The Great Hambino

Jax in the 7th...

1

If I had to bet, I'd agree that a new manager would probably get similar results and that there's only so much a manager can do if the players just don't perform. But I'm also wrong a lot. A new manager - just a new voice - can provide a spark to get guys performing where they ought to be. And if things don't turn around with a new voice, then the organization will have to look elsewhere for changes to be made. It gets harder to blame the manager when you go through multiple with the same results. So in a sense, a managerial change can be a win-win. Either the team improves, or the heat gets concentrated on the front office. Come to think of it, Falvey seems pretty self-aware. This could be the real reason a managerial change isn't coming until dictated by ownership, whether it's the Pohlads or a new group. Even if he thinks a change is needed, why play that card when it could be a get-out-of-jail-free card down the road?

Are any of those quotes from this season? I agree in principle. And in the past I've thought that's where Rocco was at his best - keeping things together behind the scenes. But this run of underperformance that started last year and has continued into this year makes me wonder if a) that's still true or b) if it is still true, why it is no longer translating to on-field results. In an era of constant player movement, 15 players still remain in the organization from the initial 2023 ALDS roster, and that doesn't include Buxton. It's not like there's been some mass talent exodus. In fact, some of the top performers this year weren't in that group - four of their top 5 in bWAR this year weren't on that team, the fifth being Buxton. To be fair, we can't know exactly the effect he's having in the clubhouse without being in there. But the context clues don't support his continued effectiveness in this area. And it's not like he has some elite tactical mind to fall back on. So we're left with ... what, exactly?

I may have missed it, but in all the posts in the "don't fire Rocco" camp, I don't think I've seen a single defense based on something he does well. Seems telling to me

It seems like most, if not all, defenses of Baldelli run along the lines of "it's not his fault" or "he's not the problem." If that's your position ( and there's certainly at least some truth to it), then ask yourself this: Is Baldelli the solution to any of the team's issues? I have a hard time coming up with a way in which he is. So even if he'll get replaced by Tingler or someone else that will be a clone or continue following Falvey's marching orders or whatever, it's worth trying to see if someone else can be the solution, or part of the solution. The status quo is not worth maintaining with the continuity Baldelli provides, so there isn't much risk in his replacement being worse. The upside of his replacement being a solution is worth that risk.

Items 2, 3, and 5 can all fall under the umbrella of over-promising and under-delivering. With the right amount of mental gymnastics, item 1 can as well. no wonder the only emotions they can evoke from fans these days are disgust and apathy

The worst thing about right-sizing the payroll is that it was only months after apparently, uh, wrong-sizing it with the signing of Correa and extension to Lopez. Locking up so much payroll on a couple of players when you're about to slash the overall budget was wildly irresponsible. They can't make a credible claim that they didn't see the need to reduce payroll coming. The TV revenue issue shouldn't have been a surprise. DSG was already in bankruptcy and the crumbling of the RSN model could be seen from miles away by anyone paying attention. It can't have been Falvey going rogue with those signings. If he had gone against ownership wishes on something that big, he would not have been granted more power. This is entirely on whomever in the Pohlad family is calling the shots. I'm not even sure if it's actually Joe running the show anymore. I think he might be a puppet. He's like if you built a human from scratch but blew your whole budget on the haircut.

Just think - in a few months, someone's gonna have to pick an All Star to represent this team. Hopefully it can be Keaschall so we can pretend to have hope for the future. It will probably either be someone traded away before the game takes place or Willi Castro as a pitcher

I think they've been celebrating all season

The most effective 8th inning reliever this year has been Willi Castro

See? Jax can pitch just as effectively in the eighth as the ninth

Watching this team is like watching the first act of a sports movie for kids

Correa has been quite the combo of bad and unlucky this year

Alonso ... buddy ... just accept it and shave it off

FWIW it looks like he threw 58 and 80 pitches in his two starts with the Saints

Tonight we dine in Hell

Ill advised, but how did all three of them miss it?

You don't get to see the banana yellow catchers gear. Consider yourself lucky

So you ... want Paddack pitching more frequently?

The architecture tour on the river was a worthwhile afternoon. Also, they're right about ketchup. Ketchup is for toddlers or for making better sauces.

Innings/start - MIN: 5.4 Innings/start - STL: 5.8 ERA - MIN: 2.90 ERA - STL: 3.90 (My analytics tell me this is one full run higher than in MIN) Lots of areas where Twins management deserves blame. The handling of Sonny Gray is not one of them.

In a vacuum, there's some logic to pulling him as outlined in the article. But games aren't played in a vacuum. I think Baldelli's biggest strategic failure is being too hyper-focused on a specific matchup while ignoring how the decision affects the rest of the entire game, sometimes future games. In the past, this was highlighted most prominently in selling out for the platoon advantage in the middle of the game. He seems to have backed off that tactic this year, but pulling Ober the way he did when the bullpen has already been stretched past its limits multiple times in this short season is a different symptom of this same disease. Any additional innings - even any additional outs - that the starter can eat saves a bullpen arm for the next day. As we've seen, the opportunities for starters to gobble up these additional outs have been few and far between. The next three starts are AAA call-up, Paddack, SWR with no off days. The likelihood of dipping deep into the bullpen well over this stretch is high. Failing to account for this was a big missed opportunity to mitigate that risk. Analytics are not the problem. It's another word for information. All successful teams use them heavily. Ask White Sox and Rockies fans how ignoring analytics has worked out. But just because most teams use them doesn't mean they all use them effectively. They could be using the same information at hand to make decisions in a more effective manner, but too often fail to see the forest for the trees. The problem isn't analytics, it's that Rocco isn't very good at using them. The problem's the carpenter, not the tool.

I'm finding it harder and harder to believe they have a plan at the plate.

Fun fact: Carlos Estevez is Charlie Sheen's birth name