Jonasty24

@Mike Sixel I will fully admit to a lot of speculation on my part. I could be completely wrong with Simmons. It just seems like, as a whole, there are certain discussions that don't seem to take place with this team. For example, I look at Max Kepler's offense. He spent the 2021 season in the basement of a .200 batting average. When you watch his at-bats, more often than not, he grounds out or lines out to the right side of the field in 3 pitches or less, regardless of the count. When that happens for an entire season, I can't help but question if there is anything being done/conversations taking place between the player and manager. It's possible those conversations are taking place but the players are unwilling to listen but I feel that's part of the manager's job too - manage the game and manage the players - specifically their egos.

@Mike Sixel I think you make a good point with Simmons. At this point in his career, he should absolutely be able to self-correct. I wouldn't necessary say that Baldelli ruined Simmons but I would say that he (or his coaching staff) failed to correct a veteran when he made a mistake. Even though Simmons is a veteran, he still needs to be managed. I won't speculate on what discussions were had/not had off the field but Simmons didn't seem to change anything throughout the entire season. I feel like managers like Dusty Baker, Tony LaRussa, and Terry Francona would not let that slide. Even Ron Gardenhire seemed like he wouldn't have let that slide.

Rocco Baldelli is what "F" looks like. Pitching has been covered so I won't rehash that.... let's talk about offense and defense. First, the offensive numbers don't look terrible from a purely statistical standpoint but game over game... yuck. The Baldelli Twins have a mentality that the only way to score runs is the the long ball. Go back and watch all of the Twins extra inning games this year. While the other teams are bunting to move the runner on second into scoring position, the Twins are primarily swinging (and missing) for the fences. There were also way too many games where the Twins scored in the first or second inning and then phoned in the rest of the game. That shouldn't happen. They should be taking quality at-bats throughout the entire game. Second, the defense. On paper, our team was supposed to have a strong defense and historically, the Twins have been known for a strong defensive mindset. There were some injuries which impacted defensive quality, but the Twins played sloppy defense overall. Simmons, a former golden glove SS, didn't look great. He had great range to get to balls but made a lot of bad throws and/or failed to throw at all. Sano was a trainwreck at the easiest defensive position in baseball. I also witnessed a lot of throws from the outfield that did not utilize the cutoff man properly. This comes down to poor preparation and inadequate fielding routines. Baldelli has either ignored or forgotten about the fundamentals of baseball. The Twins will continue to suffer until he makes an adjustment or he is fired.