2018-2019 Minnesota Twins Off-Season Thread

Donate To GopherHole
GophersInIowa said:
Molitor had his cleanup batter sac bunt twice in a game this season. It’s really not a mystery.
Click to expand...

Who was that clean-up hitter ? If it happened later in the season, there were players hitting there that really didn't have the qualifications to hit in that spot.
 

saintpaulguy said:
Fewer times than he used an opener, which didn’t work either. And you can’t tell me any of those were Molitor’s idea.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Big difference between trying something new and doing something that has been statistically proven to hurt your chances of scoring runs.

Read the second part of my previous post. That was my point. They want to hire their guy. Probably someone younger who understands more what they want to do.
 

bigticket1 said:
Who was that clean-up hitter ? If it happened later in the season, there were players hitting there that really didn't have the qualifications to hit in that spot.
Click to expand...

It was Polanco. I know he’s not your normal cleanup hitter but my point still stands because he was one of our best hitters in the second half. You don’t sac bunt a guy over to 2nd with one of your best hitters early in a ballgame. He did it twice.
 

bigticket1 said:
Who was that clean-up hitter ? If it happened later in the season, there were players hitting there that really didn't have the qualifications to hit in that spot.
Click to expand...

Somewhere, Robbie Grossman and his 4 HR's are shedding a tear reading this.
 

Souhan: Twins bosses offer logic to Paul Molitor's firing, but it's just the latest in overall overhaul

The Magnificent Falvine took the stage Tuesday. The pre-eminent illusionists of our time had just fired a Hall of Fame player from St. Paul less than a year after he won the American League Manager of the Year award, and now here they were, sitting behind microphones, not telling us why.

They did a little soft shoe, hid a few quarters behind their ears, praised Paul Molitor as if they were hiring rather than firing him, and spoke in generalities so vague that they could have been discussing the weather.

I asked team President Dave St. Peter to penetrate the fog.

“There’s a partnership that Derek Falvey talked about the day he was hired with the Twins,” St. Peter said. “I think he felt as if the relationship with Paul had evolved mightily and there were other aspects of the partnership where I think Derek felt that maybe a change of voice was going to be very important for us to continue to unlock the young talent across our organization.

“I think that’s probably the No. 1 reason. It has nothing to do with Paul’s baseball acumen, nothing to do with our won-loss record.”

My interpretation of that cautious answer: Molitor was fired for several reasons, and none of them would have sounded great coming out of Falvine’s mouths as they fired a local hero.

Reason No. 1: Molitor was never their guy. Like most aggressive young baseball bosses, Falvey and Levine have an idea what they want as a manager, and Molitor, while a good manager, did not fit their image.

Their plan was to allow Molitor to leave after last season … and then the team got hot, made the playoffs and made Molitor the manager of the year. The Twins had to bring him back, and he wouldn’t agree to less than a three-year contract. He was in reality negotiating a lucrative severance package.

Reason No. 2: While no one questions Molitor’s leadership or intelligence, there were rifts on his coaching staff between Molitor loyalists and Falvey appointments. Molitor might have been blamed for not assuaging those problems.

Reason No. 3: Take St. Peter at face value: The organization wasn’t happy with the way current young players such as Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano were progressing, and wants a hand-picked teacher in place for the next wave of talent.

http://www.startribune.com/twins-bo...ust-the-latest-in-overall-overhaul/494993031/

Win Twins!!
 


Sid: Firing of manager Paul Molitor was difficult for Twins owner Jim Pohlad

You wonder if Twins Chief Baseball Officer Derek Falvey and General Manager Thad Levine considered how popular Paul Molitor is when they fired the manager who took them to the playoffs last season for the first time since 2010 and was named American League Manager of the Year.

Molitor was popular with players, and to fire him two days after the great Joe Mauer played what might turn out to be his final game, you would think they might have waited a little bit.

But in a one-on-one interview with Twins owner Jim Pohlad, he made it clear Falvey and Levine are calling the shots when it comes to all baseball-related matters, even if it means firing a guy who is a close personal friend of Pohlad.

Pohlad said Tuesday that when the team hired Falvey and Levine to turn this franchise around after six seasons where the Twins went 407-565 overall, one condition was they had to keep Molitor on as manager, even though the team had just lost a franchise-record 103 games in Molitor’s second season.

At the time, Falvey told me he believed Molitor was compatible with the new direction of the organization.

“I have been incredibly impressed by Paul,” Falvey said the day after he was hired. “I mean, he’s an incredible baseball man who has had great experiences and knows so much about the game. He’s open-minded, collaborative. I expect moving forward, we will have a great relationship. We have the same vision, which is a winning Twins team.”

http://www.startribune.com/firing-o...fficult-for-twins-owner-jim-pohlad/494980481/

Win Twins!!
 

STrib: Bullpen coach Eddie Guardado, star Joe Mauer consider their options after Paul Molitor's firing

With Paul Molitor no longer the Twins manager, how could that affect the return of one of his longtime confidants in Eddie Guardado — as well as fellow Cretin-Derham Hall alum Joe Mauer?

Guardado owes his coaching career to Molitor. It was Molitor, and then-General Manager Terry Ryan, who brought the popular ex-Twins reliever on before 2015 to be the bullpen coach.

“He’s not only a buddy, he was my teammate and coach at one time,” Guardado said. “I owe him a lot for just giving me the opportunity to coach.”

But if Guardado continues in his role, it will have to be without Molitor, who was fired Tuesday after a four-year run.

“I think he’s going to be missed,” Guardado said. “He’s going to be missed by a lot of people.”

The move with Molitor throws the staff’s future up in the air, and Twins Chief Baseball Officer Derek Falvey said coaches are free to pursue other jobs. With a managerial search expected to take several weeks, some staff members might choose to leave to pursue other opportunities rather than wait to see who the new manager is.

Mauer was cleaning out his garage Tuesday when he learned of Molitor’s ousting.

“I was really surprised,” said Mauer, who first met Molitor while participating in a youth baseball camp at Cretin-Derham Hall. “It caught me off guard and wasn’t a move I anticipated. I think there were many things that happened this season that were out of his control and I believe he did the best job he could, given the circumstances.

“Paul is an amazing manager and leader and I’m lucky to have been a part of his team for the past few years. I hope to see him stay with the Twins in some way because he has incredible baseball knowledge and brings so much to the organization.”

http://www.startribune.com/bullpen-...ptions-after-paul-molitor-s-firing/494993081/

Win Twins!!
 

STrib: Twins fire strength and conditioning coach Perry Castellano

The Twins on Tuesday made sweeping changes to their performance staff, including the dismissal of strength and conditioning coordinator Perry Castellano.

Castellano had been with the major league club for 12 seasons. Before that, he was the minor league strength and conditioning coordinator for five seasons.

Strength and conditioning assistant Erik Beiser also did not have his contract renewed. He just completed his first season with the major league club after eight in the minors.

The Twins also did not renew the contracts of their strength and conditioning coordinators for Class AAA Rochester and Class AA Chattanooga, and Chattanooga trainer Alan Rail also was let go.

Several minor league coaches will not be brought back, including Class AAA Rochester hitting coach Chad Allen; Chattanooga pitching coach Ivan Arteaga; class A Cedar Rapids pitching coach Henry Bonilla; and Dominican Republic hitting coach Asdrubal Estrada.

http://www.startribune.com/twins-fire-strength-and-conditioning-coach-perry-castellano/494969061/

Win Twins!!
 

STrib: Names to consider for Twins manager

NAMES TO CONSIDER

Derek Falvey and Thad Levine will likely end up with a surprise choice as the next Twins manager. In the past two years, they have added virtual unknowns to the team’s coaching staff.

Falvey — who suggested the search would take “multiple weeks” — and Levine are likely not hung up on experience, and more in favor of a manager to relates well to young players, values analytics, promotes healthy nutrition and cutting-edge workouts for players, and is bilingual.

Remember, the Yankees hired Aaron Boone directly from the broadcast booth and the Phils tabbed Gabe Kapler partly for his healthy lifestyle evangelism.

With several other managerial openings around major league baseball, here is a list of names (in alphabetical order) being tossed about:

Sandy Alomar Jr., 52: Cleveland’s first-base coach has long been mentioned for managerial openings. Could connect well with Latin American players.

Brad Ausmus, 49: An executive with the Angels, Ausmus was manager of Detroit from 2014-17, winning the AL Central in his first season. Could replace Mike Scioscia as Angels manager.

Jeff Banister, 54: Recently fired by the Rangers, he was hired in Texas while Levine was with the organization.

Mark DeRosa, 43: The former player is a hit analyst on the MLB network. Also in the rumor mill as a possible successor when Joe Madden leaves the Cubs.

Joe Espada, 43: Bench coach for the world champion Astros under A.J. Hinch. Twins fans might remember him as Josue Espada, taken by Minnesota in the 1998 Rule 5 draft; he didn’t make the team.

Travis Fryman, 49: Currently a minor league hitting instructor for Cleveland who has managerial aspirations. Consummate professional as a player.

Brandon Hyde, 45: Madden’s bench coach with the Cubs; has been a bench coach for four managers in the big leagues.

John McDonald, 44: A 16-year major leaguer, he is infield coordinator for the Indians. He has no managing experience, but is said to be a candidate for the Toronto job.

Brad Mills, 61: Cleveland bench coach was Houston’s manager for three seasons (2010-12) in the Astros’ early rebuild and had a 171-274 record. Age might count against him.

Jayce Tingler, 37: Mentioned by MLB insiders, the Texas assistant general manager came up through its system while Levine was with the Rangers.

David Ross, 41: ESPN analyst was a highly respected catcher for eight teams, retiring after winning a World Series with the Cubs. Could be first big-league manager who was on “Dancing with the Stars.”

Derek Shelton, 48: The Twins bench coach has also been a major league coach with Tampa Bay and Cleveland.

Joel Skinner, 57: Falvey and Levine hired the former big league manager to run the team at Class AAA Rochester this season.

http://www.startribune.com/names-to-consider-for-twins-manager/494983211/

Win Twins!!
 



BleedGopher said:
STrib: Names to consider for Twins manager

NAMES TO CONSIDER

Derek Falvey and Thad Levine will likely end up with a surprise choice as the next Twins manager. In the past two years, they have added virtual unknowns to the team’s coaching staff.

Falvey — who suggested the search would take “multiple weeks” — and Levine are likely not hung up on experience, and more in favor of a manager to relates well to young players, values analytics, promotes healthy nutrition and cutting-edge workouts for players, and is bilingual.

Remember, the Yankees hired Aaron Boone directly from the broadcast booth and the Phils tabbed Gabe Kapler partly for his healthy lifestyle evangelism.

With several other managerial openings around major league baseball, here is a list of names (in alphabetical order) being tossed about:

Sandy Alomar Jr., 52: Cleveland’s first-base coach has long been mentioned for managerial openings. Could connect well with Latin American players.

Brad Ausmus, 49: An executive with the Angels, Ausmus was manager of Detroit from 2014-17, winning the AL Central in his first season. Could replace Mike Scioscia as Angels manager.

Jeff Banister, 54: Recently fired by the Rangers, he was hired in Texas while Levine was with the organization.

Mark DeRosa, 43: The former player is a hit analyst on the MLB network. Also in the rumor mill as a possible successor when Joe Madden leaves the Cubs.

Joe Espada, 43: Bench coach for the world champion Astros under A.J. Hinch. Twins fans might remember him as Josue Espada, taken by Minnesota in the 1998 Rule 5 draft; he didn’t make the team.

Travis Fryman, 49: Currently a minor league hitting instructor for Cleveland who has managerial aspirations. Consummate professional as a player.

Brandon Hyde, 45: Madden’s bench coach with the Cubs; has been a bench coach for four managers in the big leagues.

John McDonald, 44: A 16-year major leaguer, he is infield coordinator for the Indians. He has no managing experience, but is said to be a candidate for the Toronto job.

Brad Mills, 61: Cleveland bench coach was Houston’s manager for three seasons (2010-12) in the Astros’ early rebuild and had a 171-274 record. Age might count against him.

Jayce Tingler, 37: Mentioned by MLB insiders, the Texas assistant general manager came up through its system while Levine was with the Rangers.

David Ross, 41: ESPN analyst was a highly respected catcher for eight teams, retiring after winning a World Series with the Cubs. Could be first big-league manager who was on “Dancing with the Stars.”

Derek Shelton, 48: The Twins bench coach has also been a major league coach with Tampa Bay and Cleveland.

Joel Skinner, 57: Falvey and Levine hired the former big league manager to run the team at Class AAA Rochester this season.

http://www.startribune.com/names-to-consider-for-twins-manager/494983211/

Win Twins!!
Click to expand...

Meh. I dont get excited about baseball manager/head coach searches as I do football and basketball. You get good talent, doesnt take a genius to be a good manager in baseball
 

JimmyJamesMD said:
Meh. I dont get excited about baseball manager/head coach searches as I do football and basketball. You get good talent, doesnt take a genius to be a good manager in baseball
Click to expand...

Agreed, managers make a little difference in some games but really the talent wins out.
 

BleedGopher said:
Reason No. 1: Molitor was never their guy. Like most aggressive young baseball bosses, Falvey and Levine have an idea what they want as a manager, and Molitor, while a good manager, did not fit their image.

Their plan was to allow Molitor to leave after last season … and then the team got hot, made the playoffs and made Molitor the manager of the year. The Twins had to bring him back, and he wouldn’t agree to less than a three-year contract. He was in reality negotiating a lucrative severance package.
Click to expand...

This would have all been avoided if Pohlad had let them pick their manager from the beginning.
 

per RandBall:

*The decision by Derek Falvey and Thad Levine to fire manager Paul Molitor can be viewed as either extending or tightening their leashes, depending on how you look at it.

On one hand, they seem to be signaling that they’re going all-in on a youth movement, which theoretically gives them several years to prove they know what they’re doing.

On the other hand, they will now have their hand-picked manager in place, and any failures to develop young players will reflect poorly on everyone — including Falvey and Levine.

http://www.startribune.com/survey-o...f-wolves-has-changed-for-the-worse/495046791/

Win Twins!!
 



I think this says it very well.

<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 

<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 

Bad Gopher said:
I think this says it very well.

<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Click to expand...

When you are asked to make doughnuts with buckwheat flour, how do we know you can bake?
 

saintpaulguy said:
When you are asked to make doughnuts with buckwheat flour, how do we know you can bake?
Click to expand...

The general answer is that his management's job is to evaluate his performance, and they did just that. They watch him up close, every day, and are in a good position to make the evaluation. At the end of the day, it's their ship and their professional neck on the line.

I've been clear: I've seen enough of Molitor's field and roster management that I know we can do better.
 

<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 


Bad Gopher said:
I think this says it very well.

<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Click to expand...

It seems everyone only remembers a playoff season as well. What about the fact that he managed the team with the WORST record in Twins history?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

WilliamsArenaGuy said:
It seems everyone only remembers a playoff season as well. What about the fact that he managed the team with the WORST record in Twins history?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Expounding on Gleeman's tweet: another thing you've heard in the way of praise is how he was flexible in adopting the new baseball math and strategy being pushed by the Twins' management. I personally feel that reluctantly going along with your bosses' ideas isn't necessarily that laudable. How about being hungry yourself to innovate and prodding your bosses to let you push the envelope? That's what I appreciated about Bud Grant: all the way up through his final years, he and his coaches were innovating and inventing new ways of doing things.
 

STrib: Next Twins manager might not fit mold

Not to spoil the surprise, but the history of the 12 men who have managed the Minnesota Twins makes it perfectly obvious who the 13th will be.

Sometime late this month, expect Gene Glynn to be put in charge of the major-league team.

No? OK, Derek Falvey and Thad Levine, who will choose next year’s skipper, have made it clear they intend to consider nontraditional factors as they comb through a long initial list of candidates.

It’s not known whether Glynn, third base coach under Paul Molitor for four years and the Twins’ former Triple-A manager, will be a candidate, though the Waseca native is believed to be interested in returning to the coaching staff in 2019.

But the history of Twins’ managerial hires is a remarkably consistent one. Almost uniformly, the appointments have gone to candidates with certain traits in common. They are:

• White. The Twins are one of four major-league franchises — the A’s, Cardinals and Phillies are the others — that has never put a person of color in charge of the team.

• Ex-infielders. Ten of the 12 managers were infielders during their playing careers, with pitcher Ray Miller and outfielder Sam Mele the only exceptions.

• Inexperienced. Only two Twins managers had ever held the job at the major-league level before, and they were decades ago: Bill Rigney, hired in 1970, and Gene Mauch, hired in 1976.

• Already a Twin. Five of the past six Twins managers, Molitor among them, were on the team’s coaching staff when they were promoted, and seven of the 12 overall, with five of them coaching third base like Glynn.

In addition, Cal Ermer and Billy Martin, the latter of whom had already served as a Twins coach, were managing the team’s Triple-A team when summoned to the majors.

Shake things up

Falvey, the chief baseball officer, and Levine, the general manager, were brought in to shake up the Twins’ long-established ways of doing business, however, so don’t expect the next hire to fall in line with the previous 12.

“We’re proud of our stability over time. But we went through a leadership change in terms of the transition from [former General Manager] Terry Ryan to Derek, and here we are two years later with a discussion about the manager,” said Twins president Dave St. Peter.

“The way we evaluate managers has changed. Perhaps the standards have changed. I can tell you it’s tremendously important to the Pohlad family [owners of the Twins] that we are doing everything possible to instill and generate a winning culture inside of our franchise.”

http://www.startribune.com/next-twins-manager-might-not-fit-mold/495111381/

Win Twins!!
 


tikited said:
I can't believe the Cubs are actually thinking of doing this. Crazy if true.
Click to expand...

If that happens and I were running the Twins, I would do anything and everything to get him here. Anything and everything. If Falvey and Levine don't think the Twins are an attractive enough destination for a manager of Maddon's caliber, then what are THEY doing wrong to create that perception? No room for inferiority complexes here. Go get him.
 

One thing I saw on twitter a few days ago that I found interesting: The last 3 WS winners (KC, Cubs, Houston) had a smaller payroll than the Twins did this year.

You don't have to spend a ton to win. All three of those teams had a lot of home-grown, young talent on the team that were not making a lot yet.
 
Last edited:

Bad Gopher said:
If that happens and I were running the Twins, I would do anything and everything to get him here. Anything and everything. If Falvey and Levine don't think the Twins are an attractive enough destination for a manager of Maddon's caliber, then what are THEY doing wrong to create that perception? No room for inferiority complexes here. Go get him.
Click to expand...

They would have to get the owner to spend....oh nevermind.
 


per Shooter:

Twins President Dave St. Peter said he doesn’t get a feeling about Joe Mauer’s impending career decision.

“I’m not concerned about the timing,” St. Peter said. “I know this, that Joe knows he can still play. Frankly, I think the big driver for him would be seeing a path to win. Joe wants to win — I think that’s still a motivating factor to him.

“Part of his decision ultimately may be even spending some time with (Twins executives Falvey and Levine) Derek and Thad about understanding what the offseason plan looks like. And how (Molitor’s firing) could impact that.”

Twins owner Jim Pohlad said it was an emotional meeting when he and St. Peter met with Molitor about his dismissal.

Were there tears?

“I said emotional, and you can take that however you want,” Pohlad said. “It wasn’t negative emotion, animosity or anything like that. He was emotional, we were emotional.”

https://www.twincities.com/2018/10/06/3193872/

Win Twins!!
 


OH Boy.

<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom