silverslugger

Just adding my two cents, which is very similar to a lot of the other comments. Make better in game decisions in terms of situational baseball. Actually have a plan with a running game. Have expectations in terms of defense. I don't even care about post-season wins at this point. Do those things listed above well, and the rest will take care of itself if the front office gives you the horses and the horses maintain average health compared to the league.

I don't need Rocco to be a rah, rah guy in the dugout trying to light a fire. I don't need Rocco to be the Manager thrown out of a game every other week. I need Rocco to know when to hit and run, when to call for a bunt, how to create chaos on the bases and in the batter's box that the other teams defense must account for. I also need him to know when to pull a starter and how to manage a bullpen. IMHO, he falls woefully short in each and every one of those areas and it hamstrings the Twins.

Anyone know what the Twins record is in extra inning games under Baldelli since the implementation of the runner on 2nd rule?

I've been a Twins fan since the mid-70's as a young boy. Went through the days of a weekly Saturday game and Monday Night Baseball. Twins were rarely on either, so had to listen to 'CCO. Lived out of State when Cable first started telecasting 60ish games a season, so continued to listen to 'CCO and other affiliates from afar. Enjoyed watching many games a year while Twins were on FSN and I had DirecTV. Also went to a few games a year despite being 250 miles from Twin Cities. Cut the cord when DirectTV got up to $170 a month for me and switched to $60 Hulu. Enjoyed watching FSN on Hulu for a couple years. Then, poof, a switch to Bally and it's all gone. Also, I live in some sort of baseball created viewing hell called Iowa where the Twins/Brewers/Royals/White Sox/Cubs/Cardinals all choose it as part of their blackout territory. So, no baseball on TV for me. I watch a few games a year now when the Twins play the Sox and it's on Hulu. I listen a bit on the radio, not as much as before. I get my Twins fix here, for the most part, rarely even watch any highlights from anywhere on the 'net. I haven't gone to a game since this mess began and haven't spent any money on Twins merch...REFUSE. They will get none of my hard earned $$$. As an aside, I'm 57 and grew up worshipping baseball. The powers that be are absolutely killing the game. I teach in a High School. When I started teaching in the late 80's many kids were still interested in baseball. Now, almost none of them. The only ones interested are the very few who have grown up as little leaguers/legion ball/school ball. 95% of kids don't have a clue and don't give a care. 30 years from now, MLB and it's fanbase is going to look much, much different than it does now. Much, Much, Different!

I don't disagree that they've lived up to the value of the contracts they signed. I think the bigger issue here though is the loss of opportunity from signing these players. In order to fully understand value, I think we have to ask what the Twins could have done instead of signing these two with those dollars. We also have to look at the cost of signing in terms of it's effect on bullpen use/overuse. When you sign two reclamation projects and they both end up being starting less than innings eating starting pitchers almost the entire year, well, that's 40% of your rotation killing the 'pen.

In terms of analytics. I don't think it's whether or not a manager uses analytics. They all use analytics to a certain extent. Heck, HR's, BA, and RBI's are old-school analytics. It's just that we've now enhanced those stats with newer, more meaningful stats. It's ultimately the choices the Manager makes in game on when and HOW to use the analytics/stats at your disposal. I would suggest we have several years worth of data that suggest that our current Manager has very little "feel" for how to manage a game based on the analytics available vs. situational baseball. An example: pure analytics, based on years of baseball stats, tell you not to give up the out with no outs when a runner is at 2B to sacrifice the runner to 3B. Of course, this data does not take into account that it's extra innings and score or die. It doesn't take into account the increased pressure put on the defense if you're batting in the top of the inning and they have to defend against a bunt. A bunt may well result in man at 3B, man at 1B and still no outs. It doesn't account for the pressure put on the offense of the home team in the bottom half to score if the visiting team DOES ultimately score that run on a sac fly in the top half. Generally, Rocco has been horrible in extra inning situations ever since this runner on second business came into existence. Just one example.

There is a very clear reason why Pagan is still on the team and this time it has nothing to do with Baldelli (More on Baldelli in a moment). Pagan is still on the team because of the stubbornness (is that actually 3 b's, 3 n's, AND 3 S's, LOL). They traded away an all-star closer and team favorite within 24 hours of opening day for two controllable players. The one blew up in their face immediately and the other has had a sizzling fuse all season. It's their desire to prove they got something in return even though it's been nothing but a big pile of pooh to this point. Enough with the hubris and be done, DFA Pagan and move on. Baldelli, where does he come into play in this. Well, simply, he has absolutely no acumen for situational baseball and his management of the pitching side of things is horrendous. The Twins no longer have the Bomba Squad, that was a rarity, and need to do the little things (situational) well. Unfortunately, they almost never do the little things well. I'd take that Manager in Cleveland any day of the week over our current version.

I'll state the obvious. Can we just DFA Pagan already? Having him still on the team at this point is an insult to our collective intelligence. Then again, Baldelli's in-game decision-making is also often an insult to our collective intelligence.

Barring injury, he'll fit very nicely...in a trade package. As a single piece in a trade, the Twins might get some other org's #15-#25 prospect IF the Twins send the buyout money as well. Am I undervaluing Sano? I'm just over waiting for him to be the next Miguel Cabrera that we all hoped he would be. I'd love for him to be on the team and have his signature August/September hot streak. I just think it's less likely than ever after sitting out with injury. And we can't afford to give him a month of at bats waiting for his bat to catch up to MLB pitching.

It's days like today and weeks like this week that I thank my lucky stars that Sinclair/Bally Sports North/THE Minnesota Twins/AND MLB have completely screwed me out of being able to watch this horrendous mess on TV. I used to watch the Twins quite a bit before I decided that $175 per month for DirecTV was ridiculous. I used to go to a few Twins games each year (it's a 500 mile round trip for me). Now, the only way I keep track of the Twins and their minor league affiliates is through TwinsDaily. Sorry for the curveball here, it's probably in the dirt, just like the Twins bullpen. Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming.

All I had to read were three words that told me NO, U...C...and L!

Just another way in which the powers that be are making the game un-watchable. And to think, this explosion of the "need" to have position players pitch supposedly meaningless innings comes at a time when managers are complaining that their pens are being limited from 9 down to 8 pitchers. Who's baseball universe did I wake up in?

A far from petty attempt at your part to play the muse (ic) and a wonderful breakdown of the past weeks news. Somewhere, someone is saying don't do me like that unless your willing to pay me a Kansas City sized Royalty. Your work is too good so respond by saying don't do me like that.

Just another in a long line of questionable decisions by this organization. Miranda should be on the field no less than 5 days per week, with at least 1 or 2 of those at 3B. Also, the problem with trading Urshela going into the deadline, contending teams that are serious about making a playoff run aren't looking for "league average" at 3B. They want a top 10 player at the position. The Twins have floundered for over a Month now being a less than .500 ballclub. Two words...More Miranda!

So you're thinking the Twins like Tucker more than Cameron at this point? Is Cameron just not as signable? Perhaps you could give what you see as the Twins board, top 7 or 8? Thanks for all your analysis Jeremy, it's been fun to read.

Perhaps the disparity speaks more to what the pitchers are doing rather than anything Joe is doing. Maybe with nobody on base pitchers are much more willing to pitch around Joe and nibble on the corners. Of course, he's not walking in these instances which means he's probably chasing a bit which speaks to the aggressiveness mentioned by a previous poster. This would be an interesting subject for Parker to address in only the way he can. Two perceptions on my part over the past few years; 1) Joe doesn't seem to be getting the benefit of the doubt on the outside edge with umps anymore. I think pitchers are pitching that outside edge to him so often now that the umps are calling more strikes just off the plate because there are so many pitches pitched there. Also, and this has been dealt with quite a bit, but I still feel Joe has probably been the biggest loser when it comes to the dynamics of Target Field. So many of his high drives to left field seem to die on the warning track. Left field is great for hitting homers, if they're line drives.

I've been a Twins fan since the mid-70's and have appreciated the entirety of Twins history. I've spent most of my adult life, since the early 80's, living in Iowa and putting up with a mix of Cubs/Sox/Cards/Royals fans in that order. I would say the Twins are probably the number two followed team in Iowa behind the Cubs. The only radio station I'm aware of in Iowa that has consistently been a Twins affiliate is the AM station out of Mason City. Over the years I've listened to WCCO, Mason City and the Twins affiliate out of Yankton, SD which seems to have the best reception wherever I go in Iowa. The local ESPN affiliate in Des Moines carried the Twins in 2010 and 2011. I don't believe it was a difficult decision for them to back out of their affiliation after last year. They didn't pick up another major league team, they simply added some high school baseball to their schedule. As of today, driving around Des Moines in the afternoon and realizing the Twins were playing I went to tune into the game on the radio. I first checked 570 out of Yankton and discovered they were not carrying this afternoon's game and instead were following their normal weekday afternoon routine, a good dose of farm related radio. I've known Yankton to do this in the past. I then turned the dial to 1300 KGLO out of Mason City. I was quite surprised to hear Rush Limbaugh's voice. Apparently, Mason City's radio management has decided that as of August 1 the Twins are so pathetic that listeners would rather listen to Limbaugh even though they have been a long time and dedicated Twins affiliate. Finally, I attempted to tune into 1500 out of the cities which I knew would be an almost impossibility to pick up. Sure enough, no signal. So, as of August 1, 2012 there was no way to catch the Twins on radio in the largest market in a neighboring state and within the definite imprint of "Twins Territory". The Front Office and others in charge had better realize that there is a slow but steady degradation of fan base. My fear is that it's going to get much worse before it gets better. Other observations?

I've been a Twins fan since the mid-70's and have appreciated the entirety of Twins history. I've spent most of my adult life, since the early 80's, living in Iowa and putting up with a mix of Cubs/Sox/Cards/Royals fans in that order. I would say the Twins are probably the number two followed team in Iowa behind the Cubs. The only radio station I'm aware of in Iowa that has consistently been a Twins affiliate is the AM station out of Mason City. Over the years I've listened to WCCO, Mason City and the Twins affiliate out of Yankton, SD which seems to have the best reception wherever I go in Iowa. The local ESPN affiliate in Des Moines carried the Twins in 2010 and 2011. I don't believe it was a difficult decision for them to back out of their affiliation after last year. They didn't pick up another major league team, they simply added some high school baseball to their schedule. As of today, driving around Des Moines in the afternoon and realizing the Twins were playing I went to tune into the game on the radio. I first checked 570 out of Yankton and discovered they were not carrying this afternoon's game and instead were following their normal weekday afternoon routine, a good dose of farm related radio. I've known Yankton to do this in the past. I then turned the dial to 1300 KGLO out of Mason City. I was quite surprised to hear Rush Limbaugh's voice. Apparently, Mason City's radio management has decided that as of August 1 the Twins are so pathetic that listeners would rather listen to Limbaugh even though they have been a long time and dedicated Twins affiliate. Finally, I attempted to tune into 1500 out of the cities which I knew would be an almost impossibility to pick up. Sure enough, no signal. So, as of August 1, 2012 there was no way to catch the Twins on radio in the largest market in a neighboring state and within the definite imprint of "Twins Territory". The Front Office and others in charge had better realize that there is a slow but steady degradation of fan base. My fear is that it's going to get much worse before it gets better. Other observations?

I just finished looking through the stats of our minor league affiliates from AAA down to the Appy League. When looking at pitchers I first look at WHIP, then k's to innings ratio and finallly k's/bb's ratio. I know there are many other stats/metrics but it's quick and easy to see who's having a good year and who isn't. So, give me some reason to be optimistic about our minor league pitching at this point. I'm not seeing much reason and really not seeing much dominance on anyone's part. It's appalling how few of our minor league pitchers come anywhere close to good k numbers. And by the way, our Major League staff has the fewest k's in all of baseball. Ryan et. al. certainly have their work cut out for them.

I just finished looking through the stats of our minor league affiliates from AAA down to the Appy League. When looking at pitchers I first look at WHIP, then k's to innings ratio and finallly k's/bb's ratio. I know there are many other stats/metrics but it's quick and easy to see who's having a good year and who isn't. So, give me some reason to be optimistic about our minor league pitching at this point. I'm not seeing much reason and really not seeing much dominance on anyone's part. It's appalling how few of our minor league pitchers come anywhere close to good k numbers. And by the way, our Major League staff has the fewest k's in all of baseball. Ryan et. al. certainly have their work cut out for them.

Thanks for the clarification, that explanation certainly makes more sense. One has to wonder then if spending an extra 15-20 million could've netted enough starting pitching to make this team a contender. (Did I even type that?)

I'm trying to remember the media coverage back in the fall when Ryan replaced Smith very abruptly. I thought I read something that suggested Smith was let go by the Pohlad's because he didn't think the roster, as constructed then, could compete and wanted to go into rebuild mode. Ryan, on the other hand, held the philosophy that the roster could be competitive with the right quick fixes. Now, don't get me wrong, I had no confidence that Smith had the competence to blow up the roster and rebuild. However, did the Pohlads and Ryan make a costly error that may haunt this franchise and further delay a return to respectability?

I'm trying to remember the media coverage back in the fall when Ryan replaced Smith very abruptly. I thought I read something that suggested Smith was let go by the Pohlad's because he didn't think the roster, as constructed then, could compete and wanted to go into rebuild mode. Ryan, on the other hand, held the philosophy that the roster could be competitive with the right quick fixes. Now, don't get me wrong, I had no confidence that Smith had the competence to blow up the roster and rebuild. However, did the Pohlads and Ryan make a costly error that may haunt this franchise and further delay a return to respectability?

I do believe ALL of the candidates listed so far would most likely continue to do things "The Twins Way" since all of them were indoctrinated in that way.

I know Joe Benson needs to learn how to command the strike zone better, but... oh wait, you say that isn't Joe Benson playing RF? It's who?... Clete Thomas? Who's he? And why is he playing so much when we have the likes of Joe Benson and Chris Parmelee? Disclaimer: I know, I know, Benson and Parmelee could both use more seasoning in AAA and both need to playing every day. I get it, I really do. GO TWINS! Go Clete Thomas!