silverslugger

Very insightful write up.

2019 and the Bomba happened and I was a happy camper. Then came the post-season and some real oofdah moments from the team's manager. 2020 happened and covid happened and 60 games happened. Then came the post-season and some real oofdah moments form the team's manager. Then 2021 and 2022 happened and there was no playoffs and a ton of injuries and bad baseball. Let's just say I'm no Rocco fan, but I'm smart enough to know I'm probably stuck with him. I hope he can change his stripes. I sure feel there are some managers in baseball that manage circles around him, including one in the American League. Fortunately, another Central team chose to go with a living relic the past few years which doom them. 'nuff said.

RJA beat me to it. Your doing a guy like this a disservice to play him 40 games at 2nd, 40 at short, 40 at 3rd, and 40 in LF. Give him ONE position and let him hone his skills.

It's all a bunch of schadenfreude to me😕😬😉

One caveat, Rocco Baldelli can never be allowed to insert both Sano and Gallo into the same lineup.

Mike, I don't think your seeing the point I was trying to make. My point was that we have been operating under an assumption that the current FO was going to use metrics, new-school thinking, etc. etc. etc. to overcome the constraints from above. Something that most of us agreed Terry Ryan and co. were failing miserably at about 7 years ago. To date, there's been precious little evidence that their succeeding where the previous FO failed. Only time will tell. However, with the current FO, time seems to be running out in terms of the fan's faith in the product. Luckily, they have an ownership group that is beyond patient so long as they are constraining themselves to ownerships bottom line.

My disappointment isn't that the Twins didn't sign Correa, for whatever reason. I've never expected the Twins to play in the deep end of the pool, at least when it comes to the 5 star free agents who hit the market from other teams. Oh sure, once in a great while we'll sign a player to an earth-shattering contract because he's one of our own, ala Kirby and Joe. But, for the most part, swimming in the ocean with the whales has never been the Twin's ownership's deal. My disappointment with the current FO is in their continued insistence to play in the kiddie pool with old, washed-up, catch lightning in a bottle, dumpster dive free agents. You know the type, we've had to live with it through the back end of the Terry Ryan run and it was the last thing I expected from the current FO when they came aboard. My other disappointment is with the current FO and field managements lack of desire to field a fundamentally sound defensively and aggressive team, as well as that stellar bullpen needed to go deep into the playoffs. There's one team doing that in our division. Oh well, looking forward to more mediocre baseball with LOTS of strikeouts, miscues in the field, and no aggression on the basepaths. Ho Hum.

As baseball fans in markets like ours, aren't we so glad that we get to play in the deep end of the kiddie pool??? Alas, our Mother (FO) forgot to bring any toys, so we're left having to dive for pennies.

UNCLE

I understand your point on aging pitchers Nick. I also understand your point on having shiny bobbles to present to the adoring public. Ultimately though, nothing moves the needle in terms of the average fan experience more than winning. The average fan doesn't care if the Twins spend like the Tampa Bay Rays, just so long as the Twins win like the Rays. One could only hope. After several years, the jury is out on the current front office. It feels like it's make or break time for them. I know, I know, the Pohlads have shown to be very patient and very loyal with their employees for the most part. Here's an idea that would show that this front office was actually ahead of the curve. Go out and trade for and then develop pitchers in their early to mid-twenties who have the ability to be the aces that are looking for these great deals at age 30. To a certain extent, Ryan is an example of this thinking. Of course, only time will tell if he can become an ace or a mid-rotation starter. I also agree with Doc, give me a bunch of 2's and 3's and a great bullpen. They haven't had a great bullpen in a handful of years. Or, think outside the box, teams routinely carry 13 or 14 pitchers on their staffs. How about 12 pitchers, each of whom pitches 3 innings in a four day rotation. Now that would be unique. None of them would be facing a lineup a third time, which seems to be a goal these days. Plus, you'd have 1 or 2 in reserve to use wisely or truly close down a game. That's the sort of "outside of the box" thinking we were hoping for with this front office. Instead, they've done as much bargain bin hunting as Terry Ryan used to do. Enough said, Just Win Baby!

Just adding my two cents, which is very similar to a lot of the other comments. Make better in game decisions in terms of situational baseball. Actually have a plan with a running game. Have expectations in terms of defense. I don't even care about post-season wins at this point. Do those things listed above well, and the rest will take care of itself if the front office gives you the horses and the horses maintain average health compared to the league.

I don't need Rocco to be a rah, rah guy in the dugout trying to light a fire. I don't need Rocco to be the Manager thrown out of a game every other week. I need Rocco to know when to hit and run, when to call for a bunt, how to create chaos on the bases and in the batter's box that the other teams defense must account for. I also need him to know when to pull a starter and how to manage a bullpen. IMHO, he falls woefully short in each and every one of those areas and it hamstrings the Twins.

Anyone know what the Twins record is in extra inning games under Baldelli since the implementation of the runner on 2nd rule?

I've been a Twins fan since the mid-70's as a young boy. Went through the days of a weekly Saturday game and Monday Night Baseball. Twins were rarely on either, so had to listen to 'CCO. Lived out of State when Cable first started telecasting 60ish games a season, so continued to listen to 'CCO and other affiliates from afar. Enjoyed watching many games a year while Twins were on FSN and I had DirecTV. Also went to a few games a year despite being 250 miles from Twin Cities. Cut the cord when DirectTV got up to $170 a month for me and switched to $60 Hulu. Enjoyed watching FSN on Hulu for a couple years. Then, poof, a switch to Bally and it's all gone. Also, I live in some sort of baseball created viewing hell called Iowa where the Twins/Brewers/Royals/White Sox/Cubs/Cardinals all choose it as part of their blackout territory. So, no baseball on TV for me. I watch a few games a year now when the Twins play the Sox and it's on Hulu. I listen a bit on the radio, not as much as before. I get my Twins fix here, for the most part, rarely even watch any highlights from anywhere on the 'net. I haven't gone to a game since this mess began and haven't spent any money on Twins merch...REFUSE. They will get none of my hard earned $$$. As an aside, I'm 57 and grew up worshipping baseball. The powers that be are absolutely killing the game. I teach in a High School. When I started teaching in the late 80's many kids were still interested in baseball. Now, almost none of them. The only ones interested are the very few who have grown up as little leaguers/legion ball/school ball. 95% of kids don't have a clue and don't give a care. 30 years from now, MLB and it's fanbase is going to look much, much different than it does now. Much, Much, Different!

I don't disagree that they've lived up to the value of the contracts they signed. I think the bigger issue here though is the loss of opportunity from signing these players. In order to fully understand value, I think we have to ask what the Twins could have done instead of signing these two with those dollars. We also have to look at the cost of signing in terms of it's effect on bullpen use/overuse. When you sign two reclamation projects and they both end up being starting less than innings eating starting pitchers almost the entire year, well, that's 40% of your rotation killing the 'pen.