Overreacting to the Minnesota Twins Getting Swept in Games 1-3 of 2025

[Vanimal46]

12 minutes ago, nicksaviking said:

I don't think it's over-reacting, but not for the largely valid points listed above that I agree with. 

The fan base has become increasingly disinterested in this team and it has for several years now. And this team has gotten off slow starts for several years now. Playing winning baseball from Day 1 should have been imperative if only to put eyes on the product. They failed again; this team is never ready to compete when the season starts like the other clubs are despite the team absolutely needing to generate excitement in this first series.

You are spot on. Which is why the lifeless description of the team is most concerning to me. This is by and large the same roster and same coaching staff minus a couple of people. Idk how they weren’t chomping at the bit to prove last year’s collapse was a fluke. 

[nicksaviking]

1 minute ago, Vanimal46 said:

You are spot on. Which is why the lifeless description of the team is most concerning to me. This is by and large the same roster and same coaching staff minus a couple of people. Idk how they weren’t chomping at the bit to prove last year’s collapse was a fluke. 

I was ready to move on from Ron Gardenhire years before the Twins were, but he's exactly the kind of guy they need back. Fiery and animated but great with the players and media and someone who understood the need for giving young players a long leash because the future of the club was going to depend on getting a legit evaluation of them.

[jud6312]

1 hour ago, JD-TWINS said:

His points of criticism of Baldelli are weak! The players play & they sucked!!! It doesn’t matter where Gasper or Castro bat in the bottom 40% of the line-up if the Top 3 in the line-up go 2-34………period. Can’t manage around that type of non-production.

Ever heard of beware of the sick guy - obviously, Ober represented his condition as “OK to go”. He had poor command. It happens occasionally.

The difference between 81 pitches for Ryan coming off an arm injury not being close enough to an “expected 90 pitches” is nuts!! If he threw 5-6 more pitches it would have been better usage of Ryan? ….. come on. If he started the 6th inning and gave up a double everyone would bitch that he should have been pulled since he’s coming off an injury……..OR, doesn’t Baldelli know enough to “start a reliever with a fresh inning,” instead of bringing him into a jam.

Julien was sick Wednesday - Friday. Reported Saturday and lumped in with Ober’s illness. He was out Thursday and used late off the bench Saturday - what’s the issue? Don’t play Ober - play Julien………….maybe, maybe the Mgr. spoke to the guys and trainers and made informed decisions, maybe?

Bullpen …….. Alcala - Jax - Duran weren’t effective ……… it’s not the Manager throwing late innings. The SCARE written about here regarding the starters innings in their first starts and the likelihood that the Pen will be gassed if it keeps up…….that’s about as Chicken Little as it gets.  The Pen is at the start of the year and had a day off on Friday. Dobnack stepped up and the bullpen is fine and will be fine. They have 12-13 arms to use that have pitched for them at MLB level previously…….not concerned. Ignore 2 2/3 inning starts - no, that’s never good! It happens.

Funderburk - Stewart - Blewett - Tonkin - Dobnack - ……… guy brought up today, Mcaughan?? as well. Pen’s stamina should be fine with average health. 

Rocco, is that you?

[Vanimal46]

8 minutes ago, nicksaviking said:

I was ready to move on from Ron Gardenhire years before the Twins were, but he's exactly the kind of guy they need back. Fiery and animated but great with the players and media and someone who understood the need for giving young players a long leash because the future of the club was going to depend on getting a legit evaluation of them.

We need anyone that will create an identity for this team. Over the last couple of seasons there hasn’t been any phase of the game this team does consistently well.

They’re not mashers in the batters box, they’re not a fast or overly athletic group, they don’t play defense well, and situational hitting has been bad since 2021. 

[djm24]

21 minutes ago, nicksaviking said:

I was ready to move on from Ron Gardenhire years before the Twins were, but he's exactly the kind of guy they need back. Fiery and animated but great with the players and media and someone who understood the need for giving young players a long leash because the future of the club was going to depend on getting a legit evaluation of them.

It's too bad Baldelli wasn't fired after the Twins collapse and Francona wasn't then hired. "Tito" retired from the Guardians but then wanted to get back into managing a team. Too bad the Twins didn't hire him before the Reds got to him. IMO, he's a great manager.

I don't profess to know if the Reds are better or worse than the Twins (but at this point it seems better). But at least the Reds won a game!!!

 

 

[nicksaviking]

4 minutes ago, djm24 said:

It's too bad Baldelli wasn't fired after the Twins collapse and Francona wasn't then hired. "Tito" retired from the Guardians but then wanted to get back into managing a team. Too bad the Twins didn't hire him before the Reds got to him. IMO, he's a great manager.

I don't profess to know if the Reds are better or worse than the Twins (but at this point it seems better). But at least the Reds won a game!!!

 

 

I'm not going to advocate for or against anyone. I'm just an advocate for changing as soon as things start to look stale. Which from my view was about June of last year.

[RpR]

36 minutes ago, nicksaviking said:

I was ready to move on from Ron Gardenhire years before the Twins were, but he's exactlmakey the kind of guy they need back. Fiery and animated but great with the players and media and someone who understood the need for giving young players a long leash because the future of the club was going to depend on getting a legit evaluation of them.

NO

Embarassed the the Twins against the Yankees and post season. No better than Baldelli.

Managers should not be friends with the players, he should be a boss who if he says crap, , they drop their pants and squat.

[JD-TWINS]

31 minutes ago, jud6312 said:

Rocco, is that you?

When do the players have a share in, or take on, accountability?

2-34 for series top 3 guys in order

3 hits in game 2 for the Team

It doesn’t matter what strategic slant anyone thinks Baldelli should have made, doesn’t change the results - Pitcher balked & then threw the ball away and gave up 2 unearned runs as a result in game 1. Game 2, scored 1 run. Game 3 scored 2 runs.

Again, he’s not in the batter’s box. What moves by Baldelli, specifically, overcome the mediocrity at the plate?

[nicksaviking]

Ha! Provus just said Baldelli is waiting to present Gaspar with his 'first career hit' ball until after the Twins win, because that's what they always do?!?!

Sounds more like a threat than a reward.

[jmlease1]

1 hour ago, nicksaviking said:

I was ready to move on from Ron Gardenhire years before the Twins were, but he's exactly the kind of guy they need back. Fiery and animated but great with the players and media and someone who understood the need for giving young players a long leash because the future of the club was going to depend on getting a legit evaluation of them.

I think there's reasons why Gardy flamed out when he tried to make a go of it in Detroit and it wasn't just his health. But I guess if you want to go back to the day that the backup 2B has to hit second in the order because that's where the starting 2B hit, or your best reliever is only used as a 9th inning save situation only guy, etc than bring back a Gardy-type? me? I'll pass.

I will say the one thing I find the most baffling on this site (and I'm not calling out anyone specifically; y'all can decide on your own if you meet the category) are the people who seem to take joy out of the twins failing/struggling...especially when they don't build the "type" of team the poster wanted or play guys that aren't liked or make decisions that are seen as "wrong". I don't understand the pleasure some seem to get by saying "see?!?! I told you they suck!" about the team that you supposedly root for...

[rdehring]

Well, the second inning is finally over in Chicago and the Twins are down 7-0.  This is flat out ugly.

Maybe some are right and the Twins don't have a ton of talent.  But I still don't understand how they can be this bad.  So I will jump on the Baldelli bandwagon.  As the head guy, yes, the buck stops with him.  Isn't it his job to get his team mentally prepared to compete?  It may be the worst thing about this team right now.

And to make matters worse, St. Paul doesn't play today to have something to be excited about.

t

[jud6312]

1 hour ago, JD-TWINS said:

When do the players have a share in, or take on, accountability?

2-34 for series top 3 guys in order

3 hits in game 2 for the Team

It doesn’t matter what strategic slant anyone thinks Baldelli should have made, doesn’t change the results - Pitcher balked & then threw the ball away and gave up 2 unearned runs as a result in game 1. Game 2, scored 1 run. Game 3 scored 2 runs.

Again, he’s not in the batter’s box. What moves by Baldelli, specifically, overcome the mediocrity at the plate?

Guys aren't performing like they're capable of and the team exudes zero confidence or fire, and hasn't since before the All Star break last season. So what happened? 

 

The likeliest scenario to me is that Rocco has lost their attention in the clubhouse and it's carrying over to the field.

[Linus]

How is that Paddack trade looking?  Another Falvey special. I think the accountability net needs to be widened to include the FO and ownership. 

[Linehan]

On the plus side the Twins could get no hit today 

[Dawgzilla]

This is a bad hitting team.  Pitching may straighten out, but that means no better than a 77-85 season.  No zeal, zest, fire from hitters.  But and Correa no way play above 110 games each.  A lot of monies tied up for not top 50 players in MLB, let alone physically capable of playing.  Like Bud Grant said, "The best ability is availability".

[TheLeviathan]

2 hours ago, Vanimal46 said:

We need anyone that will create an identity for this team. Over the last couple of seasons there hasn’t been any phase of the game this team does consistently well.

They’re not mashers in the batters box, they’re not a fast or overly athletic group, they don’t play defense well, and situational hitting has been bad since 2021. 

I agree with you, but most of that criticism seems to be pointing at the front office.  Our pitching pipeline is starting to look pretty decent, but on the positional side it's a mess. 

I think the scrappy, piranha identity was more a function of necessity and the cheap owners.  But at least players came up to the big leagues with a good glove and a set of skills.  It feels like we're constantly rebuilding hitters into functional fielders (and hitters!) at the big league level.  That doesn't seem like a viable strategy IMO.

Rocco has his faults, but what seems to be ailing the team is far more systemic.

[Vanimal46]

6 minutes ago, TheLeviathan said:

I agree with you, but most of that criticism seems to be pointing at the front office.  Our pitching pipeline is starting to look pretty decent, but on the positional side it's a mess. 

I think the scrappy, piranha identity was more a function of necessity and the cheap owners.  But at least players came up to the big leagues with a good glove and a set of skills.  It feels like we're constantly rebuilding hitters into functional fielders (and hitters!) at the big league level.  That doesn't seem like a viable strategy IMO.

Rocco has his faults, but what seems to be ailing the team is far more systemic.

Falvey is definitely in my crosshairs too. The organization needs a clean start everywhere… New owners, new FO, new coaches, and new philosophy should all be on the table. There’s been something off with this organization for years, and we’re not addressing the real issues. 

[TheLeviathan]

4 minutes ago, Vanimal46 said:

Falvey is definitely in my crosshairs too. The organization needs a clean start everywhere… New owners, new FO, new coaches, and new philosophy should all be on the table. There’s been something off with this organization for years, and we’re not addressing the real issues. 

Agreed, I really do like what they're doing on the pitching development side, but it just isn't enough to offset anything.

Sadly, without an ownership change, I'm not sure how much actually gets altered.

[USAFChief]

17 minutes ago, Linehan said:

On the plus side the Twins could get no hit today 

Cheese and rice they can't even pull that off!!1!

[sweetmusicviola16]

Losing to the CWS 9-0 today is not a good sign. It's yet only 0-4 and winning the last two of the trip would be a boost. Tons of teams have started 0-4 and had good seasons. But the bottom line is this team is very poorly put together. This is not a good team positionally. 

[JD-TWINS]

6 hours ago, jud6312 said:

Guys aren't performing like they're capable of and the team exudes zero confidence or fire, and hasn't since before the All Star break last season. So what happened? 

 

The likeliest scenario to me is that Rocco has lost their attention in the clubhouse and it's carrying over to the field.

Do we really think Byron Buxton needs to be guided into performing by his Manager?

Carlos Correa shows up at the Park & doesn’t know how to prepare himself to play a game without Rocco putting his arm around him or giving some motivational speech to the Team.

These are professional athletes not 14 year olds.

Is Paddack missing the plate with 5-6 straight sliders (when thrown) and then throwing absolute gut shots down the middle because his Manager didn’t get him mentally prepared. His velocity was 95-97mph in the 1st and 91mph in the 3rd. He isn’t talented enough physically nor between the ears to be in the rotation - that’s a front office issue!

They were cruising and 17 games over .500 on August 16th last year………they started the year 7-13 ……. for 4 months they played 23 games over .500 in ‘24. Baldelli had absolutely nothing to do with any of that success but ALL the piss poor play by the players over the past 2 months of baseball are his fault. Doesn’t make a lot of sense.

[JD-TWINS]

5 hours ago, sweetmusicviola16 said:

Losing to the CWS 9-0 today is not a good sign. It's yet only 0-4 and winning the last two of the trip would be a boost. Tons of teams have started 0-4 and had good seasons. But the bottom line is this team is very poorly put together. This is not a good team positionally. 

OK roster stuff:

Castro has started fine at 2B

Larnach has started fine in LF

Lopez gave up 2 earned runs & Ryan gave up 1 earned run

Same two Catchers they’ve had for last two seasons

……………..

Bad roster stuff:

Wallner - Buxton - Correa - France - Miranda have approximately 5 hits between them through 4 games.

Ober & Paddack have given up 17 earned runs through a combined 5 2/3 innings.

Lewis & Lee are out - not helping at all.

I agree that the everyday rostered guys leave something to be desired…………need another big bat to be competitive and to have enough depth to weather mini-slumps they’re experiencing. On paper, Lewis & Lee are the added depth…. or the FO could rationalize that they are the depth.

[mnfireman]

After today's debacle against the ChiSox: 18-126 (.143), 5 2B, 1 HR. .143 (30)/.206 (30)/.230 (29) (.436 OPS (30))

Castro and Larnach: 8-24 (.333), 3 2B, 1 HR (all by Castro)

Rest of team: 10-102 (.098), 2 2B, 1 HR

Not going to win any games with hitting like that, even if the pitching is good (it has not been).

[JD-TWINS]

20 hours ago, nicksaviking said:

I think Baldelli should have been fired long ago. I don't think he's a good manager in the slightest.

My point is, the posters that demand everything said about the manager be a scathing take down, make the rest of us who have rational takes look crazy too.

Where in what you are saying today is a rational take? “I think Baldelli should have been fired long ago……….”

[nicksaviking]

11 minutes ago, JD-TWINS said:

Where in what you are saying today is a rational take? “I think Baldelli should have been fired long ago……….”

I don't think he's a terribly good manager. He's average to below average at best. I don't blame him for everything like most do, but his style, particularly on offense, is grating, boring and now ineffective. Maybe he didn't need to be fired "long ago", but certainly  at the end of last year. 

That team clearly got stale and things no longer were working offensively. Same thing happened with Gardenhire. It was obvious when things got stale when he was in charge and ownership refused to acknowledge or care and kept him on for years after. He should have been let go even if it was just to shake things up. 

 

[tony&rodney]

2 hours ago, nicksaviking said:

That team clearly got stale and things no longer were working offensively. Same thing happened with Gardenhire. It was obvious when things got stale when he was in charge and ownership refused to acknowledge or care and kept him on for years after. He should have been let go even if it was just to shake things up. 

 

The Pohlad family, from Carl to now, have not often been active in any functions related to the team. There are exceptions: signings of Puckett, Mauer, Buxton, and Correa. These were Pohlad specific. A couple of changes in the front office ... the move from Ryan to Falvey was a Pohlad thing. The front office guy is tasked with hiring and firing managers. The Pohlads are almost always just guys who sign the checks. Some view this as a curse and others as a blessing. 

When the team sells, which could be in months or years, there will be sweeping change. Falvey and Baldelli will be former Twins employees and a new set of people will take their chairs. Until then, let us hope the players perform better reducing the manager and front office to non-entities in the games and comment section.

[nicksaviking]

22 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

The Pohlad family, from Carl to now, have not often been active in any functions related to the team. There are exceptions: signings of Puckett, Mauer, Buxton, and Correa. These were Pohlad specific. A couple of changes in the front office ... the move from Ryan to Falvey was a Pohlad thing. The front office guy is tasked with hiring and firing managers. The Pohlads are almost always just guys who sign the checks. Some view this as a curse and others as a blessing. 

When the team sells, which could be in months or years, there will be sweeping change. Falvey and Baldelli will be former Twins employees and a new set of people will take their chairs. Until then, let us hope the players perform better reducing the manager and front office to non-entities in the games and comment section.

I'm not hopeful. These things don't usually turn around without significant overhaul and shake up. 

I'm not mad, I've accepted it and I'm just biding my time.

[tony&rodney]

16 minutes ago, nicksaviking said:

I'm not hopeful. These things don't usually turn around without significant overhaul and shake up. 

I'm not mad, I've accepted it and I'm just biding my time.

Understood and understandable. The team needs to sell and a clean sweep follows.

In the meantime, Festa was fun to watch last week. Tampa Bay plays some real baseball. Every aspect of the game is possible within any one of their games. Also, the Rockies have great gloves at 1B, 3B, SS, and CF with average or better guys at all other positions. They are decided underdogs but were fun to watch. That is how I'm biding my time.

[Senior Softball Guy]

Willie Castro is tied for the best era on the team, best batting average, tied for HR leade all while playing 4 positions! MVP! We have a K-Mart version of Ohtani right here! Enjoy....