coaching failure of some sort and a necessary trip Back to the Drawing Board.

 

 

 

 

[bean5302]

28 minutes ago, arby58 said:

Ultimately, Duran throws the pitch - I simply do not believe that the Twins will tell their best relief pitcher that he needs to throw the pitch the pitching coach/catcher call 'or else.' Or else what? I still think this is on Duran.

Baldelli criticism to me seems hindsight driven. He makes a lot of moves, so when they don't work out, it is subject to criticism. I suspect he doesn't get enough credit for times when those moves work out.

Hindsight is where all the data is so criticism is going to be hindsight driven. A lot of comments in the forums which essentially put Baldelli or Falvey or whomever in the same place as me or you or any other random fan expecting their level of knowledge is on par with ours. "I can't fault Falvey for xyz" stuff or defending Baldelli because it's up to the players to execute. I would really hope the front office of the Twins is way more knowledgeable than me or any other fan on this site. They make millions of dollars a year to be more knowledgeable, but it often seems their logic/knowledge defies convention wisdom.

It's pretty fair to hold the front office and managers accountable for what goes wrong, I'd say.

[bean5302]

I don't think the players meeting makes a difference at all, and it increasingly feels like the Twins have lost sight of the forest for the trees. Are the pitch calls coming from the bench? That's would be some next level micromanagement. 

[IndianaTwin]

3 hours ago, Dave The Dastardly said:

I spent 25 years of my life coaching; basketball, football, volleyball, track, boys and girls, from junior high to junior college and learned a few things. Coaching isn't all about teaching skills, it's mostly "head" coaching. You have to get your players to believe in themselves, their teammates and you. If you can accomplish that you'll not only have a successful team, you'll also have a "fun" team; everyone (players and coaches) will enjoy coming to practice and learning new skills, game plans and strategies. They'll laugh and joke going through drills, they'll tease each other in a good-natured manner, they'll congratulate each other when they win and console each other when they loose.

Fun teams don't call team meetings.

Disgruntled teams do.

And that means they either don't believe in themselves, or their teammates, or their coach(es).

Which indicates a "head" coaching failure of some sort and a necessary trip Back to the Drawing Board.

 

Agree with your first paragraph, but not with the second.

I've also spent a good number of years coaching (not 25, but 10), all at the college level, and focused on the things you talked about. But I also remember a night when we got back from a meet after seriously underperforming. We sat in the bus for a while and had a chat that was a little out of character for me. I'm not a yeller, but I was definitely more direct with them than usual on some things. I also focused on the fact that we were a good team with a lot of potential, but hadn't come together yet. Thirty years later, I still remember the statement from one of my senior leaders, "If coach thinks we can do this, I think we should go for it." 

I went to clean uniforms (small college, so you do everything), and they continued to talk amongst themselves. I found out later that they spent some time together over the weekend. Turned the season around, and we ended up winning the conference championship. I can't say it was all from that night's meeting (after all, they had an outstanding coach, right? 🤣), but it was a key moment. A few years ago, I asked one of the athletes whether she remembered the night, and she did.

Point being, sometimes even a fun team needs a bit of a reset. None of us are privy to what happened Monday, but I'm impressed that they seem to have the right set of personalities on the team (in my opinion) for such a meeting to be significant. 

The bottom line, however, is that a meeting only lasts a short time, particularly in a long-season sport like baseball. They still need to build on any momentum it generated.

[MGM4706]

Rocco is known as a players Manager. So it appears his feelings were hurt that a player spoke up!!

Rocco is not the type of Mgr. that is right for this team. Castro forgot how many outs there were and then took two horrible routes to miss balls. Tom Kelly would have sat him for a game or two. Not Rocco. He just shrugged and said Play-on! Same with the team leading the League in called third strikes. And missing cut-off men! Rocco just watches. Maybe sending someone to St Paul when they take 2-3 called 3rd strikes in a series would wake up the entire team!! Not Rocco. He just smiles and collects his paycheck!

[Dave The Dastardly]

23 minutes ago, IndianaTwin said:

Agree with your first paragraph, but now with the second.

I've also spent a good number of years coaching (not 25, but 10), all at the college level, and focused on the things you talked about. But I also remember a night when we got back from a meet after seriously underperforming. We sat in the bus for a while and had a chat that was a little out of character for me. I'm not a yeller, but I was definitely more direct with them than usual on some things. I also focused on the fact that we were a good team with a lot of potential, but hadn't come together yet. Thirty years later, I still remember the statement from one of my senior leaders, "If coach thinks we can do this, I think we should go for it." 

I went to clean uniforms (small college, so you do everything), and they continued to talk amongst themselves. I found out later that they spent some time together over the weekend. Turned the season around, and we ended up winning the conference championship. I can't say it was all from that night's meeting (after all, they had an outstanding coach, right? 🤣), but it was a key moment. A few years ago, I asked one of the athletes whether she remembered the night, and she did.

Point being, sometimes even a fun team needs a bit of a reset. None of us are privy to what happened Monday, but I'm impressed that they seem to have the right set of personalities on the team (in my opinion) for such a meeting to be significant. 

The bottom line, however, is that a meeting only lasts a short time, particularly in a long-season sport like baseball. They still need to build on any momentum it generated.

I think your experience verifies the point(s) I was trying to make. You, as the "head" coach went back to the drawing board (being more direct), the players then established they believed in you as their coach, then spent time together learning to believe in each other. But that wasn't the result of a player called team meeting that started the "rebirth". You did. So yes, your team did indeed have an outstanding coach.

The best athlete I ever coached, a young lady, All-State in two sports, State Champion in a third, went on to play Div 1 and currently coaches at the college level, recently told me her coaching motto “kids, don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care".  That, I believe is "head" coaching, getting on the same wave length. How that applies to dealing with professional athletes I have no idea. But you'd think there must be some sort of mutual trust factor involved, a "belief in each other" at some level.

But what do I know. I'm just an old fart still living in the past. Interesting topic though.

 

[JD-TWINS]

2 hours ago, Patzky said:

Brock Glass in case of emergency? He's on the mend it seems. I haven't kept track but is there some Vazquez/Jeffers distinction regarding Duran's pitch choices and effectiveness?

Yes - yesterday there was a post suggesting the targets Vazquez gives don’t suit Duran - if that’s the case, it would get fixed after about two outings in ‘23!!! IMO, it’s silly. Jeffers catching him is lower ERA over last 2 years and ERA associated with Vazquez this year is around 6.7 v. half or less with Jeffers. Again, to me, this is overreaction. He’s pitched 10 times in ‘24. I’m going to assume some randomness between the catchers. He didn’t give up a run until Friday (3 in one swing) & then Sunday he gave up another HR with Vazquez catching. Yesterday he gave up an HR in 3rd straight outing, this time with Jeffers catching AND after I’m sure we’re 2-3 discussions about pitch mix & location with the GROUP. He’s throwing the ball - zero issues in 7 outings - 3 poor outings, & therefore Vazquez can’t catch.

[IndianaTwin]

17 minutes ago, Dave The Dastardly said:

I think your experience verifies the point(s) I was trying to make. You, as the "head" coach went back to the drawing board (being more direct), the players then established they believed in you as their coach, then spent time together learning to believe in each other. But that wasn't the result of a player called team meeting that started the "rebirth". You did. So yes, your team did indeed have an outstanding coach.

The best athlete I ever coached, a young lady, All-State in two sports, State Champion in a third, went on to play Div 1 and currently coaches at the college level, recently told me her coaching motto “kids, don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care".  That, I believe is "head" coaching, getting on the same wave length. How that applies to dealing with professional athletes I have no idea. But you'd think there must be some sort of mutual trust factor involved, a "belief in each other" at some level.

But what do I know. I'm just an old fart still living in the past. Interesting topic though.

 

I'm guessing we're not too far from each other here. 

And yes, that phrase (which I've most often heard attributed to Teddy Roosevelt, but others are cited as well) has served me well when working with folks of all ages. I work in a consulting situation, and I've quoted it to colleagues a number of times recently. I'm sure my boss would prefer I get to the topic at hand a little more quickly than I sometimes do, but spending a little more time in the getting to know someone process has never been a bad move for me. I've got a natural curiosity and Mrs. IT has taught me a lot about empathy. That's a good combination of traits in about any situation.

[JD-TWINS]

21 minutes ago, MGM4706 said:

Rocco is known as a players Manager. So it appears his feelings were hurt that a player spoke up!!

Rocco is not the type of Mgr. that is right for this team. Castro forgot how many outs there were and then took two horrible routes to miss balls. Tom Kelly would have sat him for a game or two. Not Rocco. He just shrugged and said Play-on! Same with the team leading the League in called third strikes. And missing cut-off men! Rocco just watches. Maybe sending someone to St Paul when they take 2-3 called 3rd strikes in a series would wake up the entire team!! Not Rocco. He just smiles and collects his paycheck!

If you are a professional baseball player with 400 plus innings in the Show in CF and probably 700 total in the outfield, it’s not the Manager’s fault you are taking a poor path to the ball nor that you are clueless enough to be unaware how many outs there are. The 11 year old kid in RF bleachers knows how many outs there are!!

Where are our leaders at Catcher - SS - RF - 2B who should be letting everyone know how many outs there are - that’s Jr. High age responsibility!

Any Manager in Pro baseball or coach in any Pro sport says that Team issues stay in the Locker room. Period.

Who’s he going to throw Wednesday? Jax can’t pitch 3 innings. - Sands in the 9th? If Duran is sat down to make a point and things go sideways the entirety at TD would be up in arms about Baldelli screwing that up.

Eddie getting sent down would be a breath of fresh air - no realistic substitute until Lee is healthy. Also, Jeffers might be right behind him with his recent woes and guessing at the plate - taking called strike 3’s on fastballs is not cool more than once. Glad he came up big yesterday - he was due!

[Reptevia]

“Ultimately, Duran throws the pitch - I simply do not believe that the Twins will tell their best relief pitcher that he needs to throw the pitch the pitching coach/catcher call 'or else.' Or else what? I still think this is on Duran.“

Really?  After Duran has seen the way Alcalá has been treated?  Why would he think anything other than “or else”?

[Larry Janisewski]

5 hours ago, Peter said:

Needed to be done!!! As fans we have to have demands and expectations for twins and ALL of our Minnesota teams!!! With that said it’s time for twins to get back to winning series/another long winning streak to get back into division race!!! As for wolves they need to get their s—t together after last night!!!(referees screwed them) state of Minnesota desperately needs a championship!!!

Agree that the state of Minnesota is in need of a championship but doubt it will come  the Twins this year. In a huge series vs the Guardians last weekend the Twins started a lineup with 4 players batting .205 and lower as well as 5 players with OBP under .300. It resulted in an 11-4 loss.

[Vanimal46]

Looks like there’s a temporary boost since the meeting. My question is how many times can they go back to the well with players only meetings? Seems like they have to do it at least once per season since 2022.