67 thoughts on “October 2, 2018: Playoff Season -or- Postseason Predictions”

  1. John Prine‘s new video for “Summer’s End” knocked the wind out of me when I watched it at work yesterday. The first thing I thought of was Soul Asylum’s “Runaway Train” video; when the plea at its end came on screen, I wasn’t surprised. Here’s hoping people respond & come on home.

  2. I didn’t see this mentioned in the Cup yesterday, but humanitarian, singer, & actor Charles Aznavour died yesterday at 94. He was, by every account I’ve seen, a good-hearted, talented person. Oddly enough, I think my introduction to him was via The Muppet Show:

    2. I remember watching this episode in the early 80s. (Though it originally aired before I was born.)
      The school kids adding stuck with me. I wanted them to keep going:
      "32 and 32 are 64. 64 and 64 are 128. 128 and 128 are 256... " etc.

  3. Today we start our annual off-season "Rewind" feature. This year we look at the 1969 Twins: Martin's Marauders! Harmon Killebrew hitting home runs! Rod Carew stealing home! Billy Martin getting into fights! Hope you enjoy reliving it or, perhaps, living it for the first time.

              1. Correct. He’d be all, “I’m so gosh darned upset right now that I’m going to eject myself and get a tall glass of milk to settle down”.

      1. I can't say I'm all that surprised. I have the sense that the organization values what Molitor brings, but that he's maybe not quite manager material - more coaching or somesuch. Better one-on-one than in the overarching role, etc. I'm fascinated to see what position they actually offer him and whether he takes it. I think he'd be able to find another managing gig pretty quickly if he really wanted it.

        1. Here's a question: can he reject it? No idea what the specifics of his contract are, but can the Twins basically say "do this for the next 2 years or walk away from your contract"?

          1. That's a good question. I'd hope they wouldn't do that, and I suspect the PR alone would prohibit them from trying that kind of stunt. But its an interesting idea.

      1. I really don't know what I think of this. On the one hand, he's frustrated me with some of his decisions. On the other hand, he's shown himself to be at least somewhat flexible when it comes to old/new school ways of managing, and for what it's worth, his team drastically exceeded predictions during two of his four seasons (I mean...I guess they drastically fell short of predictions for two of the seasons, too....like I said....I don't know what I think of this).

        1. According to Phil Miller, he's "being offered another role in the organization." So that's kind of interesting.

          I think he's a middling manager, and I'm fine with them putting their own guy in. But this just seems weird.

            1. I recall they required Molitor to be kept for 2017 but then the front office extended him for 2018-2020.

          2. Given the currents in the game & the demographics of the roster, I wonder how much emphasis they’ll place on hiring a bilingual manager. My hope is it’s a significant amount. Other than making what I assume is a safe assumption about Rudy Hernandez being a native Spanish speaker, I don’t know the fluency of any of the other coaches.

        2. This probably sums up my feelings on him as a manager pretty well, basically that he, like the vast majority of managers, were just kind of "there". Like, I don't think the over-achieving years were his doing and I don't think the under-achieving years were his doing, the roster is just so similar to the edge of a knife that it doesn't take much to either win some extra games or lose some. I feel bad for Molitor, but I don't think the move is gonna be flipping any switches any time soon.

          1. I agree. I don't think Molitor was a terrible manager, but I don't think he was an exceptional one, either. I'd have been okay with bringing him back, but I'm also not particularly upset that he's gone. And I do think it was inevitable that Falvey and Levine were going to want their own guy in there at some point. After all, if the team doesn't improve in the next year or two, they're going to be the next ones on the hot seat.

    6. If this has anything to do with Scioscia's availability, I'm done with this team (free tickets from work and all my existing paraphernalia notwithstanding).

    8. I'm lukewarm on Molitor but the front office shouldn't have been forced to keep him in the first place.

      1. If they were (and I suspect you’re correct), then yeah, I agree. And really, if the Pohlads & St. Peter wanted to keep Molitor that much, I think they’re not treating him fairly after giving him the expectation he’d be around long enough for Falvey & Levine to turn the team around.

        1. If they hire an internal candidate, I think Shelton’s the odds-on favorite. They hired (or permitted Molitor to hire) him, he’s young, and knows the clubhouse. My other thought — if they really wanted to make a statement — was Pickler; I think that would be a bit too unorthodox for St. Peter & the Pohlads to swallow, though. So, maybe they’d hire Shelton as their manager, and promote Pickler to bench coach?

          1. I would be expecting both Jake Mauer and Toby Gardenhire to at least get interviews. As a former Ranger manager and Twins player, I wouldn't be surprised if Ron Washington got some serious consideration.

    9. If Molitor doesn't manage again, I wonder if he set a record by ending his career with a six-game winning streak.

    10. I’m about 80% sure I saw Molitor in the store today. I didn’t approach him, because if it was he, what would I say today?

      (He wasn’t in my department)

    11. I'm surprised with this news, but I think it was the right one. I thought the injuries would be enough to give him a reprieve. I agree for 2 main reasons:
      1. His record in one-run games and extra-inning games has been horrific. Gardy's record in similar games was better even during the post-2010 years. He would often make late-game decisions that left me scratching my head, such as pinch running for key batters to get the smallest of improvements in speed.
      2. He seemed to lack the ability to keep the clubhouse loose. This was a strength of both TK & Gardy. When things went bad for the Twins under Molitor, it seemed like they would just spiral out of control. Even in his one playoff year, the team didn't turn around the season until after they traded their closer & essentially signaled they were giving up on the season. With the pressure off, suddenly the Twins got hot.

    12. I'd also say this is a pretty bold move by the FO. If the next guy fails, they'll probably be leaving together since the Pohlads required them to keep Molitor as manager when they took over.

    1. I think I'm okay with people being late with the caveat that any points from a wildcard team are forfeit.

  8. Lost in the Molitor news is the fact that several minor league coaches were let go. Say good-bye to:

    Chad Allen, AAA batting coach
    Ivan Arteaga, AA pitching coach
    Henry Bonilla, high-A pitching coach
    Asdrubal Estrada, DSL batting coach

    Also let go were Ryan Grose (AAA strength coach), Phil Hartt (AA strength coach), and Alan Rail (AA trainer).

  9. You can’t fire the manager after a second-place finish. Who do they think they are, the Yankees?

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