Article: Top Stories for 2013: #1 Gardy's Gauntlet

[Nick Nelson]

You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?r=1503-Top-Stories-for-2013-1-Gardy-s-Gauntlet

[mako83]

The prospect of Tom Buransky as manager over gardy is not going to excite the fans. Keep him until we have a serious alternative

[jokin]

The prospect of Tom Buransky as manager over gardy is not going to excite the fans. Keep him until we have a serious alternative

 

Bruno is a far less likely candidate than Molitor or Gene Glynn. I'd put even money on Glynn moving in as interim manager at some point in 2013.

[nicksaviking]

It could just be blowing smoke I suppose, but Bruno has said more than once he doesn't want to be a manager. If he had, he likley would still be in the minors at the helm of one of the affiliates.

[Mike Sixel]

How is it impatient to want a good product, if you are paying a lot of money to see that product? Never understood that, frankly.....as for Gardy, there are studies in the NFL that show that most coaches' records really start to fall off after 10 years (and yes, you can site plenty of anectdotes where that is not true, does not matter, if you look at the entire sample, it's true), but I"m not sure there is or is not a similar study in baseball.

 

I've always felt Gardenhire must be good at the non-game aspects of being a manager, because the Twins generally have a clean clubhouse, no major issues, and were generally successful under his tenure. So, he's probably doing something right.

 

I've always felt he was a mediocre in game manager. Sacrifice bunts early in games, "productive outs", batting guys second that had no business being there, refusing to move Mauer up to the 2 hole.....he always seems stuck in a world of the past to me. Also, it seems like few young guys come up and really grow under him and his coaches (I know some of you will disagree on this, I'm not interested in arguing over it today).

 

All in all, he seems like he's a good guy to work for, seems like a super nice guy, but who is just ok at the strategy part. I'm kind of indifferent on his future. I'm much more interested in Ryan's future (if we are talking off the field stuff), because it is his philosophy and approach that will either build this team quickly, slowly, or not at all.

[DAM DC Twins Fans]

I like Gardy. I think he has gotten the most out of this team that he could. Most guys who have left (not including Lohse) have tailed off some very much so (Johan). It is apparent that the Twins are looking for 2014 and 2015 to contend. Gardy should be given a chance to manage that group. I know this is a minority opinion...

 

If Gardy goes, replacement should have managerial experience--that eliminates Bruno and Molitar. (Maybe Sandberg is the right choice).

[jay]

Bruno is a far less likely candidate than Molitor or Gene Glynn.

 

Not so sure about Glynn, but I thought it was pretty telling when Molitor wasn't brought in among the new staff. That's where my money would be should it happen.

 

Unless Gardy 'loses the clubhouse', I wouldn't be surprised to see him stick around for a chance to lead our impending, unavoidable resurgence.

[MarcusE]

I like Gardy. I think he has gotten the most out of this team that he could. Most guys who have left (not including Lohse) have tailed off some very much so (Johan).

 

Except for AJ, Torii, Nathan, Big Papi, Kubel, Casey Blake, Garrett Jones, Jesse Crain, etc...

 

I'd say that's more of a coin flip for how various MLB careers play out, not some credit or detriment to Gardy.

[jokin]

Not so sure about Glynn, but I thought it was pretty telling when Molitor wasn't brought in among the new staff. That's where my money would be should it happen.

 

Unless Gardy 'loses the clubhouse', I wouldn't be surprised to see him stick around for a chance to lead our impending, unavoidable resurgence.

 

Definitely not sure about Glynn long-term. I did say logical interim choice, especially if he continues to do well with the Red Wings. As with Kelly in 1986, if the players buy in as they apparently did at Rochester last season, the "Minnesota boy" (MN Mr Basketball 1975) just might be asked to stick around through the Twins bridge years.

[Thrylos]

Definitely not sure about Glynn long-term. I did say logical interim choice, especially if he continues to do well with the Red Wings. As with Kelly in 1986, if the players buy in as they apparently did at Rochester last season, the "Minnesota boy" (MN Mr Basketball 1975) just might be asked to stick around through the Twins bridge years.

 

The big difference with Kelly and Glynn (and Ryan and MacPhail) is the age. MacPhail who brought Kelly in was 32 when he got the GM job. Kelly was 36 in '86 when they hired him. And not only that, the whole front office and organization was full of young minds thinking outside the box. Fast forward 25+ years, the same people are running the Twins. Something's got to change and major purging is needed....

[jokin]

The big difference with Kelly and Glynn (and Ryan and MacPhail) is the age. MacPhail who brought Kelly in was 32 when he got the GM job. Kelly was 36 in '86 when they hired him. And not only that, the whole front office and organization was full of young minds thinking outside the box. Fast forward 25+ years, the same people are running the Twins. Something's got to change and major purging is needed....

 

Excellent analysis. The very definition of a calcified organization. It's sad when Ryan makes disparaging comments about a local golden boy and Hall of Fame all-around good guy in Paul Molitor as being a "poor fit" and telling that 56 year old Gene Glynn is the only legitimate breath of fresh air in a stale organization that is currently on the short managerial replacement list.

[dwintheiser]

Nice point that I hadn't considered -- there's a lot of short-term and expiring contracts coming up, which means that a new manager would have an opportunity to immediately put his own 'stamp' on the Twins.

 

This leads me to believe that the Pohlads may be calling the shots here, deliberately setting up a situation where they can lure a high-profile managerial candidate in the off-season and surround him with folks schooled in the 'Twins way', hoping that may result in a best-of-both-worlds resolution. It'll be interesting to see what Ryan himself does at the end of the season -- if he 're-retires' in the wake of a Gardenhire firing, it'll be a good sign that the Pohlads are cleaning house.

[Kwak]

Excellent analysis. The very definition of a calcified organization. It's sad when Ryan makes disparaging comments about a local golden boy and Hall of Fame all-around good guy in Paul Molitor as being a "poor fit" and telling that 56 year old Gene Glynn is the only legitimate breath of fresh air in a stale organization that is currently on the short managerial replacement list.

 

This pretty much justifies my perception of why Ryan selected Gardenhire over Molitor when TK "stepped down". Ryan could bully Gardenhire into his philosophy [the Twins way] but if there was ever a dispute between Molitor and Ryan, Molitor would win the PR aspect--a huge problem! But when Smith became GM, the tables were turned, Gardy was the fan-favorite and Smith the stuffed-suit. W know how that ended.

 

I also agree with dwintheiser about Pohlads calling the shots. Ryan made big promises about new pitchers before the end of the '12 season--but the executive committee had a different plan. When Ryan "agreed" to the new plan, the "interrim" tag was removed from his GM title. It's not a certainty whether Gardenhire will be retained or replaced yet, but I'm confident that this is his last year as Twins manager. I am skeptical that the Twins will hire a "ML-experienced manager" after Gardy leaves (whenever)--it will be someone who can be controlled easily to "manage right".