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People aren’t frustrated that they didn’t repeat the historic home run numbers. People are pissed that this team can’t win a big game. People are sick of the FOs (two FOs) half-assery dating back to 2001, and a manager who thinks he’s analytically cute I still can’t figure how anyone on earth can think pulling Jose Berrios at 5 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 1 R and 75 for Cody freaking Stashak and Kenta Maeda in the middle of 2H shutout in a playoff game is a good idea (but, he’ll let Maeda throw 200 pitches ina meaningless regular season game for a good story). Or, pinch running a visibly ill Byron Buxton to lay in the middle of infield. Or, pinch hitting for Ryan Jeffers with Mitch Garver, who is worse both offensively and defensively. Or, playing Alex Kirilloff in an elimination playoff game, but not giving him a single regular season AB (thanks for that, FO, hope that service time comes in handy when we suck 5 years from now). Or, batting a visibly hobbled and powerless Luis Arraez in the leadoff spot to go 0 for everything. Or, handing Rogers and Romo the ball in the 9th in back to back games after being awful for an extended period of time, but not getting Clippard an inning? The list goes on. When are we going to admit Baldelli sucks, and people only want him to be good because he’s a poor man’s Bill Walton? Remember when people were running Molitor out of town? I don’t recall his list of absurd managerial decisions being even close to Baldelli’s. Play your best players. Pitch your best pitchers. Stop thinking you’re smarter than the 130 years of the game because an intern with a graphing calculator showed you a graph and a number with a lot of decimal places. Analytics have their place, but throw those damn reports and cute suggestions out the window come playoff time. If this club could avoid crapping the bed in every big game it plays, I don’t think anyone would care if it were done by walks and bunt singles. People are sick of this spineless, “oh well, we’ll get ‘em next year” approach.

It was a fun nickname, but it's time to move on. Having strong hitters who can consistently hit HRs is a viable strategy, but when most everyone is swinging for the fences and consistently coming short, then it's a problem.

Yes. Both have chronic conditions that flare up without warning - migraines (over-simplifying a bit) and calf tightness. I suppose the guaranteed contract for Donaldson is the deciding factor. But both players are concerning in roughly similar ways.

Specific to the issue of breaking up the Bomba squad going into next season, I did an analysis of the 91 HRs the Twins hit this season, when I think I heard a stat that stated they were 4th in MLB. As I heard that earlier this week, I remembered saying out loud, "well...big whoop"---I bet 2/3 of those 91 came with the bases empty." Well the FACTS show that I was actually spot on (not that I'm happy with that). 62 of the Twins 91 HRs were solo shots--68.13%. Let me repeat that, 68.13%. I can't say where that ranks to other teams this year, but I'd venture it would be in the bottom 10. The whole Bomba Squad made for a nice marketing tool, but proved to be unsustainable this year. I believe that far too many of our hitters who "broke out last year" (Garver, Polanco, Sano) started to believe their hype and swung for the fences far too often. Not to discredit Cincinnati pitching in our final home series and what the Astros were able to do, but how many HRs did the Twins hit in their final 5 home games this season. Answer: ZERO. In the 1 game they won on their last homestand (7-3 vs. CIN) they hit 8 doubles. Thats HOW you win games. Back to the HR analysis, I found the following other nuggets that may be found interesting by others: 1. Twins hitters hit only 7 three-run HRs all season and failed to hit a 3-run HR in ANY game after Donaldson's shot in 1st game of DH @ STL on September 8th. 2. Rosario: For all of his faults...and there's a lot of them.......actually was the TEAM LEADER (not Cruz) hitting 6 HRs with men on base. Four 2-run HRs, 1 3run HR and 1 grand slam. Cruz, Sano and Buxton tied with 4 HRs that were not solos. 3. Cruz: Hard not resign him with the season he put up, but his production with men on base waned badly over the last 1/2 of the season as he failed to hit anything more than a solo HR from August 21 through September 27th. Many other culprits but zero 2/3 run HR (or grand slam) over his last 34 games may make some fans wonder if investing $30mill to bring him back over the next 2 seasons is the best course of action. 4. Of Twins 91 HRs...62 were solo shots and another 20 were 2-run HRs. So 82 of the 91 HRs------90.1%---didn't generate a lot of runs (102 total). How many opportunities did Twin hitters waste throughout the year by failing to go deep with 2 runners on base. 5. Twins hit a total of 2 grand slams for the season. Cave in Game 3 vs. White Sox and Rosario in Game 17 @ Milwaukee. The de-construct of this team may not happen till 2022 as I doubt, Falvey/Levine/Pohlads will blow this team up to a large degree going into 2021. I don't see Garver (31 HRs in 2019) getting traded. Nor do I see Polanco (22 HRs in 2019) nor Kepler (36-2019) being traded or replaced as both are signed to team friendly long term deals. Same is true for Sano (34 HR last year) as he's signed for $11m next season. Seriously, what team in their right mind would take on his contract with a 2020 whiff rate (90 in 186 ABs) that was nearly 50% in 2020. The obvious trade option is Rosario, who will demand more than $8mill in arbitration. I'm not saying that I want to see Twins mgmt revert to a 1980s style of "Billy Ball," but our extended FAILURE in PLAYOFFS, which Rocco IS PART OF (whether he'll admit it or not) with managing this club to 5 consecutive playoff losses (19-20)--should send a clear signal that CHANGE is needed. Swinging for the fences is fine for the regular season facing poor pitchers, but will not produce a winning formula for playoff success.

The swing-for-the-fences approach works fine during the regular season when you see teams' 4th and 5th starters. It works when teams are trying to manage bullpens and use all of their arms. The last two years, the Twins did nothing in the playoffs....when they only saw the best pitchers the Yankees and Astros had. There needs to be a tweak in offensive approach. And maybe see what it'd take to bring James Rowson back!

It's not inexplicable: between the goofy pandemic season where they didn't really get a proper spring training, the stats on pitchers facing guys a third time, the fact that you have guys like Rich Hill on the staff who is a 4-5 inning pitcher now...it really wasn't all that inexplicable. And the bullpen wasn't bad: Duffey, Clippard, Wisler, and even Thielbar were great. May, Romo, & Rogers were good overall...it's just that Rogers was weirdly hittable and he and Romo had some bad late shots. Literally, the only guy who was actually bad was Littell and he only got 6 innings (and after his previous season you had to give him a little rope to see if he could repeat it, right?) The pitching wasn't a problem this year, at all. They had the 4th best ERA+ in baseball this year. They had the 4th best WHIP. If you don't like the advanced stats, they had the 4th best ERA too. The pitching was really effective all season and they used a similar strategy in the playoffs. And the failure in the playoffs was still more about offense. They considered geniuses because Falvey has a track record of developing pitching, and since coming to MN they've made a lot of very smart bets and quality moves. They had a really effective off-season last year, making a lot of smart plays: 1. Traded for Maeda. Yes, they gave up a quality arm, but they traded a bullpen guy for a starter who is going to likely finish 2nd in the AL Cy. That's a great move. 2. Signed Donaldson, which improved the team defense and added a star quality player when they couldn't sign the starting pitcher they wanted. That's a great pivot, even if Donaldson had injuries during this sprint of a year. I'm still high on the move 3. Didn't give Bumgarner a desperation extra year to try and grab a starter. No panic, just pivot to a good plan B 4. Signed Wisler, who was brilliant and cost them nothing. 5. Made sure the team had depth, both in starting pitching and on the field. (They always had options to go to; the only desperation play was when they took a flyer on Vargas, and that was because Nick Gordon had COVID. Are we really going to fault them for not setting up a 4th string 2B?) Not everything worked out, but mostly on offense, and offense was down all over the place. Hitters had more trouble than anyone else in pandemic world.

I think Buxton's injury history is more concerning because the Twins are still counting on major upside from him. He's still not locked into a long term contract and I don't know how they even begin those discussions when he is injured every single season. Donaldson is on the downswing of his career and my assumption is he has maybe 1 year left at 3B before transitioning to DH full time.

Dozens of relievers... The JT Chargois types we used to have in this organization. As far as position players, CJ Cron and Jonathan Schoop were non-tenders last year I believe.

I dont think there's ever been a more uncertain off-season for the Twins. What will payroll look like? I bet even ownership has no clue. How could they? What will attendance be? Zero? 25% 50? Who knows? However, there are some near certainties, IMO. Rosario, Romo, Gonzalez, Hill, and Odorizzi won't be in Twins uniforms in 2021. Unlikely to return: Cruz, May.

Rocco and Molitor had some common ground as players, both having a dangerous bat and speed. For the life of me I can't understand what has happened to the Twins' baserunning skills the last couple of years. Sure, homers are nice, but there seems to be some speed on the team if it was ever utilized. Kepler, Buxton, Rosario, Polanco, even Garver at times. And I've mentioned the importance of Rowson's departure before. Jeter saw something and pried him away. No chance he's coming back - he's busy helping the Marlins win playoff games.

There seems to be some avoidance over this so whey you say "chilling about it" you pretty much explain Rocco's touch. He didn't embrace the history for whatever reason last year. I felt alienated when Rocco said, "I'm not frustrated at all" after last year's 3 and out. It's funny because the team tries to act all relaxed like it isn't a big thing, but until they can face fact and admit: YES, this is a big deal we aren't going anywhere. Time to own it.

Rocco made some pretty dumb calls and there is no question, but I don't care who we had in that dugout. It could have been Casey Stengel, Earl Weaver, Tony LaRussa, Muller Huggins, whatever. It comes down to this team (once again) putting together terrible at bat after terrible at bat. It is clear that when the Minnesota Twins reach the playoff the goal has already been achieved. That message has been deeply inculcated into the players coming though our system before they even reach the big leagues. Rocco has been indoctrinated into it as well. In fact, they selected him because they thought he was intelligent and understood analytics and they knew he was a "people person" and a players guy. He proved how super-chill he was after last year's embarrassment: "I'm not frustrated at all" That ring a bell for anyone? We have seen this rerun many times over and it is basically the same thing. We have lost 17 playoff games in a row. In those last 17 games we have scored 41 runs. In the last 15 losses we have scored 31 runs. We can go on and on about pitching, defense, managerial moves, umpiring, shifts, etc....I don't care. If this team is going to average two runs per game in the playoffs they are going nowhere. Rocco deserves to be ripped, but then when he's gone and we get swept out of the playoffs again what are we talking about?

I continue to monitor the games - see my blog on the wild card results - and it is apparent that small ball still works. It is also fun to see pitchers go 7 or more innings at the start of the game. I am being redundant, but it is obvious to me that this team lacks spirit - the Puckett affect - and I am seeing other teams' players excited, angry, emotional and I love it. One last note as my blog illuminates - there are no central division teams left, Not one, not NL, not AL. Our division stunk and we were handed the division championship, we backed into it.

We had compiled some very long lists of baffling decisions Molitor has made back in the day. Baldelli's coaching hasn't been all that different IMO, outside of having a quicker hook on starters (Molly, on the other hand, would keep the starters in waaay too long) and resting players more frequently. I do think a manager's impact on the game is overrated, and the players need to go out there and player better. No matter the poor bullpen decisions on Rocco's part, they had no chance of winning that series when their offense scored 2 runs in 18 innings against the mediocre 29-31 Astros.

...with the decrease in fastball % and the increase in spin rates and spin pitch %, the organization needs to respond. Shorter swings and more contact please. And maybe a little more "small ball" when the bats are struggling.

The Twins are set to lose two utility players this offseason in Marwin Gonzalez and Ehire Adrianza. Due to the injury history of the infield, the club would serve themselves well to give careful attention to this role. Putting high importance on finding a player that can backup at shortstop.The Minnesota Twins front office is tasked once again with finding the answer to the impossible question, how to win a playoff game? One move runs under the radar. It will not impact the Twins national image or even their MLB odds, but it could help them navigate the regular season better in 2021. The Twins need to fill their utility role for 2021 as both Marwin Gonzalez and Ehire Adrianza hit free agency. While neither Gonzalez (.211/.289/.320 in 53 games) or Adrianza (.191/.287/.270 in 44 games) performed very well in 2020, both were heavily relied on in the shortened 60 game season to help the team through injuries to Josh Donaldson, Luis Arraez, and others. Another injury that demands attention is Jorge Polanco’s ankle. Time and again we saw what seemed to be a much less aggressive approach at the plate. The results were less power with a drop in slugging percentage from .485 in 2019 to .354 in 2020. Also only 4 home runs in 2020 (adjusted to 10.8 rate over full season) after hitting 22 home runs in 2019. Health is always a concern over a 162 game season and especially could be with ongoing questions surrounding Donaldson and Polanco. Ideally, the Twins will find a utility player who can fill in at shortstop with confidence to let Polanco rest if his right ankle flares up again in 2021. What are the Internal Options? Internally, the Twins have some minor leaguers who are on the cusp of the majors. Travis Blankenhorn is certainly a player who can play all over the diamond and seems ready for the big leagues. That resulted in a 2020 call up. His shortfall is he wouldn’t be able to man shortstop. Although Nick Gordon has fallen from his spot of once top prospect. It seems possible that the Twins could decide to give him the chance to grab a utility role in 2021. While there have been questions about his defense, he certainly has experience at short. Lastly, is Twins current top prospect Royce Lewis. It would be a bit of a shock if he starts out 2021 on the Twins active roster. It would seem that either something would have happened to Buxton and Lewis ends up as a center fielder, or the Twins make a drastic move such as shifting Polanco to a utility role (as suggested in the Athletic) and Lewis supplants him as the starter. Free Agents The free agent market seems to be full of two sorts of players who can play short. Those seeking a starting role and those who wouldn’t serve as an upgrade. Guys like Didi Gregorious, Marcus Semien, Andrelton Simmons, and maybe even Freddy Galvis would all be a fun surplus, but will likely be seeking out starting roles. Then there is the likes of Joe Panik and Eric Sogard who are not an upgrade over anyone currently on the Twins roster. Jose Iglesias is the most intriguing name that pops up on MLB Trade Rumors Free Agent list. He has a $3.5 million club option which would seemingly be picked up after having a quality 2020 as he hit .373/.400/.556 and is proven as a good defensive shortstop. Even though he had a bit of a down year in the field for 2020 posting a -2 DRS. What to do? If I had a voice in the Twins front office I would suggest the Twins reserve a spot for one of their minor leaguers. Any one of them will be cheaper than the free agent options and that will be a trait plenty of teams will be seeking after COVID has hampered their revenue. There is also more upside in guys like Blankenhorn and Gordon than the free agent crop that would sign up for a utility role. My other suggestion would be to bring back Adrianza. This hinges on how many roster spots will be available for the utility role as the team puts together the roster. Adrianza can defensively handle short and seems to be one of the few available utility type players that can be said about. His offensive numbers should hopefully go up from 2020 based on past performances. What are your thoughts? Where would you like the Twins to turn as Marwin and Ehire exit to test free agency this offseason? MORE FROM TWINS DAILY — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email Click here to view the article

2019 seems like a lifetime ago. Much like the world we live in, our Minnesota Twins were completely different. The Bomba Squad reigned supreme (aside from in October of course), and you can’t blame the Twins for running it back in 2020. What we learned since then however is that it’s time to move on and forge ahead. The Bomba Squad is a thing of the past.The “Bomba Squad” label was more than a fun nickname for the 2019 Twins. It represented not just the daily lineup, but a persona for the team. It represented the energy they had as well as the tactics and strategy they used to pummel opponents into submission as underdogs for an entire season. At the heart of the Bomba Squad were players like the Mike Piazza-esque Mitch Garver, AL All Star Starting Shortstop Jorge Polanco, bonafide slugger Max Kepler. Eddie Rosario led the team in RBI and was the idea man behind the “Bomba Squad” name. Most entertaining of all was watching the club’s 39 year old leader Nelson Cruz continue to dominate at the top of the offensive leaderboards. Games were never out of reach as any given player stepped to the plate supported by the air raid siren and the roar of the crowd at Target Field. Maybe pitching was a concern, but they had more than enough quality arms to ride to 101 wins behind the record setting offense. If you watched baseball in 2020, you know this year was far from a repeat. The Twins managed a similar pace for wins, but it was obvious things were different. They rarely managed a comfortable win regardless of the opponent. The offense and pitching appeared to switch spots, as they won most games in spite of the offensive performance. Kepler looked uncomfortable, Polanco was painful to watch, Garver was one of the worst hitters in baseball, and even Cruz faded down the stretch after looking like his prime self to begin the season. The circumstances of 2020 surely played a role in the team we watched for 60 games and it’s fair to question where things would have ended up in a full 162. Regardless of this, 2020 was a reminder of the nature of baseball. A lineup made up of largely the same players looked completely different just a year later. It was fairly easy to see the frustration in failing to live up to these standards among the players, and the shift was difficult to accept for fans as well. And in that lies the issue. Even in 60 games we discovered that it’s unhealthy to base expectations on a record setting team. It’s the reason a largely successful regular season felt disappointing. The Twins are still a fantastic team poised to compete for years. They just didn’t earn that success by scoring double digit runs seemingly every other night as everyone expected. 2019 may have been a once in a lifetime performance on offense. That doesn’t mean the Twins are on the decline, quite the contrary. They have tons of exciting talent nearing the national stage. It’s just hard to expect the young talent on it’s way will ever resemble the style of the Bomba Squad and that’s okay. After another disappointing end to the season, it’s time for the Twins to make their own expectations rather than basing them off of one of the most accomplished offenses baseball will ever see. Fans need to abandon the mindset that frustrates them when an offense can’t consistently overwhelm an opponent. The Twins will simply have too good a team these next few years to dwell on a nickname from two years ago. The future of Twins baseball is going to be an exciting one. It’s time to accept this reality and embrace it. It’s time for the “Bomba Squad” to go. — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email — Follow Cody Pirkl on Twitter here Click here to view the article

Next year's free agent class looks awful, and with the pandemic and owners losing money this year, I'll bet many if not most of the decent free agents will know the market is going to stink and will happily accept a reasonable offer from their current team during the exclusive negotiating window. I'm not expecting a lot of big free agent moves, because unless someone wants to squeeze another corner OF into this roster, only Bauer or LeMaheiu seem to have any kind of fit, and the odds are that those two will find a different landing spot. I really hate those middle of the road starting pitching multi year contracts so thankfully it doesn't look like there is a Ricky Nolasco, Phil Hughes or Ervin Santana this year. The 1 year or 1 year and an option for the bounce back starters always seems like a much better bet to return value, so I'm up for identifying 2021's Michel Pineda or Rich Hill. There looks like there are going to be a LOT of arms that fall into that category. That level of spending will make for a crabby board, but maybe there's a trade or two out there.

Yes, the number in the title is not an exaggeration. The true odds of the moment we find ourselves in at the close of the Twins 2020 postseason campaign, brief as it was, comes to one in 69 billion. Somewhere in the galaxy, Zaphod Beeblebrox fired up the Improbability drive and Minnesota got caught in the wake. Let's do some math, shall we? Setting a baseline Now, there's a very good chance you've seen the number 262,144 floating around Twins Twitter in the last day or two, and that's because if you were to flip a coin 18 times, the odds of each flip resulting in the same outcome are 262,144:1 against, or 218. Already, this feels bad. This feels unfair. We want to fight against this statistic. BASEBALL GAMES AREN'T COIN FLIPS, I hear you cry out. So many of those games were as underdogs against the almighty Yankees, surely the odds weren't THAT bad? And yeah, from that perspective, you'd be correct. @Awoodruff3 on Twitter looked at the problem from a gambling odds perspective: https://twitter.com/awoodruff3/status/1311415416456085510 28,524:1 against! Already, this is 10 times as likely as the coin flip scenario, so the sting should only be a fraction of what we currently feel, right? Sadly, no. Here's how it really breaks down. The Methodology I have gone into the Fangraphs archives for each of the 18 games in the losing streak and made note of the moment in time where the Twins had the highest expected win probability. In 17 of the 18 games, the Twins were favored to win - and in a few cases, extremely favored - before eventually taking the L. With that information, we can look at the odds of losing from these moments where the Twins had the greatest amount of leverage to create a future other than the ones we find ourselves in now. October 6th, 2004: ALDS Game 2 [table] Game State Bottom 12th, 1 out, Twins ahead by 1 at New York Twins Win Probability 87.3% How'd things look? With Joe Nathan on the mound for his third inning of work, John Olerud strikes out and the Twins are 2 outs away from taking a 2-0 lead in the series. What happened? Nathan gives consecutive walks before A-Rod hits a ground rule double, followed by an intentional walk and a Matsui sac fly to win. Odds of a loss 7.87:1 against[/table] October 8th, 2004: ALDS Game 3 [table] Game State Top 2nd, 2 outs, Twins ahead by 1 vs. New York Twins Win Probability 64.5% How'd things look? Carlos Silva gets a ground ball out from Bernie Williams. It's still early, but teams in the lead tend to stay in the lead. What happened? Silva immediately gave up 5 consecutive singles and 3 runs before the 2nd inning was over, and the Twins never saw daylight again. Odds of a 2-game losing streak 22:1 against[/table] October 9th, 2004: ALDS Game 4 [table] Game State Bottom 7, 0 outs, Twins ahead by 4 vs. New York Twins Win Probability 97.0%(!) How'd things look? A-Rod concludes a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the 7th by fouling out to first base. The Twins have retired 9 straight batters. What happened? Yankees tie the game in the top of the 8th on an RBI single and a 3-run homer, game goes to extra innings, Yankees take the lead in the 11th, Twins fans begin to wonder if this is the start of something dire. (Narrator: It is.) Odds of a 3-game losing streak 739:1 against[/table] October 3rd, 2006: ALDS Game 1 [table] Game State Bottom 1, 0 outs, tie game vs. Oakland Twins Win Probability 58.3% How'd things look? Luis Castillo leads off for the Twins with a walk. This would be as good as it got. What happened? Frank Thomas homers to take the lead in the 2nd, and despite the Twins making things interesting in the bottom of the 8th, they would never be favored again. Odds of a 4-game losing streak 1,773:1 against[/table] October 4th, 2006: ALDS Game 2 [table] Game State Bottom 6, 0 outs, tie game vs. Oakland Twins Win Probability 57.6% How'd things look? Down 2, the Twins start the bottom of the 6th with consecutive homers by Cuddy and Morneau to tie the game, and Oakland goes to the bullpen. What happened? Oakland responds in the 7th with 2 runs off an inside the park home run. Odds of a 5-game losing streak 4,181:1 against[/table] October 6th, 2006: ALDS Game 3 [table] Game State Top 2, 0 outs, tie game at Oakland Twins Win Probability 56.3% How'd things look? Morneau opens the 2nd with a double, with Torii Hunter on deck. What happened? Morneau doesn't score, Oakland opens up a 4-0 lead, and eventually win 8-3. Odds of a 6-game losing streak 9,569:1 against[/table] October 7th, 2009: ALDS Game 1 [table] Game State Top 3, 2 outs, Twins ahead by 2 at New York Twins Win Probability 68.7% How'd things look? Twins take a 2-0 lead when Joe Mauer scores on a Jorge Posada passed ball What happened? Yankees immediately tie the game on a Derek Jeter home run, and the Twins never score again. Yankees win 7-2. Odds of a 7-game losing streak 30,571:1 against[/table] October 9th, 2009: ALDS Game 2 [table] Game State Top 9, 0 outs, Twins ahead by 2 at New York Twins Win Probability 91.7% How'd things look? After the Twins take a 2 run lead in the top of the 8th, the Yankees go down 1-2-3, and Joe Mauer comes to the plate to open the 9th. What happened? Yankees tie it up in the bottom of the 9th, Joe Mauer hits a double in the 11th that Phil Cuzzi incorrectly rules foul, and settles for a single- only to be followed by 2 consecutive singles that would have scored him had the double stood. Instead, Mauer doesn't score, Yankees walk it off on a Mark Teixeira homer, and just typing out this sentence makes me want to die inside. Odds of an 8-game losing streak 368,333:1 against[/table] October 11th, 2009: ALDS Game 3 [table] Game State Top 7, 1 out, Twins ahead by 1 vs. New York Twins Win Probability 72.6% How'd things look? The Twins have struck first on an RBI single by Mauer, and the Yankees have responded with a Mark Teixeira groundout. What happened? Yankees immediately take the lead with home runs by A-Rod and Posada. Twins threaten to tie in the 8th with a leadoff Punto double, but fail to capitalize. Yankees win 4-1. Odds of a 9-game losing streak 1,344,281:1 against[/table] October 6th, 2010: ALDS Game 1 [table] Game State Top 6, 1 out, Twins ahead by 3 vs. New York Twins Win Probability 87.7% How'd things look? Francisco Liriano has only given up 2 hits to the Yankees, who are down three and open the 6th with a Nick Swisher strikeout. What happened? The wheels come off moments later as Lirano gives up a double, a wild pitch, 2 singles, and a triple to give the Yankees a 4-3 lead. The Twins would later tie it, only to lose 6-4. Odds of a 10-game losing streak 10,929,120:1 against[/table] October 7th, 2010: ALDS Game 2 [table] Game State Bottom 3, 0 outs, Twins ahead by 1 vs. New York Twins Win Probability 66.5% How'd things look? Twins opened the scoring in the 2nd on a Danny Valencia sac fly, and the Yankees go down 1-2-3 in response. What happened? Yankees would later take a 2-1 lead before Orlando Hudson ties the game with a solo shot, but that tie doesn't last long. Yankees win 5-2. Odds of an 11-game losing streak 32,624,240:1 against[/table] October 9th, 2010: ALDS Game 3 [table] Game State Top 2, 0 outs, Twins tied at New York Twins Win Probability 50% How'd things look? This is the only game in the 18-game streak where the Twins were never favored. It remained 50/50 after both teams failed to accomplish anything in the first inning. What happened? Twins fall behind in the 2nd, and never get close, losing 6-1. Odds of a 12-game losing streak 65,248,481:1 against[/table] October 3th, 2017: AL Wild Card [table] Game State Top 1, 1 out, Twins ahead by 3 at New York Twins Win Probability 81.8% How'd things look? You remember this inning, right? Twins go into Yankee Stadium and immediately knock Luis Severino out of the game with homers by Brian Dozier and Eddie Rosario, followed by an Escobar single and a Kepler double. 3 run lead, 2 men on, only 1 out. We've got this. Yankees don't have a CHANCE. What happened? Buxton and Castro strike out to end the inning, Ervin Santana gives up the lead on a 3-run homer, Yankees win 8-4, and everyone in my generation starts to develop serious anxiety complexes revolving around who the hell we hurt to cause this. Odds of a 13-game losing streak 358,508,138:1 against[/table] October 4th, 2019: ALDS Game 1 [table] Game State Top 3, 2 out, Twins ahead by 2 at New York Twins Win Probability 67.1% How'd things look? Twins were already leading 1-0 when Nelson Cruz comes up big with a solo home run against James Paxton. What happened? As per usual, Twins lose the lead immediately. They tie things up in the 5th, but that also doesn't last. Twins lose 10-4. Odds of a 14-game losing streak 1,089,690,390:1 against[/table] October 5th, 2019: ALDS Game 2 [table] Game State Top 1, 1 out, Twins tied at New York Twins Win Probability 53.6% How'd things look? Inexplicably known as the Randy Dobnak game, the Twins were statistically favored for the briefest of moments when a HBP and a single put 2 men on in the first inning with only one out. What happened? Those baserunners are stranded on a double play, Yankees score first and never look back. Twins lose 8-2. Odds of a 15-game losing streak 2,348,470,670:1 against[/table] October 7th, 2019: ALDS Game 3 [table] Game State Bottom 2, 0 outs, Twins losing by 1 vs. New York Twins Win Probability 62.6% How'd things look? The only entry on this series where the Twins were favored while losing. Why? The Twins opened the 2nd inning by loading the bases with no outs. This is a scenario where you are highly likely to score multiple runs. What happened? They didn't. Odds of a 16-game losing streak 6,279,333,342:1 against[/table] September 29th, 2020: AL Wild Card Round Game 1 [table] Game State Bottom 5th, 0 outs, Twins ahead by 1 vs. Houston Twins Win Probability 78.4% How'd things look? Twins open the 5th with consecutive walks while already leading. What happened? Strikeout, pop fly, groundout. Twins twitter immediately fears the worst due to the failure to capitalize, and their fears are proven valid. Odds of a 17-game losing streak 29,070,987,697:1 against[/table] September 30th, 2020: AL Wild Card Round Game 2 [table] Game State Bottom 6th, 0 outs, Twins tied vs. Houston Twins Win Probability 57.9% How'd things look? After loading the bases in the first inning and still failing to score, the Twins have done very litte. Still, it's a tie game, and the Twins are coming up to bat as slight favorites. What happened? The bats continued to stay silent, and couldn't overcome a 2-run deficit in the 9th. I cried, and then began writing this article as a coping mechanism. Odds of a 18-game losing streak 69,052,227,309:1 against[/table] Conclusions https://twitter.com/GoTwinkiesGo/status/1311406223019790336

But what does 162 games have anything to do with laying an egg in the post season? I mean the same thing happened last year too?

We can't look at next year based on past history. Never in the past history of the league has every team lost $100M or more. Teams would be cutting payroll, especially small and mid-market teams even if they expected a return to normal next year. As Chief points out, there is still great uncertainty about attendance next year. If, and it's a big IF, the teams and players reached a reasonable agreement that adjusts player salary based on attendance, we could play 162 games. Players would make between two-thirds and full salary based on attendance. However, it's hard to believe the players will be willing to adjust their salary based on the hard line they took last year after both sides agreed the payout would have to be adjusted if fans were not present. Let's hope they have they start working on an agreement based on attendance as soon as the WS is over. That would be in the best interest of a lot of players, teams and the fans because I would expect the teams to severely roll back spending if an agreement to adjust salary based on attendance related to Covid is not reached.

I liked Molly much more than Rocco. He was aggressive in replacing struggling pitchers showing burning desire to win, Rocco just sits in the dugout and lets pitchers get hammered to the point a win is more remote or impossible. He did it with Gibson and Martin Perez in 2nd half of 2019 and has done it with relievers this year 2020. Plus pulling both Berrios and Maeda after 5 was contrary to all standards of managing a game in baseball history and were the wrong call IMO. I love the Twins and have followed them for 56 years through down times and good. It’s because I care that I will call out management or the manager when they are hurting. Management should have had better backups than Cave for Buxton and Adrianza or Gonzalez for Donaldson. With a good backup 1st baseman, Sano could have spent time on the bench when he became a lost strikeout machine. Luckily we had Jeffers for Garver. I like Gordon as a possible replacement for Arraez. Who has the best skill set for the team? Kirilloff has a role. Painfully, Kepler generally has an unacceptable low batting average. The bench is far too week and the starting pitching at 4 and 5 needs better insurance. A quality backup for Buxton is necessary. I’m one of the ones that supports Rosario. I see him make almost all routine catches and he has adequate range plus a monster throwing arm, which impacts games more than the average home run, IMO. We need a closer. Romo, M Gonzalez, Adrianza should be let go. MLB ready backup for Donaldson. Dobnak and Smeltzer can’t be counted on IMO and the 2019 and 2020 numbers prove it. We probably need a new manager or one (Rocco) who is willing to correct his mistakes and grow. I like Rooker to be an important piece next year. Management needs to bring in MLB ready players to share time with or replace Donaldson, Buxton, Sano and possible Arraez (Gordon). WIN TWINS!

I understand that - especially with what happened to those A's starters the following years - what would be wrong with going to the same format at the 2014-15 Royals? Not an ancient team that actually won with small ball and dominant pitching. The "three headed monster" out of the bullpen wasn't exactly a new revolution either, as other championship teams had quality relief pitching.

I have always found it absurd that anyone would compare Molitor and Baldelli. Why? Baldelli is a new age analytical manager with widespread respect across baseball and has has some success in his two years as a manager after suffering through a difficult career, mostly not too important. Molitor is in the Hall of Fame despite a host of debilitating injuries and setbacks in his career, was universally acknowledged by his peers and the managers of his time as one of the smartest and most intelligent players of the past 50 years, he was manager of the year and quietly suffered with a squad that could never compete athletically on the field with the current team under Rocco. Please don't compare Rocco and Paul unless you are willing to compare Nick Punto, who I liked, with Ozzie Smith. There are not in the same stratosphere. Terry Francona? Now there is a manager.

I recognize there seems to be a troubling pattern of failure to produce under post season pressure for the Twins. If this has truly become a franchise culture issue and/or systemic since the 91 Championship or thereabouts it's going to take some decisive and dramatic changes to get different results. Chilling about it won't solve it.

To summarize. Molly didn’t use enough analytics and sucked. Rocco uses too much analytics and sucks. Sure hope the next one can do it just right.

So tell me Darius. How do you really feel about the Twins?

Renée Zellweger, who played such a pivotal role in this already-forgotten film, was born on April 25, 1969. Do you know what happened on that date in Twins history? Tom Hall, a 21-year old phenom working as a swingman in the pitching staff, absolutely stunk it up, coughing up a 1-0 lead with 4 earned runs in the bottom of the first against Chicago, capped by a home run by the illustrious Buddy Bradford. Billy Martin pitch hit for him in the top of the second, and they went on to lose 6-5, wasting a fine comeback when Ron Perranoski couldn't retire any of the four batters he faced in the ninth and got walked off. That's what this film means to me. Avoid.

I agree with Linus' sentiment about OBP, but it seems like there were baserunners at times but then the inability to do anything. We need some hitters who are able to adjust and drive the ball to the opposite field. I won't say Tom Kelly was right the bomba ability looming for any mistake pitch is important but to me the team was impotent when the bombas didn't happen.

Donaldson was a major disappointment. Wisler and Thielbar were nice stories but shouldn’t be considered foundation pieces going forward.

A time for self analysis and reflection for ALL the teams in BOTH the AL & NL Central as all these teams have quickly exited the playoffs for the offseason....Only the Cards and Sox won a game and avoided being swept. A weak combined 2-16??!! Good math problem for the kids at home during Covid. Maybe these teams can gather together collectively and swap players amongst themselves - They've got the time on their hands......

With Kirilloff, Larnach and Rooker waiting, I don't think they will bring back Rosario. I woudn't take Romo option either.

It wasn't out of caution for the pitchers. It was because his analytics said not to let either one face the line-up a 3rd time. But sometimes you have to use your eyes and see that they are locked in and ignore the analytics.

Great post. Plan for the long run. Manage for the moment. PARTICULARLY in the post season. I dont think Rocco has a an appreciation for that second part.

Ildemaro Vargas #1

My answers to the article: 1. Probably not, unless a miracle happens in the next 5-6 months. 2. I'd love to see Cruz back for one more year. It's risky to continue counting on his unrepaired wrist, but the team needs a strong veteran presence like him to look up to IMO. 3. Gonna go outside the box and say their biggest need is sorting through the gluttonous amount of LH hitting corner OF in the organization. Need to make some tough choices this winter. 4. I would certainly look elsewhere for a new hitting coach. When the entire team underperformed at the plate, it's time to find a different voice. 5. I would look at doing a re-tool this winter. I think the core has been around long enough to make these tough calls and add different voices in the clubhouse. None of us will have these answers besides immediate staff... They need to think back to this last week, and really dig into what each person did. Were they vocal pumping up the other players? Were they visibly scared and the moment was too big? We've got to figure out why the offense has shown up completely flat the last 2 playoff series.