Blake

It's hard for me to disagree with what was posted. As of right now, the Twins situation is very muddied. It is going to take some time to sort through the mess and figure out what the Twins have done right (short list) and what the Twins have done wrong (Think "War and Peace" and you'll probably be close to the length of that list)

Any chance we can bring Tom Kelly back as bullpen manager?

The 87 Twins were a raucous bunch that played with a chip on their shoulder and won it all. The 91 Twins were a professional team through and through, took care of business and won it all. Be nice to see one or the other show up in the near future with Twins teams.

I think baseball is a much more nuanced game than football. Hitting the cut-off man, a player not properly covering a base, loafing while getting into position, all of these factors can affect the outcome of a baseball game. Football, at least the last time I watched, was about pass, pass again and then pass some more....with the hopes of getting a "completion" via a phantom "pass interference" call. I find football to be boring and predictable. Plus, the players and the on field celebrations for making a first down have become reminiscent of the touchdown celebrations of a decade ago. However, with baseball, I can safely say that even with the hundreds of games I've watched, there will always be something that happens that I've never seen before.

My then wife and I went to the Metrodome for the welcome home party. The people at the Metrodome later told me (I did some contract work at the Metrodome for a while and got to know a few of the people who worked there) they were stunned at the crowd that showed up to welcome the Twins back from Detroit.

Hmm, you mean like Ow, my B*** from Idiocracy? (no link as I don't need an admonishment from the mods)

The manager rarely is the problem. I agree it was time to move on from Gardenhire but right now, it's looking more like "careful what you wish for."

Twins 2.0: The return of Gardenhire.

Echoing Brian, thanks to Chief and Chitown for all the help with game threads.

What always got me when it came to game threads was deadlines. Sign up for a thread a month in advance and then wait for the muse known as "last minute panic" to strike.

It was a fun year, at least from a game thread perspective. It was a nice distraction from the dumpster fire known as "The Twins."

Bautista fits right in then.

I'm going with the Cubs. Second choice is the Giants. Dark horse: Cleveland.

Augean stables level of work, from the looks of it.

Glad I wasn't definitive. Yeah, two years is long enough to get things sorted out. I dunno what to think at this point. The whole organization seems to be decrepit and Bruno is one very small part of the institutional malaise that has set in.

I don't think you give up on Bruno. I think this is the first year the Twins have had two hitting coaches, one for the Spanish language players, and getting things sorted out probably took some time.

Vargas a heads-up baseball player from what little I've seen of him, along with being a decent defender and decent bat. Overall, I think Vargas has more upside than Mauer. Mauer is a sunk cost and should be asked to "take a position within the organization" or some such. Park is decent at first but I don't know about his bat.

Yeah, I had the same thought also. Too many people in the ear of Berrios can't have been a good thing. Bring in Mike Maddux!

The "Twins Way" used to be bring up players who play good solid fundamental baseball and work at their profession. There was and is nothing wrong with that attitude. However, a lot of younger current players don't seem to know how to play fundamentally sound baseball. The front office also avoided signing free agents to long term contracts, especially players on the wrong side of 30. There were other factors but over the last few years, these two things seem to stand out, at least from my perspective. (granted, I may be basing this more on my perceptions than reality) Hopefully, Falvey is the first step in righting the Twins organization.

concur.

I think the guy pictured is somewhat younger than Chief...

Don't you mean "look out for the party invite from Chief?"

Hmm, now that would be kind of cool and creepy, an animated eyeball gif.

Well, I don't remember the previous avatar, so, must have been rather innocuous as far as I'm concerned. I doubt I'll forget this one, however.

By the way, I hope the eyeball thingy is just for Halloween, because it is a bit on the creepy side.