Coach J

Alright so we all know how gambling works. You put a dollar on a prop bet and the return varies depending on odds. If you put $1 dollar on Gardy to be the manager for next year... what would the payout be??

Is anyone else concerned by the fact the Arcia has really came back down to earth after his first go around in the majors? He seems like he really has a tough time against a good fastball and that down and in breaking ball. As we have seen with numerous Twins hitters, big league pitchers are really good at finding holes in swings. Wondered about the confidence level Twins territory has in Arcia to hit major league pitching. Lets hear a prediction on his numbers going forward in the coming years.

Don't forget about Gardy and Nick Punto..... wait!

I don't see how you can say Gardy did not like Casilla. He handed him a starting job how many times? Very nice guy, he wasn't a starter. I thought he wasn't put in position to succeed.

We were in 115.. made things worse when I got up and they started hitting on my girlfriend pretty hard. They were clearly drunk but I am with you.. that is no excuse. I usually love to go to Kaufmann, last night was only bad experience

Couldn't agree more.. I am kicking myself for not saying something.

Very possible.. I thought it was really tough to pick up when the ball left the bat and it was in the air. Outfielders were having a really tough time. Cain dropped one and Gordon nearly dropped one.

I usually attend about 10-12 Twins games per year. I live about an hour south of KC and always go to the games when the Twins come to KC and usually make it up to Minny for a series. Wanted to post a couple thoughts from the game that I noticed.. #1 it was a pretty miserable night both with the Twins' play and the weather. It was very cold and very wet and it was pretty tough to get comfortable. I watch nearly every Twins game and I think that may have been the worst game I have seen Joe Mauer play. His first two strikeouts were pretty sad especially the one with the bases loaded because he honestly looked overmatched up there. Davis really seemed to be keeping him off balance and blew the ball past him several times. However, his third at bat was the most disappointing. With Hicks on second with nobody out, instead of looking for a pitch to pull and if nothing else get the runner over. He seemed perfectly content with getting behind in the count and forcing himself to take a defensive swing and hitting a lazy fly ball to left field leaving Hicks at second. Just seemed like a pretty selfish ab. #2- I thought Hendriks looked pretty good. He got several swing and misses and made some really nice pitches when he needed to. Butler hit the homerun but other than that, Liam pitched well. The Royals did a nice job of extending ab's and getting the pitch count up. He should have thrown about 20 less pitches if Dozier doesn't botch a routine DP in the second. #3- I have never been so irritated with the fans at the game. I am 26 and have no kids, never been married. But I felt so bad for the people sitting around me with kids that had to hear and see the way people were behaving. Profanity was nonstop from several people around us and the 3 guys sitting behind me thought it would be a good time to talk about their experiences with drugs (in detail). There was a family of 4 sitting in front of me and I could tell the mother was getting upset but nobody said anything. I do wish I would have now. But taking kids to a baseball game should be a great experience that makes memories for a lifetime, it just sucks people have to be so ignorant and act that way. "baseball is for kids, grown-ups only screw it up." Those were my thoughts on the game. Hopefully when the Twins come back to KC it will be warmer and better baseball will be played!!

As I was reading mlbtraderumors.com, came across a quote from Buck Showalter that I really liked. When asked about the possibility of trading JJ Hardy, Showalter responded "what word is about "overwhelmed?" It just gets me mad thinking about the Twins trading JJ for basically nothing. I hated the trade at the time and really hate it now. My question is what would make the Twins trade him and get such little in return? I realize he didn't have a great year, but shortstops that hit for power and have a solid glove still have value. The Twins traded him at his lowest possible value. Money I think had a little to do with it. However, I have got a pretty good hunch Gardy was the one pushing hard for them to trade him. He doesn't like middle infielders that can't run or obviously ones that can hit for power lol. But seriously, I don't think anyone could have won with the product on the field the last two years. But I do think Gardy has quite a bit of say on most of the roster decisions. He is directly responsible for giving Alexi Casilla 15 chances at a starting gig. Anyone who thinks you can lose two good up the middle defenders like Hudson and Hardy and replace them with Alexi Casilla and Nishioka and not have a setback in wins should be examined. Anyways, just thought I would vent a little on that subject:mad: Thoughts?

2014- Glen Perkins leads the American league in saves

How about pinch running with two outs and a runner on first in the 7th and 8th inning so then when the game goes to extra innings we have Alexi Casilla hitting instead of Josh Willingham or Justin Morneau? Or perhaps bringing in Matt Guerrier in to face Alex Rodriguez with the bases loaded? ( A-Rod is something like 8-11 for 6 homers against him). No manager is perfect obviously but I would not really say Gardy is a strategic genius. He has had some puzzlers from time to time. These are just the few off the top of my head that kinda irk me

Sign Nick Punto in the offseason?

Mike Trout is the best player in the league right now and he has not won an MVP.. although I would say that is going to change fairly quickly!

There is indeed something wrong with this whole organization. It goes deeper than Gardy. I commented on this last year on the STRIB.. the Twins have not done the little things right since Jones, Hunter, Koskie, Mientkiewicz, and the rest of that group came up together. They were about as fundamentally sound as it gets. Most of them were above average defensively, excellent baserunners, and great situational hitters (hitting behind runners), and all of them could bunt. I remember David Ortiz saying in a SI article that if you came up with the Twins, you knew how to bunt. Where has that gone?? Anyone watched Revere, Dozier, and even Span try to lay down a sacrifice.. its painful. Last two years we have seen numerous blunders in the field and many many mental mistakes, basically just not knowing the game Something has happened along the way that this is not getting taught in the minor leagues. Would like to see this change, is this the managers job that this becomes a priority in the minor leagues... very fair question!

Willingham is a great answer. I still think Joe Mauer has alot of value especially if the Twins were to help out a team with his salary. I think Glen Perkins would also bring back a very very quality player. Lefthanded reliever that throws 95 and is signed for a reasonable salary over the next several years.. pretty enticing. Look at what the A's got for Andrew Bailey! I think Perk is just as good if not better. Or do I need to remind everyone what the Nationals got for their closer at the deadline a few years ago.....

Alright guys, here is the question. What player in the Twins organization would bring back the biggest haul? Im curious to see some of the answers here because I am stuck. There seems to be an obvious answer but now I am not sure. If you just want to put a name of Twins player that is cool, or even what you might think they could bring back. Lets hear it..

Pitchers that can't miss bats + below average defense= Disaster (2011, 2012 Twins)

Sign me up.. Tyler Judd

I am not one for conspiracy theories.. but there is something going on here. I am convinced the Twins are determined to keep Slama down because they don't want to be proven wrong. Gardy doesn't seem to be a fan of his and I think if Slama came up and was successful it would make a lot of people in the organization look pretty foolish. I just feel so terrible for Anthony.. if we are this mad, imagine how he feels.

Indeed! Parker does an amazing job of breaking down things in video. Not an easy job, but can prove to be very very helpful in improvement.

That was the point of the post.. Not arguing which position is tougher. Just makes no sense to not at least give him some time down there just to get familiar with the way the ball slices and such. I do believe a players defense often times carries over to his offense. We saw it with Cuddyer when they tried him at third base in 05. Had a very tough year both offensively and defensively. They moved him to the outfield and he really broke out in 06. I just wish they had handled it a little differently.

Lets hope his defense doesn't carry over to the plate

Alright, I am just curious about something here... Why in the world do the Twins send him down and have him play first base the whole time then bring him back up and stick him in the outfield. I am not complaining about Gardy putting him out there, but wouldn't it make sense for him to get some time in the oufield down at AAA? Maybe I am out of line on this but it seems like an odd situation. Lets give the kid every opportunity to succeed.

Can someone please justify the obsession with Redmond other than the fact that we know his name? I think people remember Redmond's personality and hustle with fondness. Also the skills he developed as a catcher should serve him well as a manager and I do think that he will manage in the bigs some day. Personally I think its to soon for Redmond -- not sure it would be a good idea for him to try to manage players with whom he played (and whom he played behind). I think you are right.. Mike Redmond was very highly thought of in the Twins organization. His attitude, toughness, are charmisma would all serve him well as a big league manager. I disagree with the point you make about him not managing players he played behind. How good you are as a player often has little to do with how good of coach and teacher you are. In fact, the best athletes that have ever played in sports have made horrible coaches or front office people...( Michael Jordan, Isiah Thomas, Magic Johnson, Kevin Mchale) On the other hand, some of the best coaches were not that good of players. Our current manager didn't have much of a big league career.. I would say he has been pretty successful. It might be a little too soon for Red to become a big league manager, but I don't think he would have any trouble getting the players respect just because he didn't play every day.

The Twins are in a really bad position when it comes to signing free agents. I don't believe they are going to be able to add a quality starting pitcher without severely overpaying. We have seen this in the past with mediocre teams having to cough up huge dollars that nobody else would pay ( Jayson Werth to the Nats, Magglio to the Tigers). Minnesota is a tough sell right now for premium free agents. Therefore, I don't even think they attempt to win a bidding war for the likes of Greinke. Acquiring them in trades is the only way this team brings in a pitcher this offseason. Much easier to blog about than to actually do obviously. Pitching prospects are valued more than they have ever been in the history of baseball so its gonna take a desperate team to part with an upside pitcher for a player like Span or Morneau. The key in my mind is the draft. The Twins have to nail the draft in the next few years. Not gonna make a great pick every time but they need to strike gold with a few. They have shown they are willing to spend to sign their draft picks. It is just gonna be in the talent evaluaters hands to find high upside players.