Old Twins Cap

Don't look for any accountability from the front office or the coaches. It's never anyone's fault really. It just happens. At some point, at long last, the fact that there is no accountability for any of this IS THE PROBLEM.

After consecutive 95+ loss seasons where the Twins were easily one of the worst teams in either league, they break out a (current) 10-game losing streak in May of 2013, one in which they are repeatedly pummeled early in the game. An announcer said not only have the Twins allowed the most runs in the 1st inning, but that the runs allowed in the 1st are the most runs allowed in any inning by any team in baseball in 2013. Think about that: right when you take the field to get a good start, you perform worse than any team in baseball in any inning. Incredible. In games where they grab significant leads, like 6-0 over Baltimore, 2 and 3 run leads against Chicago, Detroit and Atlanta, they find a way to lose. Usually, pitching, but also, increasingly, dumb plays, bloop hits, sloppy throws, poor defense. When your are a bad baseball team, it isn't hard to invent new ways to lose. But really, it comes down to this: Is Gardenhire's contract going to be renewed? And really, the answer has to be "No" at this point. Not after the last two years. If Gardy could turn things around, he would have at this point. He follows up two unacceptably bad years with a 10-game losing streak and effectively relegated the last four months of the season to meaningless baseball games. And the real issue is this: If Gardy is not going to be renewed then what are the Twins accomplishing by keeping him as manager? Are the players going to try harder because they know Gardy won't be around next year? Are they going to listen closer and try to learn from him? Are they going to even care what he says -- knowing that he won't be here? And, is that the kind of atmosphere you want in the clubhouse, a dead man walking and no one able to face the bald truth that the team is rudderless, the organization incapable of making a managerial move because.... because why? I'm not a Gardy hater. I really don't care who the manager is as long as they play well and make games fun and interesting. But once the answer becomes Gardy isn't the guy going forward, then the question has to be: Why is he still the manager right now? Is this the right thing for what comes next? Only a dysfunctional organization clings to the past when it's clear the future lies in a new direction. To renew Gardenhire at this point would be pathetic. He's had a good run -- though it needs to always be remembered how poorly the Twins played in the post-season under Gardy. It doesn't mean he's hated or a lousy manager. It just means it's time for a change. And when it's this clear that change is coming -- then there is no reason for it not to happen sooner rather than later. Like yesterday.

After consecutive 95+ loss seasons where the Twins were easily one of the worst teams in either league, they break out a (current) 10-game losing streak in May of 2013, one in which they are repeatedly pummeled early in the game. An announcer said not only have the Twins allowed the most runs in the 1st inning, but that the runs allowed in the 1st are the most runs allowed in any inning by any team in baseball in 2013. Think about that: right when you take the field to get a good start, you perform worse than any team in baseball in any inning. Incredible. In games where they grab significant leads, like 6-0 over Baltimore, 2 and 3 run leads against Chicago, Detroit and Atlanta, they find a way to lose. Usually, pitching, but also, increasingly, dumb plays, bloop hits, sloppy throws, poor defense. When your are a bad baseball team, it isn't hard to invent new ways to lose. But really, it comes down to this: Is Gardenhire's contract going to be renewed? And really, the answer has to be "No" at this point. Not after the last two years. If Gardy could turn things around, he would have at this point. He follows up two unacceptably bad years with a 10-game losing streak and effectively relegated the last four months of the season to meaningless baseball games. And the real issue is this: If Gardy is not going to be renewed then what are the Twins accomplishing by keeping him as manager? Are the players going to try harder because they know Gardy won't be around next year? Are they going to listen closer and try to learn from him? Are they going to even care what he says -- knowing that he won't be here? And, is that the kind of atmosphere you want in the clubhouse, a dead man walking and no one able to face the bald truth that the team is rudderless, the organization incapable of making a managerial move because.... because why? I'm not a Gardy hater. I really don't care who the manager is as long as they play well and make games fun and interesting. But once the answer becomes Gardy isn't the guy going forward, then the question has to be: Why is he still the manager right now? Is this the right thing for what comes next? Only a dysfunctional organization clings to the past when it's clear the future lies in a new direction. To renew Gardenhire at this point would be pathetic. He's had a good run -- though it needs to always be remembered how poorly the Twins played in the post-season under Gardy. It doesn't mean he's hated or a lousy manager. It just means it's time for a change. And when it's this clear that change is coming -- then there is no reason for it not to happen sooner rather than later. Like yesterday.

You don't think Trevor has fallen on his face yet? Have you seen him getting bunted on repeatedly? Have you seen him try to throw on the run? Have you seen his baserunning decisions? Without much pop, low BA, easy K with runners on against a hard-thrower -- I'm thinking Deibinson Romero sometime this summer. Plouffe just isn't MLB caliber. Sad but true.

Whoever scouted the White Sox and told the Twins staff to pitch Adam Dunn outside, that person's job should be on the line.

Keep getting after it. Battle your tail off for a better lineup.

He's got have a decent year to become trade-bait.

This is a hell of an impressive article. I like the depth and context you provide from other professionals. It really rounds it off nicely. Keep up the great work. It's excellent content.

Yeah, I was at the games yesterday. Time and again when Morneau was up, he had the chance to drive in runs and did not come through. His swings looked terrible and the results were even worse. Don't know what happened to him after ST when it seemed like he was ready to return to excellence. Then again, who would write him off at this point? Wasn't it in 2006 when, like on June 6th Morneau was going nowhere with his baseball career and over the next four months went on an historic tear, terminating in a Division Championship and MVP. Am I misremembering that?

The Twins have no accountability when it comes to Gardenhire. None. Why do we even need to talk about Gardenhire's rants about players? Just look at results. We've got the worst record in AL two years in a row, now headed for a third. He has not win a post-season game, let alone a series, in how many years? The famed "do the little things right" team does not do the little things right. They can't pitch, can't field, can't hit cut-off men, can't keep teams from stealing. And when you watch the Twins play, the listless, passion-less, drip-drip-drip to another loss -- I mean, how much further down to you have to sink before someone wakes up and realizes that it's time for an accountability moment. For whatever reason, he is not producing good results for the Twins organization. It happens after 10 years. A team gets stale and a new manager brings a new approach. Why is this so hard to comprehend? It's baseball. It happens all the time.

The Twins look terrible right now. The only good thing is that it is early. The Angels look bad right now, so take it with a grain of salt. However, at some point, after two years of misery and now the beginning of a third year, there has to be some accountability. Why Gardenhire gets a free pass in all this is beyond me. He reams Hicks for not hustling out a pop-fly that he gets to second on. But, the day before, he lets Correia blow a winnable game because, well, it's His game to lose, not the team's. I don't get it. When a team plays like this, you usually hold the manager accountable. But, for whatever reason, in Minnesota, it's everybody else's fault, not Gardy's. It ain't working out. Gardy is not a bad guy, probably not even a bad manager. But there comes a time when a new face, a new approach makes a big difference. That time is now.

With the Twins winning, Hicks could struggle and the team could put up with it. But, when the Twins lose, and the offense doesn't click, then everyone's problems are magnified. Without some kind of change in approach, and the Twins in sputter mode, there will be no alternative but to send the kid out. Funny how night and day Hicks is between Spring Training and the regular season.

Point is, you want your players to feel good about their contributions. Corriea had it in spades. At most you let him pitch into the 8th until a runner gets on. At that point, the pitcher CANNOT lose the game. The definition of success for a starting pitcher. Gardy fell in love with the idea of Correia being unbeatable in this game. His fantasy likely cost the Twins the game.

Crabbing schmabbing. Angels brought up a 20 year-old kid last year and he damn near won MVP of AL. Let the cream rise. Twins way be damned.

Arcia can hit, he's got a hell of a swing. But, and you don't hear about this much, he must have a hell of an arm. Three assists already. All at second base. Or, is he getting assists from bone-headed runners at 2B? Either way, I've seen his arm ranked as average, but in the box score, it looks like more than that. What's the skinny?

Game is on the line. You need a strikeout. Once the game was tied, there's no way he'll bring in Perkins. Short of a tie game though, it should be Perkins. I thought that Roenicke would get one, maybe two outs in the 8th and then bring in Perkins to pitch to Markakis. But, it all went terribly wrong. Would have been nice for Hendriks to go longer so as to save Pressly for later, but, we are seeing already how stretched a pitching staff can become against good-hitting teams. And the Tigers and O's are pretty good teams.

Yeah, Brock, do share about proxy settings. This lunacy of being able to watch out of market only, is right out of 1984.

Well, this is how the season starts. It is what it is. But, the Twins will rise or fall with Parmelee and Plouffe either coming into their own or going belly-up. They got beat in this one, but I like their chances over time.

I think the thing to keep an eye on, microscopically enough, is how Morneau handles low pitches. I had season tickets in 2010 down the right field line, and what struck me, as Morneau was racking up some serious numbers despite hitting a lot of drives that fell short of the fences in Target Field, was how he could go down and get his bat under low pitches. We know how Morneau has a kind of buggy-whip swing, he sees a ball, his eyes get all big and he wants to hit the damn thing, but the key is to flex at the knees, get down low and use that leverage to lift a low pitch and drive it somewhere. You gotta understand: every pitching coach and every catcher is telling every pitcher in the league to keep the ball down against Justin. So, to me, the real tell-tale sign is: does he flex at the knees and is he able to drive the low pitch, whether to left or center, and if inside, to drill it to right. If he is, that means he's all the way back. If he hits a lot of ground balls, or flails at low pitches, then it's likely that he's lost something essential. At that point, I say, trade him and take a chance on Parmelee. At least Parmelee seems more than willing to lay off the low pitches and see if he gets called out on them or not.

Robertson to go. He just don't have it, lefty or not, no one will take him. Guaranteed.

Yeah, appreciate the inside look at the Twins. I was down there in early March but only got to Port Charlotte for a game -- the one where the Twins hit back to back triples in the Ninth to tie and won it in the Tenth. I agree: Twins look better this year. More life, more youth, more energy. They will score runs, they will play better defense, their bullpen is fine. It all comes down to pitching and there, well, hard to say at this point. Some guys need to grow, some guys need to heal and some guys need to out-perform their historic numbers. In other words, the Twins will be a .500 team, unless something amazing happens.

Deduno hasn't shown you enough? Pretty tough for him to get any respect in these parts.

Point is this: If you are the best player on the team, maybe the best in baseball, at what point is it incumbent on you to be The Decider in a big game, versus taking a walk and letting some one else be the decider? Criticize me if you want, call me names if you must, but the point remains: Does Joe Mauer want to be the kind of player who makes the big play, or is he content to take a walk and let it fall to someone else? And, again, his batting average with runners on base in not the issue. In fact, it magnifies the issue. Take a swing, Joe. By not swinging, if things don't turn out well, it's not Joe's fault. But, on the other hand, didn't Joe have an opportunity to win the game? And, isn't he one of baseball's best players? When was the last time that Albert Pujols, Mark Texeira, or Miguel Cabrera make their name by taking a walk in key situations? I'm not a Mauer hater, far from it. But, it does surprise me that in key situations, with the game on the line, he takes strikes instead of trying to be a hero. Not the way one would script it, but it is the way Mauer plays it whether the game is on the line or not.

Game on the line, bottom of eight, runners on second and third, one out. Joe Mauer up. Eight pitches thrown. Some fastballs right down the middle. Joe Mauer takes a walk. That's the way this kid rolls. You have a chance to be a hero? Joe will take a walk. I defy anyone, to look back at key situations, and I don't dispute that Mauer is a great hitter, who hits better in key situations, but I still say, for a guy with that level of talent, to take that many pitches and a walk.... well it is what it is. It would be better for Joe is they just intentionally walked him then that he worked the walk. But, still, how many times has Mauer walked and left the lead runs on the bases? Somebody with some research skills, can you validate what I am trying to say?

Has anyone on here seen Herrman try to catch? If not, realize this: he is not MLB worthy at that position. Not even close. He might be an emergency catcher, but he is not a back-up catcher. Not at this point.