biggentleben

Exactly, there are coaches there on "sponsorship" from a team that they will not be returning to the next season. The Braves did that for a lower level pitching coach two years ago, and he was able to get another job after working with a few pitchers in a way that another org liked.

Do realize, however, that Doug overestimated his time with the organization by over 10 years. There are many people who have been with the Twins for over 15 years in one way, shape, or form.

Okay, I'll give 2003, but BRef gives that season crazy preference to other seasons compared to Fangraphs and BP. Subjectively, I'd say his best year was 2001, which was not a playoff season.

This with arguably the deepest bullpen in the Twins system - he didn't NEED to throw one guy that much by any means.

Here's the really odd part - Douggie Baseball was beyond his best baseball by the time the Twins were actually good in the early 2000s. His best seasons were on losing clubs.

Analytics are not just to do with statistical measures of opponent performance. Swing plane is part of analytics, maximizing defensive positioning for each player is analytics, reviewing pitching mechanics through digital and video means is analytics. Those things are all developmental in nature.

Winning doesn't matter. It's the minors. Winning is a fun tertiary thing to have a minor league manager do.

In the end - it was an employee. A manager of a minor league team. Like it or not, baseball is a business. Those franchises that are successful run their franchise in a business-like manner. It's hard to hear as a fan, especially when the franchise has been run as a "old boys' network" for so many years, but that's just not how a successful organization runs.

Stiel isn't Molitor's boss...

I quoted your report here in a story as Baseball America reported the cancelling of a few different instructionals, and I've had a question from a Braves writer about what was going on with Twins instructionals, so I figured others may be wondering the same. Your info is golden and was certainly cited!

Or something like </sarcasm>

Based on track record, I'd never assume sarcasm...

Was listening to an interesting discussion today as I waited to do a radio hit. They were discussing the TWolves bringing back Bazz, and one of the comments made was that the team intends to use a lot more of Wiggins keying the offense, and that would mean that the roster depth really allows for Bazz to be used in a role as an offensive guy off the bench while Wiggins or Butler gets a break as Butler would likely move to the point forward role if Wiggins was out in the way this evaluator saw the lineup working, with Crawford focusing more as the shooter role, not the slasher/creator role.

Exactly. They've identified "tumor" growths on frozen prehistoric humanoids that were discovered. I would imagine that cancerous cell growth resulted from all kinds of adverse environmental things that sometimes occurred to the planet and sometimes were inflicted upon the planet.

Many discussions for coaching vacancies in the minor leagues happen at this time of the season. Minor league season is done, major league season really doesn't have the ability to make a trade anymore, so front office folks begin to look at the people that will be coming back in the next season. Multiple organizations do the same. I knew nearly every Braves minor league hire last year before the major league season was completed as they'd already notified those that weren't returning and determined those who would be moving to different assignments.

You've seen what Garcia has done with the Yankees, right? I'm not sure what stability there'd have been with him in house.

Just crazy that he came back for vet minimum when teams like the Pacers desperately need a guy just like him.

I was in my first class, a Sports Marketing class, at the U. The prof walked in, late, and excused his tardiness due to watching the news as someone had just hit the trade center with a private plane. I completed that 40 minute class and walked in to my internship with women's athletics marketing roughly a block away from my class, and in my walk, the second plane hit. I was ushered into the building by the Williams Arena head security guy, and he told me that I was going to be the last one let into the building as they were going to lock down the campus. While Williams Arena has beautiful screens to project the current game going on, the only receiving screen in the place was a tiny little screen in the video editing room, where we had a dozen staff gathered as the Pentagon was hit. My direct supervisor's mother worked in the Pentagon, but was at some conference or something that day, so the immediate dread and then relief was an incredible experience. We got information from Papa Johns as to how to get into their booth at the Sports Pavilion, and we made pizzas for lunch...and then supper. Finally, at about 8 PM, I was allowed to go home. My residence hall had all CAs on alert, so me being gone all day had a lot of folks worried. I was given a radio, and we took shifts sitting with students in the TV lobby, watching coverage of the news, many crying, multiple from New York or New Jersey. The U was shut down for the next 3 days. I was scheduled to sing the national anthem at the volleyball game that would end up being the U's first sporting event after 9/11. A few notable people contacted the U to ask to either do that game or the football game the next day. The AD came into my internship the day before to tell me that he had no intention to change me, unless I was uncomfortable doing it. I sang that anthem straight, which is always what I did, no goofy accidentals that didn't need to be there. After I finished, I got a hug from Coach Mike of the volleyball team, along with a hand shake from every one of the volleyball players. I got off to the side of the stands, and one of the senior citizens who provided security for the women's athletics events came up to me, tears running down his eyes, and thanked me for honoring the country and proceeded to tell me about his military service in Korea. I didn't appreciate the moment near as much then as I wish I would have now looking back as the rest of the night is a complete blur. The next day, two former teammates, Ben Uttecht and Preston Gruening, led the national anthem at the football game, one of the only times that tradition has ever not been followed in the anthem with the football game.

It's certainly all over Twitter all day every day.

I realize this is different technology, but some of the previous scandals on cheating have included use of the scoreboard to indicate signs. Is that not still use of technology? The big thing that was copped to was relaying things into the dugout and base coach, but then it still needs to be relayed to the hitter and runner. It's removing the step of someone doing the physical relaying of the sign. Not saying I'm exactly for it, but this seems like a different thing in the matter of it's using modern technology, not so much that it's using technology/electronics at all, because that's been done...

They get caught doing what everyone is doing?

Here's the article....feel free to rant! https://puckettspond.com/2017/09/08/minnesota-twins-have-two-examples-of-baseball-scouting-dichotomy/

No, I wasn't ripping on your comment at all...just piggybacking on your thoughts that access can lead to better overall content. It was another thing that bugged me in the "rant" that was published by Souhan in his follow-up. Access comes in lots of forms, not just the clubhouse.

One of the things that Souhan hasn't yet figured out is that "access" doesn't have to come from the clubhouse anymore. Players are much more willing to talk with someone they know through social media or in the community and give their real opinion. I've got hundreds of opinions on players from front office people and scouts in the game right now that I cannot use a quote on, but they're more than willing to talk with someone who they know will use that information responsibly. Being in the locker room or clubhouse is not the only way to get access to the game and access to the information needed to accurately report on the game. It's just one way.

I'm putting up a bit that I hope will answer some of what I've mentioned a number of times, but the weight number itself, on an ideal baseball body, isn't the exact issue, especially if doing the right kind of lifting and plyometric/flexibility/agility work to go along with it. I had a fun talk with someone about this piece, so I'll link it back here once I have it up...