Jocko87

Lee’s oppo home run looks like an effortless flick on video. Was the wind howling out to left?

But the manager can make a huge difference. We are reasonably assuming that Rocco has many of the decision powers pulled away in favor of the computer but we don’t know his mandate in detail. It would make sense based on what we see but it wouldn’t explain most of the issues we have with this team. The data may lead them to swing hard all the time but it certainly doesn’t say take horrific at bats and swing at bad pitches. A manager should fix that. The data may say Griffen Jax has the best stuff+ in the league but it doesn’t tell him to be predictable or tip his pitches. A manager should fix that. The data will say that not bunting leads to more runs but it’s not saying in the bottom of 10, tie game one run wins let’s swing as hard as possible 9 times just in case. A manager should fix that. The data will tell Correa that his approach is great, exit velo, xwoba all great, good things coming but it won’t tell him he pressing, swinging at bad pitches and letting the pitcher dictate the at bat. A manager should fix that. The manager is certainly limited in what they can do but what I’m seeing is a lot of failing in the areas that he absolutely can affect. Most of the lineup or bullpen calls don’t actually directly affect the outcome of a game. We wonder wtf he was thinking pinch hitting for the clean up hitter but was it the reason the game was lost? No. The problems I’m seeing are preparation, approach, in game strategy, in game adjustments, self scouting and leadership. All things the manager has direct control of. Coaches need to coach constantly. I hear him getting more frustrated and we don’t know what he’s actually doing but we see the lack of results. It would be fairly easy to put together a manager wins above expectation. Actual wins against the Vegas composite over/under is pretty straightforward. The front office has assembled a ton of talent. What’s it lacking?

I don’t even think they would get uniforms. It doesn’t matter, flip em again. Every team in the league takes a horrible lopsided deal like that. 4 legit controlled players for a reliever rental? Everyone should take the front office criticisms with a grain of whatever this is. This isn’t fantasy baseball.

Which genius got away?

I mean, for all 4 they would almost have too. Like in under a second. Maybe this thread is the hyperbole trap? Very sneaky!

I'll take it.

Kirilloff gets boned on several ball strike calls and finally barks on one he was wrong on. Get outta here with the replay.

This feels like a 12 yo first draft Christmas list. None of these players are on the shopping lists and none of these teams are selling. I'm not sure why we would start shopping here when the Chapman from the Royals costs 11 cents.

But that's everyday.

Its not that its a required course, but the undercurrents are everywhere. Part of what is taught though, is how to address failure. Key to this conversation is none of it has to do with us. There are very few instances of any high performing organization just openly apologizing for anything. Its usually a bad idea because it foments more distrust and suspicion of failures. Its the beginning of the end. I know this from having an MBA, getting the good inside/private fortune 500 training and personal experience. They owe us nothing in the way of an apology or admitting wrong. Customers get apologies when the latte order is wrong, not highly complex multi million dollar and variable business moves. The closest we will get is moving on from Donaldson quickly. The important part of the equation is what happens behind closed doors. While I don't know what happens in the Twins offices, I've been behind several of these closed doors. You better have thick skin and be able to admit errors while standing firm on where you were correct. In well run organizations you can articulate what the boss did wrong as well with no repercussions if delivered correctly. The most important thing, by far, is that it stays behind closed doors. When I have these meetings I say out loud very clearly that we will be honest, say what we need to say including about me, and have it out. When we open this door we are a united front on the plan forward, no exceptions. The Twins are good at the united front, I hope they are having these open discussions behind the scenes. What I do think they do to a failing is relying on too heavily on the data and miss more obvious signs where the numbers aren't matching up with actual results. I think they are slow to act if the data still shows a good trend. This is generally a good trait but makes it very hard to act away from the data at times. Examples are if Jax stuff+ and whatnot looks great but his scouting report is one simple sentence. Pagan has great location+ except that one pitch that he also is tipping. Data can lie, other teams can do things that are effective for them inside your good data etc. I feel like the coaching staff is missing the one old school guy that can point these things out. The underlying data is worthless if the other guys know whats coming. The best thing we can do with the data we have is see them adjust their approaches when things go wrong. It is a stated organizational philosophy not to invest in the bullpen. The haven't, but then spent lots of prospects at the deadline. We will see if they change this going forward as it looks like they may need to. We have seen them adjust their approach many times over their tenure and they do continue to improve in all facets. They've also improved so many parts on the roster the bullpen will be a glaring area where they can upgrade as everything else needs minimal help compared to other years. Times are tough right now but this is objectively the most talented 40 man roster most of us have seen in our fan lifetimes. Now they need to learn to execute.

Yuck, hope it doesn’t spread. Good to see Wallner though.

Tumbled is your word. I said slipped and I think 5-8 slots depending on where you look for someone being called the next Strasburg/Cole is a significant move. He hasn’t been as good as last year but he was damn near perfect in 2022.

Whats the deal with Braden Taylor, moved down 10+ spots but still #2 on Fangraphs board with a 50 FV?

#2 overall in December. Watch the video to hear Mayo gush. Clear top 3 on a tier of their own was Dollander, Crews and Langford. https://www.mlb.com/news/draft-top-100-prospects-list-2023

His appearances have been quite exciting, the opposite of what we are looking for. He had a nice clean inning against the Angels and it was very boring but effective. If he can stay boring he can be a weapon but hes not there yet.

I have a tough time with him slipping as far as he has. OK, Skenes has surged ahead but 4 months ago he was the best prospect since Strasburg? Like Lee last year he could be a bit of the forgotten man in the hype machine. I wouldn't have a problem with taking him either.

Lost in all the lineup discussion, the pitching was excellent overall. Ober had a 4 hitter ouch, which happens occasionally, but responded like an ace. I would have loved to see him go more than 79 pitches but I've posted enough about Rocco. How many times have we watched a Twins game where they jumped on a Verlander for 3 or 4 and nervously watch a bad Tigers offense chip away and then whoops? Verlander recovers, we look anemic and feel lucky if we pull one out. There is no reason to panic after the first.

Listening to his post game comments the 4 run first put the urgency into the moves. Which is odd, because there isn't an urgency to score runs in any other situations. Wouldn't he try to chip away and get a run every chance with small ball? No indication of urgency in extra innings. It feels like the only move he thinks he has is a left right match up.

The purpose of the modern in game manager is to know when to override the chatGPT sabr-autopilot. We did not have that today. I don’t know what it was. Interesting to be sure. I said in the game thread, before I knew about the extension, that if I were Joe Pohlad I’d have to have Derek explain the math to me in detail. What was the plan here? Make him say it out loud. If it still makes sense OK, but I’d bet he couldn’t get halfway through. And please don’t let the Garlick home run be some indication of doing something right. If he had a move he would have made it. Larnach was sick I guess which makes emptying the bench early even odder. I’m usually a bit of a Rocco apologist but I’ve got nothing tonight. True that the subs were the only spark, but they were subbing for the only other guys who’ve been a spark lately. He’s been saying he was going to do something crazy with the lineup to jumpstart it but this ain’t it. This was just crazy.

On the day his extension was announced. Can not make this up. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/05/twins-rocco-baldelli-signed-through-at-least-2025.html

Finally an explanation I can understand.

How did Larnach not get an AB in the middle innings?

Let's be honest though, Manaea is a starter and a starter many of us were tripping over our tongues to trade for. I concur otherwise.

At the risk of a jinx. The bullpen has been good tonight.