S Bart

The Twins have too many young players and will have to cut ties and trade a few of them. Kiroloff is one and Julien may be another. Besides the hitting issues, he had a good deal of fielding challenges at 2nd base. I am really worried about Miranda playing first base. Santana will be hard to replace. Here, Twins will probably dump Santana due to age. Well, he is the player who leads the team in RBIs and HRs. I am also worried about them retaining Castro who set a record for flexibility at positions and was the only all star representatives. He is due a slary increase and ownership may balk.

Trevor Plouffe gave great insight in the skor north podcast yesterday. Three points to note about Rocco that are accurate that he mentioned. 1. The lefty/righty and righty/lefty emphasis (Rocco) is not proven to be a good move in many cases. 2. Reverse splits are not reliable. 3. Rocco is set in his ways on how he manages.

And you can get a Caribou Coffee Twins cap this weekend for the fan appreciation promotion. It seems strange to use those 2 words considering the way that the owners have not appreciated the fan base due to their unwillingness to invest in the team this year. Pohlads cut payroll after winning the division (even announce they are cutting spending) mess up a tv deal that prevents fans from watching their team who won their division last season etc..etc.. and now may end up in 4th place. That is a significant drop¡!!!!! Fan appreciation.. give me a break..

Note to OWNER Sell the team to a person who will invest in the team.

Totally agree. He is full of himself.

They will not fire Rocco, since they will have to pay his salary. Besides Popkins and his college coaching background, Watkins should be on that list. Maybe Rocco will at least trim his beard and put forth a respectable managerial appearance next year.

THe hitting coaches in the dugout seemed at ease as Jeffers walked in the dugout. They look more like truck drivers. The head hitting coach had no major league experience prior to working for this team.

Royals took the lead in the 10th..

Do the hitting coaches do anything to help the players?????????????

No, I looked back on the MLB.COM article. It stated "Minnesota received $8 million in the trade and shed Polanco’s salary"

I have never seen the Twins go this long with so fewer home runs. September has been almost homerless. Also, the lack of scoring with two men on is incredible. They really need to teach bunting in spring training next year.

True...and the Twins saved money on the deal. Realistically, that seems to be the priority this year.

HEY FOLKS, IT IS FAN APPRECIATION THIS WEEKEND WITH A PROMOTIONAL GIVEAWAY. THE CAP MAY HAVE A HIGHER VALUE THAN WATCHING THE TWINS GAME. :)

Can somebody at least ask Baldelli to trim his beard?

One thing that probably has not been mentioned much is that Joe Pohlad was in Boston this last weekend sitting behind the Twins dugout. I was at the game and saw him. He was able to view the team's play and Rocco's managing. I am not sure if it means that anything will change with the team, but I do give him credit for being present. It is not common for a baseball owner to attend an away game.

“It’s hard to argue the Twins’ frequent pinch hitting has paid off. Baldelli has used the AL’s second-most pinch hitters this year (176), and they’ve hit just .196 with a .566 OPS. Baldelli has also used the AL’s second-most pinch hitters since 2021 (595), and they’ve batted just .205 with a .609 OPS that ranks fifth-worst in the league in that span. It hasn’t been a winning strategy.” Gleeman on the Twins pinch hitting (The Athletic)

I have seen 10 other teams play in person this year including 4 division leaders. This lefty/righty analytic concept simply is not deployed like it has been to the high degree by the Twins. It is especially true when a team does not have solid relief pitching like the Twins with their lefties. Momentum plays a part in the equation. An example is when Ober was having a great game recently (did not have a high number of pitches) and he was pulled due to the batter's hitting side. One needs to consider that a relief pitcher has to face 3 batters and the next two could be from the weaker side of the plate (analytically). In the end, the lack of going after new relief pitchers at the deadline last month was a damaging decision. Although, the hitting has been atrocious and there have been games lost due the low number of hits by the Twins. The lack of victories is not totally due to the pitching issues.

The Skor North Podcast crew did an excellent "suggestion session" last Friday. They provided great input.

Of course. At least they are at home. However, there needs to be a serious review of the past season next month by Rocco, Levine/Falvey, and yes, the Board including Joe Pohlad. Status quo like last year after the season just cannot continue.

If I recall correctly, the only person on the support staff that was replaced was the trainer in 2024. The coaches remained the same. Nobody has mentioned that the hitting coach should be somewhat responsible. For example, a prior post mentioned how the opposing teams seem to know that Lewis is weak on a couple of pitches which is probably why he has performed so poorly. Doesn't the hitting coach pick up on that sort of thing in order to help a player? I also recall Watkins waving players in TOO many times which ended in easy outs. I realize that Rocco is a "players' manager," but does he supervise his coaches and hold them accountable or at least guide them? Is he afraid that he will hurt their feelings? I mean, they have a job to do. Joe Pohlad has been in charge of the team for less than two years. Does he supervise Levine and Falvey? Somebody mentioned yesterday that the owners cannot be fired. Obviously! If the Twins do not make it to the playoffs, I do plan to write a coherent/logic-based letter to each of these individuals. It probably will not do any good, (may make me feel better) but they put the team out there as part of the community and claim to represent the state. At least for me, I feel that they have a responsibility to seek out solutions to fix the team. This all started earlier this year when Jim (a year on the job) publicly commented about not spending money which was followed by the fans not being able to view the games on TV due to that big hiccup. Think about the money and the time that the team spends on uniform changes each year. Players have turned into fashion models each winter via the team showing off the new uniforms in a PR piece. Cmon. Board as of 2024 per the Twins Website Chairman: Jim Pohlad (noted as Control Owner) Board Member: Bill Pohlad Board Member: Bob Pohlad Board Member: Joe Pohlad (Noted as Executive Chair) Board Member: Dave St. Peter When I was a young kid, I ran into an elderly man with a stogie at Met Stadium and had a great chat with him. It was the legendary broadcaster Halsey Hall. Halsey (not Carey or Rizzuto) originated the baseball term, "Holy Cow". Unfortunately, he would not be saying it in a positive way based on what is taking place nowadays. Carneal and Hall are probably turning over in their graves. I'm an old man who grew up with the Twins, Maybe I should not care, but it has been part of my life.

Actually...Joe Madden wants to return to the game...would he be a good fit?

It did not help that the crowd was silent until the Irwin messed up situation..agree about Sands. Still..coming into that situation was not helpful for him. Sorry. This one is on Rocco...

Well...from a person present at the game...it was really obvious after 3 batters that the guy was all over the place...he should have been gone at that point...and then he brings him out for another inning..he is hitting batters...all over the.place..

I moved...yelled Rocco by name and left Fenway.. Irvin..move was idiotic...can Molitor..Gardy..or Kelly...sub for Rocco..the rest of the week?

Ok..i am going to do it..maybe get thrown out too