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1985Fan

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Everything posted by 1985Fan

  1. 1985Fan
    I think next year is going to be ugly. If you consider how Baldelli uses the starters, the BP gets a lot of innings every game (almost half). No matter how good the starters are, I don’t see that changing. A built-on-the-fly BP, like what they have now, is going to lose a lot of games. On the position side of the roster, there is Buxton, Lee, and Keaschall. That’s it. No one on the roster, including both Lee and Keaschall, has proven they can consistently produce. It may be that neither Lee or Keaschall can consistently produce either, but from what I see so far, they’re the only hitters I am optimistic about. Buxton has proven he can hit when healthy. Larnach is at best average. Wallner, Lewis, Julien, and the rest can’t be counted on. I think they are who they are right now, and I don’t see any of them improving. I also fail to see prospects in St.Paul knocking the door down to get to MLB. I know TD fans hope for Rodriguez, but he hasn’t proven anything IMO. No way should Jenkins be rushed to MLB, especially with the history of this regime in promoting prospects. Miranda, Julien, Martin, and Lewis have all been rushed through the minors only to fail in the big leagues. What’s worse is that they are advanced without fundamentals skills, so they never had a chance to begin with. I would be optimistic if they clean house and get new GM and manager. That won’t win games next season, but it should change the culture and style of play. Even if they’re losers, I could get behind a team playing ball the right way.
  2. 1985Fan
    So many automatic outs in the lineup. Gasper, Martin, Lewis, and Clemons are not going to hit. Not much reason to think they can score more than 2 runs, let alone more than six.
  3. 1985Fan
    One question: Why is St.Paul a “more controlled environment” than Wichita? That was given as one of the reasons for his promotion to St. Paul. Just wondering if they don’t have confidence in the coaching staff at Wichita or something.
  4. 1985Fan
    I agree that Pablo and Ober might be gone in the offseason. The winning culture starts with Baldelli and Falvey. Baldelli has control of what type of play and effort he tolerates. I see no repercussions for stupid mistakes, poor play, lack of hustle, and poor effort. This rebuild will be for naught unless and until both Falvey and Baldelli are flushed. Otherwise, it will be more of the same play with different players.
  5. 1985Fan
    This exactly! Culture is about establishing the rules or how they play the game. That’s how a winning culture happens. There was the “Twins way” of playing baseball established under TK that emphasized fundamentals, defense, pitching, situational hitting, and effort. If players didn’t play the Twins way, TK made sure they either learned to, or they didn’t play. Fast forward to Baldelli and the fundamentals are completely lacking, the effort and hustle is gone, and it is hard to watch. That is one hundred percent on Baldelli. Contrast Baldelli’s clubhouse culture with the Brewers. It’s noticeable and is why the two organizations are where they are at. Ken Rosenthal wrote an article in the Athletic about the “Brewers way” of playing fundamentally sound ball. He said: “The Brewers are not perfect. ... But they at least try to play the game properly at a time when most teams place too little emphasis on fundamentals and too much on the next big analytical thing.” That describes the Twins and Baldelli perfectly; no fundamentals, focused on launch angle and hard hit rate, and playing the game from a spreadsheet!
  6. 1985Fan
    I think it has to do with Twins counting on Correa as a main piece versus Astros need only complimentary production from him. He couldn’t handle the pressure of being the main guy in Minnesota. That’s it, nothing more. I’m sure moving to 3rd helps his legs, but I think it’s all about his self esteem. He views himself as an elite player and losing range at SS hurts his ego. Not being able to carry the offensive load and declining defense was too much to handle. Now he doesn’t have the burden to carry and he is mentally free and his play follows.
  7. 1985Fan
    I think it’s good for Keaschall’s development that he remain in St.Paul. He has not had many AAA AB’s . Less than one hundred AB’s at AAA so far. That is not enough to warrant promotion. With the young talent they’ve accumulated now, the player development process needs to be fixed. Stop rushing prospects through to try to save the MLB team and sell tickets. We’ve seen this fail when guys show up with serious flaws that are difficult to fix on the fly at the MLB level. Make Keaschall play his way up to the big leagues while also learning the fundamentals. When they flush the FO and manager, they need to look closely at the minor leagues coaching as part of the player development problem in this organization. Also, Keaschall needs to heal from his fractured arm and elbow injury. Why push it during a lost Twins season? I don’t think he’s played LF yet because of his elbow. May as well wait until he is 100% healthy before considering a promotion.
  8. 1985Fan
    Falvey sounds like a politician trying to get elected by saying nothing, just talking in circles. As far as criticizing him on the team failing to win the World Series (like a Yankees fan); I don’t think that is the overall problem with his record. If the Twins were consistently competitive, in the playoffs even, most Twins fans would be happy. Instead, we watch the complete collapse last season and an utterly incompetent team this year. Add in his track record of first round picks, the poor player development record, and that is enough to say his record is enough to get him fired.
  9. 1985Fan
    I want to read more about the clubhouse tension referred to. Haven’t heard about it until now. Were there tensions all season we didn’t know about or just at the end when the ship was sinking?
  10. 1985Fan
    I became a fan when I was young and the Twins were awful. I enjoyed the early Dome years when at least they had a manager with a sense of humor, they had some young guys that showed a glimmer of hope, and it looked like the team was playing hard. They were the absolute laughing stock of the league. Gaetti and others later told stories of opposing players calling them the “Twinkie’s’ and telling them they were a AAA team. They were hopeless, but since I root for the underdogs, I pulled harder for my Twinkies. You can imagine how crushing the end of the 85 season was with the Ron Davis blown saves. So much pain the fans endured. Then came the miracle of 87. The long suffering fans erupted in pure, unadulterated joy. See video of the celebration at the Dome after beating the Tigers to see what fan appreciation and joy is. It’s impossible to describe the feeling of suffering with a team that finally triumphs. Read Jim Klobuchar’s column after Twins won in 87. He comes as close as possible in describing what that title meant to Twins fans and Minnesota. As Tug McGraw said, “you gotta believe!” Fast forward to present. I am hopeful a new owner will flush the FO and manager to get this thing turned around. I hope it doesn’t get as bad as the early eighties! Sometimes you have to take the pain and suffering to truly appreciate the joy. Buckle up Twins fans, I think we’re in for a rough ride!
  11. 1985Fan
    Wondering who is going to come out of the BP in tomorrow’s game? There are six pitchers currently on the roster as BP arms. Sands, Topa, Funderburk, Tonkin, and Davis. Adams can be called up from St. Paul. Not an inspiring group….
  12. 1985Fan
    You forget that TK managed in the Twins minor league system before making it to Ray Millers Twins staff. He basically advanced up the system with the core group of players that won the 87 WS; Hrbek, Gaetti, Brunansky, Viola, Bush, etc. He continued to work with players in the big leagues, Ask Morneau about how TK worked with him to learn first base, Plouffe talks about the drills TK ran to teach players different skills. So yes, TK strength was teaching and developing players, even at the big league level. Very different than hands-off Baldelli.
  13. 1985Fan
    Looking forward to seeing some young guys get a chance after they unload expiring contracts. Also looking forward to new management when new owners take control.
  14. 1985Fan
    I wonder if Prielipp can handle bullpen work this year. I’m guessing there is an innings limit on him and he’s at 52 now. Could he handle the change in warmup routine, pitching from the stretch, and the stress of BP duty. He could be used as a starter in a BP game or they could limit him to only begin innings instead of coming in during an inning. Would be great to give him a taste of the big leagues if/when they trade Columbe.
  15. 1985Fan
    The only trades Falvey should be allowed to make are minor trades; i.e. selling expiring veteran contracts. Falvey and Baldelli are on borrowed time and can’t be allowed to make major decisions. Sell the veterans and call up the young guys to let them play. That will allow for evaluation and off-season plans. If the new owners are going to go rebuild, Lopez, not Ryan should be on the trading block.
  16. 1985Fan
    There is no reason for Falvey to trade controllable assets. He has repeatedly stated that he believes that this roster is at least playoff level. He’s backed that up by standing pat at the last two trade deadlines. If he were to go into full rebuild mode now, that would be a 180-degree turn on his opinion. I don’t see Falvey making a 180 turn like that. If Correa and Lewis get hot, or even warm, at the plate and get this offense going, this team still has a chance. Both players are showing signs of life, although it may be too late. They can still make a run with Lopez coming back, if the current pitching can hold on until then. I believe in what was stated in this OP; new owners should install new FO and manager. Don’t want Falvey making major roster changes that he shouldn’t be around to answer for.
  17. 1985Fan
    No way should this FO trade either Jax or Duran, period. I don’t want Falvey to be a factor in the future of the franchise. He shouldn’t be here after new owners take over.
  18. 1985Fan
    It’s Falvey and Rocco. They both adhere to the same baseball philosophy that isn’t a winning philosophy. The team isn’t fundamentally sound on defense, base running, hitting philosophy, etc. The players are not great enough offensively to make up for the fundamental flaws. These fundamental flaws, along with Rocco’s in-game management decisions, result in consistently losing close games and getting beat by good teams. When you’re giving the other team advantage before you step on the field, you’re not playing winning baseball. The other team should have to beat you instead of you beating yourself. Sitting back and hoping for home runs to win while the pitching holds the other team to zero or one run, doesn’t work long-term.
  19. 1985Fan
    It was wrong to rush Lewis back to MLB after his last injury. He should have stayed in St.Paul and hit his way back. He needs to get his confidence back and/or prove he’s not injured. If he’s injured then put him on the IL. This is a case of Falvey and Baldelli being desperate to get to the playoffs and save their tails, that the well being of the player is sacrificed as well as the long term success of the organization. I fear they’ll do the same thing with Keaschall. He should be DH’ing in St.Paul for the rest of the season, getting much needed AAA AB’s. Wallner is another guy that should be at AAA until he proves to the organization and himself that he can consistently hit. Their argument is that this is how they stay competitive by working guys into the lineup from the MiLB system, As has been pointed out, that isn’t working, which points to a flawed player development system. When everything is analytics, good old baseball skills seem to be ignored. Now they’re paying the price.
  20. 1985Fan
    If new owners are coming soon, then all the more reason for this FO to stand pat at the deadline. Don’t want an outgoing FO making decisions that may have long term future!
  21. 1985Fan
    Good statistical summary. We fans know this, but it’s good to confirm our thinking with the stats. There is a good argument to be made that the time has come to make decisions on some of the core pieces of this roster. It’s clear that Falvey thinks that this core is championship level. There is still a chance that they will prove him right this year, but it doesn’t look likely. This offseason is when FO is going to be forced to decide if Lewis, Wallner, Larnach, and Jeffers are part of the core going forward. There should be enough data to make the call now, so it will be interesting to see how it plays out. They could stand pat at the deadline to give this roster all the time to prove if last years collapse was who they are or if that was a fluke. They’re stuck with Correa contract and they’re blessed to have Buxton signed. Time for fans to give Terry Ryan credit for drafting Buxton. I hope it’s new management making the decisions. I don’t have any confidence in Falvey making sound decisions about guys he’s drafted or signed to a contract. He’s too stubborn to admit mistakes and change direction.
  22. 1985Fan
    This post raises some interesting questions. First, if as you say, Ryan is irreplaceable, then does that mean the vaunted Falvey pitching pipeline is a myth? If you value Ryan as a middle rotation starter, a true pitching pipeline should have a viable replacement ready to go. Cleveland and Tampa Bay as examples. Second, the way that today’s pitching is managed (especially this FO and manager), is starting pitching all that valuable? Seems like all that is expected from the starter is two times through the opposing batting order then turn it over to 4-5 BP arms to close it out (hopefully). I think that devalues SP and makes lockdown BP arms more vital. TB starter Littell is an example of TB taking a guy with ok stuff and putting him into a SP role to get value, while counting on other arms in the BP. These questions make it difficult to make Ryan a building block for the future. I’m old school and would like to see starters go 6-7 innings, pitch count be damned. I also am not buying the Falvey pitching pipeline yet. I like SWR, Festa, and Matthews. If FO likes those guys as well, then arms to replace Ryan are already in place. I don’t think there is an urgent need to trade Ryan this season. As you stated, wait until the offseason when new owners, and possibly new management are in place to make a trade as important as this.
  23. 1985Fan
    Great to see some of these prospects performing well. I hope they let these guys play every day to get AB’s and innings pitched under their belts before trying to rush them up to AAA. Please teach the players defensive and baserunning skills so they’re prepared for promotion, and possibly the big leagues one day. Need players that play defense well, instead of playing multiple positions mediocre or poorly.
  24. 1985Fan
    I actually met Terry Ryan at a Twinsfest at the Metrodome years ago. He was scouting director or AGM or some title like that before Andy MacPhail left and he was appointed GM. I didn’t know who he was, so I approached him and asked if he was with the Twins. I then proceeded to pepper him with questions about MiLB players and prospects I had been reading about. He didn’t get flustered at all, answered every question, and knew each player I asked about without having to check notes. Talked to us for about 10-15 minutes. You could tell he was a baseball guy/scout and was very nice to my Dad and I. I came away impressed.
  25. 1985Fan
    The author states that “Minnesota is preparing to become sellers”. Everything I’ve read from Falvey says differently. Is there any evidence that Falvey is going to sell? I know fans want him to, but he’s publicly saying that he may be a buyer. I think he’ll stand pat again this year, sorry to disappoint the fans. But what does Falvey care what fans think?! He’s the smartest baseball guy he knows.
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