The Twins are playing exactly like what is in Badelli's head

[sfe306]

Truly wrecking a great team.  Thoroughly disappointed.  These players are so good.  What a let down.  Scatterbrained on the field.  If everyone is playing bad, the problem is with the manager.  For example, if analytics are so great, how does Pagan get the ball when the Twins are down by 2 runs in a game they must win, which occurred Monday.  When Pagan left the mound the Twins were down by 3 runs. My analytics say that the Twins need an 8 run lead for Pagan to come into the game.  So what metric does Baldelli use for Pagan and continues to treat other players differently? Another example is Celestino.  He batted .310 to .320 for 6 weeks, and batted ninth the whole year.  You reward positive behavior to get positive results.  Arraez is the same.  He earned first base full time, every game, but Baldelli keeps messing with him, rather than treating him like the leader he is.  Garlick leading off?...give me a break. Good man, good numbers, but not leadoff.  Varland should have never come off the mound today.  He was in complete control.  But he did come off the mound, and the score was tied at the end of the inning.  

[Beast]

I don’t think the team is great.  They stink, frankly.  That’s an indictment of the FO, coaching, etc, not necessarily the players - because I agree that there’s some talent there.

They signed Carlos freaking Correa and turned him into a pumpkin somehow.  They’ve traded for 3 injured pitchers in 3 years.  They just signed a guy off the street and threw him into the 8th inning in Yankee stadium when tied for the division lead.  Nick Gordon is batting clean up in September.

They’ve bungled this so badly, it’s unacceptable IMO.  It’s time to pull Falvey out of the deep end.  He’s drowning.

I don’t know what to think of Baldelli.  Part of me thinks he’s hamstrung and things are micromanaged for him from the top.  Part of me thinks he’s just as incompetent.  Either way, I think it’s time for a change there too.

[Jeff D.]

This is an emotional issue if you are a die-hard Twins fan. But it also comes down to some common sense about people as well as stats and data. Professor Baldelli is a true block of ice. All of the examples you raised are valid. More than anything, the manager is one of the most inflexible baseball managers I can recall. 

Yesterday, game one against the Yankees was a petri dish of how the guy "manages" and leads us right to another loss. What a leader!

Twins geezer..............out (for now)

 

[PopRiveter]

I totally get the frustration and desire to aim it at a culprit. Not sure I am convinced whether Rocco is to blame. The team sees a totally different manager than he allows the public to see and I can't distinguish which on-field decisions are actually mandates from the FO. The management style is too clinical and impersonal for my tastes, but I wasn't complaining while it was working in April and May.  

After a hot start, the team has gone 41-51 in their past 92 games. That is a last-place pace in a pretty sizeable sample.

I see talent on the offensive side, but it hasn't gelled and the pitching has sunk to match my preseason worries. 

Maybe they just aren't a very good team. In the standings, they are still positioned to make a run, but I've become convinced that this team just doesn't have it in them.

[3balls2strikes]

I place the vast majority of the Twins' problems on Baldelli. No MLB manager gets less out of his players than Baldelli. If he's just doing what he's told by the FO, then he's a weak patsy and all the more to blame. 

[Rosterman]

If you aren't comfortable pitching Sanchez or Sands in a game, especially when your pitching staff is on fumes, why are they on the roster?

[wabene]

This season has been particularly frustrating. Start out hot to get our hopes up, then play worse than mediocre baseball sprinkling in an alarming amount of heartbreaking, crushing defeats. This makes sense to me that fans are frustrated. What I don't get is the seething vitriol for Rocco Baldelli. Something about the man must rub many the wrong way. I don't share these feelings, I kinda like him as he is a little different from the usual sports figure in a head coaching role. Not as wound up. On the other hand he was actually a really good player whereas Kelly and Gardy were AAAA utility guys at best. The animus towards him is so great that I haven't felt the opportunity to be critical of the guy because that is plenty well handled without me. My biggest problem with the leadership of this team is not Rocco, it is the front office for not signing at least a couple of QUALITY free agent pitchers. At least a starter and reliever. Spend some money instead of organizational capital.

[3balls2strikes]

3 hours ago, wabene said:

What I don't get is the seething vitriol for Rocco Baldelli. Something about the man must rub many the wrong way. I don't share these feelings, The animus towards him is so great that I haven't felt the opportunity to be critical of the guy because that is plenty well handled without me.

Wabene: Don't you worry buddy, I got you covered when it comes to vitriol for Baldelli's managing ability. I'm here for ya! ?

[stringer bell]

There isn't enough left to contend this year. Replacing bad players with equally bad players doesn't win games. The starting rotation, with all the injuries, doesn't have enough quality to go deep in games and the bullpen doesn't have enough good arms to pitch four or five innings every day. 

I've been an optimist about the Twins until the last couple of weeks. What is left just isn't sufficient to win games on a regular basis.

[SanoMustGo]

There are a number of things that led to this.  Rocco is part of it, but not nearly close to most of it.  This team is REALLY bad right now.  There aren't too many teams they are better than currently.  They will win some games, but not too many.  It's September 10 and by the time some of these injured players come back(if they come back at all) it will be too late.  Just let the injured guys heal and start over next year. 78-84.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

Trading for 2 pitchers who were already injured, trading for another who was an injury waiting to happen his whole career and signing two 5th starter reclamation projects while actively reducing the quality of the bullpen is on the FO, not Baldelli.

Rocco has his warts, but the FO punted this season and then inexplicably signed Correa.

I was as deep into the Kool-Aid in May as anyone, but as @Squirrel pointed out in a previous rendition of this thread, the pre-season concern was pitching and Buxton’s health. All that really changed was Carlos Correa. The FO brought in more pitching that was more of the same questionable pitching they already had.

we shouldn’t be terribly surprised to be in this position.

[Otaknam]

Rocco doesn’t rub me the wrong way. But his insistence on starters   pitching 4-5 innings continues to be a head scratcher when the bullpen is so mediocre. Sometimes you have to go with your instincts instead of a computer program telling you how to manage. 

The other issue is injuries to Larnach, Polanco, Jeffers, Kiroloff, and of course the always injured Buxton. The lineup is populated with minor leaguers and backups. No wonder the offense is so anemic.

[BankTyper1210]

On 9/7/2022 at 7:18 PM, Beast said:

I don’t think the team is great.  They stink, frankly.  That’s an indictment of the FO, coaching, etc, not necessarily the players - because I agree that there’s some talent there.

They signed Carlos freaking Correa and turned him into a pumpkin somehow.  They’ve traded for 3 injured pitchers in 3 years.  They just signed a guy off the street and threw him into the 8th inning in Yankee stadium when tied for the division lead.  Nick Gordon is batting clean up in September.

They’ve bungled this so badly, it’s unacceptable IMO.  It’s time to pull Falvey out of the deep end.  He’s drowning.

I don’t know what to think of Baldelli.  Part of me thinks he’s hamstrung and things are micromanaged for him from the top.  Part of me thinks he’s just as incompetent.  Either way, I think it’s time for a change there too.

          Couldn't have said it better myself.  I feel it's far more the latter than the former on Baldelli (he's WAY too chummy, and just look at his pitching moves).  I'm not surprised, though; ever since Kelly left (and ESPECIALLY since the hated White Sox won the '05 Series), it's been pretty much all downhill (although I did like Molitor).  And knowing the current "ownership," doubtful that anything changes anytime soon.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

17 minutes ago, BankTyper1210 said:

          Couldn't have said it better myself.  I feel it's far more the latter than the former on Baldelli (he's WAY too chummy, and just look at his pitching moves).  I'm not surprised, though; ever since Kelly left (and ESPECIALLY since the hated White Sox won the '05 Series), it's been pretty much all downhill (although I did like Molitor).  And knowing the current "ownership," doubtful that anything changes anytime soon.

You haven’t liked the manager/moves for 21 years?!

your disdain can drink in most US states

[Linus]

I never knew so many people were that close to the Twins scene that they know what Baldelli is like and his impact on the team. Where do I get that kind of access?

[RpR]

The thread wording is wrong, but the results of the Twins playing is the result of how Baldelli manages.