BrandonB

I find myself coming down the middle on the impact on Hunter's influence. I am a die-hard Twins fan but happen to live in Kansas City. James Shields had a similar affect on the '14 Royals. Much like Hunter did last year with a mostly young team--he taught the guys it was "OK to still smile after losses," as someone put it above, as well as really celebrate the wins. Shields left after the failed WS bid but the Royals had enough guys to keep the "juice" Shields brought to the clubhouse flowing into 2015. That's where the comparison ends. To me, the Twins are 10-27 because they've done practically nothing well on-the-field. Their starters have been terrible, the front end and middle of their bullpen has been atrocious for roughly half of a decade and for the most part they've had AAA talent in the lineup, or they're getting AAA production from MLB talent, in roughly that same amount of time. Like some others have suggested, 2015 looks to be an anomaly that can't really be explained by anything other than luck. Unfortunately I don't have the time or the money (for the MLB package) to follow the team like I am sure most you guys do, so my last paragraph could be way off. Just seems like we've been waiting for 6 years now for a team that looks anything remotely like the team that won 94 games in 2010. Mostly we've been told to be patient on the prospects (Buxton, Sano, Berrios, et al) and I am still of the belief that they will all be quality MLB players for the long haul. From the outside looking in (sort of -- I don't get to actually watch any games, just see box scores and live trackers) it just seems that the production has failed to match the talent and to me that is a systemic problem for any sports franchise. Something that goes far beyond one players influence on the clubhouse or the product they're putting on the field for 162 a year.