rv78

The great Buxton leaving the game due to another injury. Left side soreness. Yeah, he's already played about as much as he can in 1 season.

I wouldn't trust him to change my underwear.

Sorry to say, but I think most of you have this team pegged as a contender when all they are is a pretender. Maybe the way they are is not the anomoly but 2023 when they went to the playoffs was the anomoly. Just because they are the bigger spender in a weak division doesn't mean they are good or even should be good. It just means they have spent more money and it is likely that it wasn't spent wisely. Has the big money allocated to an over-rated shortstop made a difference or has it been a hindrance to improving the team in many other ways? We all know and have seen the quality of fringe players, that are other teams cast-offs they add every year, that DON'T make the team better but just hold the status quo. Has the FO built a pipeline of pitching that can be counted on where a pitcher or two can continously be added to the roster or has that been a failure? That's an easy NO answer. We have seen the quality of the young hitters they have drafted that are now being brought up and they either can't stay on the field or aren't anything close to being difference makers. Has the Manager done a good job getting his players to play the "right" way on the field? Has he instilled confidence in them or is it the opposite by changing the lineup daily, platooning at every whim, thus showing them that he thinks there is someone better that bats the other way, so now they have to be replaced in the lineup. Has the FO shown that you are going to be held accountable by rewarding that same Manager with a contract extension or picking up the option even though the club plays below expectations at almost every facet of the game, every season? I think most of you have it wrong. This IS what they are...... and unfortunately, they seem to feel that it is ok because all they do is rinse and repeat.

Over-rated and over-paid. Been saying it since they resigned him. Over $37M this season for what they are getting is a joke. That much money should get you a guy that hits .320, 30HR, 100+ RBI's. Or at least 1 of those 3. He's never done any of them once much less all 3 combined. Good job Falvey.

I sense this is sarcasm. If not, you have it backwards.

I have pretty much checked out a long time ago. When you root for your favorite team to lose, hoping it will force a change that is so long overdue, and then they just reinforce their bad decisions by making more, you walk away. I cannot watch this type of baseball. Owners, Front Office, Manager, Coaches, Star Players, take your pick....... this team is bad and there is no end to it in sight until we have a new Owner, new Front Office, new Manager, new Coaches, and new Star players. Decided to go to a game this summer, we are heading to Kansas City, not Minnesota.

They did. They brought in Bride, Clemens, Wentz. Traded Alcala for a minor leaguer. They are very good at making moves to make it look like they are doing something. Unfortunately the players they bring in are other teams castoffs and won't improve the team, which is obvious to even the casual fan. The moves they should make like firing Rocco or getting Correa to accept a trade to get out from under his over-paid worthless rearend will never happen because it would signify a mistake on their part and "the smartest guys in the room" can't have that happen. When Falvey and Levine took over, their goal, in their own words, was "to build a perrenial contender". What we have is a perrenial pretender.

Sure, everyone jumps in a lake because everyone else does it, so everyone drowns. The smart one does something different that sets them apart from the rest. That's how you get better. But yeah, I understand Rocco won't change because that's what everyone else is doing. Even if it doesn't work or there is a different way that would have better results. No point in trying. Pitchers can't even go 100 pitches in a game anymore or their arm will implode. Biggest reason for it is not building up arm strength by throwing that many pitches regularly. 30 years from now they'll be down to 3 innings and 50 pitches max because of the reasoning you use. We've gone from pitchers regularly throwing over 300 innings a year down to 200 a year and the majority of todays pitchers can't even do that. When Bert Blyleven was in the booth he couldn't understand pulling a starter at anytime in a game when they were pitching well. So he and everyone else who thinks the same thing is wrong..... just because that's what everyone else does. Okay. Judging by the amount of pitchers that get injured every year now compared to how many got hurt 50 or 60 years ago, I'd say the amount of pampering and babying todays pitchers get from all of the early pulling in games to save their arms isn't working.

Not just the offense but the bullpen as well. Analytics should be telling Rocco to use his starters longer since they are the better option. Won't happen since his perfect world uses 4 or 5 pitchers every game. win or lose.

You are missing the point. And that is...... when the change isn't working you don't continue with it. LaRussa changed things but it worked. Analytics and especially Rocco's overuse of them doesn't work. Big difference. I would have no problem with analytics driving decisions if they have proven to work, but in more cases than not, they don't. So how about another change........... and stop relying on analytics.

In the Minnesota Twins loss on Tuesday, Rocco Baldelli’s bullpen usage was unusual, and a bit inscrutable. What, exactly, was he thinking? The problem is, he doesn't think. Or at the very least, doesn't think ahead. A smart Manager would know that the heart of the order was coming up in the ninth inning and you save and use your BEST high leverage bullpen guy for that situation. Not the 3rd best or someone even less. It's as smart as putting Mickey Gasper in the leadoff spot. If analytics drive every decision he makes then Rocco needs to have analytics show him how often his analytics fail. Evidently losing ballgames due to them isn't enough of an indicator for him to notice. When you trust the process more than the results of the process, then you have failed.

I never said he was starting or needed to. Which only solidifies my position even more.. We don't need other teams trash even on the bench. Go ahead and argue that our young players in AAA need to be playing everyday. A callup from the minors, until Lewis returns, would have been a few days, or a week or 2 at the most. It wouldn't be detrimental to their development at all. McCusker has been mentioned a few times here. Tell me he wouldn't have been a better option at 26 years old and currently hitting well. Would calling up a 30 year old Armando Alvarez or a 30 year old Ryan Fitzgerald to sit on the bench for an emergency situation going to be any worse? Maybe they'd like a chance. What is wrong with our own players in AAA? If they aren't worthy of a callup at 30 years old, why are they there?

So you are saying they have no one left in the minors that can hit better than a .197 hitting Clemens. Or that adding that player from the minors for a few games to be a bench backup until Lewis comes back, which is just a few days away, would hurt the team. Ok, sure. Clemens is not starter caliber depth either.

Ok, I'll repost since you missed it. MInors. If they aren't any better than the dumpster players other teams are dumping then this organization is in trouble. They brought up Keaschall and it seems he was ready. He wouldn't have been brought up if not for injury. I go to the next best man in AAA or even AA. Not someone else's trash. I'll add to that. If we need to add other teams garbage that can't even hit .200 why bring up Keaschall in the first place? Let's hear it Wizard.

MInors. If they aren't any better than the dumpster players other teams are dumping then this organization is in trouble. They brought up Keaschall and it seems he was ready. He wouldn't have been brought up if not for injury. I go to the next best man in AAA or even AA. Not someone else's trash.

Mickey Gasper, Kody Clemens, Jonah Bride Totally agree with mikelink45 on this one. We've got a bench and it is directly from the dumpster. Good job Falvey. With every move you make, you are lowering the floor and making this team worse. It is laughable,

I've been a Twins fan since the seventies. I have never felt more disconnected from a Twins team as I am right now. Attendance numbers lately indicate I am not the only one who has lost interest. The current regime has spouted off how they are the smartest guys in the room, yet since the first season when they took over, 2019, and won 101 games, they have gone in the opposite direction. You can argue that they don't have owners who give them enough money to spend but they are the ones who allocated half of the payroll to 3 players. How smart is that? The current core of players they have either drafted, brought in through Free Agency, or trades. And we see poor baseball being played almost daily with no consequences. This is their team, no excuses, There will only be a light when the current regime is gone and I'm afraid no amount of empty seats at Target Field will matter until the team is sold and everyone from the top executive on down to the lowest coach on the staff is replaced.

You were joking when you said that Gallo was a fan-favorite... Right? Because if you weren't then the rest of your article can't be taken seriously either.

This may be true but since the addition of Tingler as a coach the Twins haven't improved. One could say they have gotten worse.

Problem was, it wasn't a good decision. That's the point the article was trying to convey.

Not quite sure I understand the concept of saying a "sound-decision making process" is being made just because the player you are getting was good. Anyone can see how a player performed previously and if it was good want to trade for that player. The real judge of a trade is how that player played for you when you had him. In this case, it was a total failure. It's also not a "sound-decision making process" when the player is having arm issues and you choose to ignore them. Was trading for a 1/2 year wonder like Jorge Lopez a sound-decision making process? No. Or DeScalfani? No. I wouldn't go out on a limb and say bringing back Correa was either. A known cheater that 2 other teams didn't want due to injury questions, who also didn't want to stay with the Twins after his first tenure, leaving for bigger money. What does that tell you about the supposed leader when he has the choice to stay or leave and chooses the latter? And we are to believe that he is the team leader? He didn't even want to be here in the first place. The Mets and Giants are the ones who had a "sound-decision making process". Not the Twins.

Tingler came from the Padres. Didn't they improve quite a bit after he was dismissed? I mean, they didn't change the players and the Manager..... Just the Manager..... And it led to improvement. Whoever the choice would be to replace Rocco in some unforseen circumstance that he'd actually be fired, please don't replace him with Tingler. He's already proven himself to be an ineffective Manager.

Would Rocco be a good manager if he was with the Yankees or Dodgers? If he had all of their talent at his disposal? Or would they too be lacking in fundalmentals? My guess is yes. Being a good manager is about getting the most and best from your players regardless of the level of talent you have to work with. Sure he won big with the bomba squad his first season. The players were only 1 year removed from Molitor. Maybe there was enough influence from him yet that season to play the right way. We all know how they play now with Rocco being the Manager. 2020 was an anomoly so we can throw that season aside. It didn't last long enough to see how the team would have played the entire year. That leaves the 2023 season as probably the only season that was successful solely under his leadership. I don't know about you but 1 good year out of the last 6 doesn't cut it for me and it shouldn't for the Owners or the FO. Many here on this site including the author of this article, defend Rocco with about the only thing they can come up with and that is, he doesn't have a bunch of stud players that the Pohlads have spent a gazzillion dollars on. Yeah, I get it, it's easier to win with the more talent you have. So, they are suppose to make his job EASIER? Doesn't winning with less talent make you the better Manager? Were the 1987 and 1991 Twins teams the highest paid teams in the league at that time? Were they loaded with superstuds up and down the lineup? Did they win 100 plus games those 2 seasons like the Twins did in 2019? No,.. they won because TK got the most from his players, They played the right way. Was Coach K a great Coach for Duke because he was a good coach or because he had a handfull of All-Americans on the floor every night? If Dave Roberts doesn't win multiple WS Championships for the Dodgers, with all of the money they have spent, do you think he'll be fired or get to slide by with no consequenses? I don't think anyone here or even the Pohlads or Falvey expect Rocco to win World Series after World Series, but they should expect him to have the players playing the right way fundamentally. To play up to their ability. Currently and for too long now under Rocco's leadership, this team has been allowed to be less than mediocre when the expectation is so much more.

The FO will treat worthless Rocco the same way they treat worthless veterans, like Gallo and Margot that don't perform. They'll stick with him until they just have no other choice. If it happens at all, it'll be at the end of the season when his contract expires. Before that, it'll take a miracle.

Try not to watch. You can't help it? Then try not to laugh. And try to understand what Rocco is doing. Too late. I'll never understand. Only a brainless wonder can do this crap. Why does Topa start a game instead of your normal starter? You obviously didn't need to do a bullpen game if you're going to use your starter anyway. Dumb. Why does Sands get the call in a game that you are leading when you need a lock down guy to save the win instead of using your Ace closer, Duran. Then you use your stud closer 2 days later in a game when you are behind by 4 runs. Stupid. Seriously, a 10 year old could manage this club better.