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LastOnePicked

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Everything posted by LastOnePicked

  1. LastOnePicked
    This is my biggest problem with the Twins. They have become a totally lifeless, gutless organization. They wither in the face of tough opponents. They shrink from challenges. When the heat is on, they slink back into the dugout. There has to be a large-scale organizational shake-up here, because I can't imagine any player coming here and not being infected by this dead culture. There's no energy here. And sadly, we fans can't bring this enthusiasm back for them - they have to rise up and earn it. Personally, I feel like I'm about ready to be totally done with the Twins again, like I was from '94 to '02. There's just nothing here to keep up your spirits.
  2. LastOnePicked
    We've been given the answer to this question repeatedly this season: No. This is not the type of team that can rise to a challenge. Cleveland will take 4 of 5 and finally put an end to this soul-crushing season.
  3. LastOnePicked
    This is the part of the article I question: "The Twins have won the division twice during his four-year tenure, and they should be seen as a candidate to do so again in 2023." Say what? A team with no SS, no closer, chronic health issues, a spent farm system and a shaky rotation? I doubt the Twins will be contending anytime soon.
  4. LastOnePicked
    We've hashed this through on another thread. Personally, I'm pretty sour on Rocco's performance over the last two years, and I'm ready for the club to take on new leadership in the dugout. However, the team is turning it on again, and it's possible that he's doing something to help extend meaningful games into September. I've said it before, but I'm happy to be wrong. But, it's this line of thinking that pushes my buttons: "Correa has provided leadership, but his on-field performance has been below his typical level, which isn’t something Baldelli can control." That strikes me as a strawman argument. No one thinks that a manager can "control" a player's performance. But can a manager influence performance, inspire, motivate and set players up for success? Absolutely. Rocco's team had the chance to nearly put the Guardians away for good in the mid-summer. They faltered. Rocco's teams often stumble in late innings. They wither against teams like the Yankees and Dodgers. When the pressure is on, I typically see more fear than fight in this club. Gleeman often plays this card, too. "What do people think, that Rocco tells the players not to get a hit with runners in scoring position?" It's such a dumb argument - no one critical of Rocco thinks this. What we get concerned about are long stretches of sloppy play and a weak resolve from players at the plate and in the field when the going gets tough. Is it the roster? Maybe. If so, why isn't Rocco more vocal about what he needs? And why does he keep returning to the same reliever when it's clear they're busted? He doesn't seem to be able to outsmart an opponent or steal wins. I've come to agree with other posters - he's probably safe for 2023. But barring some great swing in the team's overall performance next year, it really should be his last - at least as a manager here.
  5. LastOnePicked
    Every major league manager faces these exact challenges, and often in much tougher divisions with much tougher schedules. Some help their players rise to the challenge, and some don't. This excuse for Rocco is getting very, very tired by this point.
  6. LastOnePicked
    A last-place finish from a team that was coming off an AL Central title, followed by an epic mid-season collapse that dropped the team from solidly in first down to third place and missing the playoffs (hasn't happened yet, I know, but we're well on the way). I can't imagine how they could possibly keep him. His players consistently underperform and wither under the pressure. If this team wants to have any credibility, he can't stay. The FO has to realize this, don't they?
  7. LastOnePicked
    Let me try to phrase this positively ... I don't think there will be much of a difference in attendance from the Spring to the Summer to the Fall next year with this club.
  8. LastOnePicked
    Rocco wants the team to give "zero f-cks" - how inspiring. The main problem with this is that's exactly how the team has been playing for two months already. Now that attitude is spreading to the fans. Rocco is so clearly in over his head. I've doubted him before, but this season has revealed all of the qualities that make him unfit to manage a playoff-caliber MLB team. He cannot be allowed to manage the Twins in 2023. If I were Falvey/Levine, I would fire him this morning and make it clear that the organization cares more about winning than "playing hard" (that's to be expected from professionals, period).
  9. LastOnePicked
    The Twins are the 2021 Padres. The Jayce Tingler effect is real. And Rocco looks like a buffoon in that clip - this has to also be his last year with the Twins.
  10. LastOnePicked
    Jose Miranda would like a word. C'mon, there's no question that the Twins have struggled and continue to struggle to develop pitching. This was supposed to be the year of the "pipeline," but there are still no standouts and no one you'd put much stock in for 2023 beyond Duran. That's a big problem - and it's not a problem every team has.
  11. LastOnePicked
    I think the biggest leadership problem with the Twins is that there is no player leader, and there hasn't been for awhile. Going into this season, there was so much emphasis placed on this being "Buxton's Team." Even Correa deferred his leadership role to Buxton. The problem with that is that Buxton can't lead this team, and he doesn't even want to. You can't have a team leader miss two games a week with nagging injuries. Team leaders have to be durable, and Buxton isn't and never has been. And he doesn't have to be. He's an immensely talented platoon player, and was signed for a fair rate considering his injury history. Buxton has said repeatedly that he does not want to lead. With his history, he's wise enough to know that he can't be. Battlefield leaders cannot be injury liabilities. Correa knew he was only going to be here for a year, so he couldn't take on the mantle of team leader. The Cruz trade left a huge leadership vacuum that this team then simply did not know how to fill. And for all of Rocco's positives, he is not tough and he does not project confidence. Most of the time he has a look on his face that he's just been punched or he's just about to be. His one big ejection outburst after the Toronto call at the plate made him look like an amateur - he ended up screaming at the on-field crew who had made the right call. So, despite the interpersonal dimension being dismissed so often, this team is lacking the guy who can rise up and say "get on my back." There's no one with big shoulders to ride with this team. They can't hold the line, and Cleveland has known it since June. It was only a matter of time that team led by a competent veteran manager would chip away and take advantage.
  12. LastOnePicked
    Gleeman and Bonnes talk often about 60/40 decisions for the Twins. Simply, a lot of the decisions that Rocco and the FO make are entirely defendable decisions. They would seem - theoretically, at least - to be wise decisions. BUT ... a 60/40 decision still has a 40% crash rate, and that 40% has hit this team consistently. Add in the unexpected disasters - Wes Johnsons resigns, Royce Lewis tears ACL again, pipeline arms falling off - and it's just a snakebit organization living under the curse of some uprooted spruce. And sadly, this has all happened at exactly the wrong time. After an 0-18 run in playoff misery and a crash-and-burn year in 2021, there is simply not much charity or grace or optimism left in the fanbase. We're only 1.5 games out with plenty of games left against key rivals, but most posters here (myself included) are declaring the season dead. So, it seems like there are only two options left. 1) Set aside disappointment and just root like hell for this club over the final stretch. Our beleaguered losers need a boost that only a loyal fanbase can provide. Or 2) Pack it in, watch it burn, and push very hard for a total organizational rebuild starting in 2023. No Rocco. No Falvine. New coaches. Start fresh, and let a 5-7 year rebuild play itself out. I haven't made up my mind yet which option I prefer, so don't feel bad if you haven't either.
  13. LastOnePicked
    This. 2022 was supposed to be the make-or-break year for this FO's ability to deliver on the pipeline. It hasn't happened, and there are no promising arms on the horizon. Time to move on.
  14. LastOnePicked
    I don't even have that confidence. I've never seen a season with a division so ripe for the taking, and this team still seemingly can't rise to this low challenge in 2022. Look, a lot of bad things have happened to this team this year, but the good-to-great teams rise and overcome and the average-to-bad teams make excuses and sink.
  15. LastOnePicked
    When you have very talented players and they persistently underperform, it may actually be the fault of coaching. We've been making this tired excuse for Rocco for too long.
  16. LastOnePicked
    Yes they are. Sometimes I think this is terribly-run organization, and other times I think their luck is just flat-out lousy. As a fan, neither is comforting. But, I had my rage response earlier this week. I've taken a deep breath. Now I'm just pulling for these guys to give it their best and make a run. This isn't our year, but they can take advantage of a weak division and at least go down throwing punches to division rivals.
  17. LastOnePicked
    Agreed. Keeping Pagan and letting him re-sink the season over and over and over again shows that the team just isn't committed to winning - not even in the "Carlos Correa" year. The Twins lack the spine needed to hold a division.
  18. LastOnePicked
    Colome, Pagan and soon Lopez. Sooner or later, we need to realize that the common denominator is probably the MN Twins. I don't know what the issue is, but when a Twins pitcher gets the "yips," they never recover here. Coaching HAS to be a part of this. It's Pagan, yes, but it's bigger than Pagan. This team just cannot hold the line or rise to a challenge, either in late innings or against top teams. I thought that was starting to change in Spring, but I was very wrong. Same garbage, different year.
  19. LastOnePicked
    I made this exact same decision just before the All-Star Break. I highly recommend it to everyone. I came back to TD today just to check in, commiserate and see how the good folks here are surviving the club's total implosion. It's pretty clear it's going to get worse, folks. Now might be a good time to hop off the ride.
  20. LastOnePicked
    Incompetence is toxic, absolutely. The hitters have put him and this team in position multiple times, and he's failed over and over again. He may be a nice guy, but results matter a lot more at the pro level, and I'm sure the players are wondering why he's still getting all these chances. That will kill the morale of this team - if it hasn't already.
  21. LastOnePicked
    Can't even imagine what this is like for Jayce Tingler. He's watching Pagan destroy another season for a totally different team, right before his eyes. Maybe even getting the manager fired again in the process. When some of us said the Rogers trade was a disaster in the making, this is exactly what we meant. And when some of us said that Rocco's inability to adjust when changes are needed - this also is what we meant. Just listen to him make excuses and fawn over Pagan ("his stuff is great, but his execution isn't good" - what the heck IS pitching if not EXECUTION?). This won't change because Rocco won't demand changes. He seems more worried about clubhouse chemistry than being decisive and taking a stand over player nonperformance. Pagan should not be on this squad today, period. But this will be the Colome disaster all over again.
  22. LastOnePicked
    Personally, I think he's a guy you break the bank for. Yes, the last three years of any contract won't be as productive. So what? By that point he can be mentoring Lewis' return to shortstop. Sign Correa to a 7 year deal. Slide a rehabbing Lewis over to 2nd to take Polanco's place. Consider trading Polanco, Martin, Miller and/or Steer for great pitchers. Keep Palacios as a low-cost solid backup. I think having Correa here through the 2020s drastically increases the chances of a World Series title in Minnesota.
  23. LastOnePicked
    Great, great article. Perfect example of how relationships help make progress and growth at both personal and organizational levels. Yes, I'm pissed, but Wes will be missed here.
  24. LastOnePicked
    I'm going to drop this after this post because it's getting rather silly, but do you really think they wouldn't hire their superstar pitching guru #1 choice for the job if he wasn't available immediately? That they couldn't have gotten him working with staff in October? Come on, that doesn't hold water either. It's IDEAL for him to join their program now, sure. But if they targeted him this strongly, they certainly would have brought him on later. That's how any employer would work with a top choice for an ongoing program.
  25. LastOnePicked
    Where has anyone even said "evil"? - C'mon, there's no reason to take this into the realm of the ridiculous. But there is a line of logic here that is ridiculous - that contracts don't matter if one party of the contract is unhappy. I'd be curious to follow fan reactions if Rocco left the Twins in August for a better offer with the Yankees, or if Buxton saw a chance to join the Braves in September to be closer to home. I give you all credit for being worker-supportive, but I still lean towards the importance of relationships, mutual trust and commitments. But I'm getting old fast.
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