EddieMatthews

Smiles return to fan faces this year. Still, front office struggled to put arms on the mound. Mauer was robbed of a Gold Glove. If fielding were the criteria it would have been his.

The team OPS was a dismal .704 which includes Sano's .916 for a half season. Except for Miguel, the best OPS+ for a starter was 105, which meant that any starter could have been replaced with a ham sandwich and had no impact. It was fun to see a winning record and some great highlights, but the 2015 Twins were still painful to watch, beginning with Santana's suspension. The best part of this team is seeing a little bit of the future in the prospects that played. Top WAR went to Kyle Gibson with 3.2, another indicator of the overall lack of punch. Fun articles and series. Hoping for some real baseball soon!

Those years were so hard to watch. Knowing how poor the line-up was, and yet the front office could't sign anyone who could play. Fans blamed Joe Mauer's contract, but there were butts in the seats, so money wasn't the only issue. I suspect that nobody wanted to come to MN and play with a AA team. Difficult times.

If past history of Twins player management is any prediction of future performance, we can only look at Joe Mauer who rarely played 120-140+ at position. Now that we have a full time DH, Sano doesn't have that option for extra at-bats. Buxton needs to stop running into walls. Let's see if 2019 provides a better history as a basis of future predictions. Given the Twins past history of not building a pitching staff, I remain skeptical for the upcoming season. it looks a lot like the 1990's to me.

The Twins have really gone downhill in 2018, evidenced by many comments that say their starting pitching is now their strength. Of the 25 roster spots, we have three known starting pitchers and maybe 2-3 position players. A year ago, all the positions had solid names after them and the questions were on the mound. Perhaps the biggest need for the Twins is in the front office.

This is Total System Failure - The Sequel. Castro - DL, Mauer - Concussion?, Dozier - Where is his bat?, Polanco - PEDs, Sano - A-ball, Kepler - ???, Buxton - Not is toe, he wasn't hitting before the toe injury. Rosario -well, not total failure. Pitching is a crapshoot. No Santana, Hughes, Duffey. What are we getting from the manager and coaches? The farm? The front office? Did we get an upgrade on the sandwiches or beer this year? Total System Failure - The Sequel.

I agree with Terry Dactyls that success as a "doer" does not automatically transfer to manger skills. It's critical for a manager to set up his "team" for success. That includes the coaches. A good manager will know the strengths and weaknesses and supplement as needed. If Molitor isn't a "rah-rah" guy and the Twins need that in the dugout, find it in a coach or player. Often a sub-par player will pay attention to what goes into success and will carry that into a manager role. There's nothing preventing a star performer from also doing this if (s)he is willing to try new things and learn from failure. But the jury is no longer out on the Molitor tenure. Whether he lacks the skills or he lacks the willingness to fill in for his shortcomings, the result is less than satisfactory. All that said, the manager doesn't hit the ball, pitch, catch, or run bases. The pitching staff for the 2015, 2016, 2017 Twins was abysmal. There was no effort to get quality starters on the mound. A defensive sieve of infielders and outfielders can be disheartening to pitchers when they need to get 4 outs in an inning. A batting order with holes in it means that opposition pitching can pitch around our best hitters. 2018 pitching is improved. We have been missing key members of the line-up all year. 2017 surge in August and September was led by Buxton, Polanco, Dozier, Mauer, ( Sano - no) and Fast Eddie. No hope for improvement on the offensive side of the game.

Maybe it is something simple. Does he need glasses? Maybe he isn't picking up the spin on the ball as it leaves the pitcher's hand. Maybe he doesn't see the pitch location soon enough. Maybe the dinner portions look smaller than they really are. I'm hoping that this gets fixed in Ft. Myers. I'm hoping that the Twins give Sano the same medicine that they gave Joe Mauer in 2009 when he started the season in Ft Myers and rejoined the Twins in June for 5 months of the best hitting the Twins have ever had. I'm hoping that Sano returns to the Bigs and carries the Twins to a pennant. Hope is all I have left in the 2018 season.

It's really nice to look at the starting pitching assignments for the Twins. Each day the starter gives us hope, expectation of a good game. Unlike past years where one or two starters were good, the rest gave us dread of impending loss. Go Twins!

Dozier is a mystery. He has had bad streaks, and when he breaks out he hits well. He is due, and again, is there any help from the batting coach? I like that he is not leading off. Polanco will be back in a few days. Hopefully he is getting his swing ready. He could provide some infield rest to others who are carrying the workload. Kepler stated out well and continued into late May with a .259 BA. Maybe he's tired. Maybe he needs some home cooking. Our pre-season expectations for the OF have been dashed by both Kepler and Buxton. It's of some solace that the AL Central appears to be weak this year. The Twins may be able to stay within 5-8 games until the AS break. Question is: "when can we expect Sano and Buxton back?"

I thought that the trio of SlowBakeBurn would be in contention for the most disappointing pitchers since 2000. Baker should not be on this list. That Radke is on any Twins "all-time" list is another indication of how poor the Twins pitching has been in the 21st century. BTW - Radke's All-Star appearance was prior to 2000. Perkins belongs on that list, maybe Guardado. Replace Baker and Radke. Having three closers on the list is an indication of the lack of starting pitching for the Twins.

Pulling the plug? I'm not sure if this team is on life support, or has lost the will to thrive. They have had several failures to start the year. Polanco suspension, Buxton and Sano have stalled out of the gate (maybe they need glasses). Last year Buxton and Polanco carried the team in September. Dozier has stumbled at the plate and on the field, no comparison to last year's results. So they are playing without their regular catcher, first baseman, shortstop, third baseman, and center fielder for most of this season. Two pitchers (Santana and May) who were expected to have an impact are still out, and a third (Lynn) is stumbling. The reigning Manager of the Year has forgotten how to manage the bullpen. No team in the Central Division is running away with the lead. It's baseball. There is a lot of time to make up 5 games. Right now the Twins are difficult to watch, but when the pieces come together they will be able to make a run at the Central.

Glad the Twins opened on the road. It's not nice in Minnesota right now. No warm weather in sight either.

If you hadn't given Vargas a pass on his time with the Reds, would Buxton have made the list? The list shows the amount of change this team had been through since moving into Target Field. The same list in 2020 may show as much change, with potential for retirements, trades, etc. Save the list for a comparison in 2 years.

If Dozier was batting third or clean-up and driving in 100+ runs, his value would be much higher. Or maybe not. Maybe he's not a Mercedes. We would like to think so but he hasn't been in a position to deliver and then delivered. Keep him, pay him a little of that Joe dough.

Sam, you said it all! I am only quoting you to give you credit. One thing that I would add to what you said is that the biggest time issue is the number and length of commercial breaks. An inning with 4 pitching changes late in the game takes almost an hour. Fix this and we won't need a clock.

My favorite memory (many times) was watching Johan set up his change-up and then throw it to a hitter. So often it was on a two strike count, and either froze the hitter or the hitter flailed hopelessly. Congrats Johan!

"The one constant through all the years has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This game, it's a part of our past. It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again." Terrence Mann, Field of Dreams. Baseball is a mirror of society. We see cheating in politics, business, academics, where the result is accepted in the name of winning, and the means to the end doesn't matter any more. Well, it does matter, and our institutions like baseball need to project the ideals that the rest of our society should be adapting and accepting. No cheaters in the Hall of Fame.

This thread asked for Park memories. Park hit a dinger to CF that must have carried 450 feet and from my seat in the first base section, it looked like the ball never was higher than 30 feet. It was smoked. I was encouraged by some of his early at-bats. Too bad he couldn't make the adjustment. And as many have also stated, he didn't have a place to play. Too many infielders, not enough (quality) outfielders that year.

Last year's hot stove was boiling over with expectations of a regression by Santana. Same pot is on the stove this year. Maybe he's learned a little in the past few years. His 3-year span with the Twins is the best three year span in his career. He has 40% of his WAR in the past 3 years. He has the best defense behind him in his career (a little bias noted here). Let's see who steps up in 2018. There are candidates, May, Berrios, Gibson, Mejia, Hughes (?), plus minor league starters who may light up spring training. None of them would be as good as Santana. I would love for the Twins to sign a top starter. Darvish is not the #1 ace they need. Twins should keep their powder dry. They should not be wasting it on less than top talent. 2018 will not be a World Series year. 2019 could be if their young stars continue to develop and a couple of starters (Berrios, May, ?) step up. Then, adding the ace will pay big dividends. With the supporting cast on the 2019 Twins, an ace in search of the WS ring will be happy to play in MN.

I'm not sure if it was poor timing, or poor handling of the pitching roster, but Santana showed promise in 2002 and 2003, but couldn't land the job of a full-time starter until 2004. His ERA+ for those two years topped the Twins staff starters. We could speculate on those two years, and what that adds to his career, as well as the impact of injuries. Johan could have had a few more stellar seasons, maybe adding 50 wins. That doesn't even get him to 200 wins. HIs career totals fall short of HOF expectations, and I doubt that sportswriters will consider him for that reason alone. It was so disappointing when he went to the Mets. With the strict pitch-counts applied to Twins pitchers, I was hoping that Santana would have a half-dozen more Cy Young level years in Minnesota.

Hope he gets back on his feet, gets some training in, and is able to play a full year in 2018. The Twins need his bat, not only for what he accomplishes, but for the positive impact he has on those batting in front of him.

Gardy is considering Drew.

Vargas 2016-17 .244/.322/.466 (.788 OPS), HR/18.7 ABs The first slash line is a small sample size, and it inspires hope. Unfortunately we haven't seen that hope convert into steady results. The Twins as a team had a slash line of .260 / .334 / .434 OPS .768. With expanded pitching staffs, the DH and bench needs to have positional flexibility. A player who can only play 1B and DH needs to produce at bat and on the field. If the Twins had a couple of plus .300 hitters, they could consider a low BA hitter with a high HR rate. We have two HR guys (Sano and Dozier) who need to continue to improve their BA. Buxton may also produce HR and BA. I am not hopeful about Vargas. Last winter we had a similar debate about Vargas platooning with Mauer. I'm glad that didn't happen. The line was that Mauer couldn't hit lefties. Well, he hit .308 in 2017. I wish Vargas well, but am hopeful it won't be with the Twins.

No specific info, just IMHO. He's Dominican, large contingent of his people in NYC, and he has spent time there in the off-season. It has nothing to do with the current 3B situation for the Yanks, where they play Headley (age 33) and Frazier (age 31) and get mediocre results there. Plus, what up and coming star doesn't want to play in Yankee Stadium?