JADBP

Sorry “their arms…”

Nice game but again Rocco pulls an absolutely boneheaded move by pushing out Duran for the 9th inning with a FIVE RUN LEAD!!! What is wrong with this guy? Now Duran is shut down for a few days to recover from overuse! WTH was Rocco thinking? This is just so frustrating. There was absolutely no need to put Duran back out in the 9th. His over-reliance on Jax and Duran is likely to burn out there arms well before we get into September. Duran is just not built for long outings! Grrrrr!!!

Wow, shades of Kirby Puckett at Target Field! Amazing day for an electric All Star! Equally amazing was that Rocco almost pulled Buxton in the 7th inning just before his majestic HR. The bench coaches had to stop him from doing so, reminding him that Buck was one swing away from the cycle! An inane Rocco thought process made even more astonishing when you realize how disconnected from the game Rocco was. What game was he watching? There wee 25,964 fans who knew the cycle was in play, but Rocco doesn’t see that and he’s gonna pull Buck? Really? He admitted this in his post game interview!! Geez, it exactly endearing PR to admit such stupidity. Can you imagine how the fans, the team, the media and Buck would have reacted if he had pulled Buck in the 7th? Wowza!!

I am not a doctor...but....I think this all traces back to his original knee injury. During that time off, he spent his time lifting weights. He must have worked out incessantly because he came back seriously bulked up. Now, the problem is that being a baseball player isn't all about bulking up. You still have to run, jump, make plenty of quick, jerky, snappy moves. And bulked up bodies are not built that way...he is built to lift stones, not make flea flicker moves. Compare his bulked up body to Wallner or Correa or even Buxton. Sure they lift weights, but not just to bulk up. They stretch constantly and in ways to limber up those muscles. These guys can outright MOVE FAST. So, when Royce tries to run at 90 mph he pulls one of those bulked up muscles. Over and over!!!

What an stupid statement. Come on...bunting has been around for decades. It is a fine tool used when you need to push across a single run. Like in extra innings. There are plenty of good times to lay down a bunt. It takes imagination, intelligence and a quick understanding of the situation to surprise the opponents with a bunt. I can guarantee you, if Vasquez turns around and bunts on the first pitch, all his old teammates are going to say "WOAH!" No one expects that because the moron in charge decides that one of the worst hitters in the AL should swing away, every time. The most frustrating problem that I have with Rocco is that HE DOES NOT LEARN FROM HIS MISTAKES. He just keeps repeating them. GRRRRRRR!!!!!! Insanity!

JUST WHAT has this club shown over the last few years? That they can run up an astonishing $400 million dollars in debt....even while focusing on money! Hmmmm.... Think about this...$400 mill is probably twice the annual payroll--meaning they would run up $400 mill in 2 years if they had zero income, which of course is nonsense. So, this has likely been going on for several years or even decades...it takes a long time to run up $400 million debt with a company that probably has revenues in the range of $100-200 million range. Another possibility is that the Pohlad family has already been "monetizing" the Twins club by borrowing against the franchise value. And, that's a LOT of monetizing! To pull out 25-30% of the value of the organization just to pad your already bulging pockets is crazy. I am sure this is a major stumbling block in any sale...and might actually be the underlying reason for the sale! A bank is not going to allow you to continue to pile up debt indefinitely. At some point they expect the noteholder to start paying down this debt. I suspect it is with these notes might have originated with Marquette Bank, who the Pohlads sold to Wells Fargo for around $1 BILLION back in 2002. Maybe Wells Fargo is asking for some money back? What I find astonishing INANE is that the Pohlads are asking buyers to allow them to "continue running the team" after the sale!!! Whattttt? You just ran up $400 million in debt on this company and you want to keep running it? What planet are they on????

Then just DFA him! No need to worry about losing him and losing him would not be a bad end result!

It’s all Rocco’s fault. There! Seven!

Yeah, you jinxed it!

What happened to the concept of: a) batting your HR hitter 3rd or 4th so he has some runners on when he hits? b) giving Buxton some rest during the season rather than trying to squeeze an extra at-bat into every game? Oh yeah, sorry, I know the answer! He’s been Roccoized! Dang!

Miranda has a chance. But not likely with the Twins. He’s gonna have to be injury depth (really deep) until he is a trade “throw in” piece. If agree the issue seems to be in his mind more than talent. Could he be trained? Sure. Maybe. Naaah? Julien is a different case. He never ever hit the bender. At first, throw him a juicy FB and bye bye baseball. But then teams saw this adapted by throwing sliders. and he adapted by swinging at the them rather than the occasional FB. He was so focused on hitting the sliders (but never figured out how) that he completely stopped hitting the FB. He looked just silly last season as he stared at that down the middle FB on strike 3! He was totally backwards. Miranda could become a Brent Rooker but the odds are low. He has fair talent but for some reason lacks consistency. Another team is gonna get a chance to try. Julien might finish the season (and career) in AAA.

Here is the most inane decision possible....letting Kody Clemmons hit. it was 9th inning, two outs but runners on 2nd and 3rd. And you expect Clemmons to get a hit here? He's batting 091 for the season, and hit a whopping 0.000 for the Phils before they dumped him. A little extra history on Clemmons...he has TWO DWIs! Last one he threw up while being arrested, after crashing into another car. Obviously he must think he's as good as his [roid poster boy] father. He has a brother named Koby...so it is Koby and Kody Clemmons, what was Roger thinking there? The sooner we dump him, the better! And, yeah, after Rocco walks him out the door, lock the door behind Rocco!

I guess the bottom line for me is this: The Pohlad's are getting exactly what they deserve. They ran this team into the ground. Whether through mismanagement, through bad player development, though bad signings, through payroll "right-sizing" or through whatever other BS that they have tried over the last 5-10 years, THEY HAVE FAILED. And, fans are paying them back...with their non-attendance! So, the team value is shrinking (who wants to buy an abject loser?) and the owners are likely to have to take out more loans to cover inevitable losses. They are just slowly bleeding to death. Its their own fault. They are never going to get anywhere close to $1.7 Billion (minus their debt against the team). That ship has sailed. Its their own fault. And now the truth is out. The family put their fine investment into a death spiral when they put Joe in charge. Its their own damn fault!!!

The players have given up! They are just showing up and who cares what effort they provide. Not the coaches, not the management and certainly not the owners. They have big contracts or a bright future so why bust your ass??? Really. Truly. Why bother? B cause the ownership has not spent a dime to improve the team when it mattered. Not in the offseasons. Not at the deadlines. Nothing but the weakest of token moves. And the coaching? Why bust your ass if the coach is gonna pull me in the 4th inning? Why bother if the coach keeps putting the same washed up loser instead of a promising g rookie? Why should I push to learn a position if I can’t stay there more than 2 games in a row? Why bother practicing hitting lefties? Because honestly the coach doesn’t seem to give a damn b cause there is never any consequences. So it’s the players. But it’s the players because ownership and management and coaching all screwed them over.

Can’t wait for that Rocco post Game IV: He will say; They played their butts off Tough game. they’re Grinders. never mention a player by name.

Uhhhh. Why wasn’t this flagged as inappropriate?

LOL. Why is “…and the Twins go down quickly” just ringing in my ears?

Actually it seems like the batters just give up after about the 5th inning or so. How often do you ever see them come back to win? They’re lifeless.

Proof: from last night’s post-game interview: [Rocco] “Our guys played their butts off out there tonight. When you go on an individual basis and look up and down and see what all the guys in the clubhouse did in that game -- the way we pitched and the way we competed in those at-bats against [Sale] -- it’s about as good as it gets. We grinded.“ Don’t worry about that 10 RISP….we’ll do better some day.

Come on, guys (and gals)! Don’t give up hope! The players are battling their butts off (according to Rocco)! And don’t forget: win or lose, everyone gets a Dairy Queen after the game!

DAIRY QUEEN FOR EVERYONE AFTER THE GAME TONIGHT! This was the most painful loss of the season to date. All those runners on 2nd and 3rd...surely you can push one or two across the plate? Bases loaded? That was pathetic. But, the worst moment of the game was the post-game interview with Rocco. I say with no sarcasm that Rocco displayed all of the feel-good juju that a mini-van-driving Daddy/coach gives the kids after a Little League game. Rocco: "I am so proud of the awesome effort that you kids put out today. You kids did AWESOME! DQ mini-Blizzards for everyone on the team!" Kids: "YAAAAAYYYYYY!!!!" Somehow Rocco thinks this translates well to the Biggs. Somehow he thinks modern coaching is about coddling the players, while slavishly juggling strategy based on slivers of numerical advantage. The players players don't give a damn because they are not being asked to give a damn. Other than the rookies, they are all making millions of dollars no matter how well they play. Why try harder? The coach never gets mad at the players. There are no consequences for failing 10 times to get that teammate home for 2nd or 3rd. And the owners....they certainly don't give a damn either, because they are just trying to cash out the team for a $Billion or two. There are no consequences here. DQs for everyone! This is Rocco....he's yelling "Come on, hurry up guys, DQ closes at 9!" Please hurry up and sell this team so a new owner might see through this BS.

Unless they sell the team to someone as stupid as themselves.

I just can't imagine someone buying the team, then letting baby-Pohlad continue to run the team. The teams finances are trashed...and who's fault is that? Man oh man, with that expectation, they will never sell the team!

sorry for the repeat....

Yeah....I am sorry, but this team looks like a bunch of high school kids trying to play pro ball. Its embarrassing. It would be more frustrating if we didn't that there really is some high level skill, talent and power in all of these professional athletes. So, let's look at he big picture. The Twins management have done absolutely nothing to support these players. Last season, they cut payroll and added dumpster-dive players. They were competitive some of the season, but management bailed on them at the trade deadline, getting for a player that they kept what, 2 weeks? It was like they said "See, we made a trade!" This last offseason, they let some good players walk and, as usual, went dumpster diving at the end of the offseason, when all the good, low cost gems were lost. Traded for nothing. SO, basically, the team has been going backwards for at least 2 years. Bringing up an occasional good prospect like Lee or Lewis keeps hopes up, but the injuries...just ugggly! What is really going on? Is there any hope at all this season? NO. Give it up. 1. The owners don't want the team anymore. Meaning they could care less about the team, the players, the fans, the success or failure of the franchise--they are done and want to cash out. 2. The team is hideously, deeply in dept. Obviously whoever has been running the organization has little to no business skills. Whoever buys the team is going to have to pay off and estimated $450 million in debt--meaning the value and the price is reduced by $450 mill. Too bad the Pohlad's are holding out for top $$. 3. Wait, this story gets better! Not only do the Pohlad's want to sell the team, dump that $450 million in debt while pocketing over $1.5 Billion, but they also want to retain management control of the team after they sell off their ownership! On what planet are these morons living?? Even if there was some logical reason to do so, would you want the current management, who ran up this enormous debt and who ran a competitive team into the ground, still running the show? Are you kidding me????? OK, so the ownership has completely trashed this team in many ways, while being arrogant enough to think that someone would allow them to continue to run the team. What do you expect the players to think about this sh17show that ownership is running. I am surprised that they even bother to show up to play. And, when they do, are they going to bound over large dog houses to play their best? Are they going to get serious about warmup stretches and batting practice? Or are they biding their time to get some experience and move on to the next team willing to pay them? Or just sitting on the trainer's bench counting their Millions?