Week in Review: No End in Sight

Thanks. Ugly but oh so precise...sadly. Maybe we should change the moniker to Weakened Review?

Time to stop buying tickets to Target Field then. Make the Twins feel the pain in their financials. Maybe then Pohlads will get a clue & fire Baldelli, Falvey, and Levine.

Is this an illusion, or was it in fact the 2 previous seasons?

Man, at this point even a 60 game season is way too long.

I chuckle at this week's schedule. But I'm an optimist, and predict that they will win a game! (1-7) moral victory....

OP heading. "No end in sight"

Ahhhh, actually I think it should have read, "the end is near"?

Only one word to say at this point, Nick, Ouch!

Great seeing Larnach follow Kirilloff's lead with his bat heating up following an 0 for whatever start.  Certainly seems like these two should be middle of the order bats, beginning soon.

Amazing how they found another way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory yesterday.  Don't see how they can turn this ship around, but there are still what, 125 or so games remaining.  If only the injuries would stop piling on.

What sucks is, you get so pumped for baseball after a long winter, Summer is coming, it's sunny, and you're baseball team is out of it before Memorial Day.. I"ll root. I'll watch, but it's disheartening. 

A trade won't make it better, it is time to see the next generation of players.  Put in Jeffers, he is doing fine in St Paul, Garver continues to struggle.  The OF depth is really being stretched, but please bring up a real CF prospect, even if not quite ready so we can at least see some Defense. Get the AA BP into the Twins and send these guys on a vacation to Wichita.  Bring up some SP from the minors - Ober, Winder.  Let's jettison the flotsam and give fans a reason to watch.   

The mask rule means more fans can come to the stands, the team as it stands right now means less fans will come to the stands. 

I know a part of the reason they gave Donaldson all that money was because of his glove. I have not been impressed.

I move that this weekly feature be renamed "Weak in Review" until further notice,

I don't see the Twins winning one game this week.

They'll be 20 games under .500 by Sunday.

Absolute embarrassment.

It might be time to move Donaldson and Simmons, let Gordon try short, Arraez third, and go for speed instead of power. Also youth over age. 

I'm not a 'fire the manager' guy, but if the manager is managing mostly on information or trends or suggestions from the analytics department, then who's culpable?  I guess just the players then.  But you can't fire all of the players.

The masks at Target Field are being replaced by paper bags.   I’ll still go to the ballpark - but much of the games I watch at home on TV are being watched on fast forward. 

Donaldson and Simmons (yesterdays HR notwithstanding) have been disappointments. They haven't 'sparked' the Twins to win games. When Donaldson makes an error, its usually a game changing costly one too. Any word on Turtles hand?

On an unrelated note, your former AAA team Rochester is off to a Twins-like 2-10 start with their new parent Washington. The team is putrid and this is probably  the worst start I can remember. Organization so far has 'ignored' talking about it since the home opener is tomorrow and they desperately need fans. The Saints are 5-7. I wish, despite the Twins incompetence, we were still with them. (the Nats are in last place too) In the 10 years 2009-2018 with Syracuse, they only provided them with 3 winning teams. Our other parent before Minnesota is also in last place (Baltimore)

I'm having a nightmare season so far!

No team in the past 100 years has lost 25 or more of their first 38 games and gone on to make the playoffs.

Today's loss dropped the #MNTwins to 13-25 through 38 games.

So they're either already finished on May 16 or they're going to make baseball history.

So you're saying there's a chance!

2 hours ago, Mahoning said:

It might be time to move Donaldson and Simmons, let Gordon try short, Arraez third, and go for speed instead of power. Also youth over age. 

 

This will happen if we keep losing. Doubt we deal anyone until July. Probably shouldn't. Best deals will happen closer to the deadline. Selling now won't be helpful. Obviously our free agent monies should have been spent on pitching. 

Maybe this guy is looking for a job.

Can't hurt...

I mean, I can enjoy baseball, simply for the sake of baseball. Probably done it that way at least half of my years following the club since the late 60’s. It’s not what I thought I’d be doing this season, but it’s not the end of the world. The Twins were bad in 1990. They didn’t require a rebuild, just some tweaks and a reset. Similarly...as disappointing as 2021 is...I don’t feel like this is likely to carry into 2022 and beyond.

56 minutes ago, jkcarew said:

I mean, I can enjoy baseball, simply for the sake of baseball. Probably done it that way at least half of my years following the club since the late 60’s. It’s not what I thought I’d be doing this season, but it’s not the end of the world. The Twins were bad in 1990. They didn’t require a rebuild, just some tweaks and a reset. Similarly...as disappointing as 2021 is...I don’t feel like this is likely to carry into 2022 and beyond.

They're definitely closer to a reset than a rebuild since the cupboard is far from bare. I think it'll be more like a 3 year project though. There are quite a few existing holes to fill (mostly pitching and catching), new holes coming with vets that will be gone (Cruz, Pineda, Simmons), bad contracts that will clog the roster (Sano, Kepler, Polanco), some sort of resolution is needed on Buxton/Berrios extensions, and the upcoming rookies need to develop. It'll be interesting to see how all these issues are managed this year and going into 2022. Could be a very different squad, for better or worse.

1 hour ago, jkcarew said:

I mean, I can enjoy baseball, simply for the sake of baseball. Probably done it that way at least half of my years following the club since the late 60’s. It’s not what I thought I’d be doing this season, but it’s not the end of the world. The Twins were bad in 1990. They didn’t require a rebuild, just some tweaks and a reset. Similarly...as disappointing as 2021 is...I don’t feel like this is likely to carry into 2022 and beyond.

I can normally enjoy baseball for baseball's sake as well. A good example is indeed the 1990 Twins. They were just 3 years off a World Series victory and even when they finished in last, they won 74 games. Aguilera and Scott Erickson were emerging, Puckett was still a superstar and Shane Mack was making a name for himself in the OF.

Unfortunately this Twins team was expected to contend for a World Series. The organization hasn't won a playoff game in 20 years. Finally, they are on pace for a 55-107 season. There are some really rotten apples on this squad too. Not fun to watch.

3 hours ago, strumdatjag said:

The masks at Target Field are being replaced by paper bags.   I’ll still go to the ballpark - but much of the games I watch at home on TV are being watched on fast forward. 

I've started wearing a paper bag at home to watch the Twins.

The Twins better make sure they figure out EXACTLY what they have in Rooker and Gordon this year.

They should be playing almost every day in the MLB from here on out to make the most informed decision for next year.

No excuses....Get them up and play them now!

4 minutes ago, bighat said:

I can normally enjoy baseball for baseball's sake as well. A good example is indeed the 1990 Twins. They were just 3 years off a World Series victory and even when they finished in last, they won 74 games. Aguilera and Scott Erickson were emerging, Puckett was still a superstar and Shane Mack was making a name for himself in the OF.

Unfortunately this Twins team was expected to contend for a World Series. The organization hasn't won a playoff game in 20 years. Finally, they are on pace for a 55-107 season. There are some really rotten apples on this squad too. Not fun to watch.

I think you hit it for me here. I watched a lot of bad Twins and Timberwolves teams over the years because there were players I liked, interesting young guys to watch develop, and you'd still get some interesting and competitive games often enough.

This team is just so bland and lifeless and I'm worn out by the playoff ineptitude. The games aren't interesting even if they're close. One-dimensional low-contact high-variance offense, bad defense, no running or apparent strategy, and a bad pitching staff with no up and comers mostly on expiring deals. Rookies/prospects are hurt or struggling, Buxton is hurt again, core players have stalled out and regressed, and there's an impending feeling of doom regarding contract extensions & health for Buxton/Berrios that makes it hard to get excited about their future. I don't know how to enjoy watching this team this year.