JADBP

Sorry I missed that Outman came in in the 8th. But there is still an issue. At that point, Rocco should have been able to see that he would again come up in the 9th and with no bullpen, the CWS were likely to at least tie the game. in the end, I am soooo over Rocco. He’s become a pathetic robot to stats. Like a robot, he is even emotionless.

The 9th inning was a managing disaster. Buxton leads off with a double and Larnach walks. Down by one, with no outs, a good place to be. Keirsey comes in to run for Larnach. Now, we have the middle of the order coming up in Keaschall, Wallner and Jeffers. So far so good. Then Keaschall pops out. Ouch. So, what does the idiot do? He again subs out Wallner for Outman! Wait…WTF? Outman is batting .134!!!! He’s not LH and neither is the Pitcher. Wallner is and is batting .234 and has an OBP over 100 pts higher than Outman. But alas OUTman lives up to his name. Easy out. I suspect the CWS coach is just laughing. Jeffers comes in and is the final out. Why if why does the idiot keep subbing out Wallner? It makes absolutely no sense. It’s like last year with Margot. Does Rocco understand that that he keeps making these “never works out well” decisions over and over? Doesn’t Jayce Tingler ever tap him on the shoulder and say “Hey, how about we let him hit tonight.” I would think that after watching Margot go 0-29, the Saber tool would say do NOT use him as a PH in big. Flashing red letters. Same for PHing for Wallner with a far inferior hitter! What is WRONG with Rocco?????

Yes, it looked like at, most, 3-4000 in attendance. They won’t announce actual attendance as it is too embarrassing.

Hey. News Flash! Attendance went UP today! By a miserable 183 people. Or dogs. Remember, the listed attendance is only the number of tickets sold, is is NOT the number of fans in seats. From the looks of things, I’d guess it was actually well below 11,000. Maybe the added the dogs to the count? oh, and todays game….pathetic 9th inning. Both Buxton and Larnach get on base then 3 pitches say outs. It’s as if Rocco doesn’t care, doesn’t even bother trying. They camera panned to him once and he had a deadpan, bored, “who gives a f” look in his face!

There is NOTHING on the planet that the Pohlads can do to rebuild trust. Absolutely zero!! ESPECIALLY JOE!

OH I wanted the Twins to take Green so badly, was stunned when they took Lewis. Oh well...

Bullet Points: 1. Unlike NFL and NBA (both of whom have salary caps), MLB is dominated by 3-4 teams with enormous payrolls and great teams. 2. This leads to a very inequitable and distorted competitive balance. 3. This, in turn, suppresses fan enthusiasm across the remaining 28-29 teams. This shrinks the entire sport of baseball while 3-4 teams win most championships. 4. Look at the NBA as an example. They exploded in popularity once they rebalanced the payrolls and MANY teams won, instead of 3-4 consistent winners.

We are very very close to billion dollar contracts. Ohtani at $700mill and Soto at $765 mill (with a possibility or reaching $800mill). But you missed the point entirely. What I am despairing about is the inequity of these contracts. Can you see the Twins, Rays, CLE, BAL, heck, probably all but 3-4 teams able to muster up a $300-400 million payroll? Of course not. Of course these teams are going to do better. They can afford to have several of these magnificent players on their teams. It’s not a guarantee of success—there are low budget teams that do well with good coaching and management. But it makes the league very very unbalanced. A few teams that perennially do very well and most teams struggling to find a “window” when they can effectively compete. The result is MOST MLB fans are rooting for teams (like the Twins) that have little chance of winning a World Series. The flip side is that if more teams can actually compete for championships, then the entire league has more fan engagement, not just 3-4 big payroll teams. The whole of MLB brings in more $$$. Everyone gets richer, not just 3-4 teams. Now MLB know this is a problem and has been trying to address it (with luxury tax, revenue sharing, and expanded wildcards). But they really have not made a dent in the problem. Many teams still struggle with small payrolls in smaller markets. Again, there are exceptions with well-managed small market teams with “windows” (KC). Compare this to the far more competitive NFl and MBA. You must not remember the NBA in the 60’s-80’s. From 1957 to 1981, 3 teams (BOS, LA and PHI) won 75% of NBA championships. The NBA wanted to grow beyond that fan base and did-with aggressive changes. In the last 10 years, 7 different teams have won the NBA. Championship.

Dan Bauer: good points, we are in very close agreement. So, how does that lower tier of players get represented in the union? If you look at the player reps, they are all pretty much the highly paid stars. How many of them are honestly representing all the players making minimum wage?

Royce’s problems all start in his head. He has plenty of talent and skill. He has a problem harnessing it. I agree. He’s already a made millions and is going to make millions more. Little sympathy for trying to take care of his already wealthy family. I agree the union has the wrong focus. BUT—The owners pay nearly $Billion contracts then complain that contracts are too high (and complain that small market teams don’t pay their players enough). The owners need to police themselves. Both orgs, the ownership cartel and the Union, are complicit is their greed. Owners in big markets want to make ever more profit and win ever more WS. And the top players all want that $300 million contract. This makes is increasing challenging and unfair for teams like the Twins, TOR, Rays, PIT, etc to succeed. ALL OF THIS IS RUINING BASEBALL!! What sense does it make to pay someone $30-40-50 million a year when many players are making $1 million or less? Sure, everyone in a while KC gets on a good run. But how many bad years are there in between runs? Compare this to the NFL or NBA. The salary cap seems to be the one thing that can allow a team like the Vikings or Golden State to compete. And those leagues are much better for it. I am guessing more players will get into the $millions faster with a cap. We just need to even out the playing field. And quit the Billion dollar contracts. That’s just insanity. If the players and agents can’t see this, then too bad. it could be a long strike but it has to happen. They can take zero if they don’t like competitive baseball. When will the many small market teams ever stand up the The NYY, METS and LAD? Greed is the cancer that is ruining baseball.

Remember...Sabermetrics is NOT about hitting homeruns....it is about GETTING ON BASE. The more players that get on base, in whatever fashion, the more runs they score. Few do it as well as Luis. Love to watch him.

That’s very simple. Chief: replace the coaches!!!!

The real problem is that no matter how hard Falvey tries, no Free Agent wants to sign with the Twins. This team is so far beyond insanity that FA’s are just going to pass. And FA he can sign will come with the “I’m signing with the losers” premium price tag. There are zero FA’s out there that trust a single word out of Falvey’s mouth. And there are few players that want to play for Rocco. Evidence: Twins players last few years and comments from departing players. Good luck with the off-season!

I really could care LESS what Rocko thinks. He has lost this team …. and me. please please send Rocks for Brains packing.

And…if Popkins was to blame, why did we nosedive again this year? I think we were hitting better than last year ....at last until the dumpster fire was ignited!

Falvey just fired 40% of the team! I’m sure he will find more to blame this fall, now that he has pushed the team into the dumpster and lit the match. Players are smart—they see this too so few will sign here with the current administration (and maybe even ownership). I for one DO lay some blame on Popkins. Hitting was his department. He probably got strategy from Rocco/Falvey but if the strategy was that bad then he should have stood up and explained why. If the tactics were wrong then it’s all on him. Maybe he learned what not to do here and is applying it at TO? At the end of the day, his management of the hitting department was terrible It wasn’t just the roster (all the Margot’s and Farmer’s notwithstanding). We still had everyone crater, including normally great hitters like Correa and Buxton. Now I say double-triple shame on Rocco for rolling a Margot out there dozens of times without a hit That’s not Popkins fault That’s Rocco’s insanity! But double-triple shame on Popkins for not helping Julien adjust to MLB pitchers who have found his weaknesses Or Royce. Or …fill in the blank of almost any member of the team! I know Rocco dictates strategy (and he’s lost in that department) But Popkins was in charge of hitting and it stunk

It’s official!! Twins lose 2/3 to 2nd worst team in AL. I think this makes them the WORST team in the AL right now! Disgusting . . .

Actually, the team is a total DUMP PAYROLL operation now. There is NO player making over $2-3 mill that can feel safe on this team. Even some who are not, like Varland, gets traded (an insane trade!!). So, yeah, Larnach, Wallner, Jeffers, Ryan, Ober, and Lopez are all unsafe. Is even Buxton safe? But don't be surprised if he too is traded!!! That would be SHOCKING, but the deadline madness was shocking so I'd say shocking but not surprising. Plenty of teams would gladly trade for a Buxton who sees to be in his (somewhat late) prime. Others with rising cost are also automatically on the bubble, like Royce, Topa, Tonkin, and Lee. Don't get too attached to anyone! Here are the two real problems with the Twins right now: 1) the players have lost pretty much all respect for the coaching staff and the front office, and 2) the front office has lost the respect of both trading partners and fellow owners (they proved to be patsy's at the deadline, taking sucker trades (Varland) just to keep dealing). When I say players have lost respect and trust of the coaching staff, I am not limiting this to Twins players. WHAT free agent, in their right mind, would sign with the Twins now? Falvey might try, but he just won't get any real takers in Free Agency! The penalty will be getting bottom run players while being forced to pay a premium just to get them to sign. The winter meetings are going to be very lonely with free agents quietly shunning the Twins. Falvey or Rocco walk into a room and many immediately walk out. So, they are left with only one option--start trading away players to restock a team with definite needs. Yes, we have plenty in the pipeline--particularly outfielders, pitchers--but who is our 2026 1B or C? We're likely to trade Jeffers (now with the third highest pay on the team (ignoring Vasquez)!). So, expect a couple of years of really bad baseball. Now, this all plays into the NON-SALE of the Twins. Only an idiot would believe that dumping 40% of the team, including low cost, high upside players, was attractive to potential buyers. Falvey got wound up by other GMs and couldn't resist trading away players to anyone who knocked on the door. He was definitely played. So, I have to believe that any new owner that comes in comes in with strings attached. I'd be very surprised if Rocco and Falvey make it through next year. Falvey so seriously devalued the team that a sale became impossible. He likely cost the ownership big bucks, and if not the Pohlads, then certainly the new co-owners are looking for his replacement already. And the stunning inability to translate top prospects into top players will cost Rocco dearly. Sigh....I can only blame the owners for hanging on to Falvey for so long that he cost them big bucks. So stupid of them. But it is their own damn fault.

The Twins now find themselves in a horrible situation. They tried t ok sell but no one is willing to buy outright this failed franchise. I have to believe the Pohlads asked for $1.7B with the new owner taking on $450 million in debt, meaning you are paying over $2 Billion for a failing team. That would have broke the deal to any potential buyer. Really —the best the Twins could do is clear $1.2 B. Now here are the problems: they tore down the team and repeatedly and absolutely angered the fan base over the last 2-3 years. Putting buffoon Joe in charge lead to mistake after mistake (apparently Invle Jim has to step in to save him from time to time, like with Correa). The players are confused and unsettled. Some want out (some got out). Management and coaching seems rudderless and unrespected by the players. what chance do they have at pulling in free agents? Who would want to join this mess? Total system failure has lead to the fans abandoning the team. Attendance is caving. Season tickets have disappeared. So, with declining revenues and unhappy fans and players, what do the owners do? Nothing! Just dump all the salaries and then keep doing what they have been doing for the last 10 years. Same-O same-0! Nothing changes. Pretty disheartening! But what else can I do but abandon the Pohlads???!?!!

Disaster is right. The Pohlads thought they had a valuable franchise on their hands but constant mismanagement and notorious fan anger have made the team far less worthy then they expected. Best thing they can do now is fire Joe. He is a one man wrecking crew!

What Plan? There is no plan!

Yes absolutely the worst news possible from Jo(k)e! I keep saying the same thing and I can’t possibly understand how new owners would accept this: the Pohlads built this disastrous dumpster of a team by 1) running up $450 million in debt and 2) destroying the Twins Nation of fandom. And new co-owners are going to come in and presumably buy down that debt while allowing the same idiots run the team again? What BS could they have possibly pushed to these new investors to get them to agree to such a deal? This can only make sense if the new owners have substantial control immediately or a promise of full control when Joe screws it up all over again! The level or greed here is astonishing. Earlier posters are right—Joe has ZERO creditability left and the Pohlad family might not be able to rebuild it even if they push Joe aside. Same for Falvey. Same for Rocco. it’s really sad to see the longtime home of Harmon, Tony-O, Puckett, Hrbek, Mauer and so many other great teammates shredded by disgusting ownership!!!

I can understand Correa, too much money for what we got in return. But Varland? WTH is going on? I can't understand this.....

This is the most stunning sell-off that I have ever seen! The Twinkies are genuinely, randomly GIVING AWAY players now...and not just middling players, but top shelf talent! Amazing the trades! Jax, Duran, these trades make no sense. The Duran trade was seriously lopsided, but then Jax, just stunning. WOW! I imagine that another potential buyer walked away from the Pohlads, so young Joe Pohlad said "GO AHEAD, sell whatever, dump them all, let's get this team salary cost wayyyy down...I am tired of this....nobody likes me anyways so f##K them! Let them see what I can do!" I am amazed that Buxton and Jenkins, Lewis and Lee are still here!

And now there goes Jax!!! To the Rays....