tarheeltwinsfan

Please send a copy of this excellent article to Ryan Jeffers and to whomever the # 2 catcher for 2026 will be. Pitch selection and location is critical in order to effectuate change in Mathews' results. Also keep in mind that Lee was probably not the SS in most of Mathews' games, Lewis was injured much of the time, Keschal was not the 2B for the majority of Mathews' games. C-4, Clemens, Castro, Julian, Bride, some Martin and some Miranda, played a lot of infield during Mathews' games. First base was not a problem with Santana and France playing good defense there. But Clemens and Julian played a lot of first base, which was not their primary position. Plus the infielders were constantly shuffled between positions and given days off and injured and platooned. The corner outfielders were frequently slow and also shuffled. Bader was a breath of fresh air. I don't remember how much Buck played CF during Mathew's games in 2024. I content that this constant shuffling may have been a large part of the problem with the Twins unacceptable and unsuccessful defense. No wonder the starting pitchers may be frustrated, especially with the bull pen now having been gutted. This was no way to run a railroad.

I'm glad I'm retired. It is 45 degrees and sunny. I'm going for a long walk along a quiet North Carolina road, lined with soy bean fields and woods. Then I'm going to drive to Boone, NC and have lunch with my college- student granddaughter at a mountain college-town cafe. Along the way I will enjoy viewing the beautiful fall colors of the North Carolina mountains. I will not think about the Twins. I will not think about the Twins. I will not....

Without being an article about the owners, front office or the managerial and coaching staff, this article points to failure from top to bottom in the Twins organization. I am going to have to change my expectations for the Twins. It looks like many in the Twins organization just gave up for the second year in a row. .

Thank you Brock. The TD community brings a lot of joy to me. I wish I lived closer to Minneapolis so I could be more involved with the TD writers and TD posters and our favorite team, through all its ups and downs, no matter what, the Minnesota Twins.

Really exciting article Cody. What do you think about his playing first base?

Great post Tony and Rodney. Thanks. What about putting him at first base? What do you see as the pros and cons of this position for him?

Agree 100 per cent for Twins to try to sign Joe Ryan to a long term contract. He's worth the risk.

Well I guess we could find out by dialing BR-549 and ask.

Gloom, despair, excessive misery. If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all.

World Series, 2026...Here come the Twins!

Sometimes a player needs to hit the ball to the opposite field to advance a runner or take advantage of what the pitcher is throwing to the hitter or to hit the baseball into the hole left by a first baseman holding a runner at first. I would take Jeffers numbers over Wallner's solo home run power numbers.

Great series of articles. Thanks Jamie.

I'm ready to eat the $225k and release him. I see nothing to be gained by signing another aging , injury prone, below average, right handed relief pitcher.

I do not subscribe to the theory of putting your big guys who can't run fast nor move laterally quickly at first base. I feel first base is a very important defensive position, which requires quickness laterally and really good footwork. I'm more than OK with not getting 20 home runs out of a first baseman who can hit .250 and win a gold glove.

If I were Wallner, I'd buy a first baseman's mitt and arrange a week long retreat in Ft. Myers and pay all the expenses of men like Morneau, Hrbek, JT Snow and Mark Grace to come be my guest for some golf and lots of advice. I would also invite Rod Carew to drive the golf cart and share his wisdom. Finally I would also invite a personal trainer to also listen to the advice of these former first basemen and to work on my lateral movement and my footwork around the bag daily all off season, to see if I can move laterally quickly enough and to position my feet quickly enough to play competent first base. I would also hire a person with a fungo bat to hit grounders and line drives to me at first base and pop ups in foul territory on windy days. Finally I would hire some infielders to make 100 throws a day to me at 1B, insisting that half of the throws are to be in the dirt. Sounds like a plan.

Agree 100 per cent.

Pablo Lopez and Byron Buxton are two wonderful ambassadors for the Twins franchise. They are men we would want our sons to emulate. They are the best pitcher and the best position player that the Twins have had this decade. If the object of this franchise is to win with class and dignity and respect for the game and to entertain and keep the fans and continuously be building a new base of fans, then why the hell would the Twins trade Buck or Pablo? Unless the goal is not to win, nor keep a fan base, nor attract new fans...unless the goal is something different, like say maximize profits, and the owners are short sighted by believing the way to maximize this year's profits, is by selling and trading good players annually, so they won't spend too much money, rather than the goal being to build a sustainable, winning product that attracts and keeps fans. What if I ran my law firm like the Twins are being run? Let's suppose I had a lawyer in my law firm who was doing a fantastic job winning cases and attracting new clients. So I fired him because he wanted a raise. In his place I hired a brand new lawyer who was just out of law school, didn't know anything yet and didn't cost me much money. He has no clients yet but in a couple of years maybe he will develop into a good lawyer with lots of clients. We'll just have to wait and see., because we are continuously building for tomorrow. Sound familiar?

What about delegating the bulllpen job to a good pitching coach?

Good leaders say: "Follow me." Then they lead by example. Torii Hunter is an excellent leader from everything I have seen and read and heard about him.. Like Tony O. and Rod Carew, when Torii speaks, the young players listen intently. I have seen this at numerous spring trainings. Torii Hunter would be an excellent choice as the next Twins manager.

If you want a baseball team to be run by someone who has never done the job before,, who is a Fox newscaster, who is not the brightest bulb in the chandelier and who is an angry person, then hire AJ Pierzynski. Hey wait a minute, These job qualifications sound familiar. If you like tyhe way our ountry is being run by other Fox newscasters, then you will love

Rocco was a manifestation of the front office. And therein lies the problem.

In an effort to save more money for the owners, Suzuki can be the back-up catcher to Jeffers while he manages. That would have saved Vazquez's 10 million salary plus since Suzuki will be so excited for the opportunity to jump in as a real major league manager, he will do it for the minimum manager's salary which will be a buck nighty-eight per game.

Falvey's quotes gave me some insight into what is wrong with the Twins organization. For example: Rocco's firing "Is not about Rocco". If it is not about Rocco, then why fire him? What was it that Rocco did or did not do to justify his firing? Or was it just a move to shift the blame for the organization's failure to be successful? Another example: When discussing the traits they are seeking in a manager Falvey said: "Once you start defining the exact traits you need, then you start thinning the pool...I think instead start with a more blank sheet of paper." Wait, what? That makes little sense to me. The pool must be thinned anyway. That is the whole process. The exact traits being sought are important. If you don't know what you are looking for, how will you know when you find it? "I'll know it when I see it, but I don't know what it is that I'm looking" for is plain stupid.

200 innings of Duran vs. 70 innings of Duran.

Some things to celebrate in a disappointing season. I would have added Duran to the list at #3. I wonder if Duran could be converted into a successful starter?