Markdumont25

Despite the winning streak, I'm not seeing much to convince me this is going to be a good team over the course of the whole season. To me, it's all about seeing how the trade assets we got last year and our youngest players develop this year. So far, Bradley and (maybe??) Abel are giving some optimism for the next few years. Unfortunately I think it'll be really hard to retain Joe Ryan after his contract ends but theoretically we could have a really, really nice rotation developing. Now if Royce reverts to his form from a couple years ago and some of the inevitable young call-ups show promise I think there could be a lot to be excited about for 2027 and beyond.

Exactly. Straight talk would be saying that we blew up our entire bullpen and our roster isn't currently good enough (pending whatever impact the young prospects coming up might make) without a massive spending spree, which isn't going to happen this year. I feel like I say the same thing every time I comment here but I'm an optimist and I usually opt for hope... but thinking this roster, which is basically the same one that was one of the worst teams in the league at the end of last year, will be competitive this year is delusional thinking. Just tell us we're in a soft rebuild...it sucks but we can handle it. And it will make watching this year easier knowing that we're just seeing how our young guys develop this year without any real expectations.

The short answer is yes, he can win trust back. The more complicated question is will he/they. Color me skeptical. All he's done so far is prove he's better at saying the right thing. I guess it's not nothing but it doesn't move the needle much without literally putting their money where their mouth is. I'd still like to just try our chances with new ownership but I guess any change on the leadership level is better than none.

I think there's a very good chance that the bottom does fall out... Is this team going to be significantly different from the team that we finished with last year? I don't see it...and that version of the Twins was one of the worst teams in the league. Baseball is unpredictable, but I think it's entirely possible that we have a disaster of a season. What then? It will be interesting.

I've been on here a couple times the last 6 months saying, while usually an optimist, I just don't see the twins competing for a couple years at least. The cynic in me is just seeing this pivot as something to keep attendance from dropping too far. There's no way they're going to make meaningful enough moves to make this team a real playoff threat. It sucks but I think the best move is just Go full rebuild and sell and hope to compete in 3 years.

It's an uninspiring hire. I don't think any reasonable person could have expected Shelton to win in Pittsburgh but he's still coming from a losing culture. Why couldn't we have found someone that came from a winning culture... Someone who came in with the mindset that they weren't going to accept mediocrity? Shelton, although by all reports a great baseball man, literally had the job of accepting mediocrity with the Pirates, and I'm sure that was part of Falvey's reasoning... Doesn't want a coach that's going to push back or rock the boat too hard when things don't go well (and it seems inevitable that they won't). The only silver lining is I don't really care because I'm now conditioned to expect so little from Twins leadership.

I looked it up before I posted just to make sure I wasn't going to make a fool of myself... He had a 15 WAR career, so a bit over 1 a year on average. Seems about right. I think he probably got the most out of his ability level, which is something to be admired. But something about his semi cult status and the way he was trusted by his manager (hitting higher than he should and overall playing more than he should, imo) that just kind of encapsulated some of the frustration I had with the shortcomings of that era. At the end of the day he really wasn't that good, he had one season with an OPS+ above average (and he wasn't even in a Twins uniform that year). A decent role player with a couple really nice years but whose overall skill level didn't match his outsized role. Even in the teams sorry state I'm skeptical he would be one of the better hitters, but if that is true, we're in big trouble!

Not Nick Punto please. Nothing against the man, but if he was a "fan favorite", it certainly wasn't with me. Even in my middle school days I couldn't figure out why Gardy had such a big boy crush on him. There's very few things about middle school I'd want to relive, and Nick Punto is not one of them And, knowing next to nothing but wanting to have an opinion anyway, I'd go with Vasquez if I was picking from this group. Cora is a good manager and I think picking a relative outsider is our best bet.

I'm not someone who believes Rocco was THE problem, but I also don't understand this narrative that he's a scapegoat either. Falvey should probably be gone too but Rocco's teams underperformed more than they played to expectations/overachieved based on league-wide pre-season assessments of the talent he had to work with. He consistently failed to get the most out his players. Time will tell how much was his management vs unrealistic expectations but I don't get the argument that this was somehow unfair to him. It's a tough league and it's results oriented. He didn't get good enough results. He's far from the only one to blame but, in my opinion, it's the correct move to give someone else a chance.

It's probably the case that those who really dislike Rocco are over exaggerating his shortcomings and general lack of competence. That being said, his teams have underachieved more often than they've met expectations or overachieved and, wherever he ranks on the list, it's time to move on. It's not all on him, but you shouldn't be able to preside over such a dramatic 2 year collapse while (as others have noted) consistently failing to get to best out of your players and keep your job. Given the state of the current team, I'd be shocked if he is still around the next time this team gets a chance to add playoff wins to anyone's resume.

I saw on the graphic after buxton's home run, he's hit almost a fifth of his career home runs this season. We all know he's been hurt a lot but still pretty wild.

The most important part is the players need to be better. I don't know if that lands on coaching or on them but with the way the current players are playing now there isn't any amount of realistic additions that are going to make this team a contender

I met him in the wild earlier this year, right after his demotion and hand injury. He was super gracious and appreciative of the well wishes... Seems like a nice guy and although a comeback seems unlikely I'll be cheering for it.

I've said this a few weeks in a row but here we go again... I would consider myself on the optimistic side of the spectrum, but I think it's really important to be clear about how bleak the situation currently is, if for no reason other than to make the best decisions moving forward. There's been talk of a retool and how we could be competitive next year. The team we're seeing now is going to be, by and large, what we're going to get next year and there's absolutely nothing about how they're playing right now that suggests we'll be anything beyond a cellar dweller. Obviously, as fans, our opinions are mostly irrelevant but being realistic about where we are as an organization is important right now. The main talk of the off-season is what we're doing with Pablo and Ryan. I think it'd be very foolish to keep either one of them when we show no signs of life and the next couple years are likely to be brutal no matter what. Just get what you can and try to be ready in 2028. Sucks, but I think it's the only responsible move right now.

I think harping on Gray specifically is a hindsight 20/20 type of argument. I think it made sense to let him go (also made sense to keep him, I think either path weas defensible), but I absolutely believe in the cascading effects of tightening the payroll and not at least trying to replace him. Besides the obvious effect on the overall talent we were able to put on the field, it sent a message to both the fans and the team that we weren't serious about winning and I absolutely believe all of that cascaded into the situation we're in now.