CRF

Nice job by Smeltzer, only to have the Doof completely blow it. Can't believe Rocco didn't pull him before all that damage was done, and to not even have someone warming up was a total WTF moment. C'mon Rocco...what the hell are you thinking?

It doesn't matter what sport, or what team, there's always going to people who don't like the coach/manager...and there's always going to be people who do like the coach/manager. That's a given and it comes with the territory. Depending on the players and how a team is constructed, the same coach/manager could be a lights out genius for one team...or a crash and burn idiot with another. How many times have we all seen that? Surround the guy/gal with quality players, and they'll probably do very well. Surround them with stiffs, and they'll probably fail miserably. We seem to be in the middle there somewhere. We're not great, but we're not total crap either. Would it be nice to win some playoff games and go to another WS? Hell yeah it would. Is it going to happen anytime soon? More than likely, no. A lot of things would have to break our way for that to happen. I don't think Rocco is going to single handedly get us there either. I think Rocco is a work in progress. He's still learning how to do this job. He didn't go through the minors managing here and there, gaining experience. He's not "old school" by any means. He's not a whole lot older than a lot of active players. He's definitely "new school". Do I agree with some of the decisions he makes? Nope, not at all. I think he tends to lean too much on those nice little pieces of paper he has in front of him, instead of what I would call gut instinct, or even common sense. Maybe that's good, maybe not. I'm not smart enough to figure all of it out. I am willing to give him some time to see what happens, and what he develops into. He seems to have a pretty good relationship with his players/team, and that's a plus. You don't hear anyone on the team griping and second guessing him...that's our job. I'd see what happens this season and probably next too. Maybe the choice will be a lot clearer by then. Maybe Fal-Vine will decide that Rocco needs to go bye bye? Who knows? I don't know that there's better choices out there to bring in here anyway.

I think everyone could/can see the tantalizing potential, but it just hasn't materialized on anywhere near a consistent basis. As was said earlier...there's been absolutely zero growth and progress with him. At this point, I can't see it happening. Unfortunately, he's stayed exactly the same, or even regressed, since he first came up in 2015. Wow...if he could turn on a switch and somehow figure it out, he could easily be a 40-50 HR, 100 RBI guy, and even if he could hit .240-.250, it would be worthwhile. It's time to let him go somewhere else and become some other teams project. I wish him the best, but I want him gone

I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt on the last start, since he went Covid positive right after it. However, if he gets hammered in his next couple starts after coming back, I'd have to pull him. No way do we want this to evolve into a Shoemaker or Happ kind of situation. We've got a little bit of pitching depth right now, and I never could see the point of a 6 man rotation. I'd give him a very short leash.

This is the best news I've heard all day, all week, and all season! It's almost too good to be true, and you know what they say about that. Let's give CC a little R and R, and then hopefully, he's ready to go! In the meantime...I hope Royce rakes!

Losing Correa is a tough pill to swallow right now. Hopefully, Lewis comes in and at least holds his own. Best of luck to him...and the team.

I don't think any of us should be worried about Correa. Not for one second. He's been starting to hit the last few games, and his defense is off the charts. We've got much bigger holes in the line up to worry about...Sano in particular, and Jeffers and Polanco to a lesser extent. I'm confident Polanco will turn it around. Kep is starting to come out of his slump a little bit now too.

Very interesting article. I don't think there is any definitive 100% correct answer to the question. It's probably some of both. Most likely many more factors too. Everyone likes to win and winning creates a good atmosphere in the clubhouse. Even if all of them in there can't get along and there is no "chemistry". If everyone loves all their teammates, it makes for a good clubhouse, but not necessarily a good team. Talent, dedication, respect, and accountability are all important. A lot of us remember the old Oakland A's from the early 70's. By all accounts, most of them hated one another, but they were extremely talented and had a helluva team. How about the "We are Fam-A-Lee" Pirates in the 70's? Supposedly, they all loved one another They had great teams. There are plenty of examples of similar teams, that went both ways. My feeling is...it can't be forced, it has to be natural and organic. It has to evolve on it's own. Business/companies often try to do the same type scenario. Talk about trying to force it...I used to be a supervisor for McKesson in Eagan, and they would send us on these team building seminars to build "chemistry", where they locked us away with members of a few of their other facilities, in a hotel for several days, and then we went through a whole bunch of these ridiculous classes/exercises/tests/games/etc to bring us closer, and work toward a common goal. It was some of the most idiotic, pointless, childish crap I've ever been through in my life. It didn't make us do our jobs any better...we all knew how to do that. All it did as far as bringing us together, was make us hate the stupid seminars!

As was said earlier in this thread...SD doesn't have the best rep for developing their pitchers, but I like what I've seen from Paddack so far. He talked about adding another pitch the other night with Bremer and Morneau. It's way to early to draw any conclusions long term, but if he keeps going on an upward trend, I'd be very pleased. Rogers is doing great for SD right now, so the trade is kind of looking one sided for the moment. Whether or not it remains that way, I guess we'll see. Team control was a big factor in Fal-Vine making the trade, which I can understand. I don't know if we would have signed Rogers after this year anyway. I believe he was going to get more than we'd pay. On a side note...I'm not real thrilled with Pagan, but I'd take him over a few of the other options we've been throwing out there the last couple years...like Stashak, Thorpe, Smeltzer, etc.

I don't know if he's "the best"...that's for someone smarter than I am to determine. No doubt...he's damn good when he's out there. All I know is, when he's in the line up, the team is significantly better than when he isn't. If he could somehow overcome all the injuries and stay healthy for a full season...or several full seasons...it would be a lot of fun to watch.

Another kind of blah game, but a win is a win. I didn't think we'd end up on top, but I'll take any gift at this point.

There's no doubt that Morneau really knows the game. He's got a chance to be a very good analyst with more experience. However, he's got a tendency not to know when to stop talking. He goes on and on and on, when he should just make his point and stop. He also has a very monotone voice, which is annoying at times. He needs to be more animated in his speaking style. He doesn't have to be Bert, but he needs to liven it up a little bit.

I grew up a Mets fan in the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area, and we had Lindsey Nelson, Ralph Kiner, and Bob Murphy for many years there. All three were very good in their day. Even the Yankees announcers were pretty good, even though I hated the team. They had Frank Messer, Phil Rizzuto, and Bill White. I moved here in 83...the same year Dick Bremer started, and have enjoyed him as the broadcast voice/face of the team ever since then. He's knowledgeable, easy to listen to, and "one of us" (even though I'm really not). I've been a die hard Twins fanatic since I moved here and I hope Bremer is around for quite a while yet. He deserves to go out on his terms.

I don't know what the heck Garlick was doing on that HR to right. Unless the wind blew it back somehow, which I doubt. He had a good chance to catch it, but he over ran it by a big margin. It ended up a good 6 ft behind him. It looked like it barely made it over the fence. Definitely looked catchable to me.

He got one of those cookies! Sano just put one over the green monster for a 2 run jack!

He's a lot more than frustrating to watch...he's annoying. Every pitcher in the league knows to throw it a foot outside, or in the dirt, and he'll swing at it. Sure, every once in a while, someone makes a mistake and throws him a cookie for him to hit in the 3rd deck. That's what makes him have at least some value. I think the best possible solution is to trade him. They should have done it already, because he's been the same player ever since he came up. He's not going to all of a sudden learn what pitches to swing at, or lay off of. He has no plate discipline or plan up there. Just swing as hard as he can every time. He is what he is. You can't just release him, and sending him back to triple A probably does nothing. He's not going to get it. With Kirilloff gone, there's not really a guy we can plug in there either. I'd bet we're stuck with him for the rest of this season, and then...who knows?

Everyone likes to gripe about Sano, but you know exactly what you've got with him. He take ridiculously poor AB's, strikes out a ton, leaves guys on base...and then every once in a while, he hits one or two rockets into the third deck. Ok. What is the story with Kep? He can't hit the broad side of a barn anymore. Looks completely lost at the plate. It's been that way for a couple years. Both of those guys are huge holes right now. Make things very tough at times. When we win, it's usually despite them, not because of them.

Unfortunately, Duffey has proven several times that he's just not cut out to be a closer. Good set up guy, but not a closer. If we're going to possibly lose games late, I'd rather see someone that throws it 100 mph in there, than Duffey. Give Duran or Alcala a shot and see what happens. It's sure worth a try. Worst case is...we lose, just like we did with Duffey in there. I also agree...the at bats by Sano and Kirilloff yesterday were abysmal. It's very early, and no time to panic, but it's not too early to figure this stuff out. Last season was a perfect example.

Lasorda's old quote is spot on. I'm paraphrasing, but basically he said...no matter how good they are, a team is going to lose a third of their games, and no matter how bad they are, a team is going to win a third of their games. It's the other third that makes the difference. Let's see where this team is after 50-60 games. It would have been nice if Buxton and/or Correa delivered with guys on base yesterday, but today's another day.

I stand corrected...you're right. He did have TJ surgery back in 2016. I'm hoping he doesn't end up needing another one. When I saw that he had the UCL sprain last season, a possible TJ was the first thing I thought of. I hope he's fully recovered from the sprain now. I guess we'll find out soon enough.

The more I think about this deal, the more I'm ok with it. I just hope Paddack's elbow doesn't come back to bite them on the backside. Hopefully, he doesn't end up with a TJ. Pagan isn't anything special, but then neither was Rooker.