one_eyed_jack

I'm not sure how I feel about this "shake up". I would rather have either kept the entire crew together for one more win-or-else year or completely cleaned house and started fresh. But this seems like a lame half-measure where they're throwing a few guys under the bus just so they can say they did something. The other thing is I keep reading about how this paves the way for guys to be brought from Rochester. Do we have to fill every opening by promoting from within? Things have gone stale in this organization, it's a situation that begs for an infusion of new ideas from someone from the outside. Instead we're going to move people up just because it's their turn. Great. And if Gardy and Andy go next year, I'm sure they'll be replaced from within as well.

Didn't watch much of this one. Was far more interested in the deciding game in the Lynx-Storm series. Now there's a local team that knows how to gut out a playoff series win.

"Many things went wrong for the Twins, but it basically all comes back to starting pitching. Rarely has the culprit for a completely derailed season been so blatantly clear." ----That's it in a nutshell. It's tough to win when you're down 5 before half the crowd has settled into their seats. And there were stretches where it seemed like that's what we were dealing with every single night.

I'm with those who are optimistic about the chances of making a run at the division next year but pessimistic about the chances of joining baseball's elite any time soon. I'm probably glass two-thirds full on the former and one-tenth full on the latter. This team is a long, long way from being a serious threat to win it all. But frankly, I'll be disappointed if the Twins don't remain competitive in the division next year. Look at the state of it. For all that the Gardenhire division titles are dismissed with the "weak division" argument, there was always at least 1 and sometimes 2 other legit teams in there. Next year, there may not even be that . For all the hype they got the preseason, the Tigers were exposed as a deeply flawed team that struggled to win the weakest division in baseball. The White Sox put together a respectable record by feasting on bottom feeders, but they are a thoroughly mediocre team poised for a fall and not likely to repeat that. They can't count on career years from AJ, Dunn and Rios again. The Indians are a mess. The Royals were supposed to take a step forward this year, but they're still stuck in their latest rebuilding project. So it should not be all that hard to field a team capable of hanging in the race for a while. If TR can upgrade the rotation from atrocious to mediocre, that could be enough. Now, such a team would probably be little more than first-round cannon fodder for the true big boy teams. But you never know what can happen in a short series, and even if it were as one-sided as expected, it beats the living hell out of suffering through another year of being out of it by Memorial Day and losing 90+ games.

---Agreed. And how many multi-year "rebuilding" projects actually come to fruition anyway? I don't think a lot of teams win the World Series, then look back and say, "Yep, this is exactly how we pictured it happening when we sat down planned it out 4 years ago." I've never liked the word "rebuidling". Too often "we're rebuilding" is little more than a euphemism for "we suck".

---I'd like to see them do both. I don't think trying to win now and building for tomorrow has to be an either/or choice. Look, I don't view the White Sox as something to aspire to. They were a nice surprise this year not really built for long-term success. But given where the Twins are, if they're going to compete in any way in 2013, they'll have to do it the way the White Sox did this year. Career years from multiple veterans and solid pitching which allow them to win a weak division by feasting on bottom-feeders. (Whiteys are 28-12 vs Twins, Indians and Cubs. 56-64 vs. everyone else.) I'd certainly prefer that to suffering through another 90+ losses anyway. But that should be in addition to, not instead of, building a stronger organization at all levels.

Another loss that can clearly be pinned on Nishioka.

Same thing will be thought of Joe Mauer in 3 more years. ---Yep, similar players in similar situations, Mauer and Nishioka.

No Big Canadian in Canada? What gives

1) By Twins standards, yes, it was. This was a higher risk/higher reward move than their previous signings. Darvish and Daisuke are beyond swinging for the fences. When you're forking over $50 mil in posting fees, that's shooting for the moon, and it's beyond what the Twins would ever be involved in. 2) Nobody said he had no role. The point is that the role is grossly overstated. I posted the with/without Nishi records, and they speak for themselves. The guy played in less than 25% of them team's games the last 2 years. It's "pretending" to claim he was one of the biggest issues "for the past 2 years and likely into the future as well." You're not the first one to blame him for games lost that he didn't play in, that's absurd enough. But with the "likely into the future" claim, you're setting up to blame Nishi for games played after his release that haven't even been played yet. I'm with savvyspy, there are too many fans with Nishioka Derangement Syndrome.

The "Who's to blame for Nishi?" question has been asked many times in these parts. My response: who cares? The important thing is not who got it wrong last time, but how to get it right next time. I am reminded of a line from Sean Connery's character in the movie Rising Sun: The Japanese have a saying, “Fix the problem, not the blame.” Find out what’s screwed up and fix it. Nobody gets blamed. We’re always after who screwed up. Their way is better. .

Love the concept here. Though I might prefer the John Kruk Award to the Rick Reuschel Award. John Axford should get some consideration for the Fingers with Wilson's absence. How about the Heinie Manush Award for Most Outstanding Name in Baseball? I'll nominate Jordany Valdespin and Jurickson Profar

---I've wondered about that. But did he even try? Everything I've read said he asked for a release. I haven't seen any references to a buyout. I would think he could have gotten a few hundred grand out of the Twins had he asked for it. I think the honor thing has been overstated, but if it's true he asked for nothing, I'll give him a few honor points there. It's one thing to walk away from the promise of money when you have to spend a year of misery earning it. But turning down easy money is a different deal.

I cannot believe that he did not say the starting pitching was the most frustrating thing this season. 99% of the people who are following the Twins agree. He either is lying to protect his buddy Andy, or he is deluded. Regardless, he has to go. If he things that the biggest problem with this team and what made them lose 90+ after they lost 99 is "doing the little things right", I just don't believe he has what it takes to ID a root cause of the problem and try to fix it. Apparently he is part of the problem too. ---The starting pitching is clearly the worst thing about this season and the number 1 reason for another 90+ losses. But from the mananger's perspective, I can see why Gardy is more frustrated with the poor fundamentals. His job is to have guys playing to the best of their ability. The rotation has been awful, but it's been filled mostly with guys who would be lucky to grab the 5th-starter role on most other teams. I don't know that they're capable of being all that much better. But the stuff Gardy is talking about here should be better. The players on this team are capable of doing it much better. And the fact that they aren't is, to me, a bigger indictment of Gardy than the performance of the rotation or his answer to this question.

Ha! Didn't even notice that. Maybe Gardy's going with a permanent shift today? They've still got it wrong. http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2012_09_29_detmlb_minmlb_1&mode=preview#gid=2012_09_29_detmlb_minmlb_1&mode=lineups

Tigers 1 . Jackson, A, CF 2 . Berry, Q, LF 3 . Cabrera, M, 3B 4 . Fielder, P, 1B 5 . Young, D, DH 6 . Dirks, A, RF 7 . Peralta, J, SS 8 . Avila, A, C 9 . Infante, O, 2B Twins 1 . Span, D, CF 2 . Revere, B, RF 3 . Mauer, J, DH 4 . Morneau, J, 1B 5 . Doumit, R, C 6 . Parmelee, C, 1B 7 . Plouffe, T, 3B 8 . Carroll, J, SS 9 . Florimon, P, SS

Well how do you like that? The Twins help out the Pale Hose. Don't like the chances of a series sweep with a Verlander/Walters matchup tomorrow....

Good take, Nick. Here's my parting thoughts on Nishi. 1. As bad as he was, and he was really, really bad, he was not the only or even one of the biggest problems with this team the last 2 years. As I posted in the other thread, The Twins have played 318 games in 2011 and 2012. Nishioka appeared in only 71 of those games. The Twins record on those games? 31-40. Record with no Nishi? 97-150. Though he became everyone's favorite whipping boy, much of the ripping on Nishi ended up being a distraction for more serious problems. It was like going on about an ugly facial scar while ignoring the fact that a deadly disease was spreading through the internal organs. 2. I was actually fine with the gamble. After a decade of Tony Batistas, Mike Lambs and other low-cost, low-risk, low-ceiling free agents, the Twins finally decided to go for it. They swung for the fences, and they missed. My concern is that they'll be gun shy about doing it again and go back to hunting through the bargain bin. But I hope I'm wrong. Don't stop trying to hit it out of the park, just be smarter about it and do it better next time. 3. I'm also a bit concerned about the team turning its back entirely on Asia. I've seen all sorts of "well, that's why you don't sign Japanese players" comments. But it's neither fair nor rational to judge an entire region by a single player. Keep looking in Japan. Not every guy will turn out to be another Nishi. Maybe next time we'll get a Tad Iguchi. 4. The Nishi thing is over, so hopefully the incessant whining about him will stop. There's nothing to be gained by peeing on the grave of his now dead MLB career.

I have a bad feeling about this series. Having reached a 2-game lead on the Whiteys to get their magic number down to 5, the Tigers have got to be smelling blood here. That said, winning this lousy division should have been a lay-up for Detroit, and their wildly inconsistent play has been a big reason it's been a dogfight instead. So we shall see.

He wasn't a big part of either year. The Twins have played 318 games in 2011 and 2012. Nishioka appeared in only 71 of those games. The Twins record on those games? 31-40 Record with no Nishi? 97-150. To be clear, I'm not denying Nishi was awful. Clearly, he was. But there's plenty of blame to go around for 2 seasons of sucktastic baseball, and pinning it all on Nishi is turning a blind eye to the myriad of other problems with this team.

---The Mets deserve some credit for picking him up. But they did not insert him as one of their starters coming out of the gate in 2010. They signed him to a minor league contract in January, and he started the year in AAA. I'm happy to see RA have the year he's having. He's obviously had some real personal demons to deal with along the way. I'm not sure how much you can fault the Twins any more than you can fault the 28 other major league teams that passed on him. It's not like there was a rush to sign this guy when he went on the market. And I doubt the Mets even thought he'd do as well as he has. He was a journeyman in his mid-30's when the Twins decided not to bring him back. I don't recall a groundswell of support for doing otherwise, and certainly not anyone claiming that if we just waited a few more years, we'd have a Cy Young contender on our hands.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/8432168/cleveland-indians-fire-manager-manny-acta-6-games-remaining-season No surprise here, but the timing seems a bit odd. Note that he got the dreaded vote of confidence a few weeks ago.

---Yes, indeed. Although I'm waiting for the Mauer-haters to show up and start ripping him for not getting any extra base hits.

Yeah you can hate the Yankees, but it's hard to hate Jeter. He's a truly amazing player, and a class act. Interesting question on how long he'll play. Is he one of those guys who will play until someone tells him he can't? Or is he someone who will want to go out at the top of his game, on his terms, and not cling to a job while everyone watches his skills decline? It could be get interesting if it gets to a point where he wants to keep playing, but the Yankees aren't willing to pay him. The thought of Derek Jeter in another uniform is just bizarre.

---As of right now his next start would be on Saturday with David Price taking the mound for the Rays. And Detroit could well have pulled head by then. Not shaping up well for the Whiteys. As for next year, Nick's prediction of 1-year with an NL team sounds reasonable, but it would not shock me at all if someone is dumb enough to give him 2.