Hosken Bombo Disco

Gardy laid his cards down in the press conference. He sees himself as a manager, he's not ready to be done managing, and he doesn't give two shakes what this undefined "position in the organization" is that Ryan is offering him. I say Gardy tipped his hand, but honestly the character he showed today, I think I see again what Gardy's supporters through the years never lost sight of. He's passionate, perceptive, speaks his mind, he cares that the Twins start winning again without him, and really cares about baseball players (see Plouffe's goodbye). With a new team, Gardy won't be as stubborn and will have to open himself up to suggestions a bit more - his job will depend on it. Until today I figured Gardy would be done managing, either because of his record the last four years or he might admit he's burned out or whatever, but instead I am almost 100% convinced he manages again somewhere. He could easily be successful again in the right situation too, no doubt in my mind. The ideal candidate, according to Ryan today, will come from within the organization. That continuity for better or worse will be reassuring to the Twins. There will be outside coaches brought in, and it also sounded like some existing coaches would be welcomed back. If a guy like Ozzie were actually hired ( < .00001% chance of that happening) he would not be permitted to Surprise us! with his own coaching hires. Also, a guy as inexperienced as Mientkiewicz would probably need outside help selecting a staff anyway. I'm not opposed to Molitor but would hate to think he is a layup and already has the job. But the advantage of Molitor would be that he is an insider who seems open to outside ideas, and he apparently already has earned deep respect from guys like Buxton and Sano. Bruno has also gotten results and figures to stay in the picture. Whoever this new manager is, he will not get the leash Kelly or Gardy did. This was the worst day professionally for many people in the organization and I bet there will be much less emotion or hesitation in sacking the next guy if it appears he's not working out.

I would never bring Punto in as manager... but what about as a third base coach?

That day will come, my friend, that day will come. (though I don't know if either of those two specifically are qualified…. highly doubt it

Great reaction Lavelle. Or you know, he could pretend he is a reporter for a day, and say something like :"According to _____, entire coaching staff also not brought back."

84 was a fun season with a devastating finish. Those young Twins had no business being up there in the standings in the first place.

3pm news conference, I'd really like for Gardy to digest it and be at peace with it by then. Best of luck to him.

I'm betting like a lot of people, I would have rather seen KC-OAK playing a series for the pennant and not the play-in game.

Interesting how most of Hughes's walks came so early in the game. Very well presented story.

I like the foundation idea. Also if a game this weekend goes into the 11th or 12th inning, why not. I don't think the Twins will be called cheap if he finished 1/3 inning short, as I remember Hughes voluntarily removing himself from several games this summer when he could have pitched further.

Ok, then start with this: 66 - 96 = x

As someone who believes a manager change and coaching changes could bring immediate improvement, I would be eager to join a ticket buying group again, starting next year.

Twins made a huge gamble on Hicks and lost. In hindsight I'm not sure that particular gamble cost too much in W-L though, and the Span/Revere trades may have netted a good pitching prospect or two. I assume Buxton is doing ok now that the collision is in the rear view mirror and can make a visit next September despite his unlucky 2014. Optimism! Great point in OP that Dozier actually could stand to clean up his fielding a little bit. And Mauer still finding himself out of position from time to time. Otherwise happy with the infield D.

Probably not. I was stuck listening to him one day this week, unfortunately. I like to listen to Rosen at 2pm when I can but that's it. The only thing Common Man ever talks passionately about is his own golf game but he really went way over the top on this as if he was taking a controversial stand on a controversial issue. I'm just holding him up as an example of a media member who believes the only thing to do is to destroy the athlete and Vikings management but maybe he changed his tune the past few days. (by the way Vikings deserve some harsh criticism I think). I have no idea what Cole's take on Puckett is.

There are media people like Dan Cole who are taking a stand against child abuse (he is presumably pro- puppy dog and strongly in favor of the sunrise) only as it relates to the professional athletes he is paid to take down. There is no sense that he is ever interested in addressing issues like this, but has only been waiting for the right opportunity. It just gives him and other media people something easy to talk about, period. On the other hand there are guys like Cris Carter I guess who seem to want to advance the debate -- what is appropriate discipline. Who decides. What part do we wish our public officials to have in deciding. Good to discuss. To my mind Adrian is in the wrong even if he genuinely didn't believe he was doing anything wrong. It's not as black and white as he thinks. He gets paid to take and give bodily punishment, and our society condones this… yet here we are talking about a little child. I think he should have some sort of significant suspension but no idea how long. Football cannot be a priority for him right now. This is not to defend him though or defend NFL policy.

That's dedication, my friend. please don't lose sight of priorities!

Can you elaborate on the claim that this is a talentless roster? Not trying to make this personal, I just want to understand why people believe this. The back end of the rotation is bad; I get it. What about the rest?

Maybe we retain Gardy and stumble into another 90-win season one of these years, but unfortunately Gardy (whatever his strengths) is an old dog as predictable as the day is long and a sharp opponent should have no trouble lining up a postseason series against us anymore. see also New York Yankees, 2009-2010.

Nice write up. Can't resist adding my 2 cents: 1. Concussion, proud papa, position change, a lot going on this offseason. Joe should rebound. 2. I don't know why but I am comfortable with Schafer as LF for 2015. 3. Starting Pitching? No comment. 4. Home field advantage will return when the team starts winning. 5. Fundamentals. Coaching. Somebody in the organization, probably Ryan, saw that a guy like Molitor (a HOF infielder) could come in and work regularly with Dozier and Plouffe, and both those guys are completing very good seasons. Maybe Ryan or Molitor can in turn identify a potential outfield coach who might come in and work with Hicks, Santana, Arcia, and others. Not to mention the dire need (imo) for an additional Latin American presence.

Like TD poster LaBombo said in another thread somewhere (I am paraphrasing), the burden of proof really needs to fall on the "keep Gardy" people this time around.. And we're talking something real compelling. No more "because prospects" or that Ryan "takes full responsibility" for the horrible players the Twins have. (which by the way is patently false, in my opinion)

I also like Schafer in left and batting ninth and can't exactly explain why. What Willihammer said makes sense -- I think the talk of Mauer playing in the outfield has less to do with Mauer playing in the outfield, than it has to do with breaking the potential logjam of 1B/DH types next year. Mauer, Vargas, Sano/Plouffe, Pinto maybe, Arcia according to some,...

Something always smelled funny to me about contraction. Especially coming right after it was believed (by me anyway) that the threat that the Twins were moving to North Carolina was mostly staged. Selig ushered in many improvements to the play, but the NFL instant replay model is really a stinker so far.

glunn made a strong point. Many times, hard work and repetition will help. It did help in Plouffe's case. The PP ran a short article on Plouffe's improved defense this year. I encourage anyone -- including Twins ownership and management -- to take a look. http://www.twincities.com/twins/ci_26509192/twins-trevor-plouffe-seeks-gold-improved-play-field

In order to defend your desire that Gardenhire remain manager and Anderson remain pitching coach, you have just claimed that the Twins didn't have any good starting pitching from say, oh, 2004 to 2006.

Why other teams haven't come knocking: Obviously I wouldn't know if they have or haven't. My recollection from 2001 was that either Gardy or Molitor would be hired, and Molitor voluntarily withdrew his name as a candidate so as to have more family and personal time for himself. Thereafter, he enjoyed the work of being a roving instructor. That's how I've read it. He's kind of put all his eggs in one basket, though, and that's his own fault. This continuing idea that Molitor might not be capable of managing a baseball team is just weird. The same could be said for Gardenhire or Meintkiewicz or whoever you want. Molitor is a smart guy. I'm not wedded to Molitor as the choice anymore. But I think he has a greater variety of experience in baseball than any of the other candidates, certainly more than Steinbach, and vastly more prepared for the job than Mientkiewicz, with all of that guy's red flags and inability to hold a job in baseball except for when he's with the Twins organization. This idea that Molitor is out of his element will get huge pushback from me.

Mientkiewicz has all these qualities, but essentially all the current farm managers do. Jake Mauer, Jeff Smith, Gene Glynn, as well as Molitor. I'm not sure the Twins operate in a way to promote a guy ahead of most of those names.