JB_Iowa

Players are making a strong case for a new manager. Reminds me of a few years ago when the Twins actually beat the Yankees when Gardenhire was absent.

O runs for the opponent in the first inning? I didn't realize that could happen.

I'm getting the feeling this season is going to be a bit of a roller coaster ride. Bright spots, low spots. Up and down from day-to-day, series to series. I guess that's better than feeling like we're on a steady train to the nadir.

Why change something that worked? Although in fairness, it sounded like this was Gardy's line-up yesterday.

Or not at all.

Why do these first innings feel like last year?

Derek Wetmore ‏@DerekWetmore 2m Josh Willingham will hit the DL after today's game. Michael Tonkin will be recalled. Back to 13 pitchers. But glad to see Tonkin back.

Well, that's the best news I've heard in a while. Not the funeral but a new manager (however temporary). Feels like a breeze blowing through TF.

I absolutely agree with that. And I think that even some who are arguing most vehemently from the negative side have a great deal of admiration for what he has achieved. (In all honesty, i think you could put a lot of superstar players in place of Mauer in Minnesota the last few years and that player would be a lightning rod. The criticisms might be different but with such stunning team failure, any star player would probably become a lightning rod. But you usually don't see a team with such an abysmal record over 3 years with a true superstar on their roster.)

This thread invited that type of nitpicking. Overall I don't see nearly as much venom toward Mauer on TD as on a variety of other forums although this thread did get a little more heated than I expected. It seems to me that the Twins have 4 lightning rods: The Pohlads; Terry Ryan/Front Office; Gardenhire/Anderson and Mauer. You'll note that Mauer is the only one of those that is a player. I can't think of any other player that would be a lightning rod. Oh, if Nolasco doesn't pick it up or if Perkins is a big failure, they might cause a minor splash but the "blame" is more likely to be placed on the front office than on the player. But pre-2011, Mauer was, in some ways, bigger than the game (and especially with Morneau injured, bigger than the rest of his teammates combined). When I think back to the majority of comments when his contract was signed, he had attained near god-like status. There were a few precautionary warnings but overall, he was expected to be the face of the Twins for years to come. And when you are the very visible face of something that then has repeated failures as an organization, you become a lightning rod. 2011 was the turning point. It was the turning point for the team in going from overall success to abysmal failure in the blink of an eye. It was the turning point in the way many people viewed Mauer. He went from hero status to someone who was viewed as soft, lacking leadership and overpaid especially when people look at what he is paid for every AB. He was made even more of a lightning rod when familiar faces associated with the Twins' success went elsewhere in free agency. Now we are looking at a team with 90+ losses for 3 consecutive years -- and quite possibly headed toward making it 4 years. Those 4 "lightning rods" mentioned in my 2nd paragraph will all be getting additional scrutiny and additional blame. It isn't logical to expect Mauer to carry this team on his own but he will be the symbol of the players' portion of the failure. That's why he will continue to be a lightning rod regardless of how he produces.

You are trying to understand this based on facts and figures. The term "lightning rod" brings to mind an emotional reaction NOT a logical one. If you are trying to understand negative reactions to Mauer by trying to understand facts, figures and logic, you will never get it. He may actually be better able to swing the emotional reaction back his way as a first baseman than he could have as a catcher. That is ironic because from a logical standpoint, he was more valuable as a catcher. But if he can stay healthy and produce at the plate at a near-average level for his career, he can probably swing the emotional pendulum back his way a little (although it would help substantially if the team would start winning). But just BEING on the field every day would be helpful in repairing his image -- don't you remember all the comments about people who felt cheated because they could never see Mauer play on a getaway day or in a day game after a night game? Most fans aren't going to sit and analyze Mauer's performance based on WAR or any other logical factors. They are going to make their judgments based on how his performance makes them feel and based on what they see (that's why being on the field is important) and what is memorable. You can argue for days based on facts and figures but that will never get you to the reason that Mauer is a lightning rod

There was this tweet from Blyleven, too: Bert Blyleven ‏@BertBlyleven28 2h Am I asking too much for the Twins starters to attack the strike zone and keep their pitch count under 100 by the 5th inning? Starting to wonder if the gloves are off this season (or at least whether the gags have been loosened a little). But Powers is right -- the whole point of the front office's off-season plan was to put some solid pitching in place to try to put and keep b*tts in the seats. Today's attendance numbers aren't encouraging. And unfortunately, I think bad pitching is contagious in the same way that good pitching often breeds other good pitching.

If they lose another 90 or more this season, I expect to see a transition of Gardenhire to some other position in the organization -- despite the two year contract.

Actually, you may critique at any time. I just don't expect the Twins to do much of anything until about the 1st of June -- even if the pitching continues to s*ck.

June 1

Kubel: Revenge is sweet. Must have gotten mad at all the nasty comments about him.

I went and looked at the favorite Twins fan thread again and found only 2 or 3 posts out of 50 or so that mentioned Mauer as a favorite. Brock's comment in that thread strikes me: It's too easy to cheer for Joe. He's inhumanly good at baseball which takes a bit of the fun out of cheering for him. In some ways, Joe Mauer has become irrelevant to me. I basically believe that he will produce at a certain level and that there won't be many surprises. With other players, I hope and dream and cheer -- and I can relate to their struggles. I simply can't relate to Joe Mauer. He actually may become a bit more interesting if he has some struggles at the plate or adjusting to 1B even while healthy and he may become more interesting as we see him adjusting through the aging process. It's ironic, really, that a player that provides so little drama ON the field has become a lightning rod -- not for anything he does but simply by being.

This thread may not have articulated all of the reasons WHY Mauer is a lightning rod but it is pretty clear from this thread that he IS a lightning rod.

But part of it is what we BELIEVE he should be. We see that 6'5" frame, powerfully built and it is just hard to believe that he can't/doesn't hit more home runs. It's a little bit mind-boggling.

Just saw a tweet from Andrew Walter (Twins Fan From Afar) pointing out this Mackey article: http://www.1500espn.com/sportswire/Mackey_Its_time_we_perceive_Joe_Mauer_for_who_he_really_is040914 It adds some perspective on Mauer's offensive stats. But also points out the longevity of those players. And, except for Boggs, it is hard to ignore the SB numbers.

Not all of the pitches that he doesn't swing at are "bad". I think what some of us would prefer is that he be more aggressive late in games. While it may not pad his stats overall, it might be more beneficial to the team.

But there is also this: Mike Berardino ‏@MikeBerardino 43m Per #MNTwins farm director Brad Steil, @OfficialBuck103 has resumed taking fly balls as he works back from sprained left wrist. So maybe just an abundance of caution about getting him into actual games.

Mike Berardino ‏@MikeBerardino 31m Also heard from Mike Radcliff, #MNTwins VP Player Personnel: Buxton "will play when he heals. Potentially could be May." Out since 3/16. TC is looking further and further away for Mr. Buxton.

LOL, it even says that in the article. And next week doesn't look quite as nice (if the forecasters are right. Big if).

Apparently he's been playing LF in Rochester: [TABLE=class: dataTableClass] [TR=class: headerRow] [TD=align: center]POS[/TD] [TD=align: center]G[/TD] [TD=align: center]AB[/TD] [TD=align: center]R[/TD] [TD=align: center]H[/TD] [TD=align: center]2B[/TD] [TD=align: center]3B[/TD] [TD=align: center]HR[/TD] [TD=align: center]RBI[/TD] [TD=align: center]TB[/TD] [TD=align: center]BB[/TD] [TD=align: center]SO[/TD] [TD=align: center]SB[/TD] [TD=align: center]CS[/TD] [TD=align: center]OBP[/TD] [TD=align: center]SLG[/TD] [TD=align: center]AVG[/TD] [TD=align: center]OPS[/TD] [TD=align: center]E[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] [TABLE=class: dataTableClass] [TR=class: dataRow odd] [TD=class: dataCell, align: center]LF[/TD] [TD=class: dataCell, align: center] 4[/TD] [TD=class: dataCell, align: center]20[/TD] [TD=class: dataCell, align: center] 4[/TD] [TD=class: dataCell, align: center] 9[/TD] [TD=class: dataCell, align: center] 2[/TD] [TD=class: dataCell, align: center] 0[/TD] [TD=class: dataCell, align: center] 0[/TD] [TD=class: dataCell, align: center] 2[/TD] [TD=class: dataCell, align: center] 11[/TD] [TD=class: dataCell, align: center] 0[/TD] [TD=class: dataCell, align: center] 4[/TD] [TD=class: dataCell, align: center] 0[/TD] [TD=class: dataCell, align: center] 1[/TD] [TD=class: dataCell, align: center] .450[/TD] [TD=class: dataCell, align: center] .550[/TD] [TD=class: currSortDataCell, align: center] .450[/TD] [TD=class: dataCell, align: center] 1.000[/TD] [TD=class: dataCell, align: center] 0[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE]