Mike h

I read many years ago that Griffith had summoned Martin to his office but Martin blew him off. That was the final straw that got him fired. Not mentioned is the public reaction to his firing. The response was huge and passionate. So many people said they would never attend another Twins game. This must have fed Martin's ego and validated (to him) that he would always be in demand no matter what he did. (Amateur psychology there.) In the end, his biggest mistake was disrespecting the man who signed his paycheck.

My dad was a high school sports star who lettered in 3 sports, and as his first-born son I benefitted from his sports enthusiasm. In 1961 I was 6 years old , always at my dad's side, and the radio was always turned to the Twins game. Then in the Fall of 1965, I was in 5th grade when my friend's mom showed up at school to take him out of class to go to a WORLD SERIES GAME! Oh, was I jealous! It made me even more aware of what a big deal baseball was. And there was no shortage of Twins heros in the late 60's. Those first few years were collectively my first impression of Minnesota Twins baseball, and it was good enough, strong enough, to last 50+ years through thick and thin.

If the problem is poor secondary pitches that would have been apparent from the start, so I don't think that's it. More likely it's injury or fatigue, at least I hope so because he can recover from those and get back to being the excellent pitcher he was.. Solution: rest and physical therapy. Ryan never had a high-heat fastball. (This article mentioned movement but not velo.,) "Slower" fast balls are easier to wallop. I don't know if his fast ball has lost some velo but if Ryan is fatigued he may have lost a few ticks so that would make sense to me That leads to another possibility: sequencing, or more specifically, predictability. I've heard the theory that pitchers need to "establish the fast ball" in early innings in order to set up secondary offerings in later innings. If this is Ryan's philosophy, or Maki's, and hitters are aware of this, they will wait for the one they like and jump all over it, especially if it has slowed down to meatball speed. Solution: change up the pitch sequence, offer fewer fast balls in early innings. Keep batters guessing.

Polanco came to the Twins as a SS but was moved off the position because of his defense. It was his ARM that was erratic, he just couldn't always make the throws from across the diamond and that's why he was moved to second. So unless he has improved his arm I'm guessing he won't stay at 3B. I don't understand why the Twins don't already know this. So put Lewis at 3B, Polanco at 2B where he is better than Julien there, and Julien at DH. Buxton has played himself to the bench.

Replacing one player, say Kepler, isn't going to fix anything. It's the entire hitting roster that needs fixing. It's a cliche, but you can't fire the whole team. So fire the manager, and let the new manager bring in his own coaches.

I was and continue to be open minded about the value of analytics as a tool in the Manager's toolbox. But for Baldelli my impression is that it's the only tool in his toolbox. He seems not to understand or maybe just not consider some intangibles in his decision making. Things like chemistry and psychology and motivation. So I was thinking that if the Twins find themselves 10 games under by July 4, which is possible, then hopefully they would fire Baldelli. Now I don't think that will happen regardless of how poorly they play. We will get tons of excuses, none of which will be Baldelli's fault. Perhaps in another thread we could discuss the Manager's job description, specifically detailing what he is responsible for ( and what he is not). Then how do you evaluate whether he is meeting the minimum requirements? And how do you distinguish between a good manager and a great manager? (And I hope not to hear a lot of "if the team wins he is a good manager and if they lose he is a poor manager, and if they win a lot he's great .." ) Like I say - another thread - trying to evaluate objectively rather than subjectively. I may have to change my mind about him.

Why is there a reluctance to DFA/ release him? Because TJ pitchers are often better two years out than one year out. Although he will be another year older, I suspect he will be better next year than he is now. But, yeah, what do you do with him this year? If he can't go on the IL, can he be sent to the minors to continue rehab?

So there is a computer that has all these statistics broken down every which way. When that can be paired up with AI so it can learn, then Rocco can retire and the computer can completely manage the game. We may as well not put players on the field. Just play simulated games over and over. How fun

You say Buxton is projected to be the Twins best hitter this year. Sad to say, you may be right. Only because the lineup is so weak. For all the love Buxton gets from the Twins you'd think he is a sure fire hall of famer. I don't get it. He tries hard. He plays hard. His teammates like him. When he connects the ball goes a long way. But, bottom line, results are just average. He'll never win a batting championship or even come close. Home run champion? No. RBI? No. Silver Slugger? No. Gold Glove? Yes. Can he carry this team to a championship? No. On many teams Buxton would bat in the bottom portion of the lineup, which is where he belongs. Nineth, actually. That way, if he does get on base, you've got his speed in front of the best hitters. At any rate, he should not bat 1-4, at least not unless he picks up his bat to ball skills. If Buxton is truly our best hitter, then I'm looking for a third place finish, or worse. Sorry fans, that's just my opinion. And I hope I'm wrong.

The thing about a first baseman is he doesn't need to run like an outfielder, he doesn't need the arm of a third baseman, he doesn't need the reflexes of a middle infielder, and if he hasn't trained as a catcher he can't just slot in there either. So 1B is the only place left. Which is no disgrace. You could carve out a Hall of Fame career playing there. Harmon Killebrew played there. Every MLB player is a gifted athlete with incredible talent. Still, playing 1B well requires special practice, like scooping errant throws out of the dirt and charging in for bunts. I assume our potential 1B players are getting daily reps practicing those things. Regarding Miranda's defense at 3B, I think he'll be fine. Didn't Derek Jeter make something like 40 errors in one year? They stuck with him though and the rest is history. The Twins had a young 3B named Craig Nettles, who they traded to the Yankees. Calvin G, the owner at the time, had commented that Nettles was 500 ground balls away from (being a ML 3B? From being any good? Sorry, I don't remember the exact ending, but this is the gist of it.) Nettles went on to have a great career, but it took some patience for him to develope. If the Twins are patient with Mirandai think he will develop into a better defensive 3B as well. Some of us want him to be a finished product right now, and if hest not, then we want him to sit or be traded. I say keep him, let him play, and we'll be rewarded. Edit: Nettles was traded to Cleveland, then they traded him to the Yankees. Sorry about my error.

The thing about a first baseman is he doesn't need to run like an outfielder, he doesn't need the arm of a third baseman, he doesn't need the reflexes of a middle infielder, and if he hasn't trained as a catcher he can't just slot in there either. So 1B is the only place left. Which is no disgrace. You could carve out a Hall of Fame career playing there. Harmon Killebrew played there. Every MLB player is a gifted athlete with incredible talent. Still, playing 1B well requires special practice, like scooping errant throws out of the dirt and charging in for bunts. I assume our potential 1B players are getting daily reps practicing those things. Regarding Miranda's defense at 3B, I think he'll be fine. Didn't Derek Jeter make something like 40 errors in one year? They stuck with him though and the rest is history. The Twins had a young 3B named Craig Nettles, who they traded to the Yankees. Calvin G, the owner at the time, had commented that Nettles was 500 ground balls away from (being a ML 3B? From being any good? Sorry, I don't remember the exact ending, but this is the gist of it.) Nettles went on to have a great career, but it took some patience for him to develope. If the Twins are patient with Mirandai think he will develop into a better defensive 3B as well. Some of us want him to be a finished product right now, and if hest not, then we want him to sit or be traded. I say keep him, let him play, and we'll be rewarded.

Yes, it was Maddox I was thinking of. Thank you for the correction.

So what I'm reading is Varland can pitch- proving it by working his way up from a 15th round draft choice, up through all levels of the minor leagues, winning pitcher of the year award, having a successful major league debut - but he can't pitch, because he lacks real heat and his secondary pitches are not good enough. Well, I'll take his results. I would keep putting him out there until his results say he can't pitch. There was a pitcher for the Atlanta Braves (John Smoltz?) who got great results despite throwing "soft". There is more to pitching than throwing fast. Whatever that is, Varland has it. I hope the Twins will consider his results after spring training, instead of holding on to the preconceived idea that he can't pitch because analytics say so.

I agree with Doctor Gast that Maeda belongs in the BP to start the season. Coming back from TJ surgery, giving him too much too soon could hurt rather than help his recovery. Build him up slowly. Set him up for success. But as for candidates for having pitches tweaked, that's a hard question for a casual fan because I think we need to see a lot of data to discover trends. Generally though, I'd say EVERY pitcher should should have a thorough end-of-year review where all those numbers are analyzed. Let's not underestimate the value of having a catcher who calls a good game. And let's say we have a two-pitch pitcher- it's important that he moves the ball around. Up, down, in, out. Avoiding the middle. Not afraid to throw inside. Well, every pitcher needs to do this, but especially the two-pitch guys.

What if the SF doctors are right? What if CC will break down sooner or later due to whatever condition is now "known"? With guaranteed money this contract is much too large for any fiscally responsible team. IMO the Twins not only dodged a bullet, they dodged a bomb. On the other hand, what if the SF doctors are wrong? What? Really? Of course I'm not a doctor, but to me, it seems this is not a black or white case of he is broken/he is not broken (or all doctors would be in agreement) but more he is likely to break, which is debatable. But say CC is fine, and the doctors are wrong, how/why could that be? Could it be that the SF FO has buyers remorse? They found out how much they overpaid and want out of the agreement? This mean they would have to collude with the doctors to find a way. This is not an accusation, merely a wild thought. But wild situations lead to wild thoughts. Bottom line: the possibility that CC might have a medical issue makes me glad the Twins did not sign him to a mega deal, and if they Mets also fail him I would only take him on a non-guaranteed, performance based contract.

I cringe every time I read that so-and-so could be a DH. Sure. EVERYBODY could be a DH. Even the weakest hitter on the team. But why would you do that? Typically a DH is a player with a good bat, often with some power, but can't crack the lineup because his defense isn't as good as somebody else. This is not Joey Gallo. He plays because of defense and power potential, and his poor contact has to be tolerated. The twins can't afford such a poor contact hitter in the lineup. The below average pitching that we have requires the offense to be above average. This signing didn't help the offense and that's why I don't like it.

To those few who think Gallo offers better defense than Kepler, have you watched Kepler? He is an outstanding RF, it is his strength, it's why he on the team. He may not be Roberto Clemente but he is as good as it gets right now. Unfortunately, he has lost his mojo at the plate. So now we replace him with a .199 lifetime hitter??? Left field? We have better options in house. Not all of the rookies will fail. In fact, any and all of them could hit .199! And not strike out 40% of the time! This signing says they just want to field a team, not to win. Are you reading this Joe Polad?

I have so many more things to say but my heading is spinning over this stupidity. What were.....how do.....why would.....,??? I really really want to see what Falvey has to say about this. I can't imagine any behind the scenes scenario that will make him look good. Well, it's "only" $11m. But it's not just how MUCH you spend, it's HOW you spend it. There is now $11m less to dedicate to a legitimate need. What a waste!

Falvey just reached into Polads pocket, pulled out $11m and flushed it down the drain. This is insane. No other GM in the history of baseball would have made this signing, given this roster.

Did SF skyrocket their offer because there was another, better offer than the Twins? Can't say for sure if course but I doubt it. Remember Correa's quote about shopping at the Dior store? In essence he said if you want something you simply pay the price. So I bet he and Boras simply said it would cost $360M. SF maybe blinked a couple times but never gulped, and then said OK.

First off, I would not pencil in Maeda for the rotation. He is in year one of his recovery from TJ surgery, and it is my observation that most pitchers are merely shells of their former selves until year two. He may be the exception, and I hope so, but I wouldn't count on him. However, the rest of the rotation is much improved compared to how we started out last year. Secondly, I should think that Miranda is going to get off to a much better start this season. Remember how bad he was for the first two months last year? I'm betting that those rookie jitters or whatever, are out of his system now and we'll see much better results right from the get -go. Thirdly, the catching position has been upgraded tremendously over last year. That drop off, from Garver to Sanchez, was an epic fail. The team never recovered. Now we have one of the top catchers in the league to replace him. Next, the Twins apparently didn't know what they had last year in Arreaz. He wasn't in the line up regularly at the start. But now we know, you have the American League batting champion on the team, and you just don't sit him on the bench. So what if he has to DH? He should play every day. Also, last year we got a peek at Larnach and Wallner at ML level and results were encouraging. Yes, Larnach was injured, but if he is healthy again I think we have our corner outfielders. I try not to wear my rose-colored glasses too often, but I am excited about those guys like I was about Hrebk and Giaetti when they came up. Lastly, I have to mention AK and Royce Lewis. If those two players come back healthy and play anywhere near their potential, well that would just send this team right to the top. Without them, maybe this team would be like the oh, say, the 1984 version of the Twins - young, pretty bad overall, but on the way up. I would not give up on this team.

A couple comments: it seems some people have forgotten that one of the first things the FO did was to hedge their bet against signing one of the top FA shortstops by trading for Kyle Farmer. Initially I was disappointed that they gave up a rising pitcher for a shortstop we wouldn't need after the expected blockbuster signing, but then I learned more about Farmer. His BA was .277 compared to .291 for CC, and he hit fewer HR, but this is not a terrible drop off. Besides that, he apparently was a fan favorite in Cincinnati, a great clubhouse leader, and an all-around great guy. Just the kind of player I like to root for. So I don't think we have a "gaping hole" or a "pressing need" at SS. The payroll budget can be directed at pitching where it will do the most good. I think this was a score for the FO. Regarding the competitiveness of the Twins offer to CC, I think the Twins were looking at what XB just signed for - 11 years and $280M. So they offered 5M more for 1 year less time. That was very competitive and very reasonable. Who could have known that SF would go crazy and push it way over 300M? Even so, matching that offer would have been irresponsible considering the other teams' needs. Not matching that offer was another score for the FO. Also, the FO may have seen that Trea Turner turned down $42M more from another team in order to sign where he wanted to go. It may seem unbelievable that a player would turn down that much money, but then money isn't everything. Wasn't there maybe a chance CC would also turn down extra millions to stay where he liked it so much? I don't blame the FO at all for how this was handled. Which takes me to my last comment. Did CC really play the Twins? We're his comments about liking the team and his teammates just a ploy? Was he smart enough to set that up from the beginning, trying to create the impression that it would take a boatload of money to pry him away from this wonderful place? Maybe not, but what about his agent? Were we set up? I think it's far-fetched, and I don't believe it. But the way I feel about CC right now I kinda WANT to believe it.

You're kidding, right? These are exactly the kind of players that we don't want. If we're shopping for experienced ML players instead of promoting from within, then we want tried and true players, not tried and failed players. This strategy of scraping the bottom of the barrel for reclamation projects is overused and doesn't generally work out. Let's shop at the Dior store!

Best article I've read all year.

Top three reasons the Twins tanked: Pagan, Pagan, Pagan. He has displaced Ron Davis as the most reviled relief pitcher in Twins history, in my mind. And that's saying something. Otherwise, the FO has made many curious decisions. Seltzer had a fantastic spring but couldn't make the roster. When he was finally called up he continued his excellence at least for a little while. Think of him in the bullpen to start the season. Taking in Sanchez might have been necessary to complete that trade, but keeping him was not. I've heard he was known as the worst catcher in all MLB, and it seems the twins were satisfied with that. I guess we'll never know how hard the Twins tried to get a top ranked minor league catcher, but it was a fail. Others have mentioned Buxton batting lead off. That's a hard spot to get rbi's, and as a slugger, he should have been moved to a spot where his hits would have meant more. Call ups for September? ,Billy Hamilton? That's what they thought would give them the best advantage? Terrible thinking. I would like to hear the reasoning why every other candidate for promotion was turned down , leaving Hamilton as the top choice. Check out who was on the bench last week or so: Hamilton, Hamilton, Leon, Kepler, for example. That has to be MLB worst. Absolutely not acceptable for a team pushing down the home stretch, and again, that's on the FO, not the players