chpettit19

BA against FB- .154 BA against CB- .150 BA against Split- .091 SLG against FB- .385 SLG against CB- .300 SLG against Split- .091 He can pretty much throw whatever he wants and it works pretty well. Total pitches of each type are 102 FB, 89 CB, 79 Split so all relatively close sample sizes.

And that opinion is fine. I'm certainly not suggesting Rocco is great. I just think firing someone off their first season managing when the team had all that success is shortsighted. Allowing a little room to grow seems like the prudent path to me. I'm also not someone who subscribes to the "bailed out by the bomba squad" storyline. They were 9th in the majors in ERA, and everyone got to use the juiced ball. That team pretty well maxed out their abilities. If you're (and I'm not saying you are, just people in general) going to blame a manager for losses, you have to have a way to give them credit for wins. If he's to blame for winning 70 some games, you have to give him credit for winning 100 some. As outsiders, in my opinion, the only way we can judge a manager is by w/l record, and what players say about them. He tends to get glowing reviews from players, current and former, for his clubhouse management so I don't think we have anything to go on negatively there, and then all we're left with is their w/l record. His has been subpar lately, and he should feel some heat for it. The team hasn't been good enough. But, generally speaking, I don't think managers matter very much. The FO matters significantly more than the manager, in terms of non-player team employees. You can pick whoever you think the best manager ever was and they're not winning games with the Oakland As this year. I also don't subscribe to the idea that Rocco not having mandatory IF/OF and BP everyday is a mistake (I don't know your feelings on that, just an example of where I think managers don't matter much). These are grown adults being paid millions to play a game. If your manager has to tell you to work on your game you're not a championship player, and nothing your manager can do will change that. I just don't think managers make that much of a difference. Especially in today's game where much of their decision making power is stripped away. Falvine wouldn't replace Rocco with someone drastically different. That's the main reason I don't call for his head. We don't have enough info, as fans, on what he's like behind the scenes to have strong opinions there. But the FO isn't going to hire a manager who does things differently than they'd like on the field, so there wouldn't really be a big change in the platooning, bullpen usage, etc. with someone new. The same complaints people have about Rocco would be true of the new guy. I don't see Rocco as the reason they can't win, I see talent as the reason. And, to tie back into the theme of this thread, the FO's inability to change their plans quickly enough. Their in season pivoting (not just with roster turnover, but overall baseball strategy) is atrocious, and I think that's a far bigger problem than anything Rocco does. Mostly because I think he has very little control on what he does.

I'm not someone who puts much weight on managers in general so it's whatever to me. Just saying, if you're firing guys after that season it's pretty rough to set what an acceptable performance is for your manager. The argument would basically be that they were a 110+ win team without him. Not sure anyone would argue that team should've been pushing for the all-time wins record.

Dang, top 10 offense and pitching staff, win 101 games in your first season, and get fired. That's a tough gig.

To be fair there's been Burnes rumblings since his arbitration hearing when he came out and said his relationship with the team was hurt. I don't think that means he's definitely on the block or anything, but I don't think anyone around baseball would be surprised to see him moved. Especially since I don't think anyone expects Milwaukee to extend him and they'd likely enjoy the haul he'd bring in prospects. I don't see the Twins paying that price, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him moved this year, or next offseason.

I think it's pretty significant. St Peter doesn't do anything with baseball decisions. He helps set the budget, but he's not sitting in scouting meetings or discussing draft strategy. There's really not much for us to speak on with St Peter outside the budget he helps set, and his insane comments that I'm sure made a lot of people, including his boss, angry when he said them.

From the moment I'm typing this...34.5 and 1 out.

They didn't technically extend him. He had options on his contract that they picked up. His original contract ran through last year, but they picked up his options through 2025. I'm not sure exactly how those were structured so I don't know if it was an option to just pick up year by year, or they had to pick them all up at once. I think a discussion about not picking up his options is certainly valid.

Oh, I don't think it's outrageous to be talking about his job security now, or after 2022. But the post I responded to suggested firing him after 2021, and I think that'd have been awfully quick. Molitor got fired because there was a new FO brought in. They're not truly comparable situations. It's pretty standard that a new FO who's changing a whole lot about the organization would want to bring in their own guy. I actually think it was unfair to all involved that the Pohlads made them keep Molitor for the extra year when everyone knew he'd be canned at the first chance. I'm quite torn on the FO. I think they've done a great job modernizing the organization, but I think they've really struggled to identify, and develop, top end talent. I also think they rely too heavily on data in some instances. Pagan being the obvious one with their refusal to accept his performance stats over his "underlying data." The lineup being another one. I hate the extreme platoon decisions. Platooning is great for the bottom of your lineup, but if you're going to be a great team you need a top of the lineup that you just plug and play everyday. I think some of it is bad luck in injuries, but they also make a lot of decisions I don't understand. I think they're probably an average FO, and Rocco is an average manager, but I don't know that I really think they can get the team over the top and truly become contenders.

I'm pretty sure Lewis has been on the 60 day IL for 56 days. So he should only need to be on for 4 more days. Which should mean he should be playing for the Twins the day they open the Houston series on 5/29, not June 1.

Welcome to Twins Daily! While I 100% agree with the idea that the guys in the building have WAY more info than those on the outside, there's some incredibly smart, and highly knowledgeable folks posting on these boards. Including an "insider" or 2 from time to time. And everyone has access to his performance stats. You don't need to be a front office staff member to see how he performs. I don't need to see Pagan throw a bullpen to see that he's been one of, if not the worst reliever in baseball for years. I also don't need to see him throw a pen to know he's got good stuff, and understand why the Twins wanted to take a chance on "fixing" him. At some point you have to just admit he's not who you wanted him to be, though.

Same reason lots of guys bounce around and get numerous chances. The "underlying data," or scouting, suggests there's more in them, and every team thinks they have the key to unlocking someone. Just a matter of what the rest of their roster looks like on whether or not it's worth a shot to get them in your building and see them up close.

Sure, but they aren't keeping guys there til they're 30. Do you have some examples of guys who were performing well enough in AAA to deserve a promotion, there was an opening on the big league roster (there've been a ton the last couple years, that's for sure), the team didn't call them up, and then the player started getting injured for the first time in their career (whether we're talking TJS or any other injury)? I can't really think of any, but there certainly could be some.

Yeah, I believe they said it was "unrealistic" he'd be ready today, but they hope the off day tomorrow gives him enough time to be ready for the weekend. No idea what's up with Gallo. Hoping it's the same thought that give him (most of) today off, plus tomorrow, and he's back to 100ish% for the weekend. But I haven't seen any statements come out. A few days ago they mentioned Kepler was running at like 75% or something, but don't remember there being a timeline to his return. We can't get to the end of the month quick enough. I need some Royce Lewis in my Twins life.

The Yankees kept Hicks for 2+ years when he was bad. Yes, they cut him now, and owe him a bunch, but he's been terrible, and hurt, for 2+ years now. I don't think Pagan is a money thing, I think it's an overreliance on the wrong data while not being willing to admit that the results have spoken much louder than the predictive stats. It's the one spot where I wouldn't argue with anyone that the FO thinks they're smarter than the results, and just won't admit they're wrong about someone. Dave St Peter had some really questionable comments after last season. Falvey and Levine haven't said anything of the sort (that I'd seen/heard at least).

You wanted them to fire Rocco after 2021 because they had 1 down year? He'd had 2 seasons of 60+% winning percentage the 2 seasons before that. Firing him after 2021 would've been incredibly hasty. No idea why the tenured Pagan, that we definitely agree on. And the baseball ops (Falvey and Levine) didn't blame the fans. Don't lump them in with St Peter's nonsense comments.

They pitch fewer innings in AAA than they'd be expected to in the majors. My confusion comes in on what the difference is in them pitching in AAA or MLB. The level they're at doesn't matter when it comes to being injury prone or not.

It's a tough line to know where to draw on "giving up" on a guy. There are a lot of variables that go into it. Not the least of which is who'd replace that player. You can send Miranda down if you have Farmer to replace him. You have to watch Taylor struggle when your best replacement is Castro. I have no defense for Pagan. I haven't understood what they're doing with him for a year. They don't have a ton of great options to replace him, but relief pitchers are easily disposed of assets, especially when your desired role for a specific guy is low leverage only. Another factor that plays in, and fans have very little knowledge of, is "tweaks" or "adjustments" the FO, and coaching staff, believe will help a player. The work being done behind the scenes plays into the decisions being made on how long to keep someone. Does Duffey or Smith have enough left in their arm to make a tweak and get back to top form? Can you adjust something with Pagan to get his "stuff" to perform the way it "should?" Can you change Castro's swing slightly and he's back to his SSS 2020 self? We'll never be privy to the work happening behind the scenes so can't ever have the full picture view. But there's no helping Pagan. Can we please just cut him?

What is the supposed connection between being in AAA too long and becoming injury prone?

Another late lineup change tonight. Correa out. Farmer shifting to SS, Solano hitting 2nd playing 3B.

I seriously don't understand what the suggestion was. Are you suggesting Luis Arraez was traded because he disagreed with Rocco or the team on some strategy? I seriously don't understand what you're trying to suggest. I'm not trying to be rude or anything. I literally don't understand what you're suggesting.

I have no idea what you're trying to get at with the trade stuff. I don't see any connection between player's responses to last night's decisions and Luis Arraez getting traded. If you think professional athletes are shy about their opinions you haven't been around professional athletes. Carlos Correa isn't even shy about being shy. He let's his opinion be known on everything. Loudly. Joey Gallo has been very open about not liking leading off. Buxton has complained about a number of things over the years. Sonny Gray gave TD threads months worth of content with his comments on being pulled early last year. Bailey Ober was open about his frustration with being sent down to start the year. And that's just the stuff we hear publicly. Players and coaches disagree on strategies all the time, and they're discussed in the clubhouse all the time. These guys have millions of dollars on the line. They're not shy about letting Rocco and the FO know if they're not happy with how they're being used. Alex Kirilloff is represented by Scott Boras. You think if he's unhappy with how he's being used Boras wouldn't be on every radio and TV show he can get on today ranting and raving?

Their swing decisions have been hard to watch. Larnach is a fastball masher, and I've watched him take multiple first pitch fastballs right down the middle since he's been back. Swing at those! Then we have the Buxton and MAT type ABs from last night where they're chasing first pitches they have no chance of doing damage with. I'm not smart enough to know how you fix those things, but they really need to be fixed.

Gallo actually has pretty neutral platoon splits. His career OPS against lefties is .764. That's an above average hitter. I agree they shouldn't platoon Kirilloff, but that Gallo comment is wrong.

I read his article today. He wasn't defending the organization in it. Him having defended the organization, or players, in other situations is a different thing. And completely normal. Gleeman rips the organization apart for still having Pagan around, but defends them on other things. Your feelings on Hayes are whatever. You can feel however you want about him. But I'd encourage you to use a little more nuance beyond dismissing everything he says out of hand because you disagree with some of his takes.