Week in Review: Brink of Disaster

[thelanges5]

8 minutes ago, NYCTK said:

That's not really relevant. He had a pretty darn good year and 2 yr $50 mil left on his contract, which is pretty low risk, comparing to Correa's 4 yr $133 mil. 

Guess I was just thinking he wouldn’t be there for the playoffs anyways. He did have a good year. We could’ve also had pitchers like Lugo, Wacha, Manaea, Montas for less. 
 

We didn’t need Sonny Gray to be our Sonny Gray replacement, but the fact that we did nothing is the problem.

[Brandon]

The Tigers think the Twins are the 87 Blue Jays.   And apparently so do we.  The 87 Jays lost a 3 game lead with 7 left to play to allow the Tigers to make the playoffs against the Twins in 87.  

[NYCTK]

Yep. I think it's very reasonable not to sign a 34 year old pitcher to a three year contract. But I doubt we had actual contract discussions at all, and didn't entertain any starter on the market. Because ownership needed to make sure to get a certain ROI. 

1 minute ago, thelanges5 said:

Guess I was just thinking he wouldn’t be there for the playoffs anyways. He did have a good year. We could’ve also had pitchers like Lugo, Wacha, Manaea, Montas for less. 
 

We didn’t need Sonny Gray to be our Sonny Gray replacement, but the fact that we did nothing is the problem.

 

[Vanimal46]

1 hour ago, Five minute major said:

This franchise is at it's lowest point since the contraction days of Pohlad senior.

Agreed. The last 11 months is a master class on what to do to kill an excited fan base. They’re going to have to be creative to earn the fans’ trust and money. 

[Patzky]

1 hour ago, thelanges5 said:

Gray is on the Il to end the season. 

Probably would have happened the day after Ryan went down if we still had Sonny.

[karcherd]

I can understand not signing Gray to a contract of 3 years at his age.  But the real mistake was thinking Paddack would be the replacement.  He has had two TJ surgeries where there is minimal history of pitchers of coming back from this scenario with limited success.  Not to mention he has had one good season in his rookie year in 2019.  This front office does not know how to run a major league franchise, I wouldn't trust them with an increased budget either.  The Pohlads need to jettison the tiresome trio and start over with new leadership.

[farmerguychris]

I am starting to really believe that the philosophy of ownership is something like "Hey- if we win, great!  But as long as we show as much profit as possible, thats the real goal".  They signed players like Pablo, Buxton, and CC, but I'm pretty sure if they had to do those over again - they would defer.  Maybe Joe talked them into it - try to make a splash as the new guy leading the team and see if profits followed - but when it failed, need to get that money made up, which is what we're doing now as best they can.  Just stinks to be a fan.....hopes had gotten higher the past couple of years.

[insagt1]

I guess I'm not really on board with Rocco taking our starter out in the 5th inning with two outs. Afraid to have him face the lineup the 3rd time? Come ON. Little league here? He was a lefty and was replaced by a lefty. Give the guy a shot at completing the inning. Then decide what to do in the 6th. So no, I didn't like that decision at all, especially who he chose to come in. The worst that would have happened is a two run HR to tie the game.

But, yeah it really is on the hitters who have all disappeared. Like it was said, even adding Buck and Correa hasn't helped because everyone else has failed. What they did on Sunday, when the playoffs were on the line was mind-boggling. Did anyone have a decent AB?

I suppose if the team misses by a game, lets say, we can go back to the Cleveland series. Twins actually could have won all 4 and definitely at least 2.

Bottom line....this isn't a very good 'team'. The parts taken in a vacuum seem all right, but put them out there on the field and they don't work. If Twins miss the playoffs, Rocco has to be gone. Twins need new direction; a new voice; some new energy. Managers were fired in season for a lot less this year.

3 wins over Miami or bust. Its really that simple. Don't expect an easy series with Baltimore. Another team thats desperately trying to find its way.

[SpicyGarvSauce]

9 hours ago, Peter said:

4-2 will get us in playoffs-we need to support the twins this week!!! It’s going to be nerve wracking/stressful and intense!!! No Vikings/twolves/wild chat saying I can’t wait for season!!! Love all 3 teams but this is twins chat room NOT Vikings/twolves/wild chat!!! WE MUST support our twins NO MATTER WHAT!!!!

LOL no one should be spending money to support this team and its owners.

[D.C Twins]

8 hours ago, USAFChief said:

Rocco looked no farther than "there's a LH hitter due up. My laptop says LH pitcher here."

This... this....aaaaaaaaaaaaaaand.......THIS!

[DocBauer]

On the surface, I honestly don't even know what to add considering how disappointing the past 5 weeks have been. Despite being able to watch all games since I'm not in a blackout area, I've barely watched. I just couldn't bring myself to do so.

But I guess, ultimately, I do have some things to say. BUT, i have to start by saying recent horrendous play/results should also be put in to perspective when we HONESTLY examine the ENTIRE season.

1] The regular season is approximately 6 months. Injuries and almost inexplicable bad performance had the 2024 Twins off to a really bad start. The last month of the season, so far, has been just as horrible, with injuries and inexplicable bad performance. The 4 months in between, the Twins were one of the BEST teams in ALL of MLB! 

The injuries might be worse in the last month vs the first month, but the TEAM, OVERALL, has largely had a very good season. What's INEXPLICABLE to me is 2 months of horrible play. Despite what some believe to be easy blame marks for said blame, how do you explain the 4 months that were amongst the best in MLB with LARGELY the same team?

2] I didn't realize until I listened to the latest Gleeman and the Geek podcast, but over the past 5 weeks, if the Twins were ONLY 16-17...below .500...they would be a lock for the playoffs and tied with the Orioles for the same record! Being below .500 and STILL having that good or a record and a playoff lock only states just how bad things have been.

3] I don't feel Rocco has been great over the course of the season...the early season use of Alcala is still criminal on a ML front, IMO...but the rainout and an off day Monday should have changed at least SOME of the pen usage against Boston. But waiver wire, mediocre arm, coming in for a game that meant something for 2 innings makes ZERO sense. As Gleeman stated, why not keep Matthews in? He's more than capable of allowing a big HR, LOL. Why not just let Matthews get a shot to finish an inning?

4] Alcala, due to over use considering he's ONLY thrown about 20 IP the past 2 years, has tired. But he actually threw well in his last appearance. So with 2 days off due to the rainout and Monday off, could be rested enough to actually "be rested"? I'm OK with a healthy Heardrick getting a shot late in the season as I believe he's got a chance to be part of the pen going forward starting next season. But Henriquez has actually looked good, but we send HIM down because he was overused over the weekend but we kept Irvin over him with Monday a day off for rest? That's on the FO.

5] I'm going to borrow from @chpettit19 here, but when the offense is struggling this much, why are you holding on to guys who are struggling? If Julien...who I still have future hope for...isn't playable, then why not keep Keirsey as a potentially better option, who deserves a shot, and can AT LEAST, provide defense and base running ability and SB potential? HONESTLY, except for a 2-3 months of good production from Margot against LHP with bad defense, zero power, when he was ready to come off the IL, would it have been stupid to just stick with Helman and give him more opportunity than a couple of games? I can understand bringing Margot back, barely, but keeping a 14th position player struggling and not playing in Julien vs Keirsey is silly to me.

6] I UNDERSTAND sticking with veteran players getting a long leash at times. History will tell you sometimes that works out. Witness Kepler in 2023 and Farmer THIS YEAR suddenly overcoming a bad shoulder and helping win a couple games. But sometimes you have to trust your prospects and give them a shot. Not every prospect is 22-24 yo. Once in a while, a 30yo veteran is DONE. And once in a while a late 20yo can be a good, solid, quality depth piece. But NEVER trusting in YOUR SYSTEM and letting someone like that over a poor older veteran is a mistake. FO problem.

7] I OBJECT to "backing in" to the playoffs as some part of pushback. It's a LONG season. Teams rise and fall over 162 games. If the OVERALL season puts the Twins in the playoffs, then they did ENOUGH in 6 months to get there. The last 5 weeks be damned. Over 6+ months, they would have done enough, and endured enough, to reach it. 

Would we rather NOT go the playoffs? I'm angry as hell for ownership for what they've done, somewhat disappointed in the FO because of a few moves they've made and didn't make, and I'm not crazy about some Rocco moves here and there.

But I'd rather have a team that has a SHOT vs no shot.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't both WS teams in the last WS WC teams? 

8] HONESTLY, I like the Twins  top 2 starters over most teams in the 1st round. If there's a #3 game, it's a mix of SWR and SOMEONE. I actually like a short season pen better than what we have now. But unless we can finish strong, Ober might be that 3rd starter. And losing game 2 is an issue. 

Problem remains the same...how can the ENTIRE position player/lineup ALL GO COLD at the same time? 

The LINEUP SUDDENLY WAKES UP, our team has a chance.  

 

[William K Johnson]

21 hours ago, Nick Nelson said:

These kinds of comments are confusing to me because, like, no computer would advise using Cole Irvin in that situation. It was a statistically horrible move.

Apparently, his algorithm dictated the move. 

[NYCTK]

11 hours ago, DocBauer said:

5] I'm going to borrow from @chpettit19 here, but when the offense is struggling this much, why are you holding on to guys who are struggling? If Julien...who I still have future hope for...isn't playable, then why not keep Keirsey as a potentially better option, who deserves a shot, and can AT LEAST, provide defense and base running ability and SB potential?

I'll go step further...bringing in AAAA players that may or may not catch fire. We have a very interesting 2B down in AAA that was a complete nobody before May, playing in independent ball. We'd have to waive someone like Blewett or Castillo, but no loss there. The small moves can sometimes have a big impact. And I would have absolutely DFA'd Margot to keep up Keirsey. 

The fact that Manuel Margot not only lasted through the All Star Break, but ended up playing in over 100 games is asinine. That's on FO and Rocco. Fire them all.