in defense of the front office, they probably do have a plan.

The plan became derailed a bit last year when the Twins had a flicker of competitiveness. Then, suddenly, the Dave St. Peter end pushes to keep the train going up hill, because rebuilding teams are tough to sell and the name of the game is fans in the stands. So, if you can build on a momentum that might not actually be there, you try your best to do so.

The front office did. They put out feelers with $$$ for the top free agents. But unless they vastly overpay, why would someone come to Minnesota when they can play for a champion for the same amount of monies.

But it derailed the longterm plan with a short one to keep momentum going and Twins Territory viable after a football season that saw The Super Bowl as well as a Vikings team that ALMOST made it. ALMOST is a word commonly heard in Minnesota.

The front office is evaluating the talent from the former administration. They are giving long looks to the upper talents, like Sano and Buxton. That is what the new coaches and advisors and such were brought in to fix and motivate. But you can't motivate if the person isn't there.

Or maybe the manager (and his staff) can in other ways.

The reaity is that the front office is remaking the minor leagues, the "Twins Way" according to their own book. They [probably didn't want Molitor to begin with, but had to take him, and then how can you fire a "Manager of the Year." With Skinner at AAA, we see the potential replacement coming from outside, especially since all promising internal candidates were jettisoned this past offseason.

Admit it, folks. The front office did good getting some decently priced free agents to keep the momentum going. The disappointment has been in the injuries, the fallback of major league guys who might still comeback in another season (or two), and the lack of leadership in the clubhouse. Who leads when your stars are potential free agents, your veterans are one-year rentals, and you got a bunch of guys who still haven't learned that all the natural talent in the world doesn't help if you don't work it on the field each and everyday. it's a new game, and if you don't cut it, someone is there to take your place.You need to play the game and be a baseball player to make the big bucks, get the big contract. You have to last the seasons. 

But, don't blame the front office entirely either. They wanted to build a team in their image and got sidetracked and the powers higher want to sell tickets, concessions and parking places.

in defense of the front office, they probably do have a plan.

 

The plan became derailed a bit last year when the Twins had a flicker of competitiveness. Then, suddenly, the Dave St. Peter end pushes to keep the train going up hill, because rebuilding teams are tough to sell and the name of the game is fans in the stands. So, if you can build on a momentum that might not actually be there, you try your best to do so.

 

The front office did. They put out feelers with $$$ for the top free agents. But unless they vastly overpay, why would someone come to Minnesota when they can play for a champion for the same amount of monies.

 

But it derailed the longterm plan with a short one to keep momentum going and Twins Territory viable after a football season that saw The Super Bowl as well as a Vikings team that ALMOST made it. ALMOST is a word commonly heard in Minnesota.

 

The front office is evaluating the talent from the former administration. They are giving long looks to the upper talents, like Sano and Buxton. That is what the new coaches and advisors and such were brought in to fix and motivate. But you can't motivate if the person isn't there.

 

Or maybe the manager (and his staff) can in other ways.

 

The reaity is that the front office is remaking the minor leagues, the "Twins Way" according to their own book. They [probably didn't want Molitor to begin with, but had to take him, and then how can you fire a "Manager of the Year." With Skinner at AAA, we see the potential replacement coming from outside, especially since all promising internal candidates were jettisoned this past offseason.

 

Admit it, folks. The front office did good getting some decently priced free agents to keep the momentum going. The disappointment has been in the injuries, the fallback of major league guys who might still comeback in another season (or two), and the lack of leadership in the clubhouse. Who leads when your stars are potential free agents, your veterans are one-year rentals, and you got a bunch of guys who still haven't learned that all the natural talent in the world doesn't help if you don't work it on the field each and everyday. it's a new game, and if you don't cut it, someone is there to take your place.You need to play the game and be a baseball player to make the big bucks, get the big contract. You have to last the seasons. 

 

But, don't blame the front office entirely either. They wanted to build a team in their image and got sidetracked and the powers higher want to sell tickets, concessions and parking places.

You are much more generous than I am.  

They spent a lot of wasted time chasing the big name, and if you check my posts I was totally against it.  Turns out the cubs wish the Twins had signed him.  But to the point we did not need one big name, we needed a number of parts and they waited until the sweepstakes were over.  Morrison, Odorizzi, Lynn, Reed, Rodney, Duke, Motter, LaMarre, Cave, Belisle are at best a C- effort.

I did not like their aversion to the young players we had and I have not seen all their Twins Way guys shining in their jobs.  

It is possible they will be great guys and have some magical plan, but right now count me as a non-believer who will be happy if you are the one that is right. 

The FO did a good job in the pitching department in the off-seesaon. They got us 2 mid rotation starters in Lynn and Odorizzi, a proven closer in Rodney, a solid lefty in Duke, and what should have been a good 8th inning guy in Reed. Reed's problems are because Molitor overused him.  That's not the FO's fault.  

 

Less of a good job with hitters, although everyone is simply an injury replacement other than Morrison. Big swing and a miss on him, or maybe a foul back because maybe he gets better. The hitting sucks because Sano is missing in action, Buxton hasn't developed, and Kepler is regressing, not progressing. Wilson's only here because Castro got hurt and they just moved up Astudillo. There isn't much help at AAA, but that's the former regime's guys. It's hard to blame the lack of hitting on the FO. 

 

Mixed result by the FO this off season. Mixed to poor result by the coaching staff in improving and playing what they were given. The real test of both the FO and Molitor will be in the next few weeks.  How well does the FO move up the few guys we have at AAA that deserve a look?  Can they get value for or extend (my preference) Lynn and Escobar? Can they turn Duke and/or Rodney into a real prospect? Nobody else we have has any real value (Dozier, Morrison, etc.). 

 

On Molitor, will he/can he play the guys who need playing time to develop like Cave, Astudillo, Busenitz and Adrianza? Or will he fall back to the tried, true and not very good vets like Dozier, Wilson and Belisle?  I think we'll get a quick read on Molitor when we see how much he plays Astudillo and whether he sits Adrianza and continues to play Dozier when  Polanco comes back. If performance equals playing time, Polanco shoudl play 2b, Adrianza stays as the everyday SS, Escobar plays 3B and Dozier goes to DH and occasionally spell the other IFs.  If he puts Adrianza on the bench and runs Dozier out there every day, then we know that a lot of this is on Molitor. 

I enjoyed your post even though we differ in grading the FO.  Odorizzi and Lynn were last minute bottom of the barrel picks - like Morrison.  If we wanted Lynn we should have signed him early enough to get him in Spring Training.  Last minute signings seldom work out.  Remember how we handled Kendrys Morales. 

For a team looking forward 41 year old Rodney and 38 year old Belisle is hardly a progress set of signings.

When Castro went down, what did we do?   When Polanco was suspended, what did we do? I like your optimism, but the Falvey/Levine duo has done nothing to win me over. 

Just wanted to do a little critiquing here... what's with the comparison of Mauer to Goldschmidt? They're not even close to being the same player at this point. I don't care that Rodney is 41 - he pitches like he's 28 with his stuff still at high speeds. Sure, he's not a "future" piece, but weren't we trying to win this season? He helped accomplish that goal. Signing Belisle though... that has no defense. He's washed up and has nothing left in his arm and everyone knows it.

Shouldn't we let Gordon work things out in the minors until he's ready? We've shot flak at the FO before for calling up prospects before they were ready, so perhaps we should try to be patient. Adrianza has done a solid job holding down SS compared to how most of us thought he'd play.

I really liked the FO's moves over the offseason, even if they're being retroactively viewed as bargain bin moves. Clearly we should have given Darvish $22M+ over 6 years, right?

My current problem with the FO is their apathy and lack of proactiveness. Why is Bobby Wilson and Belisle still on the roster? Grossman's bat has regressed and he has no defensive position - he's a AAA player now. A lot of these guys look like they belong in the minors, and I wish there's something we could do to get some awful hitters out of the lineup.

Just wanted to do a little critiquing here... what's with the comparison of Mauer to Goldschmidt? They're not even close to being the same player at this point. I don't care that Rodney is 41 - he pitches like he's 28 with his stuff still at high speeds. Sure, he's not a "future" piece, but weren't we trying to win this season? He helped accomplish that goal. Signing Belisle though... that has no defense. He's washed up and has nothing left in his arm and everyone knows it.

 

Shouldn't we let Gordon work things out in the minors until he's ready? We've shot flak at the FO before for calling up prospects before they were ready, so perhaps we should try to be patient. Adrianza has done a solid job holding down SS compared to how most of us thought he'd play.

 

I really liked the FO's moves over the offseason, even if they're being retroactively viewed as bargain bin moves. Clearly we should have given Darvish $22M+ over 6 years, right?

 

My current problem with the FO is their apathy and lack of proactiveness. Why is Bobby Wilson and Belisle still on the roster? Grossman's bat has regressed and he has no defensive position - he's a AAA player now. A lot of these guys look like they belong in the minors, and I wish there's something we could do to get some awful hitters out of the lineup.

I am not knocking Mauer, but if we are looking at the resources that Lovullo has versus Molitor, this is one fact.  A star in his prime, a star at the end. Rodney is doing well this year, but this team is not ready for the big time and Rodney will not be at his prime either when we are. 

Personally I think the FO has been too slow in moving the young players.  Have you noticed the age of the stars and players who have been moving up for the Astros, Indians, Yankees and others.  Is there a reason our have to have so much seasoning?

I do not like the FO and it will take a lot to bring me over.  I really liked your last paragraph. 

Just wanted to do a little critiquing here... what's with the comparison of Mauer to Goldschmidt? They're not even close to being the same player at this point. I don't care that Rodney is 41 - he pitches like he's 28 with his stuff still at high speeds. Sure, he's not a "future" piece, but weren't we trying to win this season? He helped accomplish that goal. Signing Belisle though... that has no defense. He's washed up and has nothing left in his arm and everyone knows it.

 

Shouldn't we let Gordon work things out in the minors until he's ready? We've shot flak at the FO before for calling up prospects before they were ready, so perhaps we should try to be patient. Adrianza has done a solid job holding down SS compared to how most of us thought he'd play.

 

I really liked the FO's moves over the offseason, even if they're being retroactively viewed as bargain bin moves. Clearly we should have given Darvish $22M+ over 6 years, right?

 

My current problem with the FO is their apathy and lack of proactiveness. Why is Bobby Wilson and Belisle still on the roster? Grossman's bat has regressed and he has no defensive position - he's a AAA player now. A lot of these guys look like they belong in the minors, and I wish there's something we could do to get some awful hitters out of the lineup.

Really like this post a lot!

Going back for a moment to a comment you made Mike, I don't feel in any way Lynn or Odorizzi were late, bottom of the barrel moves. The market was strange last season, and slow, to say the least. While not top talents, each of these guys had shown real MLB ability and success. After losing out on Darvish, thankfully it appears, they made a pair of solid moves here. This was not dumpster diving. The Reed signing was also late, but universally hailed as a good move and potential steal. We can argue all day about the Rodney Experience and his notorious slow starts, but if the age number is removed from the equation, he has not only had a nice career, but some of his best years have been lately.

I might debate with you, but not dismiss your opinion, that Sano and Buxton struggles, and Kepler's recent regression, are the fault of the coaching staff, but I don't see where that is the fault of the FO.

There have been moves, and non moves, the FO has made, and not made, that have me frustrated and confused. But injuries, suspensions, and overall poor offensive performances are not their fault or responsibility.

Now, the catching situation is a huge issue, and I won't discount that for a moment. Though, to be fair, a healthy Castro and a young Garver as his backup learning on the job is very different than what we are facing now. Though again, in the interest of being fair, offensively speaking, this is not what is dooming production on this season.

And I absolutely agree that moves like Belisle, and Motter to a lesser degree, are frustrating as hell vs promotion. Fine, pick up Motter for depth and a flier. But as someone to count on? Come on!

Reading Seth's interview on Gordon, I am reminded again how much he has flashed, and developed but how young he is. Would it really been in his, or the team's, best interest to promote him weeks ago?

Going forward even with mistakes made, I agree in taking the time to look at more young players. FWIW, we've seen several recent level promotions and I think more are coming. But Belisle like moves have to stop, and stop now. And unless they are convinced Castro will be 100%, and still like Garver, they need to make a move here. (Side note, I like Garver's arm and game calling. I can live with some still developing deficiencies if he could/would just hit to his seeming potential).

Even a career norm for Morrison, he'd be a solid addition. Same with all the staff additions. Ironic that we have the best overall staff we've had in years even with holes, but the offense has just been inept.

Other than better AAA depth, something I've talked about since the season began, the FO has mostly done their job. I think where you and I would agree though, is what do they do going forward. Address catcher. Get rid of Belisle. Run the Rochester shuttle back and forth, as they did last season, and audition the prospects for the second half.

At some point, the fault of the season comes down to Molitor and his staff, injuries, and the players themselves.

Morrison? It's a mistake.

Belisle? They signed him because they were drunk.

Wilson and Motter? They need veteran players and those two happen to be available and able to field those positions. I am sure they are looking for someone better offensively now.

If anyone saw the Twins and Cubs wilt in the heat of a monster scoring game and saw the ending outfield, it says all that needs to be said about the new baseball strategy.  No bench, we should have filled the outfield with pitchers. 

It looks like they are secretly working for Cleveland.

I think that 4 - 15 in one run games says it all.  If we lose the next one run game to put us at .200 we will be at a little less than 1/2 the major league record which is around .380.  This is on the manager.

I think that 4 - 15 in one run games says it all.  If we lose the next one run game to put us at .200 we will be at a little less than 1/2 the major league record which is around .380.  This is on the manager.

Our big additions to the team are WIllians who is a fun story, but not an OF, a short bench because we carry all those pitchers, then not enough pitchers after the heat wave series so we have to use Littell a rookie starting pitcher because the others are not available.  Where are the players Molitor is supposed to use?  Happily Willians gave us some energy, but the roster management is FO I believe and the BP has been a mess.