Article: Front Office Flop for the Twins?

[Riverbrian]

I have no idea what structural changes were made and I have no idea what structural changes will be made going forward.

 

But I’m pretty sure that If anyone was expecting a sudden shift in direction, you were nearly certain to be disappointed.

 

Things rarely change on a dime when an existing staff experiences a change of leadership and you have to get rid of any notion that Terry Ryan or Thad Lavine make decisions by themselves in a vacuum.

 

I’ve never witnessed it personally but I’m willing to bet any amount of money that Terry Ryan-Falvey/Lavine -All GMs have authorized the signing of players sight unseen by themselves on the recommendation of their staff.

 

It is hard to say who the advocate for Belisle was. Whoever it was... if it works like it is supposed to. His future recommendations will carry less weight.

[mike8791]

Getting into this belatedly, but kudos to Ted for putting the FO on the firing line, as well as all the great TD comments.  My two cents, as a long-time Senators/Twins fan, who wants at least one more title in my lifetime:

 

1. When all is said and done, Jim Pohlad and ownership is ultimately responsible for this organization's success and failure.  While replacing the Ryan regime was a long overdue move, there still remain questions as to the Pohlads' commitment to winning.  Has anyone ever heard this man say he is committed to winning a championship?  I know I never have and without such a statement to drive this franchise to that goal, chances are they never will. This total lack of commitment was illustrated by their obstinancy in sticking Falvey with Molitor and, need it be said, settling for two totally untested new executives who had never run anything in their professional lives(more on this later).  Wouldn't McLeod from the hugely successful Epstein clan been more sensible?

 

2. A lot of TD readers have commented, rightfully I believe, that this season's failure cannot be placed at Falvey's feet.  Last year was obviously a blip in the five year rebuild; instead, it probably will set back the rebuild by one or two years, unless the core re-emerges from their year-long slumber.  Falvey and company had to resign the MOY Molitor and owed it to the team and fans to fill holes in the offseason that could catapult them into playoff contention, hopefully beyond a one game playoff.  They spent money, picked up some (seemingly) solid vets and rolled the dice.  The fact they lost key players and the core collapsed is not on them.  It's on the players, the previous regime for high draft failures, and yes, continuing organization failure.

 

3. These excuses do not absolve Falvey from blame, however.  They selected their two major coaches(hitting and pitching) from obscurity - in an offseason loaded with proven winners.  As many have said previously, Rowson deserves some of the blame for the hitter's subpar performance.  Is anyone surprised the yankees never saw fit to promote him to the major league club.  The jury is still out on Alston, but his resume was scanty, and can anyone name a pitcher who has improved this year under his tutelage?  Falvey's hiring of these two nonentities brings back chilling memories of Ryan's propensity for bottom fishing in the offseason.  Again, aren't these two coaches far more important to player development than all the stat heads they've brought aboard?

 

With all the suggestions from TD readers on this thread, I do not need to cover well tread ground, except to try to summarize what I think is the best way forward:

 

1. Barring a complete second half turnaround, Molitor must be fired, as well as his entire coaching staff at the end of the season.  This will be the ultimate test of Pohlad's commitment to fielding a winner and Falvey's leadership to push this thru.  If he can't, he should resign.  It is clear to everyone that Mollie just doesn't have the needed leadership qualities to manage a championship team.  Ownership must pony up the money and hire the best man available(Joe Maddon-like would be nice).

 

2. As many have pointed out, the rest of the season must be devoted to jettison players who will not be part of a contending club.  The list is distressingly long:  Mauer, Dozier, Morrison, Rodney, Duke, Grossman, Santana, Lynn.  Enough of the retreads - better to look at what you really have in the minors, as well as Sano and Buxton.  Bottom line:  get started now on this plan before wasting another year or two on hopes and prayers.  Players either perform or they're out.

 

3. A greater shakeup of their minor leagues needs to be done.  There still remain too many holdovers from the old regime to know whether the old philosophies have been buried once and for all.  So far, Falvey has brought in some replacements but left a lot of the old managers and coaches.  Is Toby managing CR because of ability or heritage?  The same pitching and hitting coaches still remain, for the most part.  And what about the scouting department?  One Johnson replaced another one.  Is this a sweeping overhaul of a bunch that picked Stewart, Jay, Gordon at the top of the draft.  No way of knowing who was responsible, but IMO, anyone still lingering from the Ryan regime should be canned.  There just can be no compassion for failure to compete in today's game.

 

And if all else fails and things continue drearily as they have for the past 8 years, perhaps a boycott by Twins' ticketholders will convince Pohlad his time is up and a new ownership group committed to winning is what the city and its fans really deserve.  He can go back to banking where the P/L statement is most important.  Carl would approve!

[mikelink45]

 

No point in DFA'ing Motter until you have someone else who needs the 40-man spot to join the 25-man roster.

Also no reason to hurry his rehab assignment - we do have players to replace him. 

[Doomtints]

New SP inconsistencies aside, the Twins would have been fine this year if the people who were expected to hit the ball had actually done so.

 

Morrison was a terrible pick-up, which was obvious all along, but no one expected Dozier, Sano and Buxton to be terrible (maybe one of them, but not all of them). Also no one expected to be without Polanco for most of the year. No one expected Castro to be as bad as he was either, nor Garver.

 

This is the second year on Molitor's watch where the hitting took a nose dive, and yes this team could actually do the unfathomable and lose 100 games again.

 

Sure the front office made a blunder or two (Morrison? Really?) but the front office wasn't wrong to expect half of the hitters on the team to simply perform as they had performed before.

[yarnivek1972]

Why do you say this? If it’s based on the play in the majors, most of those guys, if not all, were developed under the previous regime. At what point is it a development issue or a manager/coaching issue? (I already said I think their biggest mistake was signing Molitor for 3 yrs.) I think seeing what becomes of Sano will tell us more about this FO’s development program, if it’s not too late. And maybe it is. I’m not sure it’s fair to expect instantaneous results on that front. They didn’t really start replacing people throughout the minors until this past off season, so when is the right time to grade that? That’s partly why I’m on the fence because some of these things take time to grade.

My recollection is that they replaced - or “reassigned” a handful of people. Meaning an awful lot (and by that I mean they are an awful lot) of them are left. Given the glaring failure of the player development staff under the previous regime, the changes made seem token at best. It’s a department that needed (and still needs) a complete overhaul. The Twins need to have the best player development program they can get because the majority of their core players are always going to come through the system. It should have been their first priority. Now, how many of the picks they made the last two years are going to be taught poorly by the staff from yesteryear?

 

Falvey and Levine have not had any kind of coherent plan from day one. Poor roster management at the MLB level and now an apparent unwillingness to break up the “old boys network” from the previous regime.

 

I’ll wager that most new GMs and heads baseball ops that have been hired in similar situations weren’t so slow to make changes. They haven’t impressed me at all.

[beckmt]

Question for Seth, how could so many scouts, writers, analysts be that wrong if both Buxton and Sano turn out to be busts.  Buxton will still have marginal value for a few years as a 4th outfielder, but Sano could turn out to be a total bust.  

I feel the FO has to make that determination at this time.  If both Sano and Buxton fail next year, we will be into a new 5 - 10 year rebuild and neither of them will have any trade value.  If the group of posters are correct the coaches and manager are failures, not so much the FO.

My solution is you need accountability. and a manager who has some fire.  Despite his non analytical approach I would fire Molly and put Dougie in the dugout.  He is not afraid to pull players for bonehead plays and enforce accountabity. See what happens, it could not be worse than now.

[Squirrel]

Question for Seth, how could so many scouts, writers, analysts be that wrong if both Buxton and Sano turn out to be busts.  Buxton will still have marginal value for a few years as a 4th outfielder, but Sano could turn out to be a total bust.  

I feel the FO has to make that determination at this time.  If both Sano and Buxton fail next year, we will be into a new 5 - 10 year rebuild and neither of them will have any trade value.  If the group of posters are correct the coaches and manager are failures, not so much the FO.

My solution is you need accountability. and a manager who has some fire.  Despite his non analytical approach I would fire Molly and put Dougie in the dugout.  He is not afraid to pull players for bonehead plays and enforce accountabity. See what happens, it could not be worse than now.

If the previous regime’s failure in accurately assessing and developing players, wasn’t Doug M a part of that? As much as I liked him, and wanted him as manager when Mollie was hired, I have to wonder.

[jorgenswest]

If the previous regime’s failure in accurately assessing and developing players, wasn’t Doug M a part of that? As much as I liked him, and wanted him as manager when Mollie was hired, I have to wonder.

Did Mientkiewicz prioritize wins over development? What would that mean for his players as they transition to the majors? Are they left with fundamentals/approach that worked in AA or A ball but not in the majors? Probably not. Sano came up with a pretty good approach. It doesn’t matter today anyway.

 

Drastic measures were needed and keeping Sano and Buxton down for a long stay in the minors might be the best hope to right their careers. That takes time. Send them to instructional also. It might be best to see them again next spring.

[Circus Boy]

Enjoying all the good commentary. My 2 cents....

 

This team has shown remarkable resilience, but also an equally remarkable ability to be just good enough to lose. All the walk-off and one-run defeats and almost comebacks take a toll. Still, a nice run of solid games leading up to the break may be just the ticket to heating up the batting and pitching stats and chalking up Ws more often than not.

[old nurse]

 

Why am I unable to like or quote any of these comments? It's very frustrating!

The opinions expressed are not like material in insight nor do they inspire further discussion, nor are they so bad that you can resisted nor does any comment seem like much more of the usual rehash

Edited July 8, 2018 by old nurse

[beckmt]

 

If the previous regime’s failure in accurately assessing and developing players, wasn’t Doug M a part of that? As much as I liked him, and wanted him as manager when Mollie was hired, I have to wonder.

Dougie got good results from Sano and Buxton, maybe tough love is the way to go with those players.

[jorgenswest]

Dougie got good results from Sano and Buxton, maybe tough love is the way to go with those players.

Maybe he never forced them to address their flaws knowing that with change comes struggle. With struggle more losses. Was it more important to him to win games or develop players?

 

Those flaws didn’t get exposed until the majors. Could they have been addressed in the minors?

[yarnivek1972]

Maybe he never forced them to address their flaws knowing that with change comes struggle. With struggle more losses. Was it more important to him to win games or develop players?

 

Those flaws didn’t get exposed until the majors. Could they have been addressed in the minors?

Buxton’s biggest flaw has been pitch recognition from day one. If it wasn’t addressed prior to his reaching the majors, that’s a total system failure, not one guy. And, the one guy who was responsible for the system that was in place was fired.

[Thrylos]

 

 

 

The jury is still out on Alston, but his resume was scanty, and can anyone name a pitcher who has improved this year under his tutelage?

Berrios, Gibson, Hildenberger, Pressly, Slegers.  Matter of fact from the 2017 Twins' pitchers, only Rogers is having a worse 2018.

Edited July 8, 2018 by Thrylos

[terrydactyls]

A lot of people (or a few people with multiple comments) have remarked on Garver's lack of hitting and bad defense. I just took a quick look at MLB.com at hitting statistics for MLB catchers. Garver has the 7th highest batting average in all of major league baseball for catchers with at least 150 official plate appearances. He should be playing nearly all the remaining games to see if his defense can improve. It never will sitting on the bench. This year is lost so start working on 2019.

[TheLeviathan]

Dougie got good results from Sano and Buxton, maybe tough love is the way to go with those players.

He might have also ignored more important issues like pitch recognition in favor of being old school and tough.

[beckmt]

 

Maybe he never forced them to address their flaws knowing that with change comes struggle. With struggle more losses. Was it more important to him to win games or develop players?

Those flaws didn’t get exposed until the majors. Could they have been addressed in the minors?

Sano's issues surfaced only later after some success in the majors.  It is possible that can happen, but not as likely (we have all seen some players like that, but it usually starts with an ultra high level of batted plays in play to hits).

[old nurse]

 

He might have also ignored more important issues like pitch recognition in favor of being old school and tough.

He might not have had anu clue as to what the player's flaws were

[Riverbrian]

We simply have no idea how insubordinate Doug M may have been to new ideas brought by the new regime.

 

I have no idea obviously but that would be the first place I’d look when trying to figure out why he was let go. There was a change and some people don’t change and some people tell everybody around them that they are not going to change.

[howieramone2]

 

There is one last thing that Flavine need to do:  Finalize the clean up in the FO and get rid of TR's buddies still there.   I am not convinced that they are not the ones who are responsible for the mess with the veterans and I am convinced that they are the ones who are feeding the likes of Souhan and Reusse tidbits against players.   Unless that front office gets rid  of the people who brought you Park and Nishioka and extended Capps and Hughes, there will be no progress.

Enough hatred for TR, he's long gone. Falvey said the other day, they have already brought in guys from 15-16   other organizations. 

Edited July 9, 2018 by howieramone2

[mngopherguy]

 

Personally... I’m not sure.

I’ve seen Garver catch some nice pitching performances so I don’t think he is catastrophic in that regard.

However... in this environment... dying for a hit and not dying on the mound. Playing Wilson over Garver seems like treating the heart attack victim with a nose job.

 

I think you have to pick your poison for sure.  I believe the pitchers are asking for Wilson.  

 

[mngopherguy]

 

Berrios, Gibson, Hildenberger, Pressly, Slegers.  Matter of fact from the 2017 Twins' pitchers, only Rogers is having a worse 2018.

 

I was with some Twins minor league instructors at a non profit event this past weekend.  They said some nice things about Alston, which you would expect.  I found it interesting how Alston does not believe in a true slide step because he believes it's not worth the loss of velocity.  It seems they are teaching a small V kick to keep velocity up and to get the ball to home quicker than the windup.  It was an interesting conversation.  

[Riverbrian]

 

I think you have to pick your poison for sure.  I believe the pitchers are asking for Wilson.  

 

Molitor has to tell the pitchers that he is in charge. 

[mngopherguy]

 

Molitor has to tell the pitchers that he is in charge. 

 

I see what you are saying, but if my pitchers are more comfortable with one catcher, I'm willing to play him.  Or find a 3rd catcher.  

[Riverbrian]

 

I see what you are saying, but if my pitchers are more comfortable with one catcher, I'm willing to play him.  Or find a 3rd catcher.  

 

I agree unless the context of the team is desperate need for offense. If offense is killing the club, pitchers asking for a preferred catcher could be counter productive to addressing the weak points and the primary reason why a manager is necessary. Managers need to make the decisions that are important to the club and not to the pitchers personal preferences. 

 

Brian Dozier shouldn't get to pick where he hits in the order either.    

 

 

[mngopherguy]

 

I agree unless the context of the team is desperate need for offense. If offense is killing the club, pitchers asking for a preferred catcher could be counter productive to addressing the weak points and the primary reason why a manager is necessary. Managers need to make the decisions that are important to the club and not to the pitchers personal preferences. 

 

Brian Dozier shouldn't get to pick where he hits in the order either.    

 

It also is under the prefix that I'm even right considering the pitchers desires.  Wilson's numbers are brutal for MLB, but I don't consider him to be killing the offense.  Plenty of guys are not having good years.  Maybe I'm old school with catchers, I still view them as defensive players and game callers.  If they can hit, it's a huge bonus.  

 

 

 

[Riverbrian]

 

It also is under the prefix that I'm even right considering the pitchers desires.  Wilson's numbers are brutal for MLB, but I don't consider him to be killing the offense.  Plenty of guys are not having good years.  Maybe I'm old school with catchers, I still view them as defensive players and game callers.  If they can hit, it's a huge bonus.  

 

In reality, I have the same view of catchers that you do, I'm just not as hard on Garver as others. In the end, I do agree with you. Others are much more to blame than Wilson.

 

As a matter of fact, I often agree with you. 

 

You should probably be concerned about that. 

[mngopherguy]

 

In reality, I have the same view of catchers that you do, I'm just not as hard on Garver as others. In the end, I do agree with you. Others are much more to blame than Wilson.

 

As a matter of fact, I often agree with you. 

 

You should probably be concerned about that. 

 

I'm a bit torn on Garver.  I feel like a backup is his ceiling at catcher, he's not a prospect any longer in my eyes.  Still, I wouldn't mind seeing him a bit more often.  

 

Great minds think alike.  

 

[killertwinfan]

 

100% on board with this. That suggest reversing the course on what they're currently doing though. Garver is already wasting away on the bench in favor of Wilson. Where things are, the second half should see Gordon, Garver, Busenitz, Cave, Moya, Curtiss, etc all up and playing often. You can reset quickly next year, but figure out which of those players are a part of it.

I am puzzled with Molitor's reticence to change or shake things up.  I like watching Wilson catch, but when a guy flirts with a .100 batting average for significant stretches, it makes no sense.  You have to play Garver and hope he gets better as the year goes on.  That position needs to be addressed in the off season, both for depth and the future.  Also, when Dozier goes cold as ice and you got hot bat's behind him (um relatively hot bats) he needs to move Dozier down in the order.  Same story with pitchers.  Hildenburger has been our best reliever for a long time and unfortunately Reed has lost it.  It took long to promote Hildy and demote Reed.  He needs to be demoted again.  

[yarnivek1972]

I agree unless the context of the team is desperate need for offense. If offense is killing the club, pitchers asking for a preferred catcher could be counter productive to addressing the weak points and the primary reason why a manager is necessary. Managers need to make the decisions that are important to the club and not to the pitchers personal preferences.

 

Brian Dozier shouldn't get to pick where he hits in the order either.

 

That might be a valid point if this team was in contention and winning games was the goal unto itself.

 

However, the priority seems to have shifted (or at least it should) to evaluation and development. In that instance, I might be more inclined to give a pitcher I want to evaluate a catcher he feels more comfortable with at the expense of developing someone who pretty much every baseball mind has said is a career backup.