Doctor Gast

IMO, what adds to culture is keeping a winning core together, bringing up in-house players & give them a chance rather than giving that opportunity to a privileged outsider. During our 13-game winning streak, Keirsey got some walk-offs & his teammates were more excited than he was. Nick, you mentioned accountability. How does that figure into team culture? Of course, players have to be accountable to each other, that everybody is doing their best before & during the game, players are accountable to the manager (trust the process), the manager is accountable to the FO, the FO is accountable to ownership & the owners are accountable to the fans. If there isn't accountability with the manager, FO, or owners, they become delusional & start making excuses (it's never their fault). It's never their bad philosophies, poor player evaluation, development, management or not able to initiate a viable trade. How I miss a FO being accountable, they take an honest evaluation of themselves & step down, saying I did my best, but my way didn't work. Not being delusional & say, the problem is I didn't have enough control. I dislike the occultness of this regime, where you have no idea who is responsible for what or what is going on. It's tough to really know what Lopez really meant. IMO, Correa took his role of being the team leader very seriously; he wanted this team to be very competitive, he put in his work. His going to the Twins & suggested to be moved off SS during his foot problems is him being accountable. I also think he held Falvey accountable for his ability to field a competitive team, which probably caused friction between them. Correa's frustration was obvious that he probably took it out on less experienced players. You look at many of the players that were traded away, and they're dominating. Because of the fire & chemistry of the team they ended up at. Duran was interviewed after one of his saves. The stadium was packed & wild, he stated, "I haven't felt like this since the '23 playoffs. Why aren't our stadium packed? Maybe because we aren't winning. Why aren't we winning? Is it because of Correa? He seems to be doing pretty well at HOU. IMO, it's because of the Pohlads, Falvey, Baldelli & Co. not being accountable (they get promoted & extended no matter what they do), which affects the team.

Yeah, let's go for it! In '26, it'll be even worse, which further improve our chances. Falvey will take credit for it & will shoot for the worst record in '27. How diabolical! There should be a rule against that! Oops! There is! That'll shoot '27 down, sorry Falvey. You've always had trouble planning ahead.

I'm sorry Doc, I've been impacted by the C word, also. It's an ugly word that I hate. I have edited that post & will refrain from using it in the future.

Gasper & Pereda can hit in AAA but not in the MLB. Gasper isn't a catcher & yet they picked Gasper over Pereda? That's not saying much. IMO. Cardenas is our best bet. We got him as a good defensive catcher, but maybe he needs more seasoning at AAA. I've been waiting for 4 years for them to develop Olivar as a good defensive catcher; he's got the tools. Our catching may look better on paper, but picking up other organizations' rejects & lower-level prospects in hopes we can develop them is a pipe dream. Thinking that Tanner Swanson helped Garver & Jeffers & his ghost can miraculously develop them is futile. They haven't developed anyone since he left. Our only hope now is to get an already developed catcher & fire Conger & get someone who can do the job.

IMO, this disease started back at the end of '19. Due to the "juiced ball", the "bomba squad" organically came to be among the hitters under Rowson. They won as a team, accolades of HRs & wins but crashed in the postseason. Falvey was lauded as a genius, it all went to his head & started to take full control. Instead of promoting key coaches, he let them walk. Because with his new analytical philosophies, he figured he didn't need them (which began this cancer). Instead of developing a player in defense, baserunning, fundamentals (like bunting) & individually working with hitters to develop their own swing, they focused on tweaking every hitter to hit more HR. A few good players fell into Falvey's lap, which helped form the '23 core. I listened to a very interesting interview with Thad Levine. He stated that much like players, FOs have a scouting report on other FOs. So, IMO, other FOs have a scouting report on Falvey. That you can wait him out & get a better deal; that he's an easy mark to dump salary & flip players you don't want by spinning stats. Getting smart on Falvey means no more players falling in our laps & ending up with unfavorable players. I agree with you, Gregg, that the lack of trying to improve this team probably added to the lack of enthusiasm by the players. But IMO, it wasn't the lack of money, because they did add unnecessary salaries & many needed improvements could have come by the way of trading away redundant players for needed ones, which wouldn't add salary. IMO, you need to treat the cause (Falvey), not the symptom (players). Otherwise, the problem continues.

With a bunch of players that fell into our laps, we found success in '23. In '24, instead of building off that core (by at least picking up a veteran innings-eater), they chipped away at it. Making the rotation & INF fragile (with Julien mainstay at 2B & being injury plagued) without making any attempt to bolster them (I don't count injured DeSclavani, Margot or deadline Richards). In '25, they still did nothing to address our rotation & INF problems. I get that we had the Twins' salary problem. Fine, stay away from FA (which they couldn't) & trade away some redundant players to bolster our weak points (which they didn't). Players, when they see their FO isn't doing anything to help them win while weakening them, no wonder they play uninspired & not hungry. We had great veteran success experiences, who were there to guide the next group, where we could start a winning tradition. That hope wasn't only restricted but was ripped out of us. OK, the Twins were disappointing, then sell off the expiring contracts & with some slickness get something back. Even try to take advantage of the deadline & trade Jax to shore up our fragile areas adequately & still try to compete this year & in the future. If you are dead set on trading Correa, don't do it when his value is rock bottom, do it during the offseason. At least leave us hometown grabbler Varland, to anchor the BP. It takes a lot of time, talent & luck to get to where we were at. I foresee us floundering for years after being gutted, So regretfully, why hang on to Ryan, Lopez & Jeffers? We'll see players like Lee & Keaschall, trying to put stuff together. It'll take a long time for prospects like Jenkins & Rodriguez to get established. I'll hope again after Falvey is gone & after that my expectancy can see anything in the distant future.

The Twins know Paddack very well & everyone who got the privilege to face him were greatly rewarded. I'd like to thank the Tigers for not bypassing him & letting our hitters unload on him for the win. Now I'm not saying that Paddack is a bad SP, but he was greatly put to a disadvantage. I wish him well. With all this momentum going our way, it was hard for DET to get anything going against our weak pitching.

We were able to grapple the lead from Mize, We had solid defense (if you don't count Topa), where Clemens was impressive. We scored 5 runs but it's tough when you have a SP that can't go 5 & no BP.

Outman is another Falvey out-house project. Falvey will take away an opportunity from an in-house player, in a situation where that player could really prosper & hand it to one of his projects that normally wouldn't work out as well as if given to one of our own. Even if he is a dud (not saying he is), the Twins will be very patient with him & give him a ton of constant regular ABs, long after it's obvious that he's a dud. But for an in-house player, he'll give him one shot & that's it. I wonder why the Twins are so flat? IMO, we are missing the fire & chemistry that comes when an in-house player (like Keaschall) comes up & does well.

You can't believe what most FOs & owners say most of the time. It's a breath of fresh air if you find one who's sincere & honest. So it doesn't matter what they say, it's all BS. You are naive if you believe otherwise. It matters most to me what they do. We are the Pohlads' clients, and when we are supporting the Twins, we are supporting them with our money. Joe is disillusioned if he thinks that he's the answer to the Twins. He has no idea how to run a baseball team. If he has any love for the team, he'd stop maximizing the profits & step aside & let a person who knows what he's doing, clean house & change direction.

During the All-Star period, it was stated that it could be weeks before the sale. After a couple of weeks, I'd wake up every morning & think, maybe today the team will be sold. Only to be sucker-punched. Thank you for expressing what we all feel. That the Pohlads are delusional. They think they know the problem with the team. They don't. They think they know the solution, They don't. They think they know what fans want. They don't. They think the fans are stupid. We aren't. They think they can offer us a bunch of BS & we'll eat. We won't. Just because we are patient & try to be nice, they think they can walk all over us. There is a limit, and they have reached it. Do the right thing.

Catching will be in a very precariuos situation this offseason as I predicted years ago. I like Jeffers & I'd love to extend him to a reasonable contract but let's be realistic. Jeffers hired Boras to be his agent, that means that he wants a real big pay day. Boras doesn't like to sign his clients to extensions, he wants them go into FA. This FO normally would like to try get something for Jeffers, instead of nothing, so under normal situations he'd trade him.. Back in '22 this FO pushed all his chips & future chips on Jeffers. Because of ignorance we have absolutely no MLB-ready catchers to step up even as the 3rd catcher. Falvey loves Jeffers & lets say Jeffers really wants to stay. MN has absolutely no leverage because they have no one, they have hyped him up as a primary catcher. When Falvey really wants to get someone, he always way overpay. It doesn't make sense after all the salaries they have cut, to sign Jeffers to a exorbitant extension. Like Kepler, he has a high value on Jeffers, so I don't think they'll trade Jeffers even if they get a good offer. So it boils down to either signing Jeffers to an exorbitant extension or keeping him for his last year. Priority has always been & still is, to trade for a promising young MLB-ready catcher but now we should have 2 if Jeffers walk for nothing. Which unfortunately could be our best case scenario.

With this FO, it does make sense to tear everything down to the studs. #1- I don't trust them to maximize the trades. #2- The farm system will be bloated with redundant prospects. #3- I don't trust them to develop the positional prospects. We'll bring up prospects that won't impact the team the way we need to compete. Our roster will be bloated, where we'll help many teams to pick up many good prospects that we can't fit onto the roster because of the Rule 5 draft. With this FO, it doesn't make sense to spend big money on our bigger contracts (even though they aren't expensive) or in extending many of our players or going out to sign FAs to replace valuable players we let go (that would be very counterproductive after giving away valuable players that have been knitted into this team & then overpay for players that are not). With this FO, we are damned if we don't & damned if we do. "The Pohlads’ decision to stay on as owners means the philosophy at the top likely won’t shift dramatically." We were blessed with many good players that fell into our laps, who helped us break the curse of losing soooo many playoff games & won a playoff series. We didn't win them because of Falvey & his philosophies (as he claimed), it was in spite of them. There have been many excuses throughout the years why the Twins underperformed. They have ran out of excuses, which leaves the core has to be the problem. IMO, the core has never been the problem as many of them have dominated away.. The problem has always been the FO's inabilities. IMO, the Twins will flounder for years even after Falvey & Co, leave.

True, it doesn't make sense to publicly complain about your boss. What you publicly can't say directly, you say indirectly via social media minions; all agents & FOs have them.

For me, it has never been about the money or the Pohlads, although I'm not a fan of theirs. It's been how Falvey & Co. has run this organization. Joe's desire to control the Twins doesn't encourage me, it saddens me. For the Pohlads, Falvey, Baldelli, Tingler, Conger, Watkins & Co are all joined at the hip, & if one stays, they all stay. I can't see removing one without removing all. I haven't heard anything different, only them promoting each other. For years, I've advocated for change from top to bottom, not sell off, especially by Falvey & I certainly don't want him in charge of the rebuild. Since they are staying, for them to get me back. the Pohlads have to admit that they have no idea about running a team. Get someone who does, who'll clean house from top to bottom. Without change, there cannot be change. It's lunacy to think otherwise.

Pohlads have always said they love the community, love the fans & their family value is very important to them. So no, they aren't moving.

In my mind, the Hader trade was after, so thank you. For Hader, they got Taylor Rogers, Lamet, Gasser, & Ruiz, which in turn flipped Ruiz for Contreras, Payamps & Yeager. So for Hader, they actually got 6 good players in the same year, pretty impressive.

https://www.mlb.com/news/sean-murphy-braves-trade MIL traded away prospect Esteury Ruiz (not Hader) & got Willian Contreras, & RHPs Payamps & Yeager MIL doesn't depend on FA (yet they got burned on Rhys), they depend more on drafting, developing & trades. MN always cries, it doesn't have enough money to spend on FAs., Yet when they do, they spend too much & end up paying to get rid of them. MIL traded for a good-hitting Contreras & made him into an elite catcher, improved Omar Narvaez defensively, & developed Quero as the best defensive catching prospect. MIL focuses on defense at all positions, baserunning, fundamentals in general & pitching. MN focuses on hitting HRs & forgets everything else except pitching.MN does a good job at tweaking MLB pitchers & developing promising SPs like Ober, SWR, Matthews & Festa & hopefuls Raya & Prielipp. But MIL is constantly gaining by trading elite pitchers & has new ones step right in. But where MIL is far superior to MN is in player evaluations. They spot each player's strong points & capitalize on them. They develop each player to the best of their abilities & stress to them this is what you do well, so do it & not put more on them than what they are capable of doing & prosper, MN tried to make everyone into sluggers. Constantly putting players in positions where they didn't have the physical ability for a path to excel. Twins have favorites for one reason or another, who have every opportunity to succeed where they don't belong, while other, more promising players don't have a legimate chance to contribute there. Therefore, instead of producing valuable players on the field or by trade, they have many disgruntle players floundering in MiLB.

I have to admit I am pleasantly surprised with Jeffers's performance at this stage of the season. Usually, he's dragging even in an equal tandem role. I think it's strange they selected Gasper over Pereda (not surprised), even though it was against NYY. Gasper has shown why he was rejected to be a catcher for BOS. For years, we have been hurting at quality MLB catching depth behind Jeffers/ Vazquez. We'll find ourselves in a very precarious situation this offseason. Vazquez will be gone, Pohlads still cutting payroll, understandably, couldn't afford a Boras-driven Jeffers's extension. The normal Falvey procedure is to get something for Jeffers rather than nothing, which will motivate a trade. That'll leave us with 0 MLB-ready catchers. Great planning, Falvey.

Pohlads have been deceived by Falvey & are delusional to think that they'll ever get anywhere with Falvey. If they really want to know how to win a lot of games & make fans happy. Look at Milwauke, who's opposite of Falvey.

You are too generous. We'll fight for the cellar & win under this leadership. Full of hype & hope but no real idea of how to accomplish anything else. If you want anything else, you have to change leadership & direction. Falvey must have prepared everything that Pohlads said. Bla, bla, bla, a bunch of BS. New minor partners have good input into the team. Unless they demand new leadership, they are as stupid as the Pohlads & it's all BS. Get ready for the Dark Ages.

It states that the debit was attached to the Twins. Does that mean that the Twins did not generate that debt but maybe they borrowed against the Twins to pay off a different area? The Pohlads have no idea how to run a baseball team so why in *&^%$#@! do they want to be in charge of the Twins? & being so adamant in doing so? They have bungled so much stuff; the worst is promoting the horrid Falvey connection that rotted the foundation for many years to come. I feel that Pohlad's sick need for control was maybe a factor in Justin Ishbia backing out. I see no feasible reason for anybody to buy the Twins or even to become partners in this sinking ship. Unless the stupid Pohlads have found someone as stupid as they are or they found a baseball smart group & convince the Pohlads to divorce themselves from Falvey & Co. which I hope, & who's able to convince the fanbase that they have a solid plan to revolutionize the Twins. Otherwise, welcome to the Dark Ages.

Yanks started Aug. by being swept by MIA & lost every series since. They are reeling & panicking until now when facing the Twinkies (I hate that name). Now they are saying whew! good we are facing the Twins & they'll laydown & let us walk all over them so we can reset. !!!!!!!!!!!! Do the Twins care? NO!!! I don't care if we lose every series until the end if we win our series with NYY. This series is significant because if we win it, it'd give us some dignity. It's worth Baldelli preparing a rotation & lineup that's competitive. It's worthy for Baldelli put together a credible game plan, finally getting fired up & motivate his players. It's significant because we can be the ones help to spoil NYY's chances to make the playoffs & rub their noses in it & break this stupid curse. We had nothing to lose to throw everything at them. Putting together a make shift rotation, lineup, defense & no evident game plan made me sick. Yet I stayed up to follow the game. The Twins started out on a positive note. Martin got a hit, stole 2B, distrated Rodon, the basees were load before we knew it, with nobody out. We had the frantic Yanks on the ropes. A perfect opportunity to blow the game wide open, have Rodon rack up pitches for an early exit & send the Yanks further down spiraling. The other precending teams took advantage of the vunerable Yanks. but the Twins were flat thanks to Baldelli. Twins were able scrap a run across thanks to Lewis's hustle to 1B on a possible DP. They did force Rodon to throw 31 pitches in the 1st inning but Rodon only needed 39 pitches to get through the next 4. I went to bed.

We can say the same for Julien & Gasper, yet they still give them every opportunity to show us they don't belong here. While McCuskers was sent down w/o hardly a look. Why was (RH) McCusker sent down when Twins were facing a LHP? They had 3 LH hitters, Clemens, Julien & Fitzgerald in the lineup to face LHP Rodon. There are many things I don't like about how the Twins operate. Probably what gets me the most is when they overplay their loser favorites while they don't give other promising players a legit opportunity to prove themselves.

Hurry up & pull the plug on Adams