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LastOnePicked

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Everything posted by LastOnePicked

  1. LastOnePicked
    This is EXACTLY how I feel. I want to see this team remolded into a winner, not to limp backwards into a playoff berth - a playoff berth that would only solidify and vindicate the faulty regime currently in place. There's no reason the Twins couldn't become the Reds, Orioles, D-backs or Marlins in 2026 or 2027. Rebuild. Restructure. Or keep crawling around the AL Central. To me, the choice is clear.
  2. LastOnePicked
    This is such a damning quote: "what I said to (hitting coach David Popkins) is, ‘I’m going to turn into (Luis) Arraez today, just touch the ball. There’s a lot of grass out there.' " Hitting coaches should be trying to convince hitters like Lewis to become like Arraez, not the other way around. The hiring of Popkins is another example of this FO thinking that they are on the "cutting edge," but instead are lightyears behind the philosophy and execution of top teams. But to fire him now would require them to admit this mistake, so they'd apparently rather let the team suffer. Twins 2023: so much wasted opportunity, it boggles the mind.
  3. LastOnePicked
    Agreed. On paper, they're not that far from contending. On the field, it seems like they're light years away from a team like Atlanta. There's just no there there. A .500-ish team in baseball's worst division. That's not a team on the cusp of glory.
  4. LastOnePicked
    You raise good points on the lack of a communication strategy. Fans have been listening and watching, but none of the answers have been clear. It's probably because the team is trying to do three things simultaneously: 1) Keep fans coming to Target Field with the hope of seeing "prime Buxton" while avoiding the crushing, sinking feeling that they've signed a perennially-injured player to a long-term contract. 2) Keep Buxton from having to face additional questions on specific issues that are still unclear, probably even to him. 3) Keep Buxton up with the team for as long as possible, in the hopes that something clicks and he has at least sporadic good games. Sadly, this isn't sustainable. He isn't better. He isn't ever going to get better. We've seen the best of Buxton. What remains of his ability may still be useful as a very expensive platoon DH for a year or two, but that's all he's going to be. That's a hard thing to admit internally, and a very hard thing to sell to fans. They're in a tough spot, but they should probably just admit their own frustration and confusion, rather than spread false hope - or worse, to admonish fans for just wanting to know what's going on.
  5. LastOnePicked
    Sadly, we know exactly how a Goldschmidt trade would go, though. He'd get his ankle crushed by a freak collision at 1B in his first inning in the field. The prospects the Twins lost would go on to become stud rookie All-Star candidates in 2024. No thank you. This FO has angered the gods - we've already gotten too much proof.
  6. LastOnePicked
    "He made his Saints debut on Sunday, starting and pitching four innings of four-run ball on 54 pitches." Wasn't in one-run ball? I thought it went a little better than this.
  7. LastOnePicked
    This is going to be a fascinating week. If the Twins go 4-2 or better, then perhaps a corner has been turned and this team is ready to contend. 3-3 is promising but keeps us in roughly the same .500 limbo. 2-4 or worse will likely see them drop out of first place for the first time this season. It's only six games, but it feels like a very big six games ahead.
  8. LastOnePicked
    I'm unhappy for me - I thought that Arraez might have already given his best season, and that his injuries would flare up again. I liked the trade. Should have known better. I'm unhappy for the team. He's exactly what the team needs now. Lopez is still important, but not nearly so. Not even close. But ... I'm happy for Arraez. Great player. He deserves the accolades and the fun he's having in Miami.
  9. LastOnePicked
    I submit Rocco's postgame comments as the final and crystal-clear evidence of his inability to manage a major-league ballclub. My goodness, what an incredible load of absolute nothing and word-mush. Can you imagine being motivated, led, corrected or inspired by anything he's saying or doing? And "nothing is actionable" is what he lands on. "You've got to forget it." You know what else we can forget? A division title. A playoff push. Building a winner in this window of contention. I know for a fact that I'll forget to buy Twins tickets for a long time to come, too. I would have fired him after the lifeless 2020 postseason loss to the Astros, and he's done nothing to prove me wrong since then. Yes, we have a major FO problem as well (these issues are related), but he's absolutely the worst possible coach I can imagine for this club. A decent man, but absolutely and unequivocally unfit for service.
  10. LastOnePicked
    Fair point. Though perhaps the quality was thought (or is thought) to be better than what we've seen.
  11. LastOnePicked
    Odd that a FO that is otherwise fairly conservative is so willing to gamble on players with questionable track records and unclear health. None of these have panned out - might be wiser to avoid these trades and signings. An untested healthy prospect probably has more value to the team than another veteran performance question mark.
  12. LastOnePicked
    Around here, we call that "Total System Failure." I think we're already on our third or fourth one in the last decade.
  13. LastOnePicked
    Here's the potential problem, though - these things are very likely related. One of the goofy things I learned in college was that "rhetoric is epistemic." Basically, the words you use can often reveal your underlying mindset or meaning-making system. Or, simply, how you talk reveals how you think. There's very much a mushy weakness in how Rocco talks in postgames, and a distant corporate robotic-ness in how Falvey and Levine talk in press events. I think the ongoing concern is that these ways of speaking reveal some of the flaws in the manner of managing, developing and coaching for this club. But what do I know? I'm not there, and there's much I'm not privy to. Oh well. We can only guess as fans. But we can also make our displeasure clear, too.
  14. LastOnePicked
    Yeah, it may yet be a bit early, but I haven't seen much from Lopez to indicate that he'll be anything other than a #4-#5 starter with a 4.50 ERA. That kind of arm should have been very easy to develop, and shouldn't have cost you the best hitter in MLB or a large extended contract. That seems foolish now, and might look downright idiotic soon. What does this team need to win? A great contact bat (Arraez), a lockdown bullpen arm (Cano), a solid corner outfielder (Steer) and a top prospect starter knocking on the door (Povich). In other words, all of the things this FO gave away because they were sure about Solano/Julien, Lopez, Larnach/Wallner and Balazovic. An error of judgement at every spot. Let's put it this way: you wouldn't walk into a casino with Falvey or Levine. Their instincts - or their luck - are absolutely terrible and seemingly contagious.
  15. LastOnePicked
    Absolutely. Rocco has had more opportunities and more leeway than perhaps he's deserved. We're at the end, now. Or we should be. But, the same is true of this FO. Once again, their signings have fallen flat and their trades have backfired. They've had their shot at a rebuild, and they're no closer to being a winner than they were when this FO started.
  16. LastOnePicked
    For the record, I don't find your posts annoying at all. Well reasoned, thoughtful counterbalances to the surges of pessimism that are such a huge part of being a Twins fan in this era. The rest of us have the harsh skepticism angle already covered. And if you're losing patience in the FO, that's saying something.
  17. LastOnePicked
    Shouldn't this title have "So Far" added to it? I mean, he's still a Twin. Probably will be for a few years yet.
  18. LastOnePicked
    Here's my guess: they now know that Buxton's knees simply will not support him playing CF. Certainly not this year, likely not ever again. However, they know that the fanbase would have a meltdown, so they're continuing to play coy and kick the can down the road. I don't know this for sure, but it's just me reading the leaves, so to speak. In fact, I doubt Buxton will even finish this contract. The yearly aggravation, pain and complete inability to stay healthy and productive have perhaps ground him down to the bone. I often hope I'm wrong about the Twins, but on this I hope I'm 1000% wrong.
  19. LastOnePicked
    Yeah, there's just something about the reality of this team that tends to keeps the optimism in check. They've given away how many games at this point? Cleveland has some of the best talent waiting in the wings. They are also led by a seasoned manager who can steady the ship and bring out the best in young players. The Twins? No and no. Like bighat, happy to be wrong, but doubt I will be.
  20. LastOnePicked
    I like that baseball is a team sport, and the sum can be greater than the parts. But, I also think you're right. There's no big dog on this team - no one to put the team on his back. If there is, he's sleeping. Or hurt. Or both.
  21. LastOnePicked
    Yes, I think it was. But it was a mistake I advocated and cheered for, so no pointing fingers here. It was a signing made with rose-colored glasses. In the future, any Twins FO is going to have to be a little more sober about a player's injury history.
  22. LastOnePicked
    I don't like Rocco as a manager, but he should never have to deal with Pagan as a bullpen option anyway. That one is squarely on the FO. That said, if I were Rocco, I would have made it clear last offseason that either Pagan stays on the roster or I stay in the organization. I wouldn't subject my team again to what he put the team through last year. He has weapons-grade-level yips. That's both demoralizing and contagious.
  23. LastOnePicked
    I like this framework, and your post, a lot. My only concern is that the games from each 1/3rd of the season count equally in the standings. If you're letting games slip away in the first 3rd, you're putting a lot of pressure on your ability to plug gaps in the second 3rd, AND you're putting a lot on the shoulders of your best players in the last 3rd. I don't trust this FO's ability to asses our own organization's players (big leagues and minors), much less players from other teams, so the "plugging gaps" is iffy. Also, Buxton, Polanco, Gallo, Correa may be the "best players," but they don't seem likely to hold up come September. As a result, I lean skeptical on any division championships. If they were up 7.5 on Cleveland, okay, there's some buffer. Up 1.5? That's not going to hold.
  24. LastOnePicked
    So hard to tell. I guess, when all of the variables are iffy, the trend is your friend. Twins 2022 trend is fairly strong spring start, summer collapse, hang on by fall, face-plant down the stretch. Too many injury question marks, not enough decisive action by FO early on, the prospect of some truly bad trades again, and too many lost opportunities when the pitching was strong. I predict the Twins will not win the Central, and no playoffs. But, just like the last two years, I'm still waiting to be proven wrong.
  25. LastOnePicked
    I wanted the Twins to run away with the division. This week made it clear that's not going to happen. Then I wanted them to crash and burn and rebuild. This weekend also made it clear that's unlikely. So what do we have? A goofy loser's division midsummer bar-room brawl, one where the Twins punch themselves in the face at least as often as they get hit by their rivals. We'll see how it all plays out.
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