Robert Gauthier

Can’t score runs without people on base.

Bad pitching is bad pitching, if it is done by a vet or a rookie. Time for this change.

I think all the speculation should take into account that Ryan likely does not want to stay with this organization. His comments have turned vaguely sour on the way this year was handled. It doesn’t matter what you can sign them for you’re gonna lose them when arbitration is passed. If I were a pro with a good future the Twins arethe last place I’d wanna be.

All these arguments presume that somehow if we get a bunch of players, they will perform well for the twins. I think the development path and the strategy of the front office will preclude this. I’m amazed nobody is written an article about how the hitting coach for the Blue Jays has been credited for the turnaround of the Jays, and he was fired by the twins for lack of hitting. Also, the article recently suggesting James Rawson as a managerial candidate, kind of left off the fact that the twins hitting fell off dramatically after he left. Somehow, the front office has come up with a theory of how to play baseball that does not seem in sync with current thinking or success. It is important to score runs to win a ball game. Focusing on launch angle does not magically make base runners appear. Falvy and his assistants seemed to be pushing a type of baseball that is hard to watch and harder to win.. I think Rocco decided that he was gonna go down swinging the last few weeks of the season. Stealing bases and hustle is fun to watch, I actually attended two games in the last week and they were more enjoyable than the games I saw earlier in the year. It appeared that someone was trying, as opposed to swinging to see how far they could hit the ball every single at bat.

Botox is not a long-term solution,. I would think that maybe it’s being used for both diagnosis and short term treatment. Long-term Botox treatment leads to muscle atrophy. I can’t think that would be good for a pitcher.

Funny how Levine is being considered for GM in CO, he worked there before, so that may be why, or he may be good. It seems like Falvey is trying to get rid of everybody who is a threat to his authority. Get rid of scouts ? Sounds great if you want no one to question about choices. Falvey is stuck in the past, it looks like the game is slowly evolving away from an analytic only viewpoint. There seems to be more emphasis of player development as well as motivation. Falvey seems to be stuck in the past. And the team team builds reflect it. Slow, swing for the fences, ignore point to point baseball, focus on speed and spin rate while his pitchers go down with multiple injuries. That is the focus of the front office of the twins. Baldelli will be a successful manager when he gets a job elsewhere. I love how player development was being fobbed off on him at the year end press conference. The front office added a tremendous number of specialists, analysts, and technicians, to no apparent result. Until this general manager is gone, I think we are stuck with this below, average mediocre team and ownership..

Rocco will have a year of salary to land somewhere else, I am guessing he is relieved. I think the Twins are way more cash strapped than we knew (one source said almost illiquid by trading deadline) and that is and was going to be our future, so at least he wont have to bear that while trying to make a team out of air and hope.

To put the fans in the hands of the spoiled brat, nepo babies is an affront to the loyal fans of this Midwest. Remember this family tried to contract the team, lie about it, move it to another city under false pretenses, conned the city into creating a beautiful park, and then somehow assuming a bunch of debt, probably by not paying their bills in a timely fashion, because they’re such lousy business people in their other endevours.

We went to the game the night before. It was another dismal loss but the spirit was pretty good amongst the fans in the stands. People were having fun. They were cheering on the players, and even though everyone hates the Pohlads and likely, Derek Falvy, they still enjoyed being at the park and going to the game. It’s a shame that this franchise is in the hands of people who care so little for the people who actually make the fan base up. As I’ve said before, the game is important to a lot of people, a lot of people who don’t go to the game like nursing home, disabled and assisted living facility patients who love to watch or hearthe twins. To put it in the hand of these spoiled brat nepo babies. I just wish his team will run by somebody who actually cares about baseball and its fans.

The basis of the award is community service. Clemente died, trying to help his home country, which is the very definition of community. I think that the people that are bothered by the fact that it was mentioned that he was black, received some negative treatment because of that, need to step back and take a look at the history of our country. Clemente was a dignified and classy guy. I remember when I heard that he died, I think it was on New Year’s Day. I was stunned as a child, because I thought of him was one of my favorite players. I’m white he was black, I didn’t care. He was a great ball player. people who are complaining about him being mentioned as a prominent black player make the point of this article. He did not have an easy path because he was Latin at black. That was not his fault. That was society‘s fault. We currently seem to be trying to erase that bad part of our memory, because it’s inconvenient.

Went to the game last night, was ready to pack it in after three innings, but stuck around and actually had a lot of fun. To play as well with a couple of their young studs on the bench was fun to watch. Outman and Fitzgerald really played well. It’s nice to see their game rounding up. I think that we underestimate how many at bat takes to be a real MLB player. Tom Kelly used to say it takes 1000 at bats, analytics have distorted everything because people expect good numbers right away. Are we going to win the division next year? And given that the Pohlads intend to stripped the franchise further, I’m guessing that will be a triple AAA team next year. At least we’ll get some good draft picks. I’m guessing that we will be a triple AAA team next year. At least we’ll get some good draft picks. Despite being owned by one of the worst ownership groups in MLB, and that’s saying a lot given the state of affairs in Chicago and Pittsburgh and Oakland, baseball at its purest is still a fun game to watch. I decided to watch the game last night as a fan, not a critic of some inept rich boy who seems intent on destroying his family’s legacy in baseball. Given that this family wanted to contract the team I guess maybe he’s just continuing it. I’ll watch the game for the players, eat before I go to the stadium and bring in a water bottle so I can’t line the pockets of these venal crooks.

With all the back-and-forth on this, I would remind everyone that some hitters prosper when they leave the twins. Some don’t, it does seem, however that they are quick to give up on young hitters. Earlier this year, everyone was talking about how Austin Martin wouldn’t make the team next year, suddenly he’s very productive. Why? Because he decided not to hit the way the twins wanted him to. He went back to what made him a top rated prospect, top rated by a number of organizations. We are constantly shuffling, hitting coaches, thinking that will make the difference. I think an organizational shift, which means a new general manager or POBO is what is needed. We’ve had a 10+ year experiment that has not worked very well. I’d say pitching development is kind of average for the bigs, the real killer is the roster constraints by the Pohlads, which prevents any sort of signing of major league, quality pictures or position starters. Or constantly forced to shop in the scratch and dent bins of baseball. We saw what happened when we got a team of Corea, Gray and some smart trades, which are about to be undone by the cheap ownership. The Pohlads simply do not get that the fans will not put up with a terrible product because they think that they need to make up their losses, business ventures. Attendance dropped after the roster cuts, it’s dropped drastically sense, and their solution will be to amputate an arm because it’s not productive. The future of baseball is good starting pitching and decent defense with a couple of really good hitters. It seems like the plan for the off-season to get rid of the really good pitching, rather than making some real cuts in the front office. For example, the Pohladsrunning the twins have taken salaries in the range of $10 million a year, for what I’m not sure. Maybe that would be a good place to cut first. Real business people focus on the company and the product not themselves. This kind of thinking is why their other ventures are horse crap

Austin Martin’s recovery from the twins trying to remake his swing is been interesting. I often wondered why they tried to turn him into a power hitter when that wasn’t his game. I hear echoes of Brent Rooker, was certainly going on to have a very productive pro career after leaving the twins. Lamont Wade had a couple of years of good play after leaving the twins also. He’s regressed back since, but since he’s so far away, we don’t know if it’s injuries or what. I think this organization does not know how to make hitters. They have an analytics driven approach that means everyone has to fit one size. I’d like to see some accountability for this miserable performance.

One thing I read today indicated that the debt is NOT from outside real estate losses. Apparently it is structural debt, etiology unclear, but a couple of sources might be original stadium debt not repaid, scoreboard and Covid costs. The team did pay staff and minor leaguers during Covid shutdown, not sure how much but many teams did not. If you are a real estate investor, interest can be a deduction, which could explain why stadium costs were not paid by Pohlads in a timely fashion. The county paid off their portion because the interest on bonds is a cost. That the debt is so high is likely a business miscalculation (mistake), now it is a hindrance and cash flow cannot easily pay off. The loans ARE guaranteed by MLB, so default is not an issue, but they likely are at high end of allowable debt ratio. So they are in a bind. payroll downsizing is an interesting topic as Tampa and Cleveland have shown you can be successful on field and ledger. Cleveland’s payroll last year was lower than the Twins but they made league championship series, while we wallowedwhile paying 30M more. does this excuse the Pohlad decisions? No. They pay themselves nicely, previous Pohlad took 10M a year in salary for having the right last name. Can they dig out of this? Yes, but the past does not provide much hope. best case for now is two groups provide some liquidity. One group is rumored to be local, Maybe Maurer family? That would provide some positivity but little real change unless Joe can suit up again.

According to morning Strib, Jax was worried about his stats when he was taken out. Funny, it sucked most of the year and NOW he cares?

Falvey’s explanation what went down has been disappointing, but let’s remember the real villains here. This family has tried to contract the team while lying to the state about it, tried to move the team before that. Then gave all sorts of happy, talk while getting a twin stadium, after which they’ve done minimal effort to put forward a winning product. The two titles the team won were really done with a core that Calvin Griffin put together.

It’s funny to hear the comments about how somehow Buxton is to blame for his injuries. Remember, he went to team doctors for his knees and it took three years to figure out that he had something they had missed. Once that was fixed, he’s playing much better. Is it his fault? I still hold it Byron Buxton is one of the good reasons to go to a ballpark. He is fun to watch and is a genuinely good person. He’s married to his high school, sweetheart, he’s a devoted, father, and he tries as hard as his body will let him every single game. I wonder how many of the commenters do that every day at work. It’s time to quit criticizing everybody about everything. It’s very hard to play a full season in MLB these days with travel and day night games, let’s just appreciate him for what he is.

Urena = Paddack, fifth starter, no more

Siri again. Damn spellchecker

There is one other thing I wish that the reporters are twins. Daly could do a little bit of research into. It seems like a number of players and reporters are now reporting that there was some sort of tension and discomfort in the twins clubhouse. This is before the trade deadline. What was the cause of that?

Sorry for the spelling errors, let’s just say Siri is not a complete AI product.

You know the overall result from this week isn’t a heck of a lot different than it would be with the guys that we traded away. Despite all our hand ringing, Duran Duran blew a lot of leads, and Jack’s definitely blew a lot of set ups. They continue to hit poorly, but with all the people they got rid of, they’re still hitting about the same. It’ll be interesting to see what the lineup looks like With Keachall and Buxton in it. I’m not in favor of the trades that were done, and I think what they did to louie Varland is absolutely inexcusable. You take a fan favorite who is a local and you crap all over them and you help make his life a lot more complicated. He did not deserve this. Falvey and Pohlad can burn in hell for that one. Joe Pohlad is the ultimate Nepo baby, a useless appendage on a team drawing $10 million a year because of his last name. He reminds me of a certain secretary of health for our country, who of his last name was Anderson wouldn’t even come close to having that job. The legacy of the Poland family will be lying to the public, trying to contract the team, trying to dump all their debt onto the team, and then claiming that they can’t make money, and paying themselves big salaries to accelerate the perception of losses. Talk about crapping on your name. Although the old man did that long before these fools. I think Falvy had to do what he was told to do. It doesn’t make his reputation any higher in my estimation. The only thing I can do is not renew my Season Tickets next year, which I intend to do.

Reading the Strib article tonight, I have one thing to say to the scumbag owners, after this year I will not renew flex tix, and I hope the Pohlads are proud of what they did to their legacy. They have padded the payroll with family, Pohlads illegitimate kid and they have shat on the fans too many times. What they did to Varland was despicable, Falvey must go with new owners, his approach is a failure. Pure and simple

I would offer a DFA with a minor-league contract for him to work on his game for a possible recall later in the year. Loyalty to vets is one thing but when you’re five or six games behind and you’re not making up any space you’re risking the entire season for loyalty. Tell me, how much good did Joey Gallo do the twins last year? also we are blocking deserving younger players. The one thing that is odd about this front office is its devotion to veterans and impatience with younger players to the point that we choke off their development. Players do run through cold streaks, like Santana, Margot and Farmer have, but when the clock is ticking on rookie contracts, Why waste time?

Veterans are a managers binky. Cheap vets are just that, cheap. And not effective. There a few glimmers of hope, the leader at AB is Buxton! He has become a streaky hitter, but still is great defensively. Correa will be back soon. I think spending 5-7 M on marginal vets vs. taking that money and getting a journeyman starter will look poor later in the year. The news that Lee has a herniated disc is bad news, this will likely be a lost year as he won’t likely effectively rehab in time this year, and if he gets surgery, the year is done.