1985Fan

I read a lot of pessimism about the future of the organization. I understand that opinion after the end of a frustrating season. Another collapse down the stretch, poor defense, offensive slumps, bullpen collapses, and some poor starting pitching outings makes the future look bleak. I look at the roster now compared to the beginning of the year, and I see optimism for next year and beyond. The three top prospects are here and should be starters from day one next year. Buxton should be healthy at the start of the year and be able to resume his production. If he isn’t healthy or productive, there are guys on the roster now that can assume CF role and play good defense. I would like to see Jeffers signed to three year deal to fill the hole at catcher until prospects are ready to step in. The rotation has good arms that have shown flashes of excellence. The BP is not completely barren, compared to the start of the season. I think Banda is back next year to join Hoffman, Gomez, and Morris. Funderburk could also step into a low leverage reliever. Houston, Winokour, and maybe Quick could be at AAA to start the year and be ready for 2028, if all goes well. I don’t see a need for a complete rebuild. The reshaping of the roster has already begun, no need to go scorched earth now. The three top prospects clock is now ticking, if they start a rebuild now, it may stretch into 3-4 years of development time. Instead, I see a nice blend of young guys with a few veterans to help them along the way. They’re not ready to compete for WS title next year, but if all goes well, maybe postseason isn’t out of reach next year, and they’re hitting their stride in 2028.

Lewis’s struggles with the low and away pitches is the hole in his swing. Thats been true for a lot of MLB hitters, including guys like Tori Hunter, who I watched flail away at low and away sliders his entire Twins career. To be fair, last night’s Angels pitcher was nasty with the changeup that no one was hitting. He made all the Twins hitters look foolish. Lewis looks like he’s trying to pull everything which makes him vulnerable to low and away pitches. Twins aren’t alone and are like many teams that have adopted the Driveline philosophy of teaching every hitter to pull and lift for power. The problem with that approach is it should be paired with a situational awareness that adjusts for two strikes, or going with the pitch if that’s where they’re pitching you, or just needing to put the ball in play. I personally think the issue with Lewis and other twins hitters is a hitting coach not solely focused on analytics. Twins need a hitting coach that understands the mental side of hitting, not just the mechanical part. I think they need a lead/head hitting coach that has a MLB track record that players like Lewis respect and will listen to. Someone that has been through the battle and understands the approach needed for different situations and how to adjust to what pitchers are doing to hitters. Pairing a Don Mattingly type coach with an analytical coach might be the way to unlock Lewis and many more Twins.

Give Sabato a chance. What have they got to lose? If he doesn’t cut it, then move on. First base has been a hole since forever. They’ve been plugging the hole with one year deals with limited success. They might get lucky with Sabato.

Is there someone on the roster or knocking on the door in the minors that is blocked by Lewis? I’d vote for Sabato getting a chance, but apparently Twins don’t have any confidence in his game. I’m done watching Caratini at 1B. I don’t think Twins are going to go out and sign a FA 1B next year, so I don’t have a problem giving AB’s to Lewis. He’s very good defensively, which should be the focus for this team.

Definitely give Martin the rest of the year off. He’s not big league hitter. I don’t think he plays the outfield well either. Larnach is hurt, wrist sprain it sounded like. They should put him on the IL. I say play Lewis everyday. Need to know if he is part of the plan or not.

Great game by Matthews. Kreidler giveth and he taketh away. Can’t defend getting picked off 2nd base! Too many missed opportunities during the regulation nine innings. Jeffers looking at strike three with two runners in scoring position in the seventh. I can forgive ERod striking out looking with runners on, but Jeffers is a veteran. They had lots of chances to add on runs during regulation and couldn’t do it. Should have had a three or four run lead going into the ninth instead of just two.

No question a complete rebuild is necessary after yet another season ending collapse. Watching the Twins get hammered by contenders down the stretch should be eye opening for everyone, FO, owner, manager, and fans. It’s obvious now that they don’t have the talent to compete with the top teams. This off season will be interesting. Do they trade and amass more prospects or do they trade for young ML talent by trading prospects. I don’t think they spend their way out of the hole with FA. The FO needs to look at how other teams have rebuilt, specifically where they located talent. A lot of different ways to add talent, not entirely from the draft or ML blockbuster trades. Twins HAVE TO fix their player development system. It’s broke and it is a large part of this team’s failure. IMO they need to focus on defense and pitching first, and stress basic fundamentals. It’s shocking that current players can’t play defense, run the bases well, bunt, no situational hitting, etc….

The Derek Falvey disaster roster that he left behind is full of players he drafted and bet on. You can’t ignore the reality that the Twins lineup today is basically all Falvey high draft picks that have either failed, or haven’t developed as expected. Larnach, Lewis, and Wallner were key parts of the plan he had for 2026 and have failed spectacularly. Thats three Falvey first round draft picks that doomed this season and set the franchise back. They can’t be traded for anything meaningful and it will take a while to recover. A modest increase in payroll wouldn’t have made up for the big misses in this lineup and I wouldn’t expect the Twins to start spending at the level of the Dodgers or Mets (how did that turn out?). It’s going to take a while to clean up his mess.

Referring to TD article about Falvey departure Quoting Falvey and TP from the post: “Ownership transitions naturally create moments for reflection and honest dialogue about leadership, vision, and how an organization wants to move forward," wrote Derek Falvey in the team's press release. "Over the past several weeks we had those conversations openly and constructively and ultimately reached a shared understanding that this was the right step both for the organization and for me personally." Those changes were also recognized by Tom Pohlad. "Over the past several weeks, Derek and I had thoughtful and candid conversations about leadership, structure, and the future of the club," Pohlad wrote in the team's press release. "We reached a shared understanding that the needs of the organization are evolving and that a leadership transition is the best way to move forward." No mention of leaving due to TP assuming Business OPs management, rather the reason given is leadership change, period. Also, researched the press releases, and Zoll was appointed GM in late 2024. Previously was minor league operations director until 2020, assistant GM until made GM in November 2024. Assistant GM is not a major decision maker. I’ll quit with this thread as I’m not a Zoll defender nor a critic, I’m just open minded to see how he handles GM duties during a full offseason. I obviously could be wrong and he’s a terrible GM.

Zoll was given GM job in name only. Falvey pushed out Levine to give himself complete authority on baseball decisions, why would he listen to Zoll or anyone else? He also pushed out St. Peter. Falvey was a control freak that thought he was smarter than everyone else. No, Falvey was fired , and rightfully so. Tom P saw that his brother was under Falvey’s spell, unable to make independent decisions. Im not making the decision about Zoll or Shelton. If Zoll is Falvey 2.0, he should be fired. I don’t think that’s the case because after firing Falvey, I don’t see TP keeping a Falvey clone around either. We can agree to disagree. We’ll find out this offseason if Zoll gets the boot or sticks around. If Zoll stays, I believe Shelton stays.

Since we’re not inside the FO and are offering our opinions from the outside looking in on decisions made, I dispute the claim that “he has been a major decision maker for the last 5 years”. From observing Falvey from afar, I saw him as a micromanager that would not allow others to operate freely, especially after Levine left and promoted to POBO. I don’t think Zoll had major influence on Falvey’s decisions. The roster is full of Falvey’s number one draft picks. I don’t think Zoll had major input on the draft either, I think those decisions were between Falvey and Johnson. Obviously my opinion as I’m not inside the FO. It was a major decision to part ways with Falvey, TP needs to be given credit for that. He’s also new to the FO and will be able to assess Zoll after seeing him operate for one season. If TP feels Zoll is a Falvey clone, I’m sure he’ll be gone in short order. If TP didn’t like Falvey, he probably wouldn’t keep his clone around either.

After one season, it’s way too early to make organizational changes. I think Shelton is doing a great job with the players he has. After last offseason of major organization change, the new management did a good job. It’s going to take time to turn the ship around. Too early to judge Zoll and Shelton. Zoll was handed Falvey’s roster in February. No way should we expect a complete roster overhaul in one year. This team was setup by Falvey based on Buxton, Lewis, and Wallner being the main pieces. I think Zoll and Shelton made the right in season moves with Lewis and Wallner. Can’t blame anyone for Buxton injury in the second half. The jury is still out on Lewis after the midseason reset. Zoll started turning over the roster with Culpepper and Jenkins. Now we’ll see how he handles the offseason with Jeffers, Ryan, Bell and others. If he’s given the chance, which he should be.

Defense and pitching…. Eight walks today in a must win game and series. Offense wasn’t good either. Keaschall, Lee, Culpepper, Lewis, and Jenkins were 0 for 16 with 5 K’s.

I agree with this. The players effort has been there all year and they haven’t quit. Let’s see how they respond today after last night’s lopsided loss. I’ve been impressed by the never say die attitude. Thats all you can ask for as a fan and it makes you want to root for the team.

He may have given the offense a small spark on call up, but it certainly wasn’t a jolt. They’re not winning a lot of games with both rookies in the lineup. I’m not blaming either player, but I wasn’t expecting great things either, which seemed to be the expectation of people here. Thats my point. If the team is going to rely on prospects to come up and push the team into the playoffs, that’s not realistic.