TheLeviathan

Every year, multiple times, worse teams beat better ones in the MLB playoffs. For a franchise that found a hilariously inept path to never doing that....breaking that streak was worth celebrating. But the bigger issue is the irrationality that people were referring to as a cesspool. Why go so far out of your way to minimize what Rocco rightly gets to count as a positive of his tenure? We can't acknowledgegood things? Only mistakes or poor tendencies? We have to also diminish the positives? That's the issue. The Rocco hate is irrational and omnipresent. It literally has swallowed all discourse into an abyss of trolling, flame baiting, griping nonsense. There ARE irrational Rocco haters. There are no irrational Rocco cheerleaders at TD. The very notion that there are two "crews" is only coming from the crew that wants to pretend through equivocation that they are an equal opposite force rather than a hurtling comet of incessant stupidity hell bent on hitting every thread. What actually exists is those that would like to criticize fairly and with context (You know, how intelligent discourse occurs) but they instead are accused of having him over for the holidays. Or being apologists. A thread about the struggles of the bullpen becomes a Rocco thread. A post about the offensive struggles becomes a grouse-fest about Rocco. We have flame-baiting topics like this one that violate community standards being posted two months after an event happens. Why? I guess there was a dearth of Rocco-centric gripe threads? I guess? What some people want is the ability to be critical without such an obtuse framework to operate in. We've been overrun by Sith-like Rocco haters. So let me ask....is it not possible to say "I do appreciate that he helped break that playoff streak" along with "Man I wish he'd stop pinch hitting in the 4th"? Can we not reach a point where that is possible?

I appreciate this chance to talk bigger picture. Here are some thoughts I have: 1) I think the team is right to prioritize matching up righties vs. lefties and vice-versa. The data this year suggests seeking out that matchup via pinch-hitting (especially in aggressive fashion early in the game) is probably not working the way they expected it to. I think a serious look at this strategy is necessary. At the very least, if you plan to employ it, you better have a roster capable of enacting it with proper depth to pull it off. 2) Herein lies the rub on the above....will they be given the green light to fill out the roster with depth? I'm a big believer that you win a World Series with your depth more than your star power. One need only peruse the last decade of playoff runs to see that the teams who make it often bank on guys who are the 19th or 12th or 23rd best guy on the roster in April. But without the cash to spend to build that kind of depth, can they pull off what they're trying to accomplish? If not, then they seriously need to look at trading to add depth - in coin terms - think move dimes for two nickels. Or a quarter for five nickels. Not my preferred build style, but perhaps necessary. 3) Agreed on the farm - it's taken longer than we had hoped to see pitching returns, but it's clear this FO and their scouts are acquiring and developing talent well. That cannot be overstated as a positive. A few I'd like to add: * I hope this FO revisits the stance it has on speed and the running game. We are far too slow-footed and our roster is incapable of applying pressure to opposing defenses and creating easier run scoring opportunities. * The bullpen salvage operation has been pretty successful overall, but they need to focus on filling their major league bullpen with reclamation projects. Sign guys you work on in St. Paul as reserves, your 4th thru 6th guys can't be as unstable as we've been using. *We need to consider what our organizational coaching philosophies on hitting are doing to produce the kinds of inconsistencies we've seen. Players seem to really struggle with their approach staying consistent. I know slumps happen, but there are slumps and there are what happened this year where we go from an .800 team OPS for two months to .600 for a month and a half to end the year. The swing shouldn't be that dramatic and that team wide. * Our training/medical staff has had some MAJOR misses on trades and other issues with player health. A serious look at that department and how it's failing the team in preparation, nutrition, maintenance, evaluation, etc. is desperately needed.

I think it's reasonable to expect the team to spend what it can. I also think it's reasonable to assume that the choice not to spend to improve the quality of your roster will show up in the quality of the results as well.

Their justified reason for the cut was 40M in TV revenue. That money could've been spent on players and one of the reasons for this collapse was a lack of depth on the roster. It may not have been spent wisely, there are no guarantees.....but it quite likely would've made a difference. Kneecapping your roster's depth is a good way to have bad things happen.

Closer to 40M. And 40M buys you a competent starter and two good bullpen arms. Yes, that absolutely could have made a huge difference. Other factors would've still caused this team a lot of difficulty, but three more competent members of the pitching staff is definitely not something to ignore.

Is this a new one for our collective sports pain in Minnesota? Always nice to diversify your collection!

He should've been running it out....But there is no gear Santana posseses that gets him anything but thrown out going for 2nd.

It's fair to argue that the ALC teams have received a boost from being able to wail on the White Sox all year. That said....good teams should wail on bad teams. When they don't, it has seriously negative impacts on them and they are rightly criticized. Look no further than the 22-23 Timberwolves who were a play-in team rather than a #3 seed by virtue of a god awful record against terrible teams. Even a .500 record against the dregs would've earned them a huge bump in the standings. The Twins have had long stretches of really good baseball this year. They've had long stretches of really bad baseball this year. Perhaps they're just mediocre. Given the way the roster was gutted of depth, that would seem to make sense. They banked on big performances from young guys and got mixed results. (Julien, Wallner, Lee, SWR, Lewis, Larnach, etc) They banked on come-back performances and got mostly bad results. (Margot, Paddack, Vasquez, Kepler) They banked on star/established players carrying them and again got mixed results. (Correa, Buck, Lopez, Duran, Jax, Santana, Theilbar) All and all, the fact they'll finish with a (just barely) winning record is about what was reasonable. It might even be a bit surprising given the injuries.

Rocco'd again. If only he had told the team earlier that an entire month OPSing .620 was a good way to lose....they may have scored more to help their rookie laden rotation! Idiot. He should pinch hit himself with the lefty Rocco that follows the exact same organizational beliefs and would do everything the same.

You bring up a good counterpoint in that the markets are similar and there does appear to be a sustained attendance disparity. It may be that the Brewers just have a better fan base, but could there be more to it? Perhaps the Brewers do a better job promoting their team. (Perhaps they have better group sales for example) Maybe their gameday experience is more enjoyable. Maybe their public messaging is more upbeat and embracing towards the fans. Maybe they just never lost the trust of their fans for whatever reason. A lot of things could explain this, it's hard to know without having more specific data on their success/Twins failure. If I worked for the Twins I'd be trying to answer that question. What I can say with certainty is that Twins' fans feel beat down by their club. If I'm wondering why less money is heading their way, that would seem to be a good place to start.

Truly great advice, but the visceral intensity all that PTSD...... That said, how great would it be to beat the Packers at Lambeau, fly to London and kick the crap out of A-Aron, and go into the bye 5-0? A fella can dream.

That's my concern. I'm too excited to play them....being a Minnesota sports fan has trained me to anticipate impending pain in these situations.

I don't buy the argument of blaming fans. Are Minnesotans sometimes hesitant to pour into the ballpark and support the team, even when they are losing? Sure. That can impact revenue and I can understand slight cutbacks to a payroll. Or ebbs and flows. But let's be clear, the Pohlads have never been in any danger of not cutting a profit. And when that has been a danger (perhaps this year) it was almost entirely due to their own malfeasance on their broadcasting deal. When they wanted to contract they were profiting just fine. They wanted more profit and a stadium to make it in. Fan loyalty, and the dollars they bring with them, are earned. If fans are choosing not to bring those dollars to your ballpark. Or your website. Or your broadcast (if it exists at all). Then the question you ought to be asking is "where did we lose their trust?"

I think they play Love and part of me is happy? He's going to be rusty, possibly skittish, and we may be able to get an early advantage. But the Packers are a really well coached team, I think it's going to be a great game. Probably one score game with a key turnover making the difference one way or the other. I expect Jones to be used HEAVILY in a revenge game too.

Your effort is appreciated. Some of us see that you are trying to rise above and we commend you for it.

Here's the thing....they are getting good coverage. That group is causing coverage sacks too. They've got the right kind of guys for this scheme and the one position that isn't good (DT/5 tech) is being schemed perfectly. Those guys just bullrush to collapse the pocket basically. Imagine how good they could be with another big dude or two who could do more?

Utter domination. I predicted 24-20 and I thought it was going to be a similarly comfortable win as the SF win....I didn't see this. Stroud had the best season of a rookie QB ever, has great weapons, and they have a formidable defensive front. The OL kicked their butts. The d-line ate their O-line for lunch. With no real running threat they just pinned their ears back and went QB hunting all game. This team will lose some games, but with this coaching staff - they're going to win way more games than they deserve to. I"m excited to see if they can keep it going as we get Addison and Hock back in the near future too!

Vikings screen game is so much better this year.

This ref crew is penalty happy it seems.

Deep shots to Oliver seems sketchy!

These aren't hot takes, they're just bad takes. Pretending you are Skip Bayless seems like a sad way to exist.

This offensive line is playing like a bunch of beasts already today.

The Houston OL can't block a three man rush. If we just play ok on offense we win.

I will be wagering on the Vikings. I see a 24-20 type of win. I think the Houston offensive line is ripe to be exploited.

Rocco'd again! How is this guy losing with such a deep bullpen, veteran rotation, and an offensive juggernaut of a lineup? Pathetic.