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.

In terms of analytics. I don't think it's whether or not a manager uses analytics. They all use analytics to a certain extent. Heck, HR's, BA, and RBI's are old-school analytics. It's just that we've now enhanced those stats with newer, more meaningful stats. It's ultimately the choices the Manager makes in game on when and HOW to use the analytics/stats at your disposal. I would suggest we have several years worth of data that suggest that our current Manager has very little "feel" for how to manage a game based on the analytics available vs. situational baseball. An example: pure analytics, based on years of baseball stats, tell you not to give up the out with no outs when a runner is at 2B to sacrifice the runner to 3B. Of course, this data does not take into account that it's extra innings and score or die. It doesn't take into account the increased pressure put on the defense if you're batting in the top of the inning and they have to defend against a bunt. A bunt may well result in man at 3B, man at 1B and still no outs. It doesn't account for the pressure put on the offense of the home team in the bottom half to score if the visiting team DOES ultimately score that run on a sac fly in the top half. Generally, Rocco has been horrible in extra inning situations ever since this runner on second business came into existence. Just one example.

There is a very clear reason why Pagan is still on the team and this time it has nothing to do with Baldelli (More on Baldelli in a moment). Pagan is still on the team because of the stubbornness (is that actually 3 b's, 3 n's, AND 3 S's, LOL). They traded away an all-star closer and team favorite within 24 hours of opening day for two controllable players. The one blew up in their face immediately and the other has had a sizzling fuse all season. It's their desire to prove they got something in return even though it's been nothing but a big pile of pooh to this point. Enough with the hubris and be done, DFA Pagan and move on. Baldelli, where does he come into play in this. Well, simply, he has absolutely no acumen for situational baseball and his management of the pitching side of things is horrendous. The Twins no longer have the Bomba Squad, that was a rarity, and need to do the little things (situational) well. Unfortunately, they almost never do the little things well. I'd take that Manager in Cleveland any day of the week over our current version.

I'll state the obvious. Can we just DFA Pagan already? Having him still on the team at this point is an insult to our collective intelligence. Then again, Baldelli's in-game decision-making is also often an insult to our collective intelligence.

Barring injury, he'll fit very nicely...in a trade package. As a single piece in a trade, the Twins might get some other org's #15-#25 prospect IF the Twins send the buyout money as well. Am I undervaluing Sano? I'm just over waiting for him to be the next Miguel Cabrera that we all hoped he would be. I'd love for him to be on the team and have his signature August/September hot streak. I just think it's less likely than ever after sitting out with injury. And we can't afford to give him a month of at bats waiting for his bat to catch up to MLB pitching.

It's days like today and weeks like this week that I thank my lucky stars that Sinclair/Bally Sports North/THE Minnesota Twins/AND MLB have completely screwed me out of being able to watch this horrendous mess on TV. I used to watch the Twins quite a bit before I decided that $175 per month for DirecTV was ridiculous. I used to go to a few Twins games each year (it's a 500 mile round trip for me). Now, the only way I keep track of the Twins and their minor league affiliates is through TwinsDaily. Sorry for the curveball here, it's probably in the dirt, just like the Twins bullpen. Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming.

All I had to read were three words that told me NO, U...C...and L!

Just another way in which the powers that be are making the game un-watchable. And to think, this explosion of the "need" to have position players pitch supposedly meaningless innings comes at a time when managers are complaining that their pens are being limited from 9 down to 8 pitchers. Who's baseball universe did I wake up in?

A far from petty attempt at your part to play the muse (ic) and a wonderful breakdown of the past weeks news. Somewhere, someone is saying don't do me like that unless your willing to pay me a Kansas City sized Royalty. Your work is too good so respond by saying don't do me like that.

Just another in a long line of questionable decisions by this organization. Miranda should be on the field no less than 5 days per week, with at least 1 or 2 of those at 3B. Also, the problem with trading Urshela going into the deadline, contending teams that are serious about making a playoff run aren't looking for "league average" at 3B. They want a top 10 player at the position. The Twins have floundered for over a Month now being a less than .500 ballclub. Two words...More Miranda!

So you're thinking the Twins like Tucker more than Cameron at this point? Is Cameron just not as signable? Perhaps you could give what you see as the Twins board, top 7 or 8? Thanks for all your analysis Jeremy, it's been fun to read.