CoachDW

It's hard not to go with the Bomba Squad and their 101 wins as the most successful of the Falvey era. If not for several questionable pitching decisions by rookie manager Rocco Baldelli in the playoff sweep by the Yankees in the ALDS, it might have turned out much differently. The Twins won the AL Central by 8 games and Baldelli had ample opportunity to line up his pitching heading into the ALDS against the Bronx Bombers. Jose Berrios got the start in Game 1 at Yankee Stadium and pitched pretty well, throwing 4 innings with one earned run and six strikeouts, exiting after 88 pitches in a 3-3 tied ballgame. Baldelli then made one of quite a few head-scratching decisions he would make with his pitching staff in this series, going to rookie Zach Littell instead of a more veteran arm. Yankee Stadium in the playoffs was an intimidating stage, and Littell was understandably rattled, walking Aaron Judge, throwing a wild pitch, and then plunking Brett Gardner before exiting after only 8 pitches. Tyler Duffey, who led the Twins bullpen that year with a 182 ERA+, inherited the mess and struck out the side, but not before giving up a 2-run double to Gleyber Torres that put the Yankees up 5-3. Miguel Sano led off the top of the 6th with a homer to cut the deficit to 5-4, but instead of keeping Duffey in the game or going to another veteran reliever, Rocco mysteriously went to another rookie, Cody Stashak, to pitch the bottom of the 6th. Two solo homeruns later, the Twins were trailing 7-4. In the bottom of the 7th with the game still in the balance, Rocco decided to go with Kyle Gibson, who had started 29 games during the season and had appeared as a reliever sparingly during his career. After three walks, a bases-clearing double by D.J. LeMahieu gave the Yanks a 10-4 lead and effectively ended the game. Two rookies and a starter pitched with the game on the line while relievers Trevor May, Sergio Romo, and Taylor Rogers were left in the bullpen. Then Rocco questionably decided to start rookie Randy Dobnak in Game 2. Dobnak had pitched only 9 games all season (5 as a starter, 4 as a reliever). Dobnak gave up 6 hits, two walks and four earned runs in just 2+ innings and it was 8-0 Yankees after two innings in a game the Twins lost 8-2. Trevor May threw one pitch in this game and Sergio Romo only 2/3 of an inning, both after the game was well out of reach. Rocco finally pitched his veterans in the do-or-die third game, starting Jake Odorizzi and then bringing in Taylor Rogers (finally an appearance by the 30-save reliever), Romo, and May but the Twins lost 5-1 to end the series. It could be argued that the Twins just didn't have the overall pitching depth to defeat New York in the 2019 ALDS (and if so, that's on Falvey), but the decisions Rocco made with his hurlers during the three games were undisputedly odd. Rocco managed these contests like they were spring training games rather than a playoff series and it was a definite head-scratcher.

FINALLY! Both Falvey and Baldelli should have been fired after the epic collapse down the stretch in 2024; not doing so was a big mistake. When Baldelli was ousted last October, Falvey should have been shown the door as well. The Twins have totally wasted this entire off-season, and the timing of this move is very strange, coming just a few weeks before pitchers and catchers report - but better late than never.

Are Minnesota Twins Planning to Enter the 2026 Season With Edouard Julien as the Backup First Baseman? The real question should be: Are the Minnesota Twins seriously considering entering the 2026 season with Kody Clemens as the primary first baseman? Having a 30-year old who hit .213 last year with an OB% of .281 and an OPS+ of 94 as the guy to be your starting first sacker is a total recipe for disaster. With regular playing time, Julien could put up those numbers. Any low-level free agent the Twins could sign for 1B would probably be more of the same. 2026 will no doubt be a lost season, so I guess rolling with that is probably okay with the Twins brass. However, I would like to see them make a move to acquire a young player with upside who could potentially anchor the position for the next five or six years (someone like Coby Mayo of the Orioles comes to mind). The Twins have gotten decent production from the string of stop-gap veterans that they have signed to play 1B (Solano, Santana, France) but this is the year to make a move to get a younger, long-term solution there who will be in their prime when the Twins are ready to contend again.

One of Stu’s best. I hear that the Ty France-Instine jersey is going like hotcakes.

Whether his managerial moves were largely dictated by Derek Falvey or not, to declare that Rocco Baldelli was not at least a PART of the problem with the Minnesota Twins is just incomprehensible. He was simply a very poor in-game major league manager who should have been fired after the 2024 fiasco. That Derek Falvey brought him back at all (and then extended his contract) shows just how truly inept Falvey is at his job. Falvey needs to follow Rocco out the door, and the sooner the better.

Joe Pohlad: "At some point you gotta look at yourself and be like, ‘You know what? We’ve gotta try something different.'" So, why is Derek Falvey still in charge then? You can change the manager, but chances are he will do the same thing Rocco did, which apparently was to employ in-game strategy that Derek Falvey wanted, using the players that Derek Falvey provided. Hey Joe, you wanna try something different? Get rid of the architect of this mess, Derek Falvey!

Post trade deadline, it was reported that Jace Tingler told Rocco to unleash the running game, it apparently wasn't Rocco's idea. I imagine Tingler will be gone with Rocco, but having the Twins take chances on the bases and run at every opportunity was fun. I can only hope that the new manager keeps this style of baseball, and does away with the "always do the contact play" no matter what runner is on third base, and the "play the infield in in the first or second inning" insanity that led to multiple opponent's crooked numbers on the scoreboard numerous times over the past few years. Please, give up the run early in the game for a chance to turn two and avoid the big inning once in a while! If this changes, then we will know that the new manager is turning the team in a different direction, and if it doesn't, then we know that the manager is just doing what the front office commands off of the spreadsheet, which is what I think Rocco has been doing since taking over for Paul Molitor. Rocco was never going to change, maybe somebody new will make Twins baseball exciting again. We can only hope...

Rocco's out as manager for 2026. FINALLY!

Rocco's out as manager for 2026. FINALLY! HALLELUJAH!

The Bob Nightengale tweet stated "other major league players involved in the mega-deal". I'm sure the Twins are still looking to get rid of the Castro & Vazquez contracts. Vazquez back to the Astros?

Yes, Derek Falvey should be Trusted to Make Trade Decisions at the Deadline After today's Duran trade fiasco, this article's headline did not age well at all.

Possibly the best closer available at this trade deadline and the return is underwhelming, to say the least. With Falvey at the helm, why am I not surprised? Yuck.

I would not be so quick to dismiss acquiring Wong. He is coming back from injury and has had minimal playing time since Narvaez has taken the job. He is coming off a season where he slashed 280/333/425 with an OPS+ of 112 as the primary Red Sox catcher (106 games). He had 13 HR, 52 RBI, and 8 SB. He is currently making $790 thousand this season. Compare that to who most Twins fans feel is the Twins best-hitting catcher, Ryan Jeffers. Last season, Jeffers caught 86 games with a slash line of 226/300/432 with an OPS+ of 103. He had 21 HR, 64 RBI, and 3 SB. He is currently making about $4.5 million dollars this season. Last year, both Wong and Jeffers were below average defensively. Cody points out that the Red Sox have two former big league catchers stashed at AAA that can replace Wong, while the Twins have an empty organizational cupboard when it comes to catchers. The Twins have been lucky (some would say blessed) to have been able to field two healthy catchers that have evenly split the playing time the past couple of years, but that luck could run out at any time, and they will certainly have to address what to do at the catching position next year. Being able to acquire Wong for a minimal investment when his numbers are down and option him to St. Paul for regular playing time as an insurance policy for the rest of this year and possibly for the future is exactly the kind of move the Twins should consider.

Happy Birthday, Mr. Drees! He had quite the professional career. Looking at his numbers, it struck me that the way they developed pitchers in the minor leagues from the late 1980s and early 1990s is tremendously different from what we see today. When Drees was in the White Sox organization in A ball in 1987 he threw 168 innings, with 8 complete games and 3 shutouts. Moving to Double-A in 1988, he tossed 158 innings with 6 complete games and 2 shutouts. Promoted to AAA for 1989 he hurled 168 frames with 4 complete games and 3 shutouts, and followed that up with 97 innings, 4 complete games, and 1 shutout in 1990. Still at AAA in 1991, he threw 143 innings, 3 complete games, and 3 shutouts. At the age of 28 he was a September call up to the White Sox in 1991, but only appeared in 4 games, all in mop-up duty, and one wonders if the heavy minor league workload was just too much. He pitched a total of 7.1 big league innings, giving up 10 hits, 6 walks, and 4 homeruns (ouch). That seems to be an insane amount of innings, not to mention complete games, for a developing pitcher to throw in the minors, but some would say that pitchers today don't throw enough innings and their arms are protected and coddled to such a degree that they never really learn the art of pitching. Possibly some day organizations will reach a happy medium. In any event, hats off to all those workhorse pitchers like birthday boy Tom Drees who took the ball and gave it their all in an attempt to reach their big league dreams.

The architect of the Ramos trade, Twins GM Bill Smith, said the rational behind the swap was to add a "proven closer" in Matt Capps. He would never live that comment down. The timing of the Ramos trade, coming at the trade deadline in 2010, couldn't have been worse. Joe Mauer was injured in mid-April of 2011 and didn't come back for over two months. With Ramos gone, the Twins tried to piece things together behind the plate with Steve Holm, Drew Butera, and Rene Rivera. As you might expect, they combined for a WAR of -1.9 and the Twins were toast, limping to a record of 63-99 for the season, after which Smith was (mercifully for Twins fans) fired. "Proven closer" Matthew Dicus Capps had 15 saves in the first half of 2011 but was supplanted in mid-July by "actual closer" Joe Nathan who had 14 saves. Nathan signed as a free agent with Texas after the 2011 season, and, needing a closer, the Twins re-signed Matt Capps for the 2012 season. Capps was again quickly supplanted as closer in June by Glen Perkins, Despite bouncing around in the minor leagues for the Indians, Braves, and Diamondbacks until 2016, after the 2012 season with the Twins he never played another big league game. The "proven closer" was done.

Thanks for the article, Matt. I was curious why Zoilo is getting his award wearing a suit and tie, while Tony O. was getting his in full uniform. I looked at Baseball Reference, and guess Zoilo must have been injured and disabled when this picture was taken, which explains the fancy duds. Maybe there was another reason for his absence, but injury seems the most likely. I see that he played against the White Sox on June 11, 1966 but then didn't play again until appearing in both games of a doubleheader against Detroit on June 24, where he went a combined 4 for 10 with a homer and 4 RBI. So much for bringing him back from injury slowly. Could you even imagine Rocco playing a guy in both games of a doubleheader fresh off the disabled list in today's day and age? It might take a guy two series to get 10 at bats coming back from injury under Mr. Baldelli.

Your memory is a bit off... Dick Woodson's last year in pro ball was 1975, and Mike Smithson's first year was 1982, so they never pitched together. But I do remember a series back then against the Rangers where they were shellacked very convincingly, so you got that part right.

By looking at the clip of the Steinbach beaning, it was interesting to note that the winning pitcher for the A's that day was Joe Klink, who went 0-1 with a 6.65 ERA in 12 games for the Twins during their World Championship season in 1987. "The Colonel" (of course) was acquired along with Billy Beane and Bill Latham from the Mets in January 1986 in the Tim Teufel trade and was subsequently traded to the A's during spring training in 1988. Joe Klink had his best season with the A's in 1991, appearing in 62 games, all as a reliever, with a 10-3 record and a 4.35 ERA. After 1991 he bounced around the Florida, LA Dodger, and Cleveland organizations before finishing up pitching a few relief innings with Seattle in 1996,

Sands, Stewart, Jax, and Duran all pitched in this game, and should have been used to cover the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings as the Twins were nursing a one-run lead. Instead, Rocco/Tingler decide that the seventh was "Alcala Time" - this is a decision that I find nearly impossible to defend. At this point, Alcala is the definition of a mop-up man, a pitcher that if he remains on the team at all should only be used when the Twins are up or down by a large amount of runs. To bring him into the ball game in that high-leveraged situation was unbelievable, especially considering that they blazed through all of the better bullpen options later in the game anyway. Just the epitome of bad managing.

I stand corrected. Casilla’s hit was in one of the last games in the MetroDome, not Target Field. I still say Dan Gladden is a poor play-by-play announcer but he nailed that call.

Alexi Casilla had two walk-off hits, one of which ended maybe the most memorable game ever played at Target Field, Game 163 against the Tigers. I am not a big fan of Dan Gladden’s radio play-by-play but the guy probably had his best-ever call on that ground ball single into right field that scored Carlos Gomez. To this day, I still get chills hearing it.

Bean5302; "I see Ryan as 10th in fWAR 12th in FIP , but tied with 2 other guys for 7th in bWAR and in sole possession of ERA+ just ahead of 2 guys who are 1,000% more likely to make the team (deGrom and Skubal)." Granted, Skubal will make the team, he's the reigning Cy Young Award winner, and an ace on the Division leading Tigers. But DeGrom is currently on a third place team that has a losing record. So DeGrom is 1.000% more likely to make the team than Joe Ryan? What is it about DeGrom's numbers that you think are so superior to Ryan's to make that statement and make you that confident? I could argue that right now, DeGrom's stats are no better than his Rangers teammate Nathan Eovaldi, who also should be considered. A lot can happen between now and the All-Star break, but at this juncture to state that DeGrom is 1,000% more likely to make the team than Ryan seems like a huge statement to make without much evidence to back it up.

If he continues to pitch as he has so far, I think Joe Ryan has an excellent chance of being chosen. When picking starters for the All-Star team, pitchers with high win totals are always named. So far, Ryan is tied for fifth in the AL in wins with 5, trailing only Rodon & Fried of the Yankees who both have 7 and are virtual locks to be picked by their manager, Aaron Boone, and Hunter Brown (7) and Casey Mize (6). Ryan is tied for seventh in WAR with Rodon, and ranks 6th in Ks/9, so he certainly has to be considered among the top starting pitcher candidates to be selected. Among relievers, Jhoan Duran has to be in the running as well. He doesn't have huge saves totals (currently ninth in the AL with 9) but among relievers he is tied for third in WAR with Josh Hader (1.2), trailing only Andres Munoz' 2.1 and Luke Weaver's 1.5. Byron Buxton probably has a shot, but he would have to come back strong from his injury to be considered. Unfortunately, and as usual, the Twins will probably end up with only the mandated single representative on the All-Star team this year.

I agree with what Mark G. posted; my main beef is I simply don't care for the offensive style of ball this team plays and haven’t since the Rocco & Falvey era began. While I enjoy a pitcher who throws a gem, or a defense that makes jaw-dropping defensive plays, the most exciting part of baseball to me is the ability of teams to perform on offense. Homeruns are fun and I love seeing them, but I also appreciate teams whose offense can consistently get men on base, steal a base and take the extra base, and put pressure on the pitcher and defense on the basepaths with speed and aggression. Falvey and Rocco have assembled players who don’t do any of those things. I believe that outside of only a few players, the Twins overall team speed is below major league average. Almost never stealing a base, running station-to-station while waiting around for a big blast and striking out at a high rate is a dull brand of baseball, and that’s what we have seen under the current regime. Contrast this with the exciting ball being played by the Brewers, for instance, who had 6 steals in the first inning and a club-record nine in their 14-1 win over the Athletics yesterday. “That's one of the ways we win,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “We win by collecting hits, taking walks, stealing bases, having the threat to steal, which gives you a better pitch to hit sometimes. That's one of the ways we can beat you.” The Brewers currently are first in all baseball in stolen bases while only six teams have fewer steals than the Twins. The Brewers are fifth in runs scored, while only four teams in the majors have scored fewer runs than the Twins. The Brewers don’t need to hit homeruns to score, as they have hit only six more home runs this season than Minnesota, and only three teams have hit fewer dingers than Rocco’s team. The Brewers are definitely not the Harvey’s Wallbangers of old, and they are also not an offensive juggernaut as they are below league average this season in walks, homeruns, slugging, OPS, OPS+ and league average in on-base percentage. But they are first in steals and fifth in runs scored, and are exciting to watch. Make no mistake, I am a lifelong Twins fan and no lover of Milwaukee, but the Brewers have an offensive style of play that I find fun to watch, and one that seemingly is totally foreign to Minnesota. The aggressive way they play is working for the Brewers, who have a winning record while statistically having worse pitching so far this season than the moribund Twins. Outside of the pitchers, Falvey and Rocco have put together a team of bulky, unathletic plodders who are defensively challenged and playing uninspired baseball that is hard to watch, and Twins ownership is not holding them accountable and apparently doesn’t even care. That’s my beef.

Definitely time for Rocco to go. Pull the pin on his ineptness PLEASE! He couldn't motivate a starving rat to eat a delicious piece of cheese. Enough!