ewen21

GRRRRRR!!!! Has to be today?

100% agree

The idea that this keeps him under team control longer really doesn't have a siliver lining to it anymore

Fungible? Is George Will in the house?

What about Jeff Cirillo or Phil Nevin?

I am simply going to close with this.... We as fans have the right to question management and so does the media. It is also the responsibility of Twins management to communicate effectively with the fanbase AND that we as fans can have some say in setting that bar. It is a normal and healthy relationship between a franchise and its constituency (if I can call it that). The fans foot the bill for the stadium, we buy tickets and consume the product. They darn well better embrace the idea that they "work for us". Without fans this team could have easily been contracted and how soon we forget that. I also don't like that people accept that general managers "lie for a living" and I reject the notion that any sports organization can "pull credentials" from reporters when the urge hits them. There needs to be grounds for it and reporters being critical or thorough is not enough. There would need to me some ethical or moral issue.

This analogy is silly, I am sorry. General managers cannot avoid interviews because it is part of their job to relate their plans and their intentions to the fan base. As magnanimous as Darius may be, he doesn't get radio and television coverage and doesn't have a fan base. He isn't in the sports entertainment industry so you are comparing apples to trout, actually more like apples to celestial bodies or something even more far out. I am not understanding why people accept that baseball executives are "paid to lie" and that they need to be terse and evasive and are somehow above the fray when it comes to the customer (us). As fans we can do things to hold them a bit more accountable. If you want to shrug your shoulders and just assume that is how it is then that is your prerogative. In other markets, the fan base does more to hold executives accountable. The Terry Ryan debacle only went on as long as it did because there was virtually no blowback from the fans or the media (with their irrational fear of losing access). It is possible to critique and organization without ranting and raving and acting like a Neanderthal. Well thought out critiques should be food for thought rather than viewed as" being negative" or "whining" and that to me is at the center of the issue we have here. There can be open dialogue without arms waving and people acting like salivating beasts. I get so tired of hearing criticism being equated to negative behaviors. To me it is negative to brush problems aside and not discuss them. Seems as if a lot of Twins fans give upper management way too much of a pass in that it is assumed they don't need to get into any of that on a sincere level. GMs can have no integrity and basically lie if they want to because it is assumed that is how they function. That is just messed up, sorry. I don't understand is the paranoia of the press covering this team. They hold the cards in this discussion more than the Twins do. As if the Twins will swipe credentials away if the reporting is not slanted in their favor? That is utterly absurd. They don't have the power to do that unless they have no grounds to make that decision. If they did have reporters 86'd for being "too probing" they need to deal with the court of public opinion and the national media. I have not heard of a beat reporter covering a team getting credentials swiped for being critical. Since when is being critical or probing being unprofessional? When I say this please do not assume that I give media free rein. They can operate within the parameters of reason and be a whole lot more valuable to us. Sorry, but I just don't get the mindset that figures sports executives are in control and the fan doesn't make a difference. I live in upstate NY and I can tell you Yankee fans and reporters of that team are obliged to speak up and it keeps the front office in check. Terry Ryan would not last two months in that market. An example.....Several years ago Mets manager Terry Collins blew up on a reporter and then apologized the next day because he caught hell for it from the fans and the radio guys. Fans and media should have carte blanche to check these guys so long as they aren't being ridiculous.

Whatever. I am interested in their mindset because I think their mindset is ridiculous. It is time for articulate fans to question that mindset, in my opinion

Wrong Tom. On the most literal level I work for the parents because they pay the taxes that pay my salary. They vote on the budget and they are free to question me and my brethren at board meetings. I wouldn't say you are being literal, but rather completely disconnected in this example. Your problem is that you are looking at baseball on an antiseptic level. Since when are we fans not part of the equation with regards to how teams operate? They better care about what we think. Baseball isn't a necessity. They need us a whole hell of a lot more than we need them.

i really would like to see Pohlad or whomever with the Twins attempt to "have a reporter's credentials pulled" for being a hardliner. They would get hit so hard by the national media they wouldn't know what which end was up. If a reporter is thorough, persistent and asks follow up questions that is not grounds for any action on the Twins part. If the reporter is vile, rude and dishonest or whatever then you have grounds. This fear of the Twins 'pulling credentials' from reporters for being too thorough is completely asinine. They have no grounds to do it unless certain ethical or moral issues were in play.

Not sure where you are going with this. I am a teacher and I have bosses (administrators) but my salary is paid for by the taxpayers. For you to say that Falvey, Levine and Molitor don't work for the fans is like saying I don't work for the parents in my district. They most certainly do work for us. If this team sucks for another few more years, and we are forced to deal with do-nothings and evasive tactics and fan interest begins to wane even more then it has maybe more people will begin to understand that the game is for the fans. Why do you think all that money went into building a new stadium? Why are television contracts so big? It is rather impersonal, and quite ridiculous, for these men to take us (the fans) out of the equation. As far as, the underlined comment about "having credentials pulled" what exactly would that entail? Short of unprofessional behavior and some sort of other incident, how could a team pull a journalist's credentials for simply asking questions about the team? Are you assuming that people who want the tough questions asked need a reporter to behave like Atilla the Hun? I would prefer a calm, but persistent style of reporting. Someone who isn't likely to play along with the BS. Someone who understands that they write for the people who read their column. Someone with INTEGRITY.

Not only that, by being evasive and terse they are insulting the diehard fans that basically are the bread and butter for the organization. As fans, they need us more than we need them. Everyone is accountable here. THe ownership, management, the players, the media and YES us the fans. If we are just going to stand idle and operate under the pretense that these guys are paid to lie and deceive us then we get what we deserve. This doesn't mean rant and rave like a maniac, but for heaven's sake.....can someone ask a follow up question in an interview? One of the most absurd notions I have ever heard is that reporters covering this team are worried they'd lose access if the Twins got "mad at them" so they best play along. What kind of baloney is that? If the Twins EVER cut off the media because they were "too hard on them" for asking tough baseball questions they would be ostracized by the entire major league fan base and every media outlet in the country. I so appreciate your words here, Darius. Show me a manager or administrator feels they are above the fray when the organization is failing and I will show you someone who isn't fit for the job.

There has to be a standard. For example, if Byron Buxton can't hit his weight then how long do you simply stick him out there to "learn at the major league level"?? We are supposed to allow players to be really bad for entire seasons with no concern for demotion? If that is what you are saying I don't agree with it. That isn't a sound development plan. I think we have been doing that already because there is zero competition in the high minors. There are very few options due to a horrendous lack of depth in Rochester and this is a big issue I have with Falvey and Levine.

To be perfectly honest, I do not require an explanation until much later on in the season. I was very satisfied with what they did with respect to roster moves. My main issues are Molitor, the culture and player development. And I don't expect them to speak as if they are on trial, but I am profoundly disappointed with how boring this team is and the backward steps Buxton, Sano, Kepler and (yes) Polanco took this year. How Sano and Buxton can be this lost is staggering to me. I am also thoroughly exasperated by these callups. There is no competition whatsoever in the high minors. Players don't even need to play well to be call up and that is a HUGE problem.

If he is missing the point then use other words to explain this premise

If the fans allow it they do it. If the fans can articulate their disapproval in a constructive way they don't last. This is how it is in other markets and it would be nice to see a little more of it from Twins fans.

I appreciate your point, but I am not of this mindset. I would prefer it if they were less evasive and more transparent and honest about things than what you suggest here. I think fans in general would be more appreciative of a more honest and forthright presentation. As a wise man once said....

I am sorry. DId not mean to respond in that way, but I hit post so....

Why are you jumping down my throat? I liked your post. I agree with you on Kepler but had other thoughts. Is this a bad thing? Sheesh

Yes, but we are playing in the worst division in baseball and we STILL won't sniff anything near .500 I read a lot about this place needing to be "more positive". Is it positive to ignore vast amounts of information in favor of a few sunny thoughts? That to me is actually a negative. It is time to start selling off the veterans and no one NO ONE should be off limits. Time to look to the future and completely change the culture. Start with Molitor and work you way down.

Tough to like a post such as this, but I appreciate sober thinking over "positivity" He seems to get a varitey of injuries every year and above all of it there is his propensity for running into walls and the migraine issues. I don't see how he lasts very long as an effective player in this league nless something changes very soon I would almost DH him exclusively in Rochester just to make the point that he has to hit and stay healthy

Liked for the Warren Zevon avatar (I will read the bio later)

Yes, and besides, Sano and Buxton have been healthy but they simply are not performing well enough to be with the big club. I have heard that these two being injured hurt the team although it is their performance that hurt the team a lot more

That is all very cute, but we know what happened last year.