twinssporto

It has to be approved by me though. I'm manager. Falvey called me today. We are negotiating a contract right now.

Everyone relax. I submitted my resume yesterday. When I get the job I'll manage by Game Thread inputs. I bet the Game Threads would be mighty popular again...

Ray Miller anyone?

Great points. It kind of reminds me of this anecdote...The best sales people usually make the worst sales managers. I bet ball players are the same way. No Pete Rose pun intended.

It was time for a change. I think his biggest drawback besides not handling the pitching staff very well was his leadership style. With the exception of late last year, the teams he's managed never seemed to have that spark or gel together. Loosing 95-100 games can do that but I never really felt the team was a close knit group. Molitor is probably a perfect manager for Joe Mauer type players though. Always seemed a little too low-key for my liking.

Great job Parker!

Thanks Tom! Great work this year.

I'm not worried about this situation at all. The game of baseball has continually evolved for over 100 years just like everything else in the world such as business, politics, science, economics, warfare, etc. Analytics are playing a part of this story along with defensive shifts, pitching mechanics, approaches to hitting and game managing tactics. At the moment the pitchers have the upper hand. Eventually hitting will take over and you will have people asking to raise the mound, shorten the distance to home plate, etc. We now have analytics that teach us launch angle, HR's vs. doubles, hits vs. walks, blah, blah, blah....Now we got the "opener" role too. Here's a novel approach I'm waiting for the next baseball genius to figure out. Why not get better hitting coaches and choke teams to death that play the shift on you? If you're playing a team that has 7 guys standing in right field hit the damn ball to left field. I'd say bunt it that way but nobody knows how to do that anymore. When you have two guys standing on base now that single or double really means something. Once that happens contact hitters will be all the rage. To me its fascinating to watch the evolution of this game and the new ways teams are trying to gain an advantage. These new issues may have a short term, negative impact on the fan base and turn away some potential new fans but I doubt it will be that impactful in the long run. Long live the shift! Long live the HR! Long live the team that can bat against the shift! I never thought bell bottom jeans would become the rage after the 70's but I guessed wrong...Someday the high batting average/contact hitters will be in vogue again too.

I'm going to write the final act for Joe Mauer. 1. Joe signs for one more year and says he'll retire at the end of 2019 2. Joe plays some back up at 1B, DH and pinch hitter 3. Joe pinch hits in game 7 of the World Series next year and drives in the winning run. Fun to think about...

Is this fake news?

I was going to write an entire post about the lack of leadership and chemistry on this team this year but opted for a more melancholy short commentary. But after reading some of the posts above I think it needs to be discussed. Who can step in and take a leadership role in this clubhouse? In years past when we had decent and competitive teams you always had a few guys that added some spirit and confidence to the team: Puckett, Hrbek, Gladden, Blyleven, Morris, Morneau, Hunter, Cuddyer, Dozier, etc. After trading Dozier and Escobar this year who's left? Falvey talks a lot about chemistry and bringing in the right people but you have to wonder if he knows what clubhouse chemistry looks like. What role is MOY playing in this as well? Sano and Buxton could play those roles well if they get hot and build some confidence. Barring those two I think we may have to wait for the better talent in the minors to arrive.

Maybe I'm burned out on the horrible season the Twins had this year or maybe its apathy, but this is the first time in many years I'm not really excited about the upcoming 2019 Twins season. Last night a buddy of mine who knows I'm a big Twins fan asked me what excites me about the Twins next year. It was a great question but one that left me somewhat stumped. The more I thought about it I've only come up with a few things...Hopefully Berrios continues to take steps forward. Hopefully Buxton turns the corner. Hopefully Sano turns the corner too. Beyond that and one or two great prospects moving up from the minors I'm somewhat "meh". I know it's the end of a terrible year for the Twins and I'm sure my excitement will grow during the off season but I'm afraid I see a lot of mediocre players and an organization that feels devoid of leadership and without spirit. There are some holes this team needs to fill in the offseason for sure. Hopefully they find a clubhouse leader too. That seems to be the most glaring hole. It's just my take on things as more than a casual fan and observer of baseball...

I just enjoy watching Astudillo play. Miss seeing the hustle from others.

Agreed, there were cool pictures as well. Nice work Brandon!

The 2019 Minnesota Twins! Come watch our minor league affiliates. They may be better than the squad put together in Minneapolis. Here's one more that would be interesting: The 2019 Minnesota Twins: Lots to cheer for! Come out to see if Sano reports to spring training under 300 pounds. Stick around to see if Buxton can hit above .200. Fun for the whole family!

If the fence post is leaning its better. I think.

Jimmy - you got that right!!! I shoulda said "barring injuries" I will admit and eat crow for the errors in my predictions. Sad really, this team should have at least been competitive this year.

Didn't make it this year. Maybe next year. I sound like a Twins season...

Totally agree! I have lost all respect for this organization. The Buxton chaos just cemented it for me.

I know there were a lot of people who wanted to see Buxton shut down for the rest of the year and gain that extra year of service time. Unfortunately, I think this is going to cause a major headache for the Twins front office. Clearly Lavine knows they have one very upset player and agent on their hands. It's moves like these that will come back to haunt the Twins if Buxton really turns it around. If they try to sign him to an extension its gonna cost them a lot more. The positive is that Buxton should be one motivated player. The negative is that if I were him I would remember this for a long, long, long time... This front office has not done a good job of ingratiating themselves with the clubhouse (unless your a Belisle type guy). But hey, we got an extra year of service time from Buxton. If that's supposed to be a good thing, how come it doesn't feel that way to me now after reading the article? Any good will that existed between the F.O. and Buxton just got flushed down the toilet. Penny wise and a pound foolish.

How about this for a slogan: Minnesota Twins baseball - still better than watching a fence post!

Yesterday the old man and Moderator to Twins Daily "USAChief" posted a thread about Patrick Reusse's article in the Star Tribune about the new suggested Twins slogan for 2019..."Wish us Luck". That post by Chief got me thinking....Since the season is almost over and all of our expectations are shattered, I thought it might be a good idea to blow off a little steam and ask our readers to come up with their own 2019 Minnesota Twins slogan. Points are awarded for creativity. I will award the winning slogan by Sunday (chosen and picked by me.) There is a HUGE prize by the way. Twins Daily note: If the Minnesota Twins or any of it affiliates, marketing agencies or creative types take any of these ideas published on said web site (Twinsdaily.com) a copy write payment must be made to Twinssporto in the amount greater to or equal to the amount the Minnesota Twins organization pays for that type of creative output to an outside agency. Couple of quick points. The slogans can be positive or negative. No nasty comments. The funnier the better. I'll start with a positive 2019 slogan for the Minnesota Twins season: If you're a glass half empty type here's a negative slogan for the Twins in 2019:

You forgot point #8 though...Injuries can make teams less competitive. Sano, Castro, Buxton, Santana. Suspended Polanco. That's a huge part of last years team. Next year will be better. I hope...

Ok - I'm thoroughly depressed after reading Reusse's article. A lot of truth in it though. I'm hopeful for 2019 and think this year was really just an injury plagued disaster. I am going to take the rest of the night to come up with a slogan for the 2019 Minnesota Twins. In the meantime, I will share the slogan the Twins should start using right now until the 2018 season is over..... "The entire Minnesota Twins organization would like to apologize to our loyal fan base for our tepid 2018 results. We especially apologize if you bought season tickets or decided to quit sniffing glue." Jim Pohlad

Is there a bWarf stat out there?