karcherd

Nothing says we are playing for the playoffs like having Margot leadoff. How can you take this team seriously when they won't even put their 9 best players on the field.

Forecast was for rain tonight.

In regards to a possible extension for the dynamic duo, remember they did not announce Baldelli's until almost a year later after they were asked about it. For some reason this organization doesn't announce these types of moves, I am thinking they have received extensions. And I hope I am wrong.

This was the wrong decision and as long they solely manage by analytics they will continue to make wrong decisions. There was no reason not to let Zebby go one more batter, you can't build a pitching staff large enough to avoid pitching thru a lineup three times every time thru the rotation.

I can understand not signing Gray to a contract of 3 years at his age. But the real mistake was thinking Paddack would be the replacement. He has had two TJ surgeries where there is minimal history of pitchers of coming back from this scenario with limited success. Not to mention he has had one good season in his rookie year in 2019. This front office does not know how to run a major league franchise, I wouldn't trust them with an increased budget either. The Pohlads need to jettison the tiresome trio and start over with new leadership.

The Gold Glove first baseman needs to play that grounder more aggressively, he has made a lot of great plays, but he has also cost runs. And today he cost us three runs.

We will never truly know, that is my point. This front office has been risk averse and not very proactive. It is easy to say it is only ownership without knowing. I am saying I think it is on both.

And when has this front office been the first team to make a move. They let the market play out and are not aggressive and that is why their moves don't work out more than they do. I am not pro ownership but it feels a lot like there is a lot of twisting thoughts into making them known as facts to fit a narrative.

We don't know if it was ownership or the FO that caused the inactivity at the trade deadline. Ownership has stepped up in the past when needing money at the trade deadline and they knew more about the tv deal for this year at the deadline. The FO has a history of waiting out the market even when they have money to spend and then scrambling to make a move after every other team has. This happened in both the offseason and at the trade deadline. This front office is risk averse and I don't think they should be given a pass, because I believe based on their history they sat back and then there was nothing left because they were passive.

No because he wouldn't be available to pinch hit then.

Rocco actually mentioned the other day that he is aware of the record, but Margot has a low strikeout rate and makes contact and that he would still let him pinch hit.

Rocco needs to go just for that move alone, how stubborn can you be and against a RH pitcher.

You have to be kidding me, you are seriously going to pinch hit Margot against a RH pitcher. Hoping lightning strikes.

Great job Louie! You are now in the bullpen permanently.

I believe it is a front office approach and they find staff that agrees with their approach. I still remember when Arraez basically burped and they took him out of the game saying it was precautionary.

No two hitters are the same, you may need to tweak their approach, but when you change it completely and don't get the results you desire, that is expected. The Twins are trying to make everyone one size fits all and that doesn't work.

No team is going to talk to his representatives because he is still under contract with the Twins thru next year.

It is a coaching and organizational issue. They are retooling the swings in the minor leagues to this approach. Both Martin and Lee have stated they went back to their original swing at St. Paul and had more success. Lewis has talked about it at the major league level as well. They keep drafting college sluggers because this is the approach they want. When it works, it produces a lot of runs. The problem is, it is feast or famine and that rears its ugly head in a short series like the playoffs against better pitching. The Falvine philosophy is not going to produce a consistent winner without playing more fundamentally sound and just not swing for the fences.

Have you seen him try to bunt?

Maybe Cleveland is doing a better of developing their bullpen arms, the top three guys after Clase are either in their first or second year. So maybe some of it is on the FO for the construction of the roster, but Rocco very clearly has stated he tries to match up to hitters instead of a set role for the pitchers. So there is a difference in philosophy and it does not seem to be working for the Twins, They try to emulate other teams maybe try to build a bullpen like Cleveland has.

And also how to use a bullpen. Clase has pitched one time before the 9th inning and that was when he hadn't pitched for 5 days. Note to Rocco, it is ok to have a closer pitch in only the 9th inning. At some point during the game other pitchers will have to pitch to the middle of the order and I would rather it be before the final innings.

Even if this team makes the playoffs, which right now I am not sure how they are going to pull themselves out of this tailspin, they need to do an honest assessment of the organization top to bottom. You can blame the owners all you want and yes it was not a good look to reduce payroll this year but does their front office have the ability to create a sustainable winning team. That is the first question that needs to be answered. Do they use analytics as a tool or as the rule to all decisions. Can they assess talent and put the tools in place to develop that talent. Their decision making has to be looked at. They have tried to get by with scrap heap pitchers, this year they were relying on two pitchers (Stewart and Paddack) coming off injuries or limited innings history to play major roles on the staff with no real backup plan in place. Another pitcher they traded for came with injury concerns and never pitched for us. They don't value quality bullpen pieces treating them as fungible pieces that can be shuttled between St. Paul and Minneapolis. They are building a roster with short side platoon players that becomes a weakness when there are injuries. They need to assess the field staff, can they develop players, is the homerun or bust philosophy working or do you need different players to make it work. Do you continue the platooning to the degree they do. They need to decide to either go with the youngsters or bring in quality replacements, not a Santana or Gallo type, but a Pete Alonso or a proven outfielder whoever that might be. It just feels like we are treading water and not really sure if they are going to play the youngsters who some aren't that young anymore or continue to cycle thru low cost and low productive veterans. It feels like there is a disconnect with the younger players and this organization and too many seem to regress when they come up to the big club. Coaching and development should not stop just because they are in the major leagues. Again is Rocco and his hands off style better for a younger team. I know they just rehauled their training staff, but are they doing everything they can optimally to keep players healthy and on the field. If just feels like too many players are going down throughout the organization. Maybe it's typical for everyone but I would hope they are going to look at this. I don't have all the answers, but I know as a fan it doesn't feel like they have a direction and I would hope after potentially two collapses in three years they would want to take a deep dive into the organization. And the one year they won the division was in a very weak division. I bleed Twins and want to watch and have even through the 100 loss seasons, but this team is hard to watch, they just seem rudderless and the style of ball is not fun to watch.

They have pitchers who get batters out, Rocco tries to play genius on every batter and get the perfect match up. We need pitchers who can get batters out whether they hit 1st or 9th in the order.

Why not Larnach here, come on Rocco. r