Jim Crikket

I agree, there's nothing wrong with picking up some cheap SPs trying to re-establish themselves. The problem comes when that's all you do. Even if Ryan is able to add a couple of legitimate mid to upper rotation arms, he still needs to not only fill out a five-man rotation, but also have enough arms to stash some in Rochester for the inevitable injuries, etc. People talk sometimes like adding one or two decent starting pitchers will "fix" the rotation, but when Scott Diamond is the only guy you're willing to say deserves a spot in your rotation, you have more problems than can be fixed with one or two guys, no matter how good they are. I do hope Ryan strikes fast and aims high. If he also picks up some reclamation projects in January or even February, that's good, too.

Mackey's the first (at least that I've seen) to write about what actually went on during the organizational meetings. Seemed like a reasonable topic for discussion on a Twins forum. And to be clear, what I posted was a LINK to his post, not his actual post.

1500ESPN's Phil Mackey has information coming out of the Twins' organizational meetings: (click here) Twins want up to 3 starting pitchers, with nobody but Diamond currently penciled in to the rotation. Only Joe Mauer is considered unavailable for possible trades, Hendriks and Plouffe are not assured spots if they don't improve, and... oh... yeah... the Front Office is embarassed about the last two seasons. Yeah... Welcome to the club, gentlemen.

Well those base coaches also do have to remind the runner how many outs there are... so there is that. Then the 3B coach has to flash signs to the runners and then the 1B coach has to whisper what the sign meant in to the rookie's ear at 1B. Then they also have to chat up the base umpires. Let's see... what else? Guess that's about it.

Well Jerry White got fired he must have screwed something up. Yeah, he didn't spend nearly enough time bowling with Gardy. I think Jerry was just a victim of a numbers game. I suspect Gardy was allowed to keep half his staff and got to choose which 3 stayed.

This article was originally posted at Knuckleballsblog.com. The Twins announced Monday that they’ve filled their three open Major League coaching positions. As had been speculated, two of those coaches are Bobby Cuellar (bullpen coach) and Tom Brunansky (hitting coach). But the third addition qualifies as a mild surprise, as Terry Steinbach will be stepping in as the Twins bench coach (and catching instructor). While many Twins fans had wanted Minnesota native Paul Molitor to fill one of the openings, it turned out to be another native of the Gopher State, New Ulm’s Steinbach, who got the gig. Many had expected Rochester Red Wings manager Gene Glynn to be promoted to the Twins dugout, but reports are that he will remain in his role at Rochester. http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/BrunanskyST11.jpg Tom Brunansky, new Twins hitting coach (Photo: Knuckleballs) Of particular note, two of the new Twins coaches come with championship jewelry that they can flash in the clubhouse. Brunansky, of course, was a member of the Twins 1987 World Series Championship team and Steinbach got his ring with Tony LaRussa’s 1989 Oakland Athletics team that swept the Giants. Brunansky came up through the Angels system and appeared in a few games with the Halos in 1981 before being traded to the Twins a year later. In 1988, Brunansky was traded to the Cardinals for Tommy Herr in one of the most infamous trades in Twins history. Over the final seven years of his career, he played for the Cards, Red Sox and Brewers. Following nearly a decade in an A’s uniform, Steinbach finished his playing career with three years, from 1997-99, with the Twins. Both Brunansky and Steinbach also have All-Star credentials. Clearly, in these two coaches, the Twins have added plenty of credibility to the coaching staff. Any player that won’t listen when Brunansky and Steinbach talk probably won’t listen to anyone. Brunansky has been working his way up through the Twins minor league coaching ranks the past two and a half years and Steinbach has served as an instructor during Spring Training with the Twins for several years. While Cuellar doesn’t come with the same Major League credentials that the other two do, having just the proverbial “cup of coffee” with the Rangers in 1977, he does have a long history of working with successful pitchers on their way up to the Big Leagues. Most notably, to Twins fans anyway, Cuellar is credited with working with Johan Santana to perfect the change-up that Santana used to lay claim to two Cy Young awards as a Twins pitcher. However, Cuellar also worked with other pitchers, such as Pedro Martinez and Randy Johnson, who didn’t turn out so bad, either. Most recently, he’s been the Red Wings’ pitching coach, but he has also spent time on Major League staffs with the Expos (pitching coach), Rangers (bullpen coach) and Pirates (bullpen coach). In the same announcement, the Twins indicated that Scott Ullger would be the first base coach and Joe Vavra will man the third base coach’s box. I can’t help but wonder if Glynn was left off the Major League staff for essentially the same reason that Molitor wasn’t seen as a “fit” by GM Terry Ryan. Specifically, both men would probably be viewed as a potential “manager in waiting” to replace Ron Gardenhire should the Twins get off to a slow start in 2013. Assuming they both remain in the organization in their prior roles, they would still be available to step in if the ship starts sinking early in the year, but it makes some sense to me not to have them standing there looking over Gardy’s shoulder every game. To my mind, there’s nothing not to like about these hires. The Twins have brought on a bullpen coach that has a long track record of success working with young pitchers (which the Twins bullpen is likely to have a plethora of well in to the future) and both a bench coach and hitting coach who not only have related well to young players, but should have credibility with the Twins’ veterans, as well. I’m on board with these hires, although I cringe a bit at Ullger and Vavra coaching the bases. Most importantly, now that the coaching staff is set, Terry Ryan can turn his attention to adding a few new players for these guys to coach. - JC

This article was originally posted at Knuckleballsblog.com. The Twins announced Monday that they’ve filled their three open Major League coaching positions. As had been speculated, two of those coaches are Bobby Cuellar (bullpen coach) and Tom Brunansky (hitting coach). But the third addition qualifies as a mild surprise, as Terry Steinbach will be stepping in as the Twins bench coach (and catching instructor). While many Twins fans had wanted Minnesota native Paul Molitor to fill one of the openings, it turned out to be another native of the Gopher State, New Ulm’s Steinbach, who got the gig. Many had expected Rochester Red Wings manager Gene Glynn to be promoted to the Twins dugout, but reports are that he will remain in his role at Rochester. http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/BrunanskyST11.jpg Tom Brunansky, new Twins hitting coach (Photo: Knuckleballs) Of particular note, two of the new Twins coaches come with championship jewelry that they can flash in the clubhouse. Brunansky, of course, was a member of the Twins 1987 World Series Championship team and Steinbach got his ring with Tony LaRussa’s 1989 Oakland Athletics team that swept the Giants. Brunansky came up through the Angels system and appeared in a few games with the Halos in 1981 before being traded to the Twins a year later. In 1988, Brunansky was traded to the Cardinals for Tommy Herr in one of the most infamous trades in Twins history. Over the final seven years of his career, he played for the Cards, Red Sox and Brewers. Following nearly a decade in an A’s uniform, Steinbach finished his playing career with three years, from 1997-99, with the Twins. Both Brunansky and Steinbach also have All-Star credentials. Clearly, in these two coaches, the Twins have added plenty of credibility to the coaching staff. Any player that won’t listen when Brunansky and Steinbach talk probably won’t listen to anyone. Brunansky has been working his way up through the Twins minor league coaching ranks the past two and a half years and Steinbach has served as an instructor during Spring Training with the Twins for several years. While Cuellar doesn’t come with the same Major League credentials that the other two do, having just the proverbial “cup of coffee” with the Rangers in 1977, he does have a long history of working with successful pitchers on their way up to the Big Leagues. Most notably, to Twins fans anyway, Cuellar is credited with working with Johan Santana to perfect the change-up that Santana used to lay claim to two Cy Young awards as a Twins pitcher. However, Cuellar also worked with other pitchers, such as Pedro Martinez and Randy Johnson, who didn’t turn out so bad, either. Most recently, he’s been the Red Wings’ pitching coach, but he has also spent time on Major League staffs with the Expos (pitching coach), Rangers (bullpen coach) and Pirates (bullpen coach). In the same announcement, the Twins indicated that Scott Ullger would be the first base coach and Joe Vavra will man the third base coach’s box. I can’t help but wonder if Glynn was left off the Major League staff for essentially the same reason that Molitor wasn’t seen as a “fit” by GM Terry Ryan. Specifically, both men would probably be viewed as a potential “manager in waiting” to replace Ron Gardenhire should the Twins get off to a slow start in 2013. Assuming they both remain in the organization in their prior roles, they would still be available to step in if the ship starts sinking early in the year, but it makes some sense to me not to have them standing there looking over Gardy’s shoulder every game. To my mind, there’s nothing not to like about these hires. The Twins have brought on a bullpen coach that has a long track record of success working with young pitchers (which the Twins bullpen is likely to have a plethora of well in to the future) and both a bench coach and hitting coach who not only have related well to young players, but should have credibility with the Twins’ veterans, as well. I’m on board with these hires, although I cringe a bit at Ullger and Vavra coaching the bases. Most importantly, now that the coaching staff is set, Terry Ryan can turn his attention to adding a few new players for these guys to coach. - JC

I believe that Red Wings beat reporter Jim Mandelaro tweeted that Jim Rantz confirmed to him that Glynn would be returning to Rochester to manage in 2013.

Typically, it's the bench coach that takes over when the manager gets ejected, so I'd assume that will be Steinbach going forward. If it's still Ullger, something is wrong. I've watched the way Brunansky handles himself down in Spring Training and players really gravitate to him. He also comes across very secure with himself, so I'd be surprised if he gets too concerned about Ullger and Vavra still being around. Frankly, I think it's a good thing. If, for example, Morneau feels that what Vavra has been working with him on has worked well, it's good that he'll still have that option. No single hitting theory works for every hitter. If it did, teaching hitting would be easy.

Some of those fired guys are still on the field as a major part of the coaching staff... I wasn't including Vavra and Ullger among the fired because they weren't. Gardy had 6 coaches, Andy, Vavra, Ullger, White, Stelly and Liddle. As I wrote, half (3) were fired and it certainly wasn't Gardy's doing.

Actually, I've heard from more than one source that Gene Glynn is more likely to be Ryan's choice to replace Gardenhire than Molitor if/when that decision is necessary. In either case, I agree with Dave, there's no reason to add either guy to the staff yet since both are likely to be available if the need arises anyway.

Agree. It also means that if there needs to be a purge, they don't need to worry about having Glynn's hands dirty. True. Though I suspect Brunansky, Steinbach and Cuellar might survive a purge. As for Gardy, I think it's a stretch to say Ryan is keeping him "comfortable" by not having Glynn or Molitor on staff. Ryan fired half of his coaches and didn't give Gardy an extension as he entered the last year of his contract. If that happened to me, I don't think I'd feel all that comfortable. But by not having Glynn or Molitor on staff, neither Gardenhire nor the players have to deal with the potential of daily media questions about the possibility of one of the coaching staff replacing Gardy every time they lose a game. It's just a dynamic that isn't necessary as long as the potential replacements are still employed somewhere in the organization.

I think the reason Glynn isn't on the staff is the same as Molitor... Ryan didn't want to have a guy looking over Gardy's shoulder that would be viewed by the media, fan base (and perhaps Gardy himself) as the "manager in waiting" in the event the Twins start out poorly again. It would be awkward, at best, and there's really no reason to have that dynamic. Glynn and Molitor will apparently remain in their current roles and if Ryan does eventually want to tab either of them to replace Gardy, they're only a phone call away. I really like that Bruno and Steinbach both have a history of working with young hitters (Bruno as a coach, Steinbach as a ST instructor) and also have the World Series rings that should give them credibility with veterans, as well.

I'm not as high on Greinke as I used to be for obvious reasons, but there are really no other major free agents that would have a chance of having the kind of impact he could, if he could find his old form. As for Fielder, I can't help but wonder what Detroit's season would have been like if Victor Martinez had remained healthy and Fielder had not been acquired.

That probably has a lot to do with it. After all, based on Google maps, Coors batter's box faces directly north whereas Target Field's batter's box faces due east. So does that mean that in Colorado, lefties are actually "eastpaws"?

As someone who's been involved in politics for over 30 years, including presidential politics during Iowa's caucus season, I can't begin to even describe how much I can't stand both of these men... or perhaps more accurately, can't stand how they're conducting themselves in this campaign. Thinking about how I may have to actually vote for one of them almost sickens me. And here's the bigger problem: the eventual winner pretty much surrounds himself once in office by the same people who he had running his campaign. So, instead of getting governing advice from intelligent professionals with some kind of conscience, they get advice from the same bunch of lying political hacks who gave them advice about which lies to tell to whom in order to get elected. The first presidential election I could vote in was Carter v Ford and I've voted in every one since. But it's getting harder to keep that string alive. As to the Libya thing, the final debate is supposed to be about foreign policy. On the one hand, I'll find that very interesting and I look forward to it. On the other hand, polls tell us most voters don't give a crap about foreign policy, so it's unlikely the final debate will change many minds.

I dub thee "turnip face". Get used to it. Oh I've been called much worse. I can live with it.

Yeah but making up derogatory names for people and using them constantly to impress everyone with how clever you are never gets old.

I honestly don't think the Yankees will find any team willing to take him in a trade during the offseason. They're only chance... and I think it's a remote one... will be to hang on to him to start 2013 and hope like hell that some team who thinks they're a competitor at mid-season will take a flyer on A-Rod helping them for a pennant stretch. To me, the most likely scenario is that the Yankees are forced to just release him in the next couple of years and eat the rest of his contract.

Yes, absolutely. All the Yankees would have to do is pay A-Rod's entire salary AND, say, half of what the team is paying Mauer over the next 6 years on top of A-Rod's pay. For that, we invite him to Spring Training and see if he can beat out Plouffe. If he can't, you release him and pocket the Yankees' money.

I'm one of many who wrote last fall that there was no reason for the Twins to slash payroll the way they did. In fact, it was exactly the wrong thing to do. At the very least, the 2011 level should have been retained. Does anyone think the Twins would have lost 96 games if Terry Ryan would have had, say, another $15 million to spend on two decent starting pitchers? Of course, both of them could have come down with bilateral arm weakness and been "day to day" from May through September, but IF Ryan had chosen two starting pitchers to spend $15 million on and had done so as wisely as he chose Willingham and Doumit, this would have been a far different season and the Pohlads wouldn't be fretting about having lost hundreds of thousands in attendance. So going back to the original question of this thread, where should the 2013 payroll sit? It should be exactly where it was in 2011 because it shouldn't have been cut in 2012. This stuff Ryan spouts about money not being the issue is just crapola that he has to say for public consumption because he knows it will do him no good with his ownership to tell the truth. "It takes money to make money," "you get what you pay for," and "doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is the definition of insanity," are cliches. But they became cliches because they're true. Cutting payroll last year had a direct negative effect on the product on the field and a crappy product on the field (again) had a direct negative effect on attendance/revenue. Cutting payroll further in 2013 and expecting a different result would be insane.

First, thank you for your service to our country. I also know exactly how you feel concerning making the effort to go to the games. I'm just under 5 hours from TF and I didn't make a single trip to watch a game in person this season. To put that in context, there were very few seasons at the Dome when I didn't find my way up to the Twin Cities at least once every season, regardless of how bad the team was. Where previously, I'd see a weekend coming up that I had no plans and think "hmm, why not go to Minn?" this year my mind really needed to come with a reason why I SHOULD go... and it never happened. Primarily, the reason was that I (and almost everyone else, it seemed) recognized that the Twins needed to seriously upgrade their rotation after 2011 and they completely ignored that need. That, along with the overall slashing of payroll, told me the FO wasn't interested in really making improvements and if they didn't care about the quality of their product, why should I spend significant money on their product? Like you, I'm hoping this time it will be different.

I agree that getting college players up to A-ball quicker would be a good thing. However, I wonder if, with the new CBA moving up the calendar on signing draftees, we'll see college pitchers up at A-ball sooner. By signing earlier, yes they may get a few games in rookie leagues to get their feet wet, but they can get to A-ball before the end of the season. A few of the college arms the Twins drafted did end the season with Beloit, for example, and I'm not sure that would have happened if they had signed a month later than they did. For whatever reason, the Twins have elected to have essentially two "rookie short season" teams, rather than one rookie and one Class A short season team. If they were to add a Class A short season team, they'd probably want to drop one of the rookie level teams (obviously E'town, since they won't drop their GCL team in Ft Myers) and I don't see that happening any time soon. I believe I read somewhere that the Twins may be part owners of the Elizabethton team, but not sure how accurate that is. I'm not sure how much difference it makes whether they keep E'town or replace it with a short season A team, but since several teams don't field short season A teams, obviously the Twins aren't alone in their approach.

Nobody wants to do anything that would endanger hitters, but there are stadiums all over MLB that have some kind of trees/shrubs serving as the batters eye in dead center field, so there must be a way to do it safely. Maybe the angle at which TF sits is different than other stadiums (facing NE instead of SE), causing a problematic sunlight angle late in the day? I just agree with Brock... CF is a black eye in what's otherwise a beautiful ballpark.

I honestly didn't mean my suggestion that you skip TD in November to be snarky, though looking back and reading it I can understand that it reads that way. I apologize. I was just pointing out that in the pre-TD days, the TwinsCentric guys have followed up the release of their GM Handbook with "blueprints" for fixing the Twins in the offseason and have encouraged other writers to come up with our own blueprints, as well. In other words, everyone putting out their own "ten point plan," which is what you indicated you didn't want to see. Those things, and the discussions they lead to, have historically dominated much of the discussion in our respective separate blogs during November. So my comment was intended to be more "tongue in cheek" than "snark," but regardless, I apologize for the tone.