Better than we thought?

[Major League Ready]

I have hired hundreds of people and fired my fair share but I just can't come close to a qualified opinion on Rick Anderson's abilities without much closer examination. In other words, being able to observe him directly. Even if I did, it would still be difficult because I don't have the requisite years of professional baseball experience. Anyone who thinks they can make a qualified decision on antecdotal evidence definitely does not possess the leadship skills to be making firing decisions.

[Major League Ready]

I don’t think wins and losses is probably the best way to judge this season. The questions is wheter or not the team is positioned to be improved in a sustainable way.

 

On the plus side …

 

Gibson should be a boost to the starting pitching staff

Deduno looks like he will be a decent middle of the rotation starter

The bullpen looks very solid

Dozier and Florimon have greatly improved the defense up the middle.

Dozier looks as if he has developed offensively and can sustain it.

Arcia looks promising.

Hick’s defense is good and we have reason to believe he will get better.

Dozier is a reasonable lead-off option until a better option arrives.

Mauer has been Mauer and will likely remain Mauer.

Andrew Albers might just be a reliable middle to back of the rotation starter.

 

On the down side …

 

Diamond who was supposed to be reliable is anything but

Worley is a big question mark

Meyer and May are still big question marks

The free agent market looks worst than last year and based on the performance of last year’s FAs, free agency is not the answer.

We have a hole at 1B

Parmalee has not performed and we need to move Willingham to DH

 

Net

 

We will likely be better defensively.

Improved offense will come down to Hick’s and Arcia living up to their potential.

Dozier being the player we have seen since June 1^st

Willingham bouncing back reasonably well.

We might be able to pick-up a FA 1B that would improve the team.

 

Are we a better team defined in terms of will we be better next year comes down to the following. Here is my Top 10 list.

 

Will Gibson be the solid #2 we hope.

Will Deduno be able to perform at a level similar to this year.

Will Albers be the Diamond of 2012?

Will Diamond be the Diamond of 2012?

Will they add a Phil Hughes or better?

Will Meyers or Pinto contribute in the 2^nd half of 2014?

Will Hick’s adjust to the ML jump as he did to the other levels?

Will Arcia realize his considerable potential?

Will Parmalee or Colabello surprise us?

Will they upgrade 1B through free agency?

 

Lots of Ifs. The team could actually be a lot better in 2014 or the same mediocre stuff we have been watching. The best case scenario would be quite a bit better. I would like to hear what you guys think about the Top 10 “ifs”.

[howieramone1406390264]

Major League Ready, I think you're very close. Good post!

[TheLeviathan]

Given that this team is not very good at anything but relief pitching, it's not much to build on. I think Gardy has done a pretty damn good job this year, but being bad at starting pitching and offense is not much to be happy about. I don't see us any closer to contending....Arcia, Dozier, Deduno, bullpen have stepped up but Diamond, Worley, Plouffe, Hicks, Parmelee have stepped back. Feels like wheels spinning to a lucky record.

[Benchwarmerjim]

whether Gardy resigns or is not offered a contract is out of my control so I tend to not think about it too much. BUT, I do watch most every game still and I am just happy that this team still plays baseball. They may not be good at it sometimes, but it seems like the team hasnt quit. I think that kind of stuff primarily falls under the manager role.

[IdahoPilgrim]

What I care about is getting to the playoffs. A couple of those years, I thought the Twins should have pushed a little harder to shore up problem areas but a large part of those series losses were just **** luck. Good players playing badly in key moments.

 

 

This.

 

Over the past 18 years, over half of the eventual world series winners ended the regular season with only the 4th best or lower regular season record. Once you get to the playoffs, anything can happen.

 

1st best record: 3

2nd: 2

3rd: 3

4th: 3

5th: 2

6th: 1

7th: 1

8th: 1

9th: 1

13th: 1

[John Bonnes]

I think there is almost no chance that Gardenhire is fired this year. I'm not sure the record is that important - Ryan knows what he stuck Gardy and his staff with this year. But he didn't implode, nor did the team. I've always thought the attention towards Gardy possibly being dismissed was overstated. Ryan has shown he has plenty of patience if he believes in someone.

[drjim]

I think there is almost no chance that Gardenhire is fired this year. I'm not sure the record is that important - Ryan knows what he stuck Gardy and his staff with this year. But he didn't implode, nor did the team. I've always thought the attention towards Gardy possibly being dismissed was overstated. Ryan has shown he has plenty of patience if he believes in someone.

 

I truly think it comes down to how ruthless Jim Pohlad is as an owner. After three bad seasons in a row it will be hard to sell Gardy/Andy coming back for another one. This is a bottom line issue.

[clutterheart]

The team has had three really bad 10-game stretches. Obviously, those count. But all we would need to do next year to be a .500 team is to go .500 in those bad stretches. That's a matter of a better starter or two. That's why I'm much more confident at this time this year than at this time last year.

 

I dunno

 

But their pitching staff is pretty much the worst in baseball. I will have no confidence the team will be better until they shore this up. But I see no reason that Gardy should be fired, because the fault lies sqaurly on Ryan.

[Guest USAFChief]

I'll be disappointed if Gardy is brought back, and a bit surprised. It's time for change in this organization, and the logical place to start is with a new manager.

[howieramone1406390264]

I'll be disappointed if Gardy is brought back, and a bit surprised. It's time for change in this organization, and the logical place to start is with a new manager.

Chief, this is exactly the wrong time to makes changes. The danger in rebuilding is that it may never end. See Kansas City and Pittsburgh. Teams get 3 years into a 5 year plan and then panic. Ryan has many of the pieces in place and will gladly return to retirement when the job is done. Gardy's challenge will be is he the one who can take us deep into the play-offs.

[beckmt]

I believe that if Poland tells Ryan to fire Gardy, Ryan will retire again and then Gardy will be fired. Will that be any better, probably not. Next year will be another small increment year unless 2 of the upper FA pitchers are signed. 2015 is the first realistic year Twins may be .500 with addition of FA pitchers. My main reason for believing they will sign the pitchers is money. Twins could be looking at an 80% retention rate of season ticket holders unless some excitement is generated. Looking at about the same starting staff will not do it.

[ThePuck]

Gardy's challenge will be is he the one who can take us deep into the play-offs.

 

Don't we have this question already figured out?