Nick Nelson

[ATTACH=CONFIG]2257[/ATTACH]With the Twins on pace to lose nearly 100 games for a second straight year, fans have to derive joy from the little things. In a season that was basically lost from the get-go, relative frivolities like the trade deadline, August waiver moves and September call-ups become focal points of interest. Unfortunately, the Twins have been extremely passive on all these fronts, to a degree that is highly disappointing for a rebuilding club. Their deadline activity amounted to trading Francisco Liriano for a pair of marginal prospects. Their most notable move in August involved dumping Danny Valencia for a 21-year-old A-baller. And their final September call-ups, announced earlier this week, were Luis Perdomo and Eduardo Escobar. In isolation, none of these things are necessarily inexcusable, but together they give the air of an organization that isn't very actively pushing toward the future, nor putting in much effort to provide entertainment to the fans who have stuck around through all this losing. I mean, at the end of the day, that's the point, right? Giving the people who buy tickets and tune in their televisions something worth watching? In a meaningless final month, would it really hurt the development of Aaron Hicks or Oswaldo Arcia to come up and take in the atmosphere of an MLB clubhouse, occasionally getting into a game and offering a glimpse of the promising future? Is there any legitimate reason not to take a look at Deolis Guerra, who will be out of options next year and still hasn't faced a major-league hitter? And how can a club that has constantly emphasized a "no scholarships" meritocracy wherein those earn their shot are rewarded possibly justify promoting Luis Perdomo – a 28-year-old journeyman signed during the offseason who issued seven walks in six innings with the Twins earlier this summer – over Anthony Slama, who has come up through Minnesota's system and dominated every level, including Triple-A this season where his 13.8 K/9 rate leads all of his International League peers? Perhaps the Twins have their developmental reasons for holding off on the likes of Hicks, Arcia and Guerra, but leaving Slama buried despite his phenomenal success defies reason. The organization has to be aware that fans are clamoring for the right-hander, and yet here in this joke of a season they won't let him throw a single pitch. When reporters ask about him all they can get are vague, anonyymous quotes about how Slama "does not have good enough stuff to dominate in the big leagues." (As opposed to guys like Jim Hoey, Dusty Hughes and Jeff Gray, who were given plenty of leash in the majors despite their predictable struggles.) Unlike many fans, I'm not angry at the team for being in its current state. All franchises go through ups and downs, and the Twins were about due for a valley after a decade of winning and mostly favorable breaks. What really bothers me is that this organization can't back up its own rhetoric about earned opportunities, continues to weigh the opinions of its scouts too heavily against objective results, and – worst of all – won't level with the fans about questionable decision-making. We deserve better than that. Especially in a time like this.

? Really?

FWIW, here's a post I wrote last summer pointing out the flaws in blaming the Twins for Liriano's issues: http://twinsfanatnicks.blogspot.com/2011/08/burden-of-blame.html. I thought the third comment, from "Matt," was pretty good: "Nobody is successful consistently behind in the count. All they asked him was to throw it over, and he can't do it. The next team will ask him to throw it over, too."

Gee. Imagine that. Maybe telling an erratic pitcher with good stuff to try and put the ball in the strike zone isn't so reprehensible after all.

In the Baker example, his elbow was checked by multiple specialists (including the guy that eventually did his surgery) and NOBODY knew what the deal was until they opened him up. This is what I'm talking about when I refer to the complexity of these situations and the mysteries of medicine. Anyway, I'm glad that the post has generated some interesting discussion. Certainly there are some strong and legitimate points being made against this team's process when it comes to injuries. I was never denying that. All I'm asking people to do is think about the situation in context, and maybe look at the big picture before throwing out blanket accusations.

You're right, better just to leave it open and not use it.

Yeah, there's really no explanation that could excuse this. Even beyond the fact that he's an intriguing player that fans want to see, he's also a human being trying to make a living in the game. I'm starting to believe there is literally not a single thing this guy could do to get a major-league call-up. His numbers in Rochester could hardly be better. Aren't they trying to run a meritocracy where there are "no scholarships" and people need to earn their shot? This guy has done EVERYTHING to earn his shot, and they dismiss him off hand because of their notions about how his stuff will play in the majors. Just ****ing unreal.

Well what exactly were you angry about? If it's the medical staff, then this article is aimed at you. If it's something else, then what? Who exactly is to blame for this repetitive pattern? To me, it seems like a few evenly distributed iffy decisions mixed with a whole lot of bad luck. I'm guessing the medical staff deserves some blame, is it the main problem? How would you know? By what standard? Who here follows another team closely enough to really make an accurate and objective baseline comparison? I really feel like a lot of people do not understand just how mysterious medicine is. Injuries and illnesses get misdiagnosed all the time, in sports and in life. Someone above cited the example of Morneau playing through an injury back in 2009... do you realize how common that is? Players hide injuries because they want to play. Managers defer too quickly because that's how clubhouses are run. Much of this stuff is just baseball, and has nothing to do with the team doctors. It's a complicated issue and, to me, a low priority. I feel like we should be focused a lot more on figuring out how to put together a decent roster than complaining about an injured player tying up a meaningless roster spot for a last-place team. Injuries are just part of the game, and they're rarely a tidy affair.

Did I miss something here? He may be referring to the fact that Guerra will be out of options next year, although it seems like a rather ridiculous conclusion. There's a very good chance Guerra will break camp with the Twins next spring, which makes it all the more bizarre that they don't want to take a look at him now.

Pretty sure my stance was directly in the middle of those two extremes. I'm not pinning anyone in any corner, I'm responding to the (very real) reaction I saw after the Span news dropped last week. I'm not responding to the frustration over funky injury situations – that's well warranted. I'm frustrated with them too. What I'm responding to is the tendency to immediately blame the medical staff in every situation that pops up without considering the number of variables in play. I see people calling for the entire medical staff to be cleared out... do those people really believe that every single doctor, trainer and med tech under the organization's employ is incompetent? Seems pretty far-fetched. This is a complicated issue and the kind of blanket critiques often being thrown out there simply don't fit.

This is a common gripe, but I would suggest that it's less unusual than you think. Elbow injuries are extraordinarily common across the league and surgery is always considered a last resort. Most teams will prescribe rest & rehab before TJ, not just the Twins. Please elaborate, keeping in mind the points mentioned above.

You can view the page at http://www.twinsdaily.com/content.php?999-Outrage-Over-Medical-Staff-is-Overblown

[ATTACH=CONFIG]2229[/ATTACH]Last week, Denard Span finally landed on the disabled list one day before rosters expanded and 18 days after initially suffering a shoulder injury back in early August. Not the medical staff's finest hour, probably, but the uproar I saw amongst casual fans and hardcores alike sort of left me dumbfounded. My Twitter timeline exploded with rants against the team doctors. Commenters here at Twins Daily vented in similar fashion. Clearly folks are fed up with the strange injury situations that continue to arise with this club. That's understandable. Still, I'm wondering if we haven't reached a point where people are jumping the gun a bit to crucify the medical staff for every mishap. Here's a fact: medicine is an inexact science. Here's another: the members of the Twins' medical staff are highly trained experts who have reached an elite level in their profession. Most of them have been around for more than the past two years, yet the implication seems to be that since the start of 2011 they've just forgotten how to properly diagnose injuries. The truth is that this staff made mistakes before 2011 – as does every other staff in the league – and they went largely unnoticed because the Twins weren't one of the worst teams in baseball. My sense is that the higher incidence of injuries in the past two years and the club's struggles overall are causing a lot of people to exaggerate the role of the medical staff in lingering ailments and goofy DL management. It wouldn't be a unique case. As an example, let's look at this latest situation with Span. The fact that it took the doctors so long to properly diagnose his sprained sternoclavicular joint is concerning, but the outfielder didn't make their jobs easier by backing out of an MRI due to claustrophobia. Additionally, we simply don't know whether the Twins would have shown the same patience and deference to Span if the games actually mattered and they were legitimately hurting themselves by tying up that 25th roster spot. They weren't. Sure, there have been examples where the team's medical staff has pretty clearly erred. Those extend back past 2011. Like I said, it's an inexact science. But frustration seems to have some people believing that we're dealing with a bunch of quacks who have completely lost the ability to competently do their jobs, all while the numerous execs running the organization have failed to notice or care. Pretty ridiculous notion born out of a scapegoat mentality, if you ask me. To be clear, I'm not saying that the Twins' medical staff compares well to the rest of the league. They might even be among the worst. But I don't believe we have the evidence to make that assessment. Judging a doctor's performance isn't like judging a pitcher, or hitter, or manager, or GM. Each situation is unique and there are lot more factors in play than some would assume. Maybe after this season ends the front office will clear out the entire medical staff and bring in new faces across the board. I'd say that's unlikely, and I doubt it would meaningfully resolve any of the real problems plaguing this organization.

Because of the widely held definition provided on this very thread?

I don't really consider myself a "stat-head" by any definition of the term. I use stats to support my opinions, not as the basis for them. (I mean, come on, I was railing against WAR on another thread just yesterday.) I simply take exception to the whole "looks at box scores, doesn't watch the games, has never played baseball" mantra. I know plenty of fellow analysts who would be deemed "stat-heads" and the majority of them have played baseball before, watch tons of games and understand the intangible nuances of the sport. It's a vastly inaccurate stereotype.

I would call it an uninformed generalization, but either way.

Yes. No one is allowed to talk about anything positive. Nothing good matters.

Wasn't funny any of the last 18,742 times somebody's used that line. Isn't funny now. Intentional or not, that is pretty funny.

How much is it really going to matter in the long run? Parmelee is going to get plenty of at-bats here in the final weeks and he'll be ready to go at the outset of the 2013 season. The Twins' medical staff has had some annoying moments, but I think this situation is being overblown. We're talking about the 25th roster spot on a last-place team.

Mauer has had some recurring shoulder issues that have largely been brushed under the rug. I wouldn't be surprised if that's a contributing factor.

Let me ask you this: do you trust UZR in partial-season samples? If you do, you're not using it right. If not, what reason is there to trust fWAR – a metric heavily influenced by UZR – in partial season samples? Also, focusing on any numbers he's posting this season overlooks the realities of his situation that are going to weigh heavily on any general manager's mind, namely the significant durability issues. Also, does the fact that Mauer will catch only ~75 games this year have more to do with the fact that the Twins are out of contention, or the fact that the last time he caught 100-plus games he broke down? I don't think you can say one or the other with confidence.

Do you seriously believe there's a bunch of GMs out there that are judging Mauer solely on the basis of his WAR? Sorry to break it to you, but I doubt that particular metric weighs very heavily on the minds of many front office execs. People using WAR in this sense, as a be-all end-all dictator of a player's value, is what's given it such a bad rep. It's a fun and sometimes telling little theoretical stat, nothing more. If you are determined to use WAR as the sole basis for your argument, though, why are we comparing Mauer to the 15 highest paid players in the game? That's irrelevant. A GM looking to improve his club would ask himself how Mauer stacks up against the entire league; he'd likely ask himself whether a guy who ranks 27th among MLB hitters in WHIP (in a good year) is worth being one of the four highest paid.