mikelink45

"At some point it would be great to see the Twins make a commitment to their players by acquiring talent with expectations as opposed to being surprised by what comes of a decision. Martin Perez could certainly have a career year in Minnesota, and that'd be a great revelation, but banking on that is a process with many more flaws than we should be seeing right now." Your quote. Your end statement is perfect. Give me one of the young Twins and quit trying to find magic in the dumpster.

Here is what we got - he is left handed. His record last year gave him a minus -0.9 WAR, 2 - 7, 6.22 era.1.78 whip. Seven years total 43 49 4.63 era, 1.48 whip. Did we just get better or does he repeat last year and make us worse? I would sure like to see some signing where it was not surrounded by question marks. Of course he was a Ranger and rangers and Indians rank high with the FO

None. I feel like the site contrarian, but I say this seriously because our coaches should be able to work with the rookies and minor leaguers we have and coax the stats that these players have. Just adding someone because they have been around does nothing for me. I think we missed our opportunity for the type of reliever we need and it is now better to concentrate on making our own talent perform better.

GONE - so much for that dream

According to Baseball Reference these are the Minnesota Twins hitting coaches - Why there are years without a coach I do not know. But this is what Baseball Reference could tell me about our hitting coaches. These are the men we have entrusted to make our batters better. Did they? There are few hitting coaches that make it into the pantheon of greats – Charley Lau was one, but he might not be employable today. Now we want to have the coach communicate the metrics that statistics have called for – launch angle and other details are the language today. So what do we use to review these Twins coaches? 2017 – 2018 – James Rowson supposedly stolen from the Yankees – can you really steal something from the Yankees if they want to keep them? James did not play in the majors, he played in the minors and the independent leagues with a 193/285/298 minor league slash so he was not hired for his ability to do what he is now teaching. “Rowson served as the Yankees' minor league hitting coordinator for six seasons, joining the Chicago Cubs as their minor league hitting coordinator for the 2012 season. He took over as the hitting coach of the Cubs in June 2012, after Rudy Jaramillo was fired. After the 2013 season, he rejoined the Yankees as their minor league hitting coordinator. Rowson was hired to be the hitting coach for the Minnesota Twins in 2017.” Wiki. The Twins were .251/.316/.421 before he was hired and .250/.318/.405 last year. 2013 – 2016 – Tom Brunansky was a Twin favorite and his fourteen year career gave him a .245/.327/.434 personal slash. When he took over the Twins the team slash was 260/.325/.390 and his last year it was .251/.316/.421 which is not a big change except in slugging. 2006 – 2012 – Joe Vavra did not come to the majors, but he did make AAA and his slash line is quite respectable - .288/.351/.347 – but not much power. When he came to the Twins their slash line was .259/.323/.391 and when he finished it was 260/.325/.390 which looks like a mirror image. 1999 - 2005 – Scott Ullger had a one year debut for his position and hit 190/.247/.241 which is not the most auspicious of lines for a batting coach, but he coached for six years and his team had been .266/.328/.389 when he started and in his last year was .259/.323/.391 which does not look like much of an improvement. 1991 – 1998 – Terry Crowley had fifteen big league seasons and hit .250/.345/.375 which was quite respectable. His predecessor at hitting coach had the team finish with .265/.324/.385 and Crowley finished with .266/.328/.389 which is not exactly a big leap forward, but then it has not been for any of the coaches. 1986 – 1990 – Tony Oliva was the all star of hitting coaches as far as his own career. He hit .304/.353/.476 which is HOF numbers. As a batting coach his team hit .265/.324/.385 in his final season as coach. The team hit .264/.326/.407 the year before he took the reins. Which means a little less power. Now there is a mystery. Baseball reference lists no hitting coach. 1981 – Jim Lemon in 12 big league seasons hit .262/.332/.460 which is a really good career. In his year as hitting coach the team hit .240/.293/.338 Once again no hitting coach is listed and in 1976 – Tony Oliva shows up again and the Twins have a slash of 274/.341/.375 so Tony really got them hitting for average. But once again no hitting coach is listed until - 1968 – 1969 – Johnny Goryl who has the team hit 268/.340/.408 in 69 and .237/.299/.350 in 1970 which shows the opposite of improvement in year two.. This was much better than Goryl’s personal six year stats – 225/.305/.371 1965 – 1967 – Jim Lemon inherited a team that hit .252/.322/.427 in 1964 and then they went to the world series in 1965, .254/.324 /.399 and he finished .240/.309/.369 which means his teams were worse when he was coach but they went to a world series and won 102, 89, and 91 games during the three years. So who was the best hitting coach? Look at this list of slash lines for the last year of each of the coaches? Jim Lemon .262/.332/.460 Johnny Goryl 268/.340/.408 Designated hitter became part of the team rules. Tony Oliva 265/.324/.385 Terry Crowley .250/.345/.375 Scott Ullger .259/.323/.391 Joe Vavra 260/.325/.390 , Tom Brunansky .251/.316/.421 James Rowson .250/.318/.405 The range in BA is 250 – 268 and in recent years this has been on the low end; On Base 318 – 345 and the two lowest On base averages were with the most recent; while the slugging was highest in the first years it has ranged from 375 to 460 and the last two hitting coaches have been second and fourth in this stat. It appears that all the strategies of hitting, fielding, pitching keep evening out and the coach is a nice guy to have on the team. Since writing this blog the Athletic came up with this article - https://theathletic.com/774591/2019/01/18/hitting-coach-of-the-future-dillon-lawson-is-here-to-make-yankees-prospects-have-the-best-eye-in-baseball/?source=weeklyemail - about the new wave of hitting coaches and strategies. I believe we are in a strato-matic universe and it comes down to our coaches having better stats than your coaches.

The problem is not Hildenberg, it is the amazing demand that teams are putting on relievers - not the inning, the appearances. Every appearance demands many warm up pitches in the Bullpen and 8 on the mound even if they just throw one pitch to one batter. This is the new major leagues. Look at the Yankees who just signed Ottovino to go with Britton to go with Betances to go with Chapman and two other really good relievers. They are set so that they can rotate the appearances if they want. When teams average 3 - 4 relievers a game we are going to wear them out. It is not just team strategy, the entire league has not caught up with the demand.

How about we designate all players free agents when they are 27, there peaks, and let the teams scramble to put their rosters together. It might be fun and chaotic.

I would lean to the young pitchers. Look at the length of our potential young starters - Romero, DeJong, Gonsalves, Littell, Stewart, Thorpe, Mejia, Moya. Let our new pitching guru work with these guys, use the escape clause that lets pitchers go up and down and really test to see what we have. I have more faith in them than I do Pineda. They had there test last fall and they have a better idea what MLB demands. I really want to see them, and if need put them in the pen and spot start them. In the meantime Duffey is definitely removable.

An opener means you are afraid that your starter is not good enough to face the top of the lineup multiple times. If I was a starter I would be pissed.

What a wonderful letter. I am a college instructor so I really appreciate that he is too. I think that is a perfect addition to his resume. Thanks for your thoughtful note.

No - they should not feel good. They signed a level three reliever - damn near level four. They did nothing to raise the level of the pen to a winning level.

“So you are trying to find a good, reliable, knowledgeable pitching coach for yourself or your son? Well there are a few things you need to remember when choosing who will be giving you instruction. It is very important to take your time and consider all your available options when selecting a pitching instructor, as there are a lot of them out there. First, you must consider what your intentions for hiring a pitching coach. Do you want to throw harder? Develop a new pitch? Work on your footwork? Etc. Different coaches might specialize in different areas of the pitching game, and it is important to find a coach that will be able to really help you work at what you want to accomplish.” "]http://www.thecompletepitcher.com/pitching_coaches.htm[/url] 2019 Wes Johnson – our new hire who breaks the mold and gives us a college teacher, someone who has studied the stats, observed and researched and hopefully knows how to transfer his ideas to the pitchers themselves. We have nothing but hope and wait and see. "When he was hired at Arkansas the Razorbacks sports site said this, "Known nationally for his player development and ability to increase velocity throughout his staff, Johnson arrives in Fayetteville after serving as the pitching coach last season with Mississippi State. Before that, he spent four years at Dallas Baptist University, helping build the Patriots into a perennial national baseball power. “I am pleased to add Wes Johnson, one of the nation’s premier pitching coaches, to our staff,” Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn said. “He is an experienced college baseball coach and has played an instrumental role in the recent successes of Mississippi State and Dallas Baptist. Wes has developed a stellar reputation throughout the country, based on his ability to develop his players, both individually, and his pitching staffs, collectively, into some of the most successful performers in college baseball. I am happy to welcome Coach Johnson and his family back to his home state of Arkansas and look forward to getting him on campus to get started with our program.” https://arkansasrazorbacks.com/wes-johnson-hired-as-new-razorback-pitching-coach/ 2018 Garvin Alston – short term solution who I expected to last longer than the hitting coach since his arms were doing better than the bats. After pitching six games for the Rockies he immediately began to coach in both the majors and the minors. The Twins made him one of there big new changes, but obviously the fact that the pitching was succeeding more than the hitting did not save his job. 2017 Neil Allen was 58 – 90 with eight teams after being the Mets closer and finishing his career with 75 saves. After his career he was a minor league pitching coach with the Jays, Yankees, and Rays before joining the Twins. An arrest and suspension for a DUI led to his downfall and dismissal. 2016 Neil Allen/Eric Rasmussen Rasmussen was the Twins Minor league pitching coach who had to step up to the majors to fill in for Allen. 2015 Neil Allen 2002 – 2015 Rick Anderson Rated by Bleacher Report as the 43rd best pitching coach of all time. He “preaching a theory based on control, pitching to contact and allowing the defense behind the pitchers to do their job.” 1986 – 2001 Dick Such 16 years with the Twins after three with Texas. He only pitched in 21 games in his career, all with the Washington Senators. He was Tom Kelly’s right hand man and is ranked #16 all time among pitching coaches. BR writes that “for the next 16 seasons oversaw a Twins' staff that didn't always lead in major categories, but through his guidance and theories based on control and command, kept Twins' teams in games longer than most.” “Such helped guide pitching staffs that were instrumental in World Series championships in 1987 and 1991, and nurtured pitchers such as Scott Erickson, Kevin Tapani, Eddie Guadardo, Brad Radke and Johan Santana.” With a cup of coffee in the majors, Anderson was a career coach with 13 years in the minors before coaching in the majors. 1985 Johnny Podres/Dick Such The manager that was hired and caused Johnny Podres to quit in protest was Ray Miller. Miller was a complete flop as a manager, too bad he had the wrong job – according to Bleacher Report Miller, when he was with the Orioles was the 13th best pitching coach of all time. 1984 Johnny Podres Johnny won 148 games and accumulated 30 WAR during his career and then became a Minnesota Twins pitching coach. But he had an alcohol problem in in 1983 he left the team for treatment. “Podres is 50 years old. He said all the cocktails finally caught up with him. ''I was getting sick,'' he said. ''It got to the point where my stomach was killing me.'' Finally, one night in May, Podres went to Dr. Leonard Michienzi, the Twins' physician, and told him about his stomach pains. ''Johnny was acutely ill with a lot of abdominal pain,'' Dr. Michienzi said. ''It could have been a number of things, but I knew Johnny had some ... drinking habits. I had talked to him for two years about it. I checked him into Hennepin County Medical Center, and they found that he had pancreatitis. Pancreatitis and drinking don't go together. I told Johnny he couldn't drink, but I know him and he was going to drink. I was afraid of what might happen. I had a friend who kept drinking and died. We discussed it, and he agreed to have the treatment.'' One Is Too Many After he entered St. Mary's, Podres finally admitted to himself that he was an alcoholic. ''You've got to admit it to yourself,'' he said. ''Then you can do something about it.'' He spent four weeks at St. Mary's, leaving June 21 with a new body, a new mind and a fresh outlook, but also with a new battle ahead.” NYT July 30, 1983. 1983 Johnny Podres/Jim Shellenback 1981 – 1982 Johnny Podres 1978 – 1980 Camilo Pascual The Twins great pitcher who had a 174 – 170 record pitching for terrible Senator Teams before they became the Twins. He had 40.9 WAR and a 3.63 career ERA. He is in the Cuban baseball HOF, the Latino HOF and the Twins HOF. 1976 – 1977 Don McMahon was a relief specialist for the Milwaukee Braves during their 1957 – 1958 world series years and continued to pitch relief until 1974 when he was 44. In 18 years he won 90 games and had a 2.96 era. 1975 Lee Stange Is rated as the 48th best pitching coach of all time by Bleacher Report. He pitched 10 years and served primarily as Boston’s pitching coach after 14 years. 1974 Buck Rogers had a nine-year career as a catcher and became a manager in 1980 and managed four years with three teams. He was a bullpen coach before taking over the pitching staff. 1972 - 1973 Al Worthington was a great relief pitcher for the Twins. For six years out of a 14-year active pitching career. He and Johnny Klippstein handled the bullpen and combined for 73 games in the world series year. In his first year Lee Stange who would also be a pitching coach was on the staff with him. 1970 – 1971 Marv Grissom was in the majors for ten years and was 47 – 45 for his career and appeared in 356 games. He also missed four seasons in the service. In 1954 he paired with Hoyt Wilhelm in the Giants bullpen. He had a 15 year career as a pitching coach. 1969 Art Fowler Was ranked #17 best pitching coach of all time by Bleacher report. Fowler followed Billy Martin wherever he went and because of that was a pitching coach for five different teams. He was with Martin all four times he was a Yankee manager and is credited with helping Guidry with his amazing season. 1967 – 1968 Early Wynn A Hall of Fame pitcher with exactly 300 wins. He hung on until he got the magic number at least two years beyond when he should have retired, but he was a workhorse and deserves his HOF status. He began with the Senators and had his best years with Cleveland. He would then go one to manage in the Twins Minor leagues. 1965 – 1966 Johnny Sain - Spahn and Sain and pray for rain was the motto for the Boston Braves when he was pitching. Then he became the 7th best pitching coach in history according to Bleacher Reports. He was a success for eight teams and the record of improvement in pitching was amazing. His problem was with management and his own irascible personality. He wore out his record regularly like he did with the World Series Twins in 1966 after going to the series in 1965. In Minnesota he guided Mudcat Grant to a 20 win season back when wins counted. 1962 – 1964 – Gordon Maltberger “compiled a 20–13 record in 135 appearances, mostly as a relief pitcher, with a 2.70 earned run average and 136 strikeouts.” He died 10 years later in Texas. 1961 – Eddie Lopat won 166 games and had his best years with the Yankees. His career era was 3.21. He lost his position as Yankee pitching coach when they let Stengel go. He was with the Twins one year and then the As for a year as pitching coaches. So we have a range of no major leagues to Hall of Fame, mostly pitchers, one catcher in the role of pitching coaches. Three are ranked by bleacher report in the top 50 of all time, but who really knows? Like managers we tend to judge by wins and losses, but pitching coaches can only work with what is given to them and cannot field or hit for the pitcher. What is their role? Communications and cheer leading. Observe, film, make sure the pitch maintains the repetition that is his most effective. Watch the feet on the rubber, the grip, the arm angle, and the release point. Cheer lead, talk to the manager, have the bullpen players ready. Maybe the important thing is to manage the manager. The full Bleacher Report top 50 can be found here - https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1047146-the-50-best-mlb-pitching-coaches-of-all-time#slide50

I realize I made too complicated a posting. Here is my revision. NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Let's look at the Starters. When starters go well bullpens go well. Get Romero in the rotation, build those arms and their innings and we do not have to go through so many relievers. If we are bullpenning like the some in the league do we have enough arms that can go 90 to 100 innings in the pen? Can we avoid the problem everyone blamed on Molitor and have enough options so we can have three to four good arms every night and not burn them out or have to use inferior talent. The bullpen ideas have not been matched with good bullpen strategies. Among all the young arms I have no idea who is any good and in the FA market I do not know if the "good arms" were burned last year and thus will fail like Reed this next year.

Romero over Mejia - that is where the upside is. These pitchers are just fillers and if we had a weak rotation in Rochester they would be okay, but we have DeJong, Gonsalves, Littell, Thorpe, and Stewart with Grandal coming up quickly - we do not need fillers.

I just went and looked at the list of unsigned pitchers and I have a hard time seeing why we would sign any of them instead of working with our own minor league prospects. Of course the list includes Pelfrey, Liriano, Belisle, Boyer, Colon, Garcia, Hughes, and Duke - any of them sound familiar? Go young or make a trade. These pickings are not worth pursuing.

The issues are injuries. Not something that can be projected. I see the SP rotation having some outsider. If Sano turns it around he will be here with a big extension, if not your projection is right on. 3B just does not work in any of these projections. We have not put 3B players into our minor league system. Of course the BP is not projected and there is good reason not to guess - it is so volatile, but I will add a prediction - there will be a system for use of relievers developed throughout the league and if they are smart the roster will be 28 men so we can have bench and platoons again.

I really like this projection.

It really does not matter if Cleveland has stepped back or forward. The only thing that counts is whether we are moving forward and doing all we can do to win. Waiting years for two players to reach their potential should be a side issue, not the force that drives decisions. If we improve and so do Buxton and Sano we are great, but if we improve so that we contend whether they do or not is a better place to be.

I just thought I would add a divergent thought. I do not have a television, I listen to the radio. If you have a TV and can see what is happening what difference does the announcer make? Answer to my own question: Pace of game gives so much down time there must be someone to fill the void. On radio I am usually cutting wood, working in my garden or doing something so pace is not so obvious.

You are absolutely right about the volatility of relievers. Because no one really knows the answer to how often and how long we see relievers have great years followed by terrible. So Reed could be the player this year we expected last year. My disagreement is on the closer idea - I remember Hawkins who became a long term very good reliever. Unfortunately the pressure of closing brought out his worst. There is a different mentality in the great closer. As for Opener - I have nothing good to say so I will say nothing.

The problem with signing relief pitchers is that overall the performance is erratic and the use that gives great stats one year can mean a down year that follows. One of the problems, and it is not Molitor' problem, is that the new extreme use of relievers has not been matched with a good strategy for when and how often to use, and when to rest. We just guess at that. So the relievers perform and under-perform regularly. I suspect that Reed will be what we were signing this year, but his value was built in an over use year.

It is past time for the FO to be wondering about the players they inherited. Just put a good team on the field.

No money to bet, but at the end of the year I am leaning white Sox

https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/2018-positional-power-rankings-bullpen-1-15/ the bullpen that ranked just below the Twins was the Angels and they DFA'd him. Not the kind of signing I was hoping for, but congratulations to the white Sox who signed Herrera.