16 thoughts on “Game 73: Rangers @ twins”

  2. As we settle in for another Twins loss, I'd like to return to a question hungry joe posed at the start of the week, but which did not draw much response.

    We've heard some criticism of the Twins for "not doing the little things", like running the bases property and advancing runners, and Molitor has taken some blame for that. But it seems to me the much larger problem for the Twins has been their inability to do the big things, like hitting and pitching.

    The main reason, of course, is that many players who were counted on to produce, and who have produced in the past, simply have not done so this year. Batters, in alphabetical order, include Buxton, Dozier, Grossman, Kepler, Morrison, and Sano. Pitchers, in alphabetical order, include Lynn, Odorizzi, and Reed.

    We could perhaps, quibble over one or two of the names I have or haven't mentioned, but that's not the point. The point is, who's responsible for this? The front office? The manager? The coaches? The players? And if you say "all of them", then on whom do you place the most responsibility?

    I don't know. On the one hand, the players are the ones compiling the stat lines. Molitor and James Rowson can't get in the box and hit for them, and Garvin Alston can't take the mound and pitch for them. On the other hand, I do think managers and coaches have some influence on how their players perform; I don't think they're innocent bystanders in the process.

    So, what do you think? Who's responsible here?

    1. I think we're still in the transition between the Terry Ryan School and the Falvey School and the current front office doesn't really have the guys in the organization yet to carry out their vision. Yet, because of last season, they felt obligated to go for it and none of the moves have panned out.

      The other thing is that there is a ridiculous lack of any offensive players when things go wrong. The AAA offensive lines are horrific.

      1. I think this is reasonable, especially as it relates to the farm system which probably has something like another year or two to finish filtering out the Ryan school. On paper, they had a really solid off season, but there's been plenty of injury and general underperforming of career norms. It just seems like the team, as they are currently constructed, ride a razor thin margin between being decent and really bad.

        Besides, none of them seem like raging assholes like Thibs, so I'm willing to see what happens for a couple more years before turning on them.

    2. I would first blame the front office. They decided these players were the right ones. They also pick the coaches and the manager.

      I'm not sure who I'd pick second. The players need to actually produce and projections provide us with reasonable expectations on what they'll do. Some will do better than expected and others worse, but it's at least a baseline. It's hard for me to separate a player underperforming from other influences beyond not doing well, but ultimately they need to play well and know how to make changes.

      1. Everyone has made good points. My problem with blaming the front office is that the acquisitions who have underperformed are (Matt Belisle excepted) people who almost everyone, including almost everyone here, thought were good pick-ups at the time. Not superstars, but solid major league ballplayers. Morrison, Reed, Odorizzi, Lynn--most people were pretty happy to have them at the time. The acquisition that was the most questioned, Fernando Rodney, has actually done pretty well. And no one foresaw Dozier, Buxton, and Sano falling on their faces, either.

        1. Very true. I would still put them first, but I think in front of that is bad luck. We knew going into the season the Twins would be lucky to reach 90 wins. That meant finishing with 75 wins was quite possible. They lacked depth* and unfortunately we got to see that exposed.

          * Starting pitching excepted perhaps. Funny to say that after 2017 where there was no depth whatsoever, but I think the front office did a good job in the starting pitching. Odorizzi and Lynn have underperformed, plus Hughes performed exactly as expected, but there's still Berríos, Gibson, and Romero was available in the minors with some others that haven't gotten a chance yet. At some point Santana will be back, I think.

  3. I have no problem with the Rangers stealing a base there. It's the fourth inning. I certainly don't expect the Twins to come back, but it's baseball. Strange things happen.

  4. The line up put forth today (at first glance) feels like we are tanking "NBA style".

    4, maybe 5 legitimate major leaguers in the line up, and 4 or 5 fillers at best. Disappointing.

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