Should Fans Trust the Twins' Front Office?

Isn't this basically the 3rd version of this conversion just this week?

Oh well.

I don't like standing pat this past deadline. I felt there was STILL a chance to add a single pen arm at least to help out that wouldn't have cost much.. I wouldn't have minded a RH bat...usually plenty available...but it did seem there were few moved, and I'm not sure who might have made a significant difference.

I've never been afraid to call out the FO if I disagree with a move, or a lack of one. But what they've done to rebuild the entire system in 6 1/2yrs has been impressive to me. 3 playoff appearances and a pair of exciting back to back division wins has been impressive to me. While the FO doesn't run the draft, they are in charge of the scouting department that has produced some great drafts. And despite a very disappointing 2022, I just can't demand their dismissal or any lack of trust because of it. They had a team that was in 1st place all but a handful of games all the way in to early August. They were unusually aggressive at the deadline to make additions. And while we can look back at those trades and how bad they turned out, they sure seemed smart, exciting, and geared to help move the team to a 3rd ALC banner. Injuries just decimated the team to a degree that nobody could recover from. And I'm just going to debate for the umpteenth time, with revisionist thinking, about the merit of those moves.

And I'm not completely upset with the current "power plays" offensive format. Why? Because power plays, always has, and always will. Recent drafts, and Martin acquired via trade, shows that in the system they have been looking more and more at speed and "hitting" ability, while still looking to keep adding power as well. But you can't just flip a switch overnight for those changes to take place.

Where the FO is STARTING to lose at least some of my faith is their approach to THIS season. And I will state yet again that I felt they got the offseason 90% right, and then STOPPED. And that's where I have issue. I loved adding all 3 of Vazquez, Farmer, and Taylor. And while none of the 3 have done as well as hoped, and have been pressed in to more time than wanted here and there, they have been quality additions. Castro has turned out far better than hoped for, and I liked his addition as well. And Solano was a surprise that has also paid back his late addition in surprising fashion. 

But while I had high hopes for both Alcala and Moran...and I still have a lot of faith in the potential of Moran...I simply didn't understand just trusting in them to be counted on vs making additions to the pen. I advocated many times for 1 RH BP option for experience and depth. It didn't have to be Fulmer, but he seemed obvious. I haven't looked him up recently, but after a rough start to the year, he's been good for the Cubs. I believe his deal was only around $4-5M. Even with a record payroll, that extra few $M should have been affordable. Why not keep both veterans Coulombe...very good when healthy for the club...and Hoffman...doing a good job with the Phillies this year...who were having very good springs? They cost very little monetarily, and would be inexpensive DFA cuts if they washed out. I have ZERO problems saving $ by building a smart and deep pen with prospects, failed starters, and reclamation and bounceback candidates. But then why cut those types of players when you have them right in your hands???

Imagine a pen that had Coulombe, Hoffman, Fulmer on hand, PLUS, the bounceback of Stewart and DeLeon?  You'd still have Moran available and...at the time...a hopeful Alcala.

Just a BLOWN opportunity for a better, deeper pen with little $ investment if things didn't turn out right.

Again, I liked the trade for Taylor, and I still do. And I HATED the signing of Gallo. I still wouldn't have done it. I do GET why they did it...questions about the health of AK and Larnach...a possible rebound in his career that might pay dividends, but as a mid market team you have to trust in your available talent all the more. If you really believe in Kepler and want to keep him...that might yet turn out to be way smarter than I ever believed...then don't sign Gallo at all! 

To be 100% fair, Gallo was signed before the Correa saga played out. And they were obviously looking for/hoping for a rebound version that would help the offense with power and OB%. But while I applauded the Taylor trade, there was still a need for a legitimate RH OF bat for this team. And it's been ongoing for a few years now. Signing Gallo took that away. At some point you have to trust in your talent on hand and run with them! Larnach, Kirilloff, Wallner, and Gordon SHOULD have been trusted if you were keeping Kepler, and a RH bat should have been added. And if you guessed wrong...and it happens...then you adjust later. But Gallo was a mistake...one I tried to accept and understand...and is a mistake even now.

If they had trusted more in what they had available in the pen already, had added a RH OF bat, the trade deadline might have been obviously null, or might have been a SINGLE need and opportunity to add a single missing piece. Imagine the RH bat they added didn't turn out, for example.

I miss Arraez as a fan tremendously. But I'd make the trade of him for Lopez every day of the week. No insult to a favorite of mine and most everyone's, but Julien is basically a younger, potentially even better, replacement and we have a high quality SP under control, very good, with room to be even better.

The Twins are trusting in their young talent more and more in regard to Julien, Lewis, Kirilloff, even the surprising Castro, and FINALLY in Wallner. Personally, I still believe they are just wrong not letting Larnach come up right now to replace Gallo out of some stubborn sense lightning will suddenly strike. OR, the hell with it, let Larnach sit for a while longer if you want to, but bring up Williams to play 1B. So what if he's a RH bat, and so is Solano. At least Solano can be OK at 2B/3B. Could Williams possibly be worse than a 43% K bat who only hits .160 with a sub .300 OB%?

Being patient can be a good thing. Being patient has allowed our FO to make some really good moves here and there. Or not make some moves. 

But where they have failed at times, despite being very aggressive at times, is being TOO patient, OR, stubborn. And they have failed at times to not identifying with what they have. Or holding on too long for what they don't have.

And that frustrates the hell out of me!

I know it's about the FO, but the manager is part of that. I don't think Rocco is a great manager. I think he's pretty good though. And at the end of the day, he can only deal with he's given. By his own admission, his first couple of seasons was sitting back and letting the Bomba Squad do their thing. NOW, he's been actually managing. The whole "nobody gets to pitch beyond 5 innings" is SO TIRED. It's always been based on the arms available. 

I don't like some of the early exits, or the late exits he's employed.  I don't like him playing to the ego of SP at times this season and asking a RP to come in mid inning, but I also love the trust he's placed in his SP. But I have to admit I do love him letting his SP just telling him "I got this" and letting him go.  I also love how many SB and bunts and suicide squeezes and the such have happened this year. Rocco has stated this is the first year he's had a real opportunity to manage the game and do the little things. And Rocco is the FO manager, signed to an extension. 

So do I trust the FO?

My answer is YES. 

A virtual decade of disappointment baseball without ultimate results but obvious improvements and some good seasons doesn't make me ask for a change in the FO, or the manager, at this point. 

But do I feel they have been SLOW to make some obvious changes needed for THIS season, and did they stop short of what they COULD have done for this season? 

YES.

And that gives me pause. IMO, how the Twins finish this year, and what the FO does this offseason, will define what I think of them. There's an awful lot to like with a few tweaks and a couple of additions to make it all work.

The trust is still there. But just be smarter over the next 2 months, and the offseason.  Blow that, and I'm on board for change

50 minutes ago, Hosken Bombo Disco said:

Has he said why that is?

I'm sure it was rather off the cuff and hyperbolic, but the comment was in regard to 2019 and 2020 when the Bomba Squad was in play. Again, off the cuff and hyperbolic. But also doesn't take a genius to look at changes since then to see some truth there, as well as watching changes in bunting, squeezes, and SB recently.