Channing1964

But seriously whats not to like about Gimenez? We have to know he plays because he loves the game. He would be a great teacher to backstops and hurlers as well if I thought they were even thinking about that. To read the comments it seemed like we made this move to do Wilson a favor and bring their old buddy Gimenez back. No doubt he has a fond history with Shelton too. Maybe he's here to become the next bench coach?.

if we need a catching coach gosh i dont know where we could find one....Oh hey Joe...whats up?

i am going with this...This is no way to run a baseball team

Does the whole thing even make sense to you? I get it you wanna shoot me down...i wish i could just say "it's gonna be fine guys... we're heading in the right directiin...be patient" Its Not fine. We're going backwards one sidestep at a time. If it werd one isolated incident ok...theyre new at this, but ITS NOT! How did Sano make it through Spring Training and nobody saw these issues that ultimately had him sent not to AAA BUT FORT MYERS!!. At the first of June!!..what a coincidence he was magically deemed all better the day Escobar got traded. Did you pay attention to this season at all? I am sorry but too many things have happened that makes me step back and say Hmmm...whats really goin on here. I get it you dont agree with me ok...thats fine but you know i spit real.

Silly me how could i overlook their outstanding pitching...Bauer, Danny Santana, Andrew Miller, Carrasco...donthey get incentives for time spent on the D.L. The best story is the one about Bauer missing a playoff start because he cut his finger playing with his droid...l.m.m.f.a.o. gotta be chanpionshio favorites at this point..(sorry Derek)

I cant speak for the management skills of the front office but it would seem to me that nobody would be happy to hear.." Thad and I are thankful for this opportunity to build this franchise from scratch and i promise you Twins Fan in five years we will have a shot at playing .500 ball" There are different layers of players that were inherited by this regime. Those that were fan favorites that were at or near 30 and due for a new contract. The Sano,Buxton,Berrios class of guys that basically came up together and then the really young guys who we have time to address before a decision has to be made, and/or the older dudes that can be replaced easily. Is this what we can expect? Every Spring a new class of cant miss A and AA guys trot out, make a splash and fade into the woodwork. We talk about what a shrewd business move it was to dump a potential big money contract for three or four or five blue chip suspects. Meanwhile, we get to watch our favorite hometown heroes like the Escobars and Doziers (that we were so smart to dump just in time) compete for rings each and every year. Dang this is reminding me so much of the Calvin Griffith era that its .....sickening. I can see how the business of baseball has changed. Isn't the main source of revenue still ticket sales? at $1,100 a seat for the cheapest season ticket who is going to wait five years to see a competitive team on the field. That is whats so unrealistic about any 5 year plan. Every other team is trying to win. They recognize opportunities to make a run at the playoffs and take a shot. Why do we have to suffer through anybody's Five Year Plan? I dont see it...Never will. Nobody gives me five years to be mildly successful at my job.

Ok i have stepped back and i feel the same way. Perhaps you should read this...http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/24355789 and then watch the video. God forbid we should want any "Winners" around. I beg to differ that those injections could have waited until the off season. If you could ask him, he would rather have had the opportunity to work through it and finish the season.

Im not sure if this was specifically meant for me but it doesnt matter. I have no problem making my view very crystal clear. Hell No I dont think it was the right decision to sell at the 2018 trading deadline. I fully believe the group we had in place WAS capable to compete for and possibly win a World Series title. The factors that i cite are these. Santana was coming back off the D.L. Polanco was back from his suspension. Buxton would right himself and come back strong as in 2017.(which he did in Rochester..reference b.a. after the D.l.) Whatever Club Med retreat Sano was on was going to work and he would make a difference in the last 2 months. Lance Lynn never had a spring training and was finally rounding into the winner that he is.(check out his last few starts especially the last one at Fenway). Rodney had 25 saves when he was dumped for a rookie league suspect recovering from TJ surgery. Cleveland is a pretender that only had an eight game lead over us with 62 GAMES TO GO!. 10 of those 62 games were against Cleveland. HELL NO. We never should have tanked this season. It was a disgrace to do that to the season ticket holders, the fans , the players, and the coaching staff. Is that clear enough? This was a golden opportunity that was thrown away in favor of some analytical genius self proclaimed saviors. Giving up with one third of a season left is not the epitome of being a Minnesota Twins fan has ever included. Believe Dat.

In any system there are going to be inequities. The owners are going to talk to each other to find loopholes in the CBA. The agents are going to squawk about it and file grievances on behalf of their clients. Thats their job! The minor leagues should be part of the union and the minor league players should be paying dues to the union. This service time issue is going to bite the Twins in the butt because they so blatantly used it to their advantage and basically admitted it publically. If that's not shooting yourself in the foot then i must have seen something that nobody else saw. Now Minnesota, as an organization can be basically red flagged by every agent and veteran player as one that doesn't shoot straight and will get over on the players any way they can. I can't put it any other way. Nobody us gonna wanna come here because of our commitment to Winning Baseball in this regime. The question is what do we do now to fix it. Fixing it is gonna take way more effort than it was to screw it up in the first place. What surprises me is that this CBA doesnt even expire until 2021.

To me its simple...are they injury prone, where do they come from? Is it a winning program or organization?, What do former coaches, managers, and teammates have to say about them, do they stay out of trouble?, and are they "Winners?" Doesnt sound like too much homework to me ...but then its not their money anyways. You can always tank the season, trade ten guys for suspects and never wills, admit you were wrong and apologize to the fans and season ticket holders for putting them through two months of loser AAAA baseball, then pat yourself on the back for the team you might see in 2023.

They say they have the financial flexibility but i am questioning their recognition of talent all across the board. Falvey is supposed to be a master at spotting pitching prowess because of Kluber. Hahaahaaaa that will be the only time Matt Belisle will ever be compared to Corey Kluber. The way they have treated the players since the break this year is gonna make it real difficult to convince ANY decent players to even listen to us.

Amen to that I dont have time to wait for fhese two first year geniuses play fantasy baseball with my Twins. Who or what convinced Whoever that these guys are greatest thing since sliced bread? On the outside they spit new age analytics but underneath they are products of a good ole boy network of yes men who make sure to carry on a legacy started in Texas and Cleveland. Last time I checked we've won two titles since Cleveland won ANYTHING. And Texas is certainly not on my list of places im gonna go looking for the next new General Manager recruit. Carrying Jon Daniels briefcase for eleven years doesnt qualify you to get the opportunity to dismantle and sabotage my lifelong team. Put the Indians in the AL East or West and they wont smell the playoffs for 20 years. They dont impress me one bit. And I'm entitled to that opinion until you show me a championship they have ever won since 1954.

I totally agree. Be a man, make the phone call to Molitor and let him tell the whole team in private about trading Eduardo. That was a slap in Molitors face.I will never forget the look on his face when he saw it on tv. He already had made out a line up card with Escobar's name on it. Then they both show up the next day in Boston supposedly to meet with the team. That is Bull too. They joked about how they stayed away from the bat rack.(that probably was a good idea) ....Falvine is from that area. They probably went there to have dinner at his mom's house. Jeeze i gotta drop this whole subject...I cant even look at a score without my blood boiling.

It is quite possible to take my sarcasm in a literal way. I apologize for failing to see that everyone doesnt seem to recognize the image that Falvine and Levine appear to be portraying to me, so i shall try to tone down the sarcasm. Heres the take ...It doesnt matter how old you are, how long you've had your job, or where you came from, to come off as smug , elitist, and arrogant is never going to win over many real fans. The way they handled the trading of Escobar completely infuriated me. I have had long term friends from New York to Los Angeles tell me that they never thought they would see the Minnesota Twins pull such bush league move. But thats not all. Did anyone see the post game interview by Ervin Santana after (probably his last game) he pitched in Detroit? He mentions how they are trying to do their job and win games but its hard when every day another one of their important pieces are taken from them. The next day it was announced he was shut down for the year due to recurring injury complications.That was Bull. 12 hours earlier he was telling reporters how it was getting better and better with each outing. At the very least he should have been able to get some innings in and at least audition for a trade or a 2019 deal. We all know he's never coming back here ever again unless its to shut us out. THIS was a team leader that a lot...and i mean a LOT of latin players look up to and listen to. When he doesn't reach his incentives and it hurts his future you can bet he wont be quiet about it. And then the whole Buxton situation happened AFTER that. There is one way to treat people that isnt legally wrong but ethically? I think we all agree its going to take a lot more money now to convince any top tier free agents to come here. Also these young guys are going to think twice about staying here after they've seen first hand what happened to guys like Dozier and Escobar. These kind of amateurish first year executive moves arent going to go unnoticed among the Twins players or players on other teams. So Yeah i do think that the Dynamic Duo sees themselves as the kings of the world, accountable to nobody. I'll still be a Twins fan when this doesnt work out and they are banging on doors in Cleveland and Arlington trying to get their old jobs back.

Maybe I should clarify....only people from Minnesota, or those that have ties to the organization SHOULD be the General Manager of The Minnesota Twins.. I never thought we'd see a day when this would be an issue after Carl Pohlad bought the team but....its clear to me that it is. As I stated in an earlier post , even Andy McPhail was not given total unquestionable control when he was hired in 1986. He was smart enough to know he didn't know all the answers so he asked for help. That is when Ralph Houk was brought in to sort of smooth out the transition to a new GM and a relatively brand new Field Manager ....a guy named Kelly I think...yeah Tom Kelly. Remember him? I think there may be a gate #10 somewhere...Thats not in honor of Lyman Bostock.

whos gonna be in the youth movement? They wont have a catcher, 2nd baseman/shortstop, closer, or any reliable set up men. people dont get how important Pressly, Duke, and Rodney were. Now that we have to worry about it they will. I see us building a pitching staff so that we can become the first mlb team to employ the opener every day

ok now i was with you until you said we have a top 10 farm system. In who's opinion? I spend a lot of time on the site called roster resource and they always list all the rankings of the prospects AND each teams farm systems. There are 5-7 different ranking sites and only ONE has our farm system in the top ten(7th). and that was AFTER the blue light fire sale. If our farm system is so good where is our replacements for Dozier, Escobar, Lynn, Pressly, Duke, and Rodney?? That whole thing was short sighted and ridiculous. None of those guys are ready before 2022, 21 earliest. Gordon is two years away, there are no catchers even close and their top pitching prospect cant hit 90 on the radar gun or get major league hitters out. The only chance to sign free agents took a hit when they blatantly disrespected Buxton. Major League players wanna play for winners not fantasy league bean counters. When you take your rose colored glasses off you will realize it is what it is. We should have stuck with our traditions and hired a Minnesota man(or woman) for this job. I dont trust these guys and every time they open their mouths they make it worse and worse.

I dont owe them 5 years of my baseball fan life to get on the job training. If they are junior executive whiz kids then why arent they still working for the Rangers and Indians? I didnt see Texas blow up their team and trade Odor, Andrus, Beltre, Mazzara, Gallo, ir even DeShields. Remember them? They are the same guys that waxed our Twins 18-4 last weekend.

wow is all I can say. I would love to know the average age of the posters to this thread. The Minnesota Twins I grew up with and the most recent successful teams(pre 2011) never resembled this mess AT ALL. Some of you would try to argue with me and say we couldn't beat the Red Sox, or the Yankees or the Astros this year anyway. These people support tanking a season with 60+ games to go. I assure you that those that concur with that decision are not season ticket holders. That being said, I remember 1987, everyone picked us to be swept out of the playoffs by the mighty Motor City Kittys. Our Twins had the 4th best record in the AMERICAN LEAGUE!! I would give my fortune to see you eat the crow if that would have happened last year. As a baseball fan you have to realize it takes a fair amount of good luck to win a title. If you dont believe me ask 1990's Brave Fan. All I ever wanted is for the Twins to be in it in September, and if they are, I know anything can happen. The Twin's Way taught me that. I wish i knew where that was now. Id rather make the playoffs and lose 10 years in a row than put up with this abomination even one more time. We didn't ask for this. When Andy McPhail was hired he inherited an interim manager and he himself was not even prepared to be offered the position of General Manager of the Minnesota Twins. At that time a decision was made to bring Ralph Houk in as a sort of overseer or consultant to both Andy and the rookie field manager, a guy named Tom Kelly. Do any of you remember him? I wonder if he is available to help us fix this mess. Before none of us even care anymore.

No, i doubt it. He's prolly on the phone with his agent to find out when he can enter unrestricted free agency.

Ok...Tyler Austin...really? Not that I am a Yankee fan, but I do follow the American League pretty darn close. Austin was given every opoortunity to start as the Yankees first baseman out of Spring Training 2018. I guess he couldn't beat out Neil Walker. Who last played first base in junior high. Then Austin got injured as well. One day after Austin joined the Twins, the Yankees traded for Luke Voit. For those of you that are not familiar with Luke Voit, he came from the Cardinals. He is a big Power Hitting Right Handed First Baseman. Hmmmm. One day later Lance Lynn pitched eight shutout innings for the Yankees. Lance Lynn came from....The Cardinals. The mlb is shifting to an analytic approach. Even Billy Beane looks for a winning make up in his roster decisions. This is why i wouldnt pay Machado, Iglesias, or Harper or (name any free agent that is hurt too much and never plays on winning teams) To me its very easy to spot. I guess to most its not. Id much rather have Dan Gladden than Ken Griffey Jr. Not because Gladden is a better player, because he showed up every game and he wants only to win. Im not saying to throw the analytics away, but to use it as an evaluation tool. Not a blueprint for the success of your team. I highly doubt thus FO would give Puckett, Hrbek, Gaetti, Morris, etc. a shot at all. We will see how it all turns out. So far im sure I'm not the only one who is disgusted. Does anyone remember Craig Kusick? Austin is prolly better than Kusick, because he can play the outfield. In Rochester. I feel better now thatbi know we have Austin at first base for 2019 and beyond.

Deduno? wow, wasn't he like a pitcher?

For 2019.... he's a lock. But the Falvine's will prolly keep Gimenez, sign Wilson, and bring in Mike Napoli for a farewell tour because the Indians or Rangers won't do it.

For whatever their reasons, they are guilty of ruining major league baseball in 2018 for me. If you make the playoffs, you got a fighting chance. If you tank every season at the 100 game mark, then you never have ANY chance. And this Is the second year in a row. They tried to do it in 2017 as well. If this were during the contraction era, i would have to seriously reconsider my vote.

I guess it is a little bit of a contradiction when you look at it that way. I guess my approach is that the way they seem when they show up on the media is so confident, almost arrogant. Like we dont have to tell you everything, just trust us. I will give you one example and let you decide. Last year's World Series featured a start from Yu Darvish against the Astros. Granted he has been injured a lot quite frequently, but I made a prediction. The Astros would rake him and he would crumble because he has little or no playoff experience, and he has nothing the Astros havent seen in 19 intradivision games per year. For how many months did we hear last off season about all the offers and counter offers made to the Darvish camp. In hindsight thank god he never accepted. if I can see what Falvine cannot..then i will send in my resume now. I did think the Odirizzi trade was good. I thought Arrietta was the best F.A. available. I also knew Lynn was a damn good battler with a winner's pedigree. We *naughty language* up by trading him. Maybe this year was overwhelming to our young leaders. The trade deadline deals, the handling of the Escobar trade, the Buxton fiasco, and the W.t.f? with Sano only underscores my argument. Are you happy, Twins Fan , leaving these guys in charge? Sadly its not up to us. I would rather talk about who's gonna start game one of the playoffs. Sadly i doubt we ever will get to discuss that again in my lifetime.