Nightengale: Twins Interviewing Doug Mientkiewicz Today

[drjim]

The first question is probably simply one of whether or not the person is secure or insecre with their job.  I could also see the Twins preferring Doug as a head coach in the minors if they view him as a coach of the future.

 

It does seem that if Mientkiewicz is passed over that moving to AA makes a lot of sense. Give him a little bit more experience as a manager and then move him up to the mlb staff. This plan especially makes sense if Molitor gets the job.

[Steven Buhr]

I wonder if whom ever is picked, if they would want the other as a bench coach, or would the dynamics of that not work.

The bigger question is who would be their (Molitor's or Mint's) choice for a Pitching Coach.

The pitching coach question is the more interesting, to me. I kind of suspect that, if Ryan stays internal for his manager, he might want someone from outside the organization as the pitching coach. One would assume Mientkiewicz and Molitor have no shortage of contacts outside of the Twins that they'd be comfortable with.

[nicksaviking]

Strange that these two are already being called "finalists."  How many finalists are there going to be?  I still haven't heard a word about interviewing one of the "outside" or Latin voices Ryan said he was going to consider at the press conference.

[Craig Arko]

The pitching coach question is the more interesting, to me. I kind of suspect that, if Ryan stays internal for his manager, he might want someone from outside the organization as the pitching coach. One would assume Mientkiewicz and Molitor have no shortage of contacts outside of the Twins that they'd be comfortable with.

 

Agree 100%. That's going to be a really interesting choice. Have already heard Morris and Viola mentioned more than once, although not by anyone involved in the decision-making, of course.

[Steven Buhr]

Strange that these two are already being called "finalists."  How many finalists are there going to be?  I still haven't heard a word about interviewing one of the "outside" or Latin voices Ryan said he was going to consider at the press conference.

Not sure if "finalists" is accurate, but they're the two who have confirmed interviews, so at least they are known to be under consideration. Some of the outside guys are still busy coaching.

[Parker Hageman]

If it's being an "apologist" to point out that, with essentially the same roster of position players, Mientkiewicz had that group attempt to steal just 5 more bases than Mauer did a year earlier in CR with the same guys, I plead guilty.

I'd be pretty excited at this point with either a Mientkiewicz or Molitor hire. I just think the stolen base thing is a reach in terms of using it as a factor to come to a conclusion and certainly when it also could be used to paint Mauer as someone locked in to being passive when it comes to baserunning, because I've seen no evidence of that the past 2 years.

 

 

You know I kid because I love. 

 

I will point out that the 2013 Kernels and 2014 Miracle did not have the same team -- Jake had Buxton. Only having Buxton in Fort Myers for a fraction of the time (with injuries) definitely hinder the SBO numbers.

 

 

It's a fair point -- like I said, just citing the stolen base totals do not tell the entire story. I certainly would not gauge Doug Mientkiewicz's managerial candidacy on being able to generate more stolen bases than the previous manager. And you are correct, there may be some unfair portrayal of Mauer's tendencies based on his first two years of managing in Ft Myers. It is entirely possible that the front office did not want him to steal or that he was not entirely comfortable doing so those two years in Ft Myers. It was not meant as an attempt to knock Jake.

 

 

We don't have nearly the same access to baserunning stats in the minors as we do at the bigs so the little crumbs of data providing tell just a partial story. 

 

In all, this was supposed to be a smaller component of a larger picture. I think Brice Zimmerman's observations -- who watched both managers in action -- carry a much heftier weight than just the stolen base numbers:

 

Now Brice Zimmerman -- the voice of the Miracle in the Florida State League and an excellent follow on Twitter @ZimMiracle -- tweeted back at me that Mientkiewicz has his team being very aggressive when it comes to the basepaths -- running and advancing a lot on balls in the dirt and sending runners a lot more to force a play at the plate.

 

 

Much like Mientkiewicz's baserunning aggressiveness, Molitor has the same skillset and mindframe that has led to more productive baserunning. With Molitor working the bases more, the team increased their tendencies from going from 1st-to-3rd when a single is hit and the amount of times they moved up a base.

 

For this one aspect of the manager's game, I like both Mientkiewicz and Molitor.  

[tobi0040]

Strange that these two are already being called "finalists."  How many finalists are there going to be?  I still haven't heard a word about interviewing one of the "outside" or Latin voices Ryan said he was going to consider at the press conference.

 

My prediction is that the job is Dougs or Molitors and outside candidates are going to be interviewed so the club does not look tone deaf. 

 

I agree with SD though that for the same reason, the pitching coach is an outsider.

 

I think after the outside manager box is checked, (say after 2-3 guys interview), the internal name leaks.

[Willihammer]

How would Mientkiewicz manage with a club of slow-footed mashers? Guys like, just to pick some players at random, Kennys Vargas, Miguel Sano, Josmil Pinto, Oswaldo Arcia, (cough) Trevor Plouffe, and (cough) Joe Mauer?

[Willihammer]

Molitor is very much in favor of shifting. He was the person in charge of the team's ailment and used data supplied by the analytics department.

What about Mientkiewicz?

[Kwak]

Does MLB have rule (similar to the NFL) concerning interviewing minorities for manager positions?

[Seth Stohs]

I hope people realize that there is no way of knowing how any of these guys would manage if given the opportunity. 

 

It's not like Mientkiewicz would send Vargas on a bunch of stolen base attempts. A good manager has to adapt to his roster.

 

Both (Molitor and Mientkiewicz) are smart ball players. Both will want hard-working, gritty guys on their roster. Both are open to advanced metrics. Beyond that, have to kind of see. 

 

Mientkiewicz said in the interview that he is open and will listen to anything that he thinks will help his team win. That's all I need to know. I don't want a guy going by the book all the time. I want a guy willing to play a hunch and then stand by it.

[Platoon]

Not to beat an exited horse to death, but it was one of my pet peeves about Gardy, he always started the year exclaiming how the Twins were going to run a lot, be aggressive on the paths, etc. but he really was not an aggressive manager. A question? Do all/most managers just use a "run if you want sign"? It seems to me that is leaving your job security in the hands of a 24 year old. Does anyone know the percentages of successful sacrifice attempts (bunt) vs successful steal percentage. I know there are a lot of factors besides just that number involved. I just thought major league managers never ran enough. That steal of 3rd in KC the other night saved their year. Talk about cojones.

[diehardtwinsfan]

I remember a quote from the disastrous playoff series against the Angels (also known as The Week Adam Freaking Kennedy Killed The Twins).  Gardy had gone out to the mound to make a pitching change, and there was kind of a disturbance among the group while they were waiting for the reliever to come in from the bullpen.  As we heard later, what happened was Mint disapproved of the choice, and, while standing on the mound, said "Isn't Kyle Lohse still on this team?"  Gardy chose to express some displeasure of his own about who got to choose the reliever and who didn't.

 

Seemed to me like Lohse was the right choice in that situation, too, even before it blew up on us.  I like Mint.

I remember this story, though I thought it was some guy named Johan Santana that Dougie was asking about.