Passing the Blame Around for the 2022 Twins

Injuries are a very big factor, but perhaps the unwinding of our Kepler/Buxton/Polanco/Sano core should be up near the top.  These were the players to carry us forward.  Buxton cannot stay on the field, Polanco seems to be breaking down, Sano looks like he is a former Twin, and Kepler has been mediocre.  Now we need the new core and they are mostly on the IL except for Ryan/Miranda 

When you list Rocco you have to list his supporting cast too.  What was Tingler doing when he was the voice that was intended to be in Rocco's ear? 

As Harry Truman once said, "the buck stops here", meaning that eventually the responsibility for the actions (or lack of them) of the people he put in place rested with him, as he was the one who put them in place and was supposed to oversee their work.  If it is ap ra po for the President to accept responsibility, it should also rest on the owner of a franchise who, also, puts people into place and is the overseer of their work.  There are mistakes and missteps to go around, as Cody points out, but the buck has to stop with JP.  And only JP can make the changes necessary to improve the team going forward, either by putting better people in place, or by demanding more, and demanding accountability out of the people already in place.  What say you, JP?  Where does the Twins buck stop? (and I don't mean Byron)

It’s interesting to contrast this with the other teams in the division.  Chicago put together a great team.  Is it the fault of the FO that they performed so poorly?  Cleveland signed nobody even though they were at $70M in salary and they did nothing at the deadline. 

How did Cleveland build their roster?  How were the players acquired that produced significant WAR for them.  Their approach is basically the opposite of what many here expect from the Twins.  Their team was built by trading away established players for prospects and extending a player they drafted (Ramirez)

I would NOT say the pitching pipeline has not arrived but it has not been as impactful as we would have hoped.  How many pitchers should we expect?  They have added Ober / Ryan / Winder / Jax and Duran.  It looks like Varland is close and SWR is not far off either.  There are a few others like Moran / Megill / Sands / Sisk that need a little refinement as well and a couple others like Canterino that need to get healthy.

Excellent well written and thought out article.  I like the order you put them in.  Yes injuries were a big part and the FO is already declaring that is why we fell out of contention.  A losers philosophy blaming the whole season on injuries.  I think Baldelli should shoulder much of the blame.  He sets the day to day tone.  This team was ill prepared day in and day out to play.  They play with no fire or passion.  The FO created the pitching mess then tried to patch it up with guys with injury history.  

Starts at the top and obviously worked it's way down.  The players were never held accountable either.  The whole organization is a mess that we know from experience the Pohlad's really don't care.  Most FO/Owners would have let Baldelli go after they got lost the series to Cleveland and then got swept by KC.  We will be having this discussion at the end of every season for years to come.  I am mostly discouraged by the promise of the Twins window of opportunity 3-4 years ago was supposed to be the start of that.  By letting Berrios go (yes I know he had a tough year) showing they are not willing to keep the MLB caliber players by replacing them with players hoping to have one last shot.  No different with Falvey and Levine as it was with other FO's.  It will only get worse because ticket sales are plummeting and we will very soon be considered a small market team.  

I was able to watch the NYY/Blue Jays game last night and it was refreshing to see real MLB talented players again!  I am going to go with Toronto as my team to go far in the play-offs!

Have we heard a peep out of the Pohlad's?

I say to blame the Baseball Gods. 

I can't deal with this right now. It is too depressing to start my day listing all the ways the Twins FO, manager, coaches and players have disappointed us during this season. It sounds just like "Festivus". Let the "Airing of Grievances " begin. 

As a mid-market franchise the Twins can afford few mistakes in player acquisition and development. The Twins need to be top of class in those areas and so far under Falvey and Levine they aren’t. I think the front office rightly identified coaching and analytics as areas where a comparatively small amount of spending can have an exponential impact. But many of their initial coaches are gone (Rowson, Shelton, Swanson, Johnson…). Why?

So how to parcel out responsibility for where the Twins are today?

• A development program that can’t keep front-line players and prospects healthy and on the field. Either the program is failing or the players aren’t following through or both.
• Players who don’t have solid fundamental baseball skills offensively or defensively. I don’t know what mix of coaching and/or player performance is responsible for that, but our pitchers lack command and control, our hitters leave too many runners on base, and our fielders and baserunners make too many fundamental errors. We need to acquire players who are coachable and have development programs to keep those players on the field and performing at optimal levels.
• Too many misses in player development. There was a time when a core of Buxton, Sano, Kepler, Polanco, Garver, etc. looked like something that could result in sustained success but it obviously didn’t. Is that luck or something else?
• A system that doesn’t seem to match effective changes to areas that need to improve. Baseball is a game of adjustments. Pitchers need to develop new pitches and approaches. Hitters need to adjust stances and swings. Organizations need to honestly evaluate themselves and make the necessary adjustments. The Twins simply aren’t close enough to best in class doing that.

I would go so far as to say #3 is partly to blame on #1. If they wouldn't be signing broken players to begin with #3 might not be on the list. There biggest move during the off-season not named Correa was resigning the most injury prone player in a Twins uniform to a 7 year deal. Sometimes you get what you pay for.

It's all on the FO. After Falvey's statement about Baldelli's job being safe and that he and the FO are "partners," it's clear that even the managing philosophy or decisions I may disagree with are dictated by the FO. 

So, foolishly keeping Pagan in high-leverage situations?: the FO.

Playing Lewis in CF, despite his unfamiliarity with Target Field and the risk to his ACL?: the FO.

Signing ineffective veteran pitchers?: the FO.

Trading for injury-prone arms?: the FO.

Hiring this current training and medical staff?: the FO.

Not even being remotely aware that your pitching coach was interested in a career change?: the FO.

Despite the undercurrent of anger in a lot of my posts, I don't hate Falvey and/or Levine. I love that they signed Buxton and Correa. I appreciate that they stretch payroll. I value that they were about as aggressive as they could be at this year's trade deadline. I do, however, think that they still believe they are the smartest guys in the room. The people I've known in life who see themselves this way a) typically are not the smartest people in any room and b) likely to make a mess of things due to blind spots, hubris or both.

I've accepted the fact that they are here to stay for 2023 and possibly beyond. But if I were Jim Pohlad, I'd demand a full accounting for this year's failures + a detailed plan to win the AL title in 2023. I'd also clarify that if either the accounting or the plan don't look absolutely promising, it's time for them both to clear their offices and polish their resumes. They've had more than enough time to right the ship, and it's leaking worse than when they started.

Well when the Front Office thinks getting a new scoreboard and uniforms is a topic right now, I think they are the issue. Twins should hire Kent Hrbek as conditioning coach. Maybe the players need a beer, Brat and cigar as opposed to a warm butt donut and sympathy?

I think injuries and the FO are tied as the biggest culprit.  There is no way overestimate how much the loss of so many players affected the performance of the team.  Yet, we have to remember that despite those injuries, the team stayed competitive until late in the year.  So, with a better roster--especially the pitching roster--they could still have won it all.  But, relying on Archer and Bundy as starters (whose short starts put way too much stress on a so-so bullpen) and Pagan as the closer (who cost them a lot of games) were huge mistakes.  Pagan was like Colome all over again and once again they refused to pull the plug until he had cost them crucial games especially against the Guardians.  Plus, this FO seems addicted to trading for players who end up in the MASH unit.  Paddack was injured when they got him and Pagan for heaven's sake, and he cost them Rogers.  Yes, Rogers had a difficult year, but would anyone really prefer Pagan to Rogers?  Does anyone really believe they thought Pagan could replace Rogers?  They did nothing in free agency to help the rotation or the bullpen (Smith?  Really?) and then traded away Rogers who was their closer.  Rogers had a good start to the year which means he likely would have been able to salvage the early games against the Guardians.  And, Mahle had shoulder issues before they traded for him which should have been a red flag.  Frankly, I think they were not planning to compete this year, but when Correa fell in their lap for one year, they changed their tune.  Strange year for sure.  Next year has to be better, doesn't it?

The injuries did decimate the team but Rocco should not get a free pass. His slavish devotion to analytics and lack of trust in his starters was frustrating, especially with a bullpen that was poor. His Earl Weaver refusal to utilize the speed he had to occasionally steal a base or try a  hit and run, especially when the offense was sluggish, a frequent occurrence, was a head scratcher. And of course the many base running blunders says to me the coaching staff didn’t do a good job. I wish they’d move on from him.

We have been there and done that ...

Number 3 should be  coaches  and Number 4 should be all the top professionals  FO hired for all the positions in the system  ... 

This hasn't been  a catastrophe like 2021 but it is showing the ineptitude  that they can't contend  , compete yes , maybe  ...

Contend is the key word and is what every diehard twins fans wants ...

They are not taking the right avenue to tap into the players  talent  by resting  , though  you would think it would help some  .... 

Injuries are not the big excuse , they are professionals players  or they wouldn't be in the show  ... 

Ok. I've had plenty of time to go through the five stages of grief. Now that I'm out at the other end, I'm going to just say it.  All things considered, this was a pretty good season. The Twins were a good team. Not a great team and not a terrible team. Sure they didn't win the division or a wild card spot, but the only reason anyone expected them to win in the first place was because the Guardians and White Sox were also not very good teams. 

We had times where the bullpen was great before it collapsed from overuse and regression to the mean. There were times when the starting pitching was better than expected before everyone got injured one by one. We had Ryan flashing elite stuff here and there. We had interesting experimentation with how to manipulate a pitching staff to compete with better pitching teams elsewhere by limiting starters (though this obviously didn't work as there were no innings-eaters to back them up and they ended up blowing through bullpen pieces... and keeping with the plan well past its utility... but... oh well... we got to see exactly how and why the plan imploded). Arraez broke out. Correa was fun to watch. Buxton had what most could consider a career year with just several dozen at bats. We got to see the potential in AK, Trevor Larnach, Miranda, and others. And I think they even beat the Yankees once or twice (though I could be misremembering). 

No the Twins didn't make the playoffs. And no... they weren't a great team. I'm not sure they would have made the playoffs with Polonco, Buxton, Kepler, et al in the lineup every day either. Baseball is fun. It has to be fun when the team sucks too. Otherwise you'll be disappointed almost every year no matter what team you're rooting for. 

I blame everyone's expectations. They lost. But the season is over. Let's move on. 

2 hours ago, tarheeltwinsfan said:

I can't deal with this right now. It is too depressing to start my day listing all the ways the Twins FO, manager, coaches and players have disappointed us during this season. It sounds just like "Festivus". Let the "Airing of Grievances " begin. 

It helps to vent  ...

It always amazes me how dramatic the roller coaster of fandom truly is.  This team was probably overachieving a bit during the first half of the season (along with the White Sox and Cleveland underachieving) and it was "World Series Here We Come".  Injuries, some regression to the mean, and a Cleveland team playing out of their gourd finally caught up with them.  Now the masses are screaming "Fire the FO!", "Fire Rocco!", "Gut the team and start over!"...

1) Expectations for this team were to be .500.  Here we are.  I believe that the team planned to be post-season competitive next year and this year was somewhat of a bonus.  The Mahle and Paddock moves were calculated risks this year with more of a payoff next year.  Maeda out till next year.  Correa basically on a one-year deal to hold for Lewis.  Pitchers coming up to learn the ropes,  This all points to 2023

2) Blame whoever you want, but bud luck goes a long way towards injuries and prevention.  The only way to stop shoulder injuries in pitchers is to have them stop pitching.  HBP, foul tips, concussions are all not preventable.

3) The organization as a whole is stronger now than it was before the current FO regime took over.  Statistical analysis, drafting power pitchers, rebuilding the farm system (the only reason our system is ranked low is because we have graduated many guys out).  They brought that to Minnesota.  Flexibility and adapting were unheard of prior to them.

4) There will always be something to complain about:  Our fielding is horrible.  We don't let our SP go long enough (despite statistics backing most of the decisions, I am looking at you Sonny), we didn't use our relievers correctly or why is <insert player here> batting 3rd or 5th?  Every team has holes in their product.  The key is to find ways to deal with those holes.  Those teams that can do that win.

This team will be competitive next year.  The rotation should be stronger.  They will try to fill in the lineup holes where they can.  Buxton, Kirriloff, Lewis, Polanco, Stashak, should all be back healthy (at least to start).  We will be having the discussion of over/under 90 wins before you know it. 

9 minutes ago, Muppet said:

I blame everyone's expectations. They lost. But the season is over. Let's move on. 

BOSS: We put a plan in place, we had strong sales, our profits were surging and then all of a sudden we tanked. We dropped to like third in the region. What happened?

EMPLOYEE: I don't know. I think people were injured all over the place or something.

BOSS: Injured? Why? Our factory isn't any more risky than any other. And the replacements we hired look sluggish. What's going on?

EMPLOYEE: C'mon, we lost. The fiscal year is over. Let's just move on.

BOSS: WHAT?!

EMPLOYEE: Maybe your expectations for the company were just too high. Ever think of that?

You all get what I'm saying here?

The fanbase's constant push to put on a happy face and sweep failure under the rug just kinda astounds me. Of course, feel however you like about this season, but I don't think we're capable of sending a clear message to ownership about what's acceptable and what's not anymore. 

Perhaps ticket sales and broadcast ratings will have to do that work for those of us whose expectations for one playoff victory or one title push in 30+ years are "too high."

At the beginning of the season, most models predicted we'd finish 3rd in our division - we finished the year with an on the field product that looked nothing like it was supposed to compared to the start of the year team.  Does that mean our back-ups overachieved as we hit that prediction?

I can't blame Rocco, he can only play the players he is given.  Much of the team he had down the stretch were not who you want going into a pennant race, and that fault lies with the F.O. and is due to injuries.

2 hours ago, mikelink45 said:

Injuries are a very big factor, but perhaps the unwinding of our Kepler/Buxton/Polanco/Sano core should be up near the top.  These were the players to carry us forward.  Buxton cannot stay on the field, Polanco seems to be breaking down, Sano looks like he is a former Twin, and Kepler has been mediocre.  Now we need the new core and they are mostly on the IL except for Ryan/Miranda 

When you list Rocco you have to list his supporting cast too.  What was Tingler doing when he was the voice that was intended to be in Rocco's ear? 

 

Well put. This was supposed to be the year where the core of Buxton, Polanco, Kepler and Sano complimented by Correa and maybe Arraez would form a fearsome lineup. The pitching staff would be young and improving, and we could be competitive in 2022 with 2023 the true break through deep playoff run competitive year. 

Instead, Sano played his way out baseball, Kepler played his way to the bench or out of town, and both Polanco and Buxton were injured a whole lot. The only young pitchers that stepped forward were Ryan becoming a solid mid rotation starter with some higher potential and Duran becoming a lock down bullpen guy. Ober looked good last night so maybe he's ready to break out. Miranda and Gordon look like solid MLB players, and possible stars (?), and nothing else happened in the lineup. 

So where are we? Very hard to tell. There's enough talent with potential to imagine a solid lineup for next year but we again will be dependent on Buxton's health, Polanco and Arraez staying on the field, and break throughs from younger guys. The rotation has 3 vets with injury issues, Ryan, and …. maybe Ober or Winder or Varland? God help us if the 3 vets have more injury issues and Ryan gets hurt. Then we're screwed. The bullpen has to be rebuilt . . . again.  The coaching? Wasn't great this year.

All frustrating. :Looks like 2023 is another crapshoot year for the Twins. We could win 90-95 games, we could win 70-75 games next year. 

1st I'd like to say that this FO has done some things right this year like signing Correa but like almost everything that they have done right has fallen into their laps. What they have done wrong. Player evaluation, after demolishing catching & the BP, they did nothing to bolster them, maybe because they thought Jeffers & Gary Sanchez could handle the catching and Pagan & Duffy could handle the closing. Poor evaluation.

It's hard to place blame on anyone for mismanagement because they aren't transparent on who's responsible for the decisions made. We started the season with a weak rotation & BP. The FO made the right assessment before the spring training to fill in the gap with a strong long relief core (piggy-backing). It doesn't matter if we have a weak rotation or BP if you have solid long relief core candidates which we had. So what happened? Long relief was never implemented, which naturally over extends 1st a terrible BP and then a weak rotation. To me there's no doubt that Baldelli's preference is solely depending on short relief and long relief is something probably very foreign of  was our downfall again. But the final blame is on the FO because they have the final say.

Although some of the injuries could not be helped, majority of them IMO could have. Placing a recently recovered Lewis in CF is asking for trouble. For an organization that prides itself on resting their players (Cruz, Garver & Rogers are good example), But they played 3 of their core (Buxton, Polanco & Arraez) ragged. Playing hurt & tired lead to being far less than 100% and or more serious injury. Again as you say the buck stops with the FO.

The swing for the fences game plan lead to more SOs, FOs and poor prepation of playing small ball which translated into more losses. You can blame all the coaches for this but again the buck should stop with the FO. But the buck won't stop at the FO or Baldelli if it does stop it'll stop with coaches.

Whatever drove the unrealistic expectations, which by around mid-June I was as taken in by as the next person.

This article falls in to the typical trap of accepting the Twins excuses of injuries!! The facts are the Twins shop the rehab market for pitching every year. They avoid the Quality Healthy Pitchers because of the price tag and go for Tommy John Patients on the rehab. So they do not get a break for pitching injuries because they signed damaged goods in many cases to begin with!!

1 hour ago, Doctor Gast said:

1st I'd like to say that this FO has done some things right this year like signing Correa but like almost everything that they have done right has fallen into their laps. What they have done wrong. Player evaluation, after demolishing catching & the BP, they did nothing to bolster them, maybe because they thought Jeffers & Gary Sanchez could handle the catching and Pagan & Duffy could handle the closing. Poor evaluation.

It's hard to place blame on anyone for mismanagement because they aren't transparent on who's responsible for the decisions made. We started the season with a weak rotation & BP. The FO made the right assessment before the spring training to fill in the gap with a strong long relief core (piggy-backing). It doesn't matter if we have a weak rotation or BP if you have solid long relief core candidates which we had. So what happened? Long relief was never implemented, which naturally over extends 1st a terrible BP and then a weak rotation. To me there's no doubt that Baldelli's preference is solely depending on short relief and long relief is something probably very foreign of  was our downfall again. But the final blame is on the FO because they have the final say.

Although some of the injuries could not be helped, majority of them IMO could have. Placing a recently recovered Lewis in CF is asking for trouble. For an organization that prides itself on resting their players (Cruz, Garver & Rogers are good example), But they played 3 of their core (Buxton, Polanco & Arraez) ragged. Playing hurt & tired lead to being far less than 100% and or more serious injury. Again as you say the buck stops with the FO.

The swing for the fences game plan lead to more SOs, FOs and poor prepation of playing small ball which translated into more losses. You can blame all the coaches for this but again the buck should stop with the FO. But the buck won't stop at the FO or Baldelli if it does stop it'll stop with coaches.

I agree with everything here...........except.........the buck stops with Jim Pohlad.  These are his people, hand picked by him and supported by him.  He oversees everything in this organization, and has the final say in who runs it.  The FO, as we know it, is still run by JP.  Every one works for him.  He is the only one who can change things.  And this extremely humble observer doesn't think he will.  

1 hour ago, Mark G said:

I agree with everything here...........except.........the buck stops with Jim Pohlad.  These are his people, hand picked by him and supported by him.  He oversees everything in this organization, and has the final say in who runs it.  The FO, as we know it, is still run by JP.  Every one works for him.  He is the only one who can change things.  And this extremely humble observer doesn't think he will.  

Yes agreed Mark. JP doesn't have any idea what he's doing or how to correct what's wrong, so he blindly trusts Flavine 100%. But he is the owner so he can't fire himself (I don't think).

I believe Truman said "The buck stops here" meaning like what you said Mark that he takes full responsibility plus he accepts any consequeces and he's confident in what he's doing & able to right any wrong or he'll step down & let some else do it. JP isn't in this boat.

Maybe JP could hand the reins over to someone like Andy MacPhail  to help find a different FO. But again will he?

My main stickers. 

- Going into the season with 2 terrible starters on your staff, and only 1 guy that was proven(Gray)

- Going into the season with a terrible bullpen(after trading away your closer) when you have an unproven and band-aided up starting staff.(just not good overall) 

- Having a manager that is so insistent on yanking guys early and leaning hard into a terrible bullpen(this will be my #1) They are so rigid with pitching usage, that they forget there is a game going on with humans right in front of their eyes

- Not knowing how the run the bases or make basic defensive plays. 

- Us fans for believing that just signing Carlos Correa would lead us to the playoffs. Had we looked at it fairly, we would see that the gaggle of #4-6 starters, washups and bullpen projects on this team were many. Probably was unrealistic that we had any chance.

The one issue I have with the comments is the fact that the team was picked to finish 500 and thus our collapse at the end is okay because we are moving to the mean.  NO - we established an expectation after Gray and Correa that was not 500.  We played above 500 most of the year.  The team did not have to fall from  almost a tie for first to 12 games behind in two weeks.  Our expectations shift as the season progresses and those models from stat geeks at the beginning of the year should not be our yardstick for measuring performance. 

Did anyone pick the Orioles to be in contention for a WC berth?  But they just kept playing well and dumped a player who was playing above his head - Pagan - to a team that has a difficulty with judging BP performers.  Did Seattle look like a WC team in April?  

Sporting News predicted: 

1. Blue Jays (91-71)
2. Rays (87-75)
3. Red Sox (86-76)
4. Yankees (86-76)
5. Orioles (70-92)

Don't tell the Yankees.

1. White Sox (94-68)
2. Tigers (81-81)
3. Royals (81-81)
4. Twins (77-85)
5. Guardians (67-95)

Wow is KC surprised, but Cleveland!!!!

1. Astros (91-71)
2. Angels (80-82)
3. Rangers (80-82)
4. Mariners (72-90)
5. Athletics (64-98)

I told you Seattle was not expected to rise. 

The NL was really close except for SF.

So throw those out - look at who is where and what they are doing to wrap up the season.