Nashvilletwin

Now that’s the kind of catch your team leader makes when his manager’s job is on the line. Well done.

Well said, couldn’t agree more. Not surprising the Pohlads seem to be having trouble selling, let alone getting top dollar.

You’re kidding, right? How incredibly naive to assume that once the player crosses the river, the development stops. Of course, given how well versed (please note the extremely heavy sarcasm) our young players are in the fundamentals, I can see how one might think like you do. Developing young players, most especially for a franchise like the Twins that cannot rely on a steady stream of high priced free agents, is literally the most important role that the Twins manager and his staff have. Number one. We will never, ever be able to compete consistently without excelling in this area, It’s the only way to achieve any hope of a competitive advantage in the modern MLB.

IMHO, the manager of the Minnesota Twins has three primary responsibilities: 1. Developing young projectable talent from within the organizantion’s minor league system into quality, regular, major league players. 2. Getting the most out of your players (whether through teaching, coaching, inspiration, confidence building, leadership, etc.). 3. Making tactical and strategic baseball decisions in the dugout. Very simply, a successful Twins manager will excel at these three needs. Honestly now, what do you, my fellow TDers, think of Rocco’s performance/capabilities in these three areas? One opinion: he stinks at transitioning minor leaguers, particularly position players; not one single person on the team this season is overperforming; and net/net his dugout decisions probably cost us a handful of games vis-a-vis other managers’ per season. He has to go….its time.

I was trying to be nice…..lol.

Actually, your point is a good one. However, the opposite is true as well. Go 0-6, 1-5, or even 2-4 against these teams and staying with Rocco will pretty much be indefensible. Big week possibly. Honestly, I hope we win them all, but if we lose more than we win this week and Rocco is replaced, well, that might just be the best outcome.

Love the optimism.

Or he’s tipping his pitches.

75% on the owners because they haven’t had the balls or smarts to fire Falvey and/or Rocco? Or because they just refuse to lose more money every year by bringing in high priced FAs?

Actually, you missed my point - which was we should ultimately expect very little from Keaschall if the approach to developing these prospects by Rocco and HIS staff doesn’t change. I guess I didn’t make that clear enough. There is no tunnel vision. It’s simply Rocco’s responsibility (and, yes, he is responsible for the performance of his staff) to develop the strong performing and widely acclaimed prospects he inherits from our farm system. Quite frankly, for a franchise like ours, it is probably his most important job. I hope he either gets better at it or is held accountable.

So what is his record developing position players? Jeffers, a catcher? Wallner? We are a small/mid-market team. To compete we need to develop internally. And Rocco has done a poor job of it. People can have views on how well he’s performed the rest of his duties. But taking top position player prospects and turning them into average or above every day major leaguers is not one of his strengths. Sorry my friend, we cannot free agent our way to success - our market and owners dictate that.

Glad for the call-up. But what’s the plan to continue his development? What is Rocco/this coaching staff specifically going to do differently with respect to Keaschall’s transition that is different from how they’ve blown the transitions of so many others? Because if the approach is the same, we just might ruin another top prospect. My vote: let him play. Give him the ABs - against both righties and lefties. When his arm is healed, give him a position and let him build a major league prowess there. Give him confidence - don’t make him feel like every AB could be his last. Teach him to be a pro’s pro doing the prep every day and doing the little things right. Make the investment. Tell Rocco he will be held accountable for how Keaschall and a handful of the other young guys (Lee, Wallner, Julien, and Larnach) develop this season and that development is his #1 priority. If we are all being honest, this season is done (there, I’ve just guaranteed the Twins win the division, haha). Let’s build this team for the future. Emphasize the future core, de-emphasise the “one and dones”. If we have to trade some veteran players who might not be part of that core, so be it. If we need to find a new manager/coaching staff who is better able to develop those players, then make the call. Commercially, it will be the best choice in the mid/long-term; ironically, given how this team is playing and drawing at the gate now, it’s also likely the better commercial decision in the short-term as well.

Props for sticking it out. Even better with the wife. Nice catch.

Again, it’s not rocket science. Walks turn into runs, throw the ball all over the field like little leaguers, no key hits, the “stars” you count on to lead the team go 0-7 with 4ks. You lose. It’s basically as predictable as the sun rising in the east. Btw, what was the attendance tonight? Yeah, it was cold, but geez, the stands looked barren tonight. Better get used to it - we keep playing like this and even nice weather won’t save the gate this year.

Funny how that works. You don’t walk anyone, you catch the ball, you don’t throw it around the diamond, you get a few key hits, you run the bases well, your manager doesn’t do anything stupid, and your team leader shows up to play for a change. Wow, next thing you know, you win a ball game. Who would have thought? It’s literally not rocket science. Nice win.

Actually, it’s not a small sample size. Please see the two posts directly below yours.

Nice try Rocco. It was a good effort to stir up some emotion, but, to this layman watching thousands of miles away, it looked contrived. Wonder how the team felt? Probably were expecting something like this. Inauthenticity can be detected quite easily and, consequently, ineffective. Let’s face it. Rocco should’ve been fired no later than five minutes after the last out last season ending the Twins’ epic choke job. But the owners knew they’d be selling and so stuck to their story that this team under Rocco was really a true contender. “Strong, proven management” is a desired typical inclusion in any selling memorandum. Their bankers certainly couldn’t write “Senior operational management in flux and will need to be replaced”. Doing that replacing was just too much work and too risky to do before the sale. The illusion was maintained. Now it’s come back to bite the Pohlads in the ass. Sure, the new owners get the opportunity to start over with new management. However, that is way riskier than having solid leadership already in place when the deal closes. Now add in a 70 win season and a gate of 1.5MM - hardly a recipe for getting top dollar. Sorry fellow DNers. The Pohlads lost their Rocco bet. Now, in the midst of the sales process, they don’t have the time nor the inclination to make the correct operational decision. Rocco stays.

The Pohlads are living a seller’s nightmare scenario at the moment. Why? 1. The industry in which the Twins operate is undergoing massive dislocations that undermine the predictability/certainty that buyers willing to pay a premium price usually seek. These dislocations include: a) uncertainties regarding lucrative (and once steady) cash flow from TV rights; b) the explosion of player spending by large market teams (who have figured out the media rights revenue opportunities) and their owners has brought in new questions about the ability of small/mid-market teams to compete on the field (winning teams bring in more revenues and the lack of a true salary cap is so detrimental to franchises like the Twins); c) the rising costs to successfully operate a the entire ecosystem of a major league franchise; and d) questions about the growth rate, or lack thereof, of the entire MLB industry itself. 2. The “winning” window was missed. Last year when decisions regarding a sale were being made, the plan was to win the division, demonstrate the upside of the franchise by hosting sold out pennant run and at least a few home playoff games, drive TV revenues in 2025, and show what great shape the operations were in. Instead, a historically bad collapse last August/September proved just the opposite; namely, the operations were not nearly as solid as depicted and the fan support was more fickle and dependent on performance. The performance to date this season has not been overly encouraging and questions about fan commitment at the gate and through TV subscriptions have only been augmented. The playoff run last season was supposed to mask many of the underlying issues for the franchise. Instead, the collapse only magnified them. Its a very tough situation for the Pohlads to be looking to maximize price.

Great team win today in all three phases: hitting, fielding and pitching. Even better than yesterday. Bader is really growing on me. He plays the game with obvious enthusiasm and emotion. That’s fun to watch and something the team needs. France is growing on me too. Julien absolutely smoked three balls today (oppo line drive single and two 400 ft fly outs to the track in dead center). His hit last night was critical. Good signs. Nice the game was played. Leave Chicago with a series win and a little momentum. Those post-game long - neck Buds sure taste a lot better.

Nice win last night - off the Schneid is a good feeling. The team hit, fielded and pitched better by a big margin than in their previous four games. Funny how that works, Well deserved victory. Bader is growing on me - seems to play with a lot of heart and emotion. Rocco seems to be turning over a new leaf. Steals, leaving lefties in to bat against lefties after the fifth inning. What’s next, a hit and run, maybe a sacrifice bunt? Rain out probable today, but, if not, let’s get to the home opener off a win either way.

👍🏻- excellent summation.

Just a couple of thoughts: 1. Why start Ober if he were ailing? Maybe it’s just too hard for Rocco to adjust his mindset. 2. What was up with Provus on Castro’s home run call? It made the score 8-2 and he made it sound like the Twins just walked off the World Series. It was embarrassing. On the other hand, maybe he was just showing some heart. 3. Dobnak - gritty outing, doing just what he’s supposed to do. Other than Castro and maybe Larnach, can any other Twin make that claim after this series? 4. This team needs leadership and it should come from Correa and Buxton. They’ll show up. Eventually. Maybe. 5. Actually this next series is important. Hate to show up for the home opener series 0-6. Minnesota sports fans, especially Twins fans, are renowned front runners. They jump on and off the bandwagon very quickly. 6. Have we fired Rocco yet? Outclassed in every element of the game this series, including heart. 7. Morneau talking about how Contreras’ hitting woes could be partly due to changing positions was interesting. Aah, what does he know - that can’t be? Changing positions all the time is a core plank of the Rocco strategy

A few quick observations: 1. It’s tough when the highlight is an infield single by your 29 year old rookie. Btw, no knock on Gaspar. Congratulations - you’ve worked hard for decades to achieve that. I hope there are a lot more to follow. 2. Best bullpen in the majors? Yeah, right. 3. Yankees hit 9 dingers today - this entire Twins team may not have that many by tax day. 4. The Cardinals hit, pitched and fielded better in both the first two games - by a lot. 5. Fielding is not going to be strength of this Twins team. Come to think of it, hitting won’t be either. It’s too early to tell about pitching, but the early returns are not overly encouraging. 6. This team is boring, let’s just admit it. They exhibit as much personality and fire as their manager. 7. We stole another base today. That’s two in two games. Hell has officially frozen over. 8. Given all that’s going on with ownership and tv, etc., the under on 1.75MM in home attendance this season looks like a solid bet. 9. Since that Texas series in August last summer, are the Twins the worst team in baseball? They sure look it. 10. See you tomorrow.

Gosh I hope so!

Nothing like the excitement of opening day. From 5th-7th grade, my buddy Billy and I would skip school to attend. My mom would drop us at the Thunderbird motel and we’d walk across the parking lot to the old Met. She’d pick us up 30 minutes after the game. Great mom. Every year has that excitement. But I must say that this year the excitement level is at the lowest level in a long time. Sure, I love the rotation and will look forward to every Ryan and Ober start in particular. The bullpen is strong, has a few characters, and has me energised. But the position player situation is, well, boring. Buxton is always worth a ticket, but let’s see how many. CC is fun to watch hurl the ball across the diamond, but overall I’ve never really warmed to him after the contract shenanigans. I’ll cheer hard for the youngsters, but it hurts to see them not reach their potential. There are, as usual, a couple of new faces. But I just don’t feel like getting too invested in the “one and dones” we bring in every year. And, on a whole, where is the true excitement and energy in this roster? Is anyone going to hit 40, even 30, dingers? Will anyone hit .300? Will anyone steal 20+ bases? Heck, will any of them even smell making the All Star team? At this point, you’d have to take the under on all of those. Of course, another season of Rocco will be frustrating and boring. No bunting, no stealing, no hit and run, no moving the runner over, and the never ending platooning. And the never ending batting order and fielding assignments whiplash. Add in the lack of fundamentals. Where’s the fun? Over the past decade I’ve watched over 150 Twins games per season. For some reason, this year I’m just not that fired up to make that level of commitment a priority. Aah, who am I kidding? Win Twins!