Kwak

Do those photos indicate that some of his problems were due to "the fixes suggested" by the Twins?

I think people are reading way too much in these statements. These statements could be made by Gardenhire 9 years out of ten.

National Media--read major market "journalists". They are much like the beat reporters, except there beat is much, much larger. They pander to "their audience" just like the local yokels pander to the Twins or the rest of the local teams. The national types just breakout the cliches and write what their audience wants to read--not necessarily facts but previous perceptions. There is a very good reason that many refer to ESPN as "The Eastern Sports Programming Network"--they pander to "their audience".

They're not Gardenhire. They were bit players and were the equivalent of LOOGYs and 3rd string-catchers in the scheme of things--not responsible for results and unknown to all but a few.

Philly is a really rough crowd. I was there in '93 (a WS year!) and they generally won. Early in the game somebody hit a 3-run HR, when that guy struckout his next AB (with baserunners) they booed him mercilessly. When Mitch Williams came in to close, most were cringing and hiding their face. Aside, I knew what to expect having watched Williams close in Chicago. But even so, he hadn't thrown a pitch yet so it seemed they should at least wait for him to screw-up before cringing--but that's Philly. Bottom line, Revere had better have a thick hide--he will need it!

Gardenhire has been around too long (and lauded in-house too much) to be dismissed without a credible backstory in place to use as a reason. Three 90+ loss-seasons? '11 was blamed on injuries, and '12 was blamed on poor starting pitching--neither of which can be directly traced to the field manager's fault. If 2013 is yet another 90+ loss season some reason must be used to hang this around Gardenhire's neck. Can't use starting pitching (again)--that one would be on the Front Office. Injuries? Could happen, but can Gardenhire be blamed for that? No. Consider when Boston axed Francona: he was blamed for losing control of the team and the end-result was a September collapse that left Boston out of the playoffs. I think that might have been used on TK but to use it this year? Well the Twins would first have to seriously contend, make a significant mid-year addition, and then collapse at the end for that. Buy a Powerball ticket instead, the probabilities are about the same but the payoff is much higher. If Gardenhire were to be sacked, a medical reason would likely be cited. First, it's happened before, second, well to be kind Gardy isn't a shining example of fitness, and third it can be surmised that he has "had enough" of MLB managing anyway and doesn't need the money. I don't believe the Twins would axe Gardenhire and blame him for the losing seasons, they would use a different reason.

This "arrangement" is safe for three more seasons at a minimum. The Payroll is falling, the minor leagues are building, and time was granted to turn the ship around. These two will get three more years minimum for the "Prospects" to reach the Twins and for the rotation to settle-in-place. If the ownership wanted immediate action--a whole new Front Office would have been appointed and lots of money spent on players. Since that didn't happen it is safe to assume the "slow and easy course" (with the required slash/burn or payroll) will be used--at least three years and maybe four.

I didn't get any of that $9MM.

Gardenhire is a Ryan disciple--or he would never have been manager in the first place--his job is safe.

But most of Baseball rates power-hitting very highly--much higher than the Twins organization. I concur with your assessment of Buxton--just not enough "body-of-work" to truly evaluate. I think "rankings" should be weight-adjusted for the level at which the performance was evaluated.

Declining ticket sales? What do people normally spend their entertainment dollars on? Is it bargain-priced performers--say at the small venues around town? To be sure some do, but the bulk of the money goes to productions with recognizable stars. Movies, music, theature, and definately sports. Presently configured the Twins are clearly lacking in "star" quality. It is unreasonable to expect Mauer to fill Target Field all by himself. Declining tickets sales should be expected--but it also illustrates the out-moded thinking of the Twins. Broadcasting revenues is where the big money resides. The Yankees (and now the Dodgers) have been maligned for "overspending" by the sour-grapes crowd. But Steinbrenner rebuilt a decrepit franchise into a financial powerhouse by spending, spending, and media attention. Consumer product companies spend enormous sums to "build their brand"--but the Twins cut budget. Budget cutting might have made sense when they were winning because the success would build and retain the fan base--but with the team clearly in a "decline phase" it is foolish. There is little to induce excitement for the fanbase and the "ho-hum" results of this off-season only excerbate the problem. Quality players won't retard franchise growth but rather assist said growth. If "someone is in the way" (makes me laugh right now!) that person can be moved easily enough. That problem has been solved by other franchises, so the Twins can just use a known solution. That excuse of ("blocking young players") is simply smoke and mirrors to lamely try to justify their myopic strategy of slash-and-burn.

I think the Twins have plenty of contingency plans--"...plenty of arms...".--Ryan. Consider all the the newly acquired pitchers, add those who spent some time last year on the Active Roster, and sprinkle in anybody else from Rochester and I conclude that Ryan indeed did "hope for the best, but [planned] for the worst." The "Plan" did not include winning 25 more games than 2012, it was "patch-over the present and develop for the future." It really doesn't matter if Pelfrey succeeds from April or June through the season, or succeeds at all in 2013. It's really about building a consistent winner for the future. Pelfrey (and others) are just placeholders until the fruition of "The Plan".

Vavra was the hitting coach for two reasons: he was a firm believer in "The Twins Way", and he built astrong relationships with those in charge. If there was a deficiency in hitting by the Twins, I seriously doubt it was Vavra's fault. Blame the system, blame the individual player, Vavra was simply following orders--and quite likely "to a T".

Why are we even discussing who got outhit by Butera?

What should we conclude? 1) That these rankings aren't all that relevant? 2) Those teams that are expert in MiLB development aren't shown? 3) Many top players are promoted to the majors before they were "ranked"? 4) that signing high-quality, expensive free agents does make a lot of sense because most teams rarely develop them?

$2 will buy you a Powerball ticket--we can all dream brother!

But that required dipping into the "expensive free-agent market" where teams must "overpay" for players--and Ryan knows that's "not the right way to build a baseball team".

I bet Sano will be better than Punto--and Gardy was Jake with him.

In many threads of many forums I have read similar comments concerning Gardenhire/Anderson. I wonder: Do the fans of most every team say the same about their Mgr/ pitching coach? Was there a basic similarity of style/thought/something between TK/Such and Gardenhire/Anderson, or is it just something unique to Twins fans?

Especially when this concept was touted as one of the reasons for public contribution for Target Field.

Is that in Section 141 of the right Field Bleachers?

I guess this is place where we are to comment. My page has only one comment on it as opposed to page linked from the left. He signed to a MiLB contract so this seems like a low-risk investment. Goodness, the Twins could use improvement in the pen so I can't see any big deal.

"Talk of building a staff around pitch to contact should be long gone." So many ways to respond: a) should have happened years ago; b)none of these guys have pitched for the Twins yet so we can't be sure of that; c) who will be managing the team when they all get to the Twins?; d) what's the backup plan if someone fails? As far as I'm concerned the only thing that can be said about PtoC is that it won't be stated as the Twins' philosophy anymore. "Starting pitching is the hardest thing to find and Ryan knows the best way to go about obtaining it isn't to dip into an expensive free-agent market." So many responses. A poorly written sentence. The writer starts to tell us Ryan knows the "best way", but doesn't--he simply claims that signing expensive free-agents isn't the "best way"--with nothing to support that conclusion. This off-season several inexpensive free-agents were signed, are we to infer that that is the best way? Or should Mackey (and Ryan) just state "we're blowing-off 2013 and hoping to lose enough games in order to select the guy in the 2014 Draft that will right this ship and get us going full speed ahead".

I firmly believe the plan was three-fold: 1) shed payroll 2) affix blame for poor results--ineffective starting pitching caused by an over-reliance on high-priced injury-prone veterans 3) make public announcements to remedy situation, but recall prime directive and utilize existing philosophy of bargain-priced innings-eaters signed to short-term contracts. Ergo, more of the same. The team is in full-rebuild mode and requires a return to relying on young players who are: more athletic, have less wear-and-tear on the body in order to be less injury prone, and have lower salaries. All of this to be accomplished while convincing the fan base that the team can actally contend for post-season play. Recall St.Peter's response of payroll between $80 and $85 million. All previous mention of payroll was vague except we were to be assured that "it won't be a problem". Now we can surmise this was the plan. Also recall lack of offers to other FA pitchers in January--that would have exceeded budget. Recall Ryan's response to "demand on the new rotation": "Health". Blame was affixed to injured veterans which required utilization of over-matched replacements. Signed FA were of the bargain-priced veterans only--reliance on quanity vs. quality.

In summary, we should be more subdued with our expectations with the present class of prospects. My inference from reading TD posts concerning "The Magnificent Seven" is that most reactions range from glee to euphoria.