LastOnePicked

If I'm in an executive position with the Twins, here's what I'm watching closely: 1) How does Gardy respond to the new coaches? Steinbach, Cuellar and Brunansky were brought in to shake up the stagnation, and they need opportunities to have their voices heard by the team. Unfortunately, Gardy isn't off to an encouraging start. He's made passive-aggressive responses towards Steinbach, joking that he "looks forward" to Steinbach ripping Mauer if he goes 5-for-5 but calls a bad game. Later, as reported on ESPN 1500, he hinted that while he affirms Brunansky's new role, Vavra already has established relationships with certain players, and that he'll expect that coaching relationship to continue if Brunansky is "busy" with other players. I'm thinking that it might have been smarter for Ryan to cut ties with Vavra and Ullger, rather than reduce/change their positions and invite a confusion of roles. 2) How do the prospects respond to Gardy? Will Gardy call players out for their perceived attitude, or their play on the field? If Gardenhire begins marginalizing young players because of their enthusiasm or emotional responses to the game, I'll be concerned. Keep the focus on description of their play, and not assumptions about their character. That said, I've argued that Ryan is a smart man. I believe he's going to have to make a very difficult decision during 2013, and, based on previous articles, I now expect him to hand the reigns over to Molitor before the start of 2014.

I've been critical of this organization's culture for awhile now, so I understand the frustration, but I DO still have a degree of respect for what Gardenhire and Ryan accomplished. In the early 2000's, with contraction looming, it must have felt like it was a small, dedicated core against the baseball world. And with fairly solid talent evaluation and development, the Twins again became division contenders. But that was then. And as some have pointed out, the method that got the team to be AL Central contenders may have been the same method that kept them from contending for the title: a small ball, fit-the-mold mentality. I think Ryan is a smart, dedicated baseball man. I think Gardy is a dedicated man, but that's about it. I'm looking forward to watching how the new coaches can impact team culture and chemistry. That's where I stand, at least. Hope you enjoy Twins Daily. There are some brilliant, die-hard fans here, and if you listen (read) as well as post, you'll probably really enjoy it.

Nice work. I would gladly welcome that kind of crying over the kind we've endured over the last few years. If this whole organization can turn it around for and with these young players, we might have a shot later in the decade. Time will tell.

Thanks for the thoughtful comments, gang. I'd just reiterate that in no way am I accusing the team of racism. I have not heard any members of the organization abuse anyone on the team or any potential prospects on the basis of cultural identity -- ethnic or otherwise. I am, however, leveling the charges or groupthink and organizational stagnation, which may have the effect of limiting contributions and participation from perceived "outsiders." That the Twins signed Sano was clearly a smart business and baseball decision, and by all accounts the result of a well-constructed relationship between Radcliffe (is that right?) and Sano's contacts and family. I appluded that signing then, and continue to hope for more solid acquisitions. But this reminds me of what we see at some of our state's colleges. Some have been great at getting international students to come here for an education. But many of the students don't stay very long, and those that go sometimes refer to being treated like a constant outsider, like a curiosity, like they are supposed to fit in quickly or risk sticking out. I'm just hoping that this is not what some of our prospects have experienced, or will experience. It takes skilled management to do two things at once: help outsiders acclimate to the group and let them feel like can still be who they are. I worry when I read about how Ortiz, Bartlett and Hardy have talked about how the Twins have tried to change them, and not to the benefit of their play. This kind of behavior is a hallmark of organizations that see no need and have no desire to change. And, if the last two seasons have made even one thing clear, it's that the Twins MUST change. And quickly. As always, I'll be rooting for them, even when I'm frustrated by what I see.

Seth, first of all, it's an honor to have you comment. I not only respect your work, I appreciate your upbeat attitude towards all things Twins. And good points. I'd just say: 1) Gardy probably does enjoy homeruns from the hitters and strikeouts from the pitchers. For some reason, we haven't had many of these over his tenure. 2) Maybe Gardy was right, but sometimes there's a difference between being right and how/what you say to the press about your guys. I think my larger point on the team's overall agressiveness stands. 3) When the Yankees experience the same run of futility, I will write an article about their team's culture. But you're off base on your final comment, I think. Raising questions about the ethnic composition of the team in comparison with other teams isn't "playing the race card." In fact, I have no idea what the "race card" is, except perhaps a way for Midwesterners to express their discomfort about having to talk about ethnicity and culture -- and perhaps even history. Yes, the Twins "have a history" with black players, but it isn't always a happy history, and it isn't perhaps as full as other team's histories. Again, no value judgements or accusatuions towards the team. It just makes me wonder. Perhaps the future will be different.

Hello Folks. This is my first blog post on TD, and, as such, it's probably got some holes. Thanks anyway for reading: It’s been a tough time for Twins fans. Back to back near 100-loss seasons has soured much of the joy of a new outdoor park, and familiar, fan favorite players have made their exits via free agency or trade. Rightfully, the Twins are trying to ready themselves for the coming season, and not dwell on the mountain of on-the-field and front-office failures. Terry Ryan recently cut off talk of the 2011 and 2012 seasons in an ESPN 1500 interview, saying curtly, “We’re past that now -- that’s behind us.” Quickly, he tried to steer conversation to the ways the team is trying to get back on track. It fairly easy to get the sense that the Twins top brass feel that they’ve only recently come into a streak of some poor play bad luck – that they’re a championship-caliber, successful franchise that is merely going through a short “down cycle.” The problem with this line of thinking is that it keeps the team and its fans in a kind of insular bubble. Focusing on Ron Gardenhire’s winning percentage or the number of AL Central Division Championship flags flapping above right field obscures an uglier reality – one the organization should be facing openly, and should have been dealing with for the last half-decade: The Twins are not a competitive organization, and haven’t been one for quite some time. Before you run to your closet to pull out your collections of 2000’s era ALDS souvenirs to prove me wrong, consider this: in the last ten years, only four teams in all of Major League Baseball have won fewer playoff games than the Twins: Toronto, Kansas City, Seattle and Pittsburgh. For all of the fanfare over our Twin Titles in ’87 and ’91, the Twins will soon be entering their longest league title drought in franchise history, and that includes their time in Washington DC. To make matters worse, the closest Twins fans have gotten to cheering on their hometown boys in the last twenty years has been watching cast-offs like David Ortiz, Matt Garza, and even (gulp) Delmon Young put up MVP-caliber performances in championship situations. To be fair, the Twins were within striking distance of a league championship season in 2006 and 2010, but the front office did virtually nothing to address their greatest needs: putting another high-profile strikeout pitcher on the mound and/or another big bopper in the lineup. The actions they did take during this period, however, (see: trading away talented young players like Garza, Bartett, Ramos, and Hardy while replacing them with an assortment of recently DFA’d players, bargain-bin veterans and poorly-scouted international signings) weakened an already-weak system, and treated fans to some of the most poorly played baseball games this side of Midway Stadium. And despite the recent rallying cry that “things are changing” within the organization, the recent signings of Mike Pelfrey and Kevin Correia and the non-signings of Edwin Jackson and Torii Hunter proves that, well, the more things change, the more they stay the same. So why? Why the continued belief that the Twins are a winning organization? It’s a hard question to answer as an outsider. I don’t have access to the communication patterns in the clubhouse, or the conversations that take place in Ryan’s office. I can only make educated guesses, based on my degree in organizational communication and the countless hours I’ve spent reading and listening to preseason and post-game interviews. But based on what I’ve got, here’s what I think: there are three main problems with this organization, and they have nothing to do with individual failings or character flaws but rather they are rooted in the team’s culture: the “Twins Way” as they often call it. Problem #1) The Gardy/Andy Formula A few years back, I read a Sports Illustrated article that laid out the history that Ron Gardenhire and Rick Anderson shared, and how each of these men, during their stints in the bigs, saw an angle in the game that they thought few others had seen. Indeed, as they became the top coaches for the Twins, their rigid insistence on low-profile, pitch-to-contact pitchers and scrappy, slap-hitting batters has been made the modus operandi for the last decade. And this formula was consistent with the Twins’ 2000-era franchise identity: a low-profile, small market team that might beat you, even if you don’t know how they did it. For awhile, this practice actually enjoyed modest success. The problem, as we all know now, is that it cannot win championships and, like all formulas, it ceases to be effective when others teams know exactly what you’re planning and doing. Problem #2) Only “Good Teammates” and Nice Guys Need Apply In 2009, during a heated pennant race, reliever Jose Mijares made a questionable decision in retaliating against the Tigers. However, the pitch Mijares made was a statement pitch, and never hit its target Adam Everett. Delmon Young, however, got plunked in a following frame. This kind of tit-for-tat baseball isn’t uncommon during pennant runs, but the Twins’ reaction was: Gardenhire and Young couldn’t spend enough time pinning the blame on Mijares, calling his pitch a “selfish act,” and throwing Mijares under the team’s proverbial bus. Despite being an effective and affordable reliever today, one the Twins could have used in place of jettisoning a prospect in favor of Matt Capps, Mijares was quickly dropped from the team. On it’s own it’s nothing more than a personnel move, one of thousands made by all the big league clubs. But it fits a pattern of behavior for the team, one that reinforces either an implicit or explicit rule: no fight, no trouble, play nice. Listening to Orlando Cabrera’s interview after the 2009 Game 163 against the Tigers, I get chills. Here was a player absolutely thrilled by the prospect of beating a tough team in a close situation. Cabrera was tough, he seemed chatty, he was a competitor and had playoff experience to back up his talk. To no one’s surprise, he did not fit into the team’s plans for the following year, not even as a back-up or mentor to the middle infielders the Twins were grooming for the future. I can’t think of a single interview with a current Twins player that reveals a similar intensity. And their play on the field reflects this rule; the Twins do not and will not protect their own when they get intimidation pitches by the opposition (with the notable exception of Scott Diamond last year, and it may explain why a guy with such a low ceiling gets such support for his spot in the rotation with the fans). The Twins are not vocal or verbal about their territory or their skills, and they are fairly quick to grind down any such “rough edges” on their young players. A low-key, quiet clubhouse would perhaps be understandable on a team with trophies under its belt and little to prove, but its surprising that, even when being robbed of an extra-inning double during a playoff game in New York, Twins players can scarcely be seen mustering a shrug when faced with adversity and challenge from other teams. And that behavior stands in stark contrast to the style of play of the championship teams of ’87 and ’91, when players like Hrbek took every opportunity to irritate baserunners, players like Gaetti celebrated playoff wins with declarations that they would “trash the field” of the opponents and players like Puckett invited teammates to climb aboard their broad shoulders on their way to a pennant or trophy. Problem #3) Making Them All Fit the Mold When Livan Hernandez arrived with the club in 2006, Gardy quickly spotted a serious problem with his delivery: his earring. Hernandez broke two team rules during his first warm-up and Gardy was worried about the damaging presence of “bling-blings” on the field. “We’re going to have to mold him into our kind of guy” was Gardenhire’s comment to the press. Clearly, within the last decade, there has emerged a Twins prototypical player: he’s more likely than not white, he’s fairly thin, he’s “scrappy” but quiet, he stays out of the news, he trusts his coaching staff. Whether he’s a batter or a pitcher, he should avoid strikeouts and keep the bat on the ball. And he should be seen by the team as motivated to play. It’s that simple. The problem is that people are not that simple, and teams are made up of people from different experiences, with different values and modes of expression. This truth has typically made the Twins uncomfortable, and it’s no surprise that, failing to develop Latino/Hispanic talent on par with their rivals (because that would require them to, among other things, work more closely with translators and to understand the way a player’s culture can shape and even contribute to a player’s success), the Twins invested scouting resources in regions of the world more in line with their way of being: Europe and Australia. It’s also no surprise that the Twins have avoided African-American or Latino/Hispanic players in free agency. I want to make this clear: this is not an accusation of racism; it is natural for organizations to fall into a groupthink mentality, and to seek similarity while expelling difference. And while this process almost always limits an organization’s chances for success, the Twins have been fully convinced that they are already successful, and that this fit-the mold approach has been the reason for their success. Local media figures have even helped this delusion along, often parroting the team’s talking points that their playoff failures and regular season disasters have been brought about by bum luck, big-money competition or natural baseball cycles, rather than abject mismanagement and rigid adherence to a faulty philosophy. All the while, potentially successful players or outstanding prospects have been passed by or pushed out of the system, all because they didn’t fit the mold. That’s my thinking, anyway. But is it really all bad at 1 Twins Way? The Twins front-office staff often note how much other teams admire and respect the Twins. And I believe them. Not only do members of the Twins organization routinely avoid controversy and criminal proceedings, players and staff alike genuinely seem like nice people. But, and it almost pains me to say this because I’m from the Midwest and I like people who are nice, but I’m not sure that having others like you is a sure sign of your success. Similarly, people like Gardy because, although he’s from the south, he exudes Midwest values and clichés. “Keep your head down and your mouth shut,” “don’t take nothin’ for granted,” “be scrappy,” “get after it,” -- he’s a walking advertisement for a region’s work ethic. But, during this year’s coming postseason, watch carefully. Is this the way you’d describe the management and play of the top teams? No, I suspect you’ll find that some of the players are quiet, some are brash, some are scrappy, and some can’t get enough of the spotlight. The manager of these teams will hold them all together because he keeps his focus on winning ballgames with the players he’s got. The GM of these teams will have brought these players together because he sought the greatest talent and the greatest indications of success from each of them, regardless of reports about whether they’d be “good teammates.” When you watch teams in the 2013 or 2014 postseason, I can guarantee you two things: 1) you’ll notice quite a different style of play than you see in the hometown team and 2) you won’t be watching the Twins. There is faint hope in the future. The Twins have brought in Brunansky and Cuellar, each of whom represents a dimension the Twins have been missing: a player from the championship years with guts who will now have direct access to player’s approach at the plate and a bullpen coach whose personality and culture may help him connect more closely to the organization’s outsiders. If these men are given a chance to impact the talent on the field, those players then might just impact the organization’s culture. This might allow the highly-touted prospects to develop with a little swagger in their steps and fire in their eyes, all while they learn plate discipline and self-control. And, if the shift takes hold, Ryan can finally step away from his obligations (it’s clear that Ryan is currently staying in the position out of a sense of duty, not because he enjoys being GM, and that’s a bad thing long-term for any organization) and turn the reigns over to a predecessor – perhaps even someone from the Rays or A’s organization, who is willing to place a bit more stock in intelligent player evaluation than in personality scouting reports. And if that happens, the Twins might actually look a lot more like they did in ’87 and ’91 – a raw team of potential champions, and a team most rivals wouldn’t dare to call an “EZ-Pass” in the playoffs. That’s the hope, anyway.

Hello Folks. This is my first blog post on TD, and, as such, it's probably got some holes. Thanks anyway for reading: It’s been a tough time for Twins fans. Back to back near 100-loss seasons has soured much of the joy of a new outdoor park, and familiar, fan favorite players have made their exits via free agency or trade. Rightfully, the Twins are trying to ready themselves for the coming season, and not dwell on the mountain of on-the-field and front-office failures. Terry Ryan recently cut off talk of the 2011 and 2012 seasons in an ESPN 1500 interview, saying curtly, “We’re past that now -- that’s behind us.” Quickly, he tried to steer conversation to the ways the team is trying to get back on track. It fairly easy to get the sense that the Twins top brass feel that they’ve only recently come into a streak of some poor play bad luck – that they’re a championship-caliber, successful franchise that is merely going through a short “down cycle.” The problem with this line of thinking is that it keeps the team and its fans in a kind of insular bubble. Focusing on Ron Gardenhire’s winning percentage or the number of AL Central Division Championship flags flapping above right field obscures an uglier reality – one the organization should be facing openly, and should have been dealing with for the last half-decade: The Twins are not a competitive organization, and haven’t been one for quite some time. Before you run to your closet to pull out your collections of 2000’s era ALDS souvenirs to prove me wrong, consider this: in the last ten years, only four teams in all of Major League Baseball have won fewer playoff games than the Twins: Toronto, Kansas City, Seattle and Pittsburgh. For all of the fanfare over our Twin Titles in ’87 and ’91, the Twins will soon be entering their longest league title drought in franchise history, and that includes their time in Washington DC. To make matters worse, the closest Twins fans have gotten to cheering on their hometown boys in the last twenty years has been watching cast-offs like David Ortiz, Matt Garza, and even (gulp) Delmon Young put up MVP-caliber performances in championship situations. To be fair, the Twins were within striking distance of a league championship season in 2006 and 2010, but the front office did virtually nothing to address their greatest needs: putting another high-profile strikeout pitcher on the mound and/or another big bopper in the lineup. The actions they did take during this period, however, (see: trading away talented young players like Garza, Bartett, Ramos, and Hardy while replacing them with an assortment of recently DFA’d players, bargain-bin veterans and poorly-scouted international signings) weakened an already-weak system, and treated fans to some of the most poorly played baseball games this side of Midway Stadium. And despite the recent rallying cry that “things are changing” within the organization, the recent signings of Mike Pelfrey and Kevin Correia and the non-signings of Edwin Jackson and Torii Hunter proves that, well, the more things change, the more they stay the same. So why? Why the continued belief that the Twins are a winning organization? It’s a hard question to answer as an outsider. I don’t have access to the communication patterns in the clubhouse, or the conversations that take place in Ryan’s office. I can only make educated guesses, based on my degree in organizational communication and the countless hours I’ve spent reading and listening to preseason and post-game interviews. But based on what I’ve got, here’s what I think: there are three main problems with this organization, and they have nothing to do with individual failings or character flaws but rather they are rooted in the team’s culture: the “Twins Way” as they often call it. Problem #1) The Gardy/Andy Formula A few years back, I read a Sports Illustrated article that laid out the history that Ron Gardenhire and Rick Anderson shared, and how each of these men, during their stints in the bigs, saw an angle in the game that they thought few others had seen. Indeed, as they became the top coaches for the Twins, their rigid insistence on low-profile, pitch-to-contact pitchers and scrappy, slap-hitting batters has been made the modus operandi for the last decade. And this formula was consistent with the Twins’ 2000-era franchise identity: a low-profile, small market team that might beat you, even if you don’t know how they did it. For awhile, this practice actually enjoyed modest success. The problem, as we all know now, is that it cannot win championships and, like all formulas, it ceases to be effective when others teams know exactly what you’re planning and doing. Problem #2) Only “Good Teammates” and Nice Guys Need Apply In 2009, during a heated pennant race, reliever Jose Mijares made a questionable decision in retaliating against the Tigers. However, the pitch Mijares made was a statement pitch, and never hit its target Adam Everett. Delmon Young, however, got plunked in a following frame. This kind of tit-for-tat baseball isn’t uncommon during pennant runs, but the Twins’ reaction was: Gardenhire and Young couldn’t spend enough time pinning the blame on Mijares, calling his pitch a “selfish act,” and throwing Mijares under the team’s proverbial bus. Despite being an effective and affordable reliever today, one the Twins could have used in place of jettisoning a prospect in favor of Matt Capps, Mijares was quickly dropped from the team. On it’s own it’s nothing more than a personnel move, one of thousands made by all the big league clubs. But it fits a pattern of behavior for the team, one that reinforces either an implicit or explicit rule: no fight, no trouble, play nice. Listening to Orlando Cabrera’s interview after the 2009 Game 163 against the Tigers, I get chills. Here was a player absolutely thrilled by the prospect of beating a tough team in a close situation. Cabrera was tough, he seemed chatty, he was a competitor and had playoff experience to back up his talk. To no one’s surprise, he did not fit into the team’s plans for the following year, not even as a back-up or mentor to the middle infielders the Twins were grooming for the future. I can’t think of a single interview with a current Twins player that reveals a similar intensity. And their play on the field reflects this rule; the Twins do not and will not protect their own when they get intimidation pitches by the opposition (with the notable exception of Scott Diamond last year, and it may explain why a guy with such a low ceiling gets such support for his spot in the rotation with the fans). The Twins are not vocal or verbal about their territory or their skills, and they are fairly quick to grind down any such “rough edges” on their young players. A low-key, quiet clubhouse would perhaps be understandable on a team with trophies under its belt and little to prove, but its surprising that, even when being robbed of an extra-inning double during a playoff game in New York, Twins players can scarcely be seen mustering a shrug when faced with adversity and challenge from other teams. And that behavior stands in stark contrast to the style of play of the championship teams of ’87 and ’91, when players like Hrbek took every opportunity to irritate baserunners, players like Gaetti celebrated playoff wins with declarations that they would “trash the field” of the opponents and players like Puckett invited teammates to climb aboard their broad shoulders on their way to a pennant or trophy. Problem #3) Making Them All Fit the Mold When Livan Hernandez arrived with the club in 2006, Gardy quickly spotted a serious problem with his delivery: his earring. Hernandez broke two team rules during his first warm-up and Gardy was worried about the damaging presence of “bling-blings” on the field. “We’re going to have to mold him into our kind of guy” was Gardenhire’s comment to the press. Clearly, within the last decade, there has emerged a Twins prototypical player: he’s more likely than not white, he’s fairly thin, he’s “scrappy” but quiet, he stays out of the news, he trusts his coaching staff. Whether he’s a batter or a pitcher, he should avoid strikeouts and keep the bat on the ball. And he should be seen by the team as motivated to play. It’s that simple. The problem is that people are not that simple, and teams are made up of people from different experiences, with different values and modes of expression. This truth has typically made the Twins uncomfortable, and it’s no surprise that, failing to develop Latino/Hispanic talent on par with their rivals (because that would require them to, among other things, work more closely with translators and to understand the way a player’s culture can shape and even contribute to a player’s success), the Twins invested scouting resources in regions of the world more in line with their way of being: Europe and Australia. It’s also no surprise that the Twins have avoided African-American or Latino/Hispanic players in free agency. I want to make this clear: this is not an accusation of racism; it is natural for organizations to fall into a groupthink mentality, and to seek similarity while expelling difference. And while this process almost always limits an organization’s chances for success, the Twins have been fully convinced that they are already successful, and that this fit-the mold approach has been the reason for their success. Local media figures have even helped this delusion along, often parroting the team’s talking points that their playoff failures and regular season disasters have been brought about by bum luck, big-money competition or natural baseball cycles, rather than abject mismanagement and rigid adherence to a faulty philosophy. All the while, potentially successful players or outstanding prospects have been passed by or pushed out of the system, all because they didn’t fit the mold. That’s my thinking, anyway. But is it really all bad at 1 Twins Way? The Twins front-office staff often note how much other teams admire and respect the Twins. And I believe them. Not only do members of the Twins organization routinely avoid controversy and criminal proceedings, players and staff alike genuinely seem like nice people. But, and it almost pains me to say this because I’m from the Midwest and I like people who are nice, but I’m not sure that having others like you is a sure sign of your success. Similarly, people like Gardy because, although he’s from the south, he exudes Midwest values and clichés. “Keep your head down and your mouth shut,” “don’t take nothin’ for granted,” “be scrappy,” “get after it,” -- he’s a walking advertisement for a region’s work ethic. But, during this year’s coming postseason, watch carefully. Is this the way you’d describe the management and play of the top teams? No, I suspect you’ll find that some of the players are quiet, some are brash, some are scrappy, and some can’t get enough of the spotlight. The manager of these teams will hold them all together because he keeps his focus on winning ballgames with the players he’s got. The GM of these teams will have brought these players together because he sought the greatest talent and the greatest indications of success from each of them, regardless of reports about whether they’d be “good teammates.” When you watch teams in the 2013 or 2014 postseason, I can guarantee you two things: 1) you’ll notice quite a different style of play than you see in the hometown team and 2) you won’t be watching the Twins. There is faint hope in the future. The Twins have brought in Brunansky and Cuellar, each of whom represents a dimension the Twins have been missing: a player from the championship years with guts who will now have direct access to player’s approach at the plate and a bullpen coach whose personality and culture may help him connect more closely to the organization’s outsiders. If these men are given a chance to impact the talent on the field, those players then might just impact the organization’s culture. This might allow the highly-touted prospects to develop with a little swagger in their steps and fire in their eyes, all while they learn plate discipline and self-control. And, if the shift takes hold, Ryan can finally step away from his obligations (it’s clear that Ryan is currently staying in the position out of a sense of duty, not because he enjoys being GM, and that’s a bad thing long-term for any organization) and turn the reigns over to a predecessor – perhaps even someone from the Rays or A’s organization, who is willing to place a bit more stock in intelligent player evaluation than in personality scouting reports. And if that happens, the Twins might actually look a lot more like they did in ’87 and ’91 – a raw team of potential champions, and a team most rivals wouldn’t dare to call an “EZ-Pass” in the playoffs. That’s the hope, anyway.

The few cheapshots notwithstanding, I'm enjoying this thread. I haven't been happy with Gardenhire for years, but I've had a hard time putting my finger on why. He seems so different from TK. I once described it as the difference between reason over emotion and emotion over reason. Too me, Gardy's too much heart, and not enough brain. I cannot imagine him leading a team to the WS. And he's worked with a great deal of talent in some of those Central Division titles, to very little result. So, for those who champion Gardy, at least I'm getting a better picture of why -- even if I admit I'm not yet in agreement.

I just wonder who will be leading the team in 2016. Mauer may end being worth his contract, but he clearly has no interest in a leadership role in the clubhouse. And it seems to me that this team is a bit quick to equate a little "fire" with too much "attitude" when it comes to young players. Maybe I'm wrong, but I can't imagine that any Gardenhire-led team is capable of bringing home the league pennant or WS trophy, even if the players you all reference turn out to be the '27 Yankees. I still love the Twins, but I can share none of the optimism here -- at least until team chemstry or culture changes.

Wow. Well, on the plus side, this might be another piece of the puzzle that gets us a new manager in 2014. Maybe even a new GM.

Yes. We have enough evidence of this already: Gardy's Spring Training 2011 assertion that Nishioka would be a Gold Glove contender, TR's claim that Jason Marquis was a strike-throwing innings eater and on and on. We're not just a few pitchers away from contention folks; we're an entire organizational culture away from contention. It no longer matters what will happen in a future season on the field -- it matters what will happen with ownership and management.

Sometimes the biggest mistakes aren't the risks you take, but the risks you don't take. Kudos to the Jays for being persistent and communicative enough to walk into a fire sale bonanza. TR, of course, was nowhere near the action -- precisely where Twins fans will be seated for the foreseeable future.

Couldn't agree more. TR has proven that he's only capable of thinking small. For all of the praise he got for signing Willingham and Doumit, we need to keep in mind that the few moves he made last offseason netted the team exactly three wins over their dismal 2011 campaign. The current Twins simply cannot see the big picture, and seem completely adverse to any free-agent risk -- other than their death-by-a-thousand-cuts dabbles in the mlb dumpsters. I doubt TR was even in on any of the trade conversations with Miami. The fans will have to demand change soon.

Looking at the folks who are in the playoffs this year, it's pretty clear to me that it isn't a set number of years to contention, it's a culture shift. When the Twins demonstrate accountability, grit, fire and determination, players will rise to the challenges they give one another. Solid, mid-to-upper tier free agents will be inspired to sign here, and smart GM work can plug smaller holes with quality finds. Until that culture shift happens, we could rival the Yankees in spending in 2013 and still not have much to show for it come October.

Do we really want the Rays to pick our pockets again? Stay away -- those guys are clearly smarter than we are at this point.

I'm not convinced that trades are Ryan 2.0's speciality. The time to trade Span was before the deadline when he carried a hot bat and glove -- when there were many possible contenders for an extra wild card that needed defense, OBP and speed for a postseason run. Going into Spring Training, many teams believe that they can develop a young player who's roughly equivalent to Span. And as for Morneau, no one in the league will touch him over the offseason. He'll have to prove himself all over again in 2013, and with his injury history, it will likely be too late by August. Too bad Ryan passed on a post-deadline deal for Morneau with the then-hasty Dodgers. No, Ryan missed valuable windows for trades already -- I expect great dissapointment again on that front in the offseason.

Seth, I admire your writing and I appreciate everything you contribute to Twins baseball talk, but I totally don't get this perspective. We've had enough of this route to failure over the last decade, and a pathetic three-and-out against the Yankees puts a far worse taste in my mouth than a stinky season with the promise of a stronger draft. It bothers me that people say "anything can happen in the playoffs" --which is proveably false. Carl Pavano cannot magically become Curt Schilling in the postseason. Danny Valencia cannot become Miguel Cabrera. Ron Gardenhire cannot become Tony LaRussa. You get out of the playoffs what you bring into it. The Twins brought nothing into the postseason over the last decade, and got exactly that out of it. The trophy is never a guarantee, but, c'mon, there's a reason why the Yankees considered drawing the Twins a first-round bye. And they were right.

I still love the team, and I'll cheer for them, but I can't fathom why anyone would renew a season-ticket package for 2013. With no changes on the horizon (yes, I read the Mackey piece -- I'll believe it when I see it), the 2013 team will look and play exactly like the 2011 and 2012 teams. Only when the scholarship program finally ends for the coaching staff would an offer to spend serious money on the club sound enticing again. No one that's a part of the organization seems to get this, and the fact that Gardy is reduced to defending his "friends" on the coaching staff, rather than their behavior or their results, speaks volumes for the continued downward direction of this ballclub.

Seth, I'm certainly not trying to be combative or sarcastic, but, sincerely, why do you think Gardy's a great manager? What attributes do you feel he has to lead a team to a league title? I'll be honest, I don't agree. But I do respect your perspective quite a bit, and I'm inclined to think you've got your reasons.

Thank you for posting this, MWL, and your comments in reply. When I have a bit more time, I'll try to comment more, but I REALLY want to push back on this comment, because I feel it's near the core of the organization's problems: "But this is also the group that gave the fans of Minnesota the most sustained success of any team since the Vikings of the late 60's and 70's." I don't get this at all. Central Division titles in a VERY weak division shouldn't be the yardstick for success. The Twins record against the AL East during this "successful run" was very poor. If the Twins had played in another division, we'd be in a postseason drought the likes of which only Pittsburgh and Baltimore have shared, I think. And, at least, we'd all be more honest about the team's glaring shortcomings in both philosophy and product.

I don't have a name, but here's what I'd like to see: Somebody's who has had MLB experience. Somebody who is competitive nearly to an extreme. Somebody who cares more about winning than phony perceptions of loyalty. Somebody who detests the phrase "what my gut tells me." Somebody who hasn't spend a day with the Twins organization in the last decade, at least. Somebody who seeks out and promotes smart people who get results. TR is by all accounts a good man, but I wouldn't say he fits any of the criteria above.

There's always the element of what we couldn't see during the negotiations, but I don't begrudge fans for worrying that the same brain trust/scouting crew who brought us Nishioka might not have had a good sense of what offers included truly good ballplayers. With a bit of a prospect logjam in the outfield, trading an outfielder wouldn't likely have hurt the future, and it seems odd that no one was offering value for Span or Willingham. Fans have lost trust in the Twins FO, and for very good reasons.

Yes, good comments today. I'm a bit puzzled about how folks think the Twins will try to "stay competitive" in 2013. They haven't really been competitive for a championship in quite some time. But TR's job IS tough, no doubt. I wish him good health -- it seems the job can wear on him a bit. Like a lot of folks, I have been irrational in my some of posts the last few years. But I do believe that the Twins are comfortable with mediocrity, and I think their actions, more than any one of their FO quotes, provide evidence. When they have faced obstacles to a title (say, a dominant Ace), they have failed through free agency or trading to acquire one. They consistently avoid risk and play it safe, all in the hopes to nibble out another Central Division title during years when the division is weak. Their philosophy from the White Sox is markedly different, and the real difference, from where I sit, is that one of those teams has postseason victories and a World Series title to their credit, and the other does not.

Ahh, the mantra of the Midwest ... if you don't like where things are at, shut up about it and don't expect things to change. I get your post, Fire, but I disagree with your exhortation for us to "Deal with it." This is not the way the organization was run during the championship years, and if you don't expect better, you won't get it. If you find Central Division titles in a weak division satisfying in the best of years, then by all means -- don't set your sights any higher and don't demand more of the organization. One of the reasons why the FO doesn't do more is probably because many fans share your perspective. As a Dad myself, I know that 2 year olds sometimes throw tantrums for a good reason. But there's a line between whining and dissent with cause. The fans have a few good reasons to be upset these days.