How long before Gardy is gone?

[Musky Buck]

PS. before Walleye time, Gardy is trying to get that C-squad talent to play up to the JV talent they are, then from there he'll try to work it to be varsity talent or perform like a varsity squad. You bet he has his work cut out, my feel on Gardy is do the guys really want to go to war for him, so far that's been a little iffy from the outside looking in but they know the inside looking out and I think they definitely approve of Gardy. Let's go Twins ! Go catch the team ahead of you, then the next, I think they're lost a bit identity wise so many changes to the team the last couple years.

[dietdew]

Can we just agree that the manager is the most overated position in sports. I love that guys want to give gardy credit for winning with crappy teams but dont want to blame him now???? You cant have it both ways. Lets face it, if you want to win games you have to hit home runs and pitch well.

It just turns out the Twins cant do either. This falls on scouts and gm. Base ball is a pretty simple game people, its not rocket science.

[YiGGiN4SLoBS]

The teams that spend in a sport with no cap ALWAYS have a better chance to win. The yankees, red sox, angels, phillies are almost always competing for a playoff spot. They may not be in first right now but i bet they are right in it at the end of the year just like always. Doesnt garuntee you a world series, but guess what.... only ONE team can win the title anyways. At least prove to your fan base you are TRYING to make things better instead of dropping the payroll 20 million dollars after u lose 99 games and forcing us to watch this garbage all summer.... WORST RECORD IN BASEBALL!!!! The Pohlads have all the money in the world and they apparently will take it to the grave with them.

On a better note.... I really like what I am seeing early from this Brian Dozier guy. Hopefully they have at least finally found a shortstop (which is pretty important) in another terrible loser season.

[mnviking28]

The thing I don't get about this team/front office, they always have trouble with left hand pitching. So, you get rid of your only right hand power, replace him with right hand power, so you have solved nothing. You take the contract Cuddyer got with Colorado, and add a decent starter like an Edwin Jackson, Oswalt, or even the contract Buerhle got with Miami, and your payroll stays close to the same. Instead, you try to do it on the cheap and add all these guys that are not very good, as well as keep guys like Casilla, Butera, and Plouffe? Between the 3 of them, they couldn't hit their way out of a wet paper bag. May as well bring back Punto, Hocking, Luke Hughes and Matt Tolbert and make them your starting infield. This lineup for the last couple of years, once you get past number 6, the pitcher gets to take an inning off. Now all of a sudden the starter only has to pitch 4 innings instead of 6 or 7. The 7-9 hitters are beyond anemic. No batting average and no power. Your "best" hitter is a singles/doubles guy, so now you literally have 3 guys that are capable of hitting it out, and one of them is hurt most of the time? No pitching+no hitting=100 losses consistently. This has nothing to do with Gardy. Lack of talent is just that, lack of talent.

[nofishfisherman]

The thing I don't get about this team/front office, they always have trouble with left hand pitching. So, you get rid of your only right hand power, replace him with right hand power, so you have solved nothing. You take the contract Cuddyer got with Colorado, and add a decent starter like an Edwin Jackson, Oswalt, or even the contract Buerhle got with Miami, and your payroll stays close to the same.

In theory that sounds good but who takes Cuddy's spot then? If you took his money and went after a pitcher then you'd have a guy like Plouffe and his .140 batting average and one of the AAA call ups as your everyday corner outfielers. Thats also not a real desirable position to be in.

In reality they needed to beef up the lineup and the rotation and they really didn't succeed in doing either of those things. I think the Willingham signing is the only off season move that actually has paid off at. He could reasonably be expected to start on a championship caliber team, not so much with most of the other guys.

[mnviking28]

What I was saying was keeping Cuddyer and putting him in right, still signing Willingham and keeping him in left, and signing one of those three pitchers to take over for whichever of these starters that you knew were not going to perform, as most of them are head cases. Even with a $10 million contract for Cuddyer and $8-$14 million for one of these three starters I mentioned, you are within $5 million on either side of last years payroll. You actually have a major league outfield, rather than 2 guys and a throw away that hits .180. Defensively, Willingham and Delmon are about the same ability. You should throw a tent over that circus every time a ball is hit to them. The differece is that Willingham has hit more in his month plus he has been here than the entire time Delmon was here. Same thing with the infield. Third base is a black hole that ate Valencia alive. You have Alexi Casilla, Plouffe, and Parmalee in the line up at the same time and you may as well just not bat that inning. At least if they would have kept Cuddyer, his bat would have made one more place they don't have to play one of these guys.

[nofishfisherman]

If you could have signed Cuddy, Willingham, and a reasonable starter that would have been great. But I guess I'm not seeing how we could sign all three of those guys for what we are paying now.

Even with those three players on this roster I still don't see us as a playoff team, certainly not a playoff team that could do anything in the postseason. So maybe we are better with a season in the gutter. Maybe the owners will see that a few higher level free agent signings will be needed to actually win at a high level.

Can anyone think of when the last high level free agent signing was for the Twins? I'm not sure if I can think of anyone that wasn't either 38 years old or coming off an injury, or a terrible season the previous year.

[Slabasaurus]

Morris? I think he was like 36 though... so in the spirit of your question, Nope.

With cuddy and willingham and a reasonable starter the word Playoff can enter the discussion, but it'd be a stretch.

Gonna be a frustrating year or two hear in twins territory...

[mnviking28]

What we are currently paying no. What we paid last year, yes. I was responding to Yiggin's post about a $20 million drop from last year and saying if they had spent the same amount this year as last instead of thinking some of these wanna bes are going to have a miracle season. Kubel was never someone that excited me, way too many warning track fly balls. Other than Cuddy, none of the free agents that they lost from last year to this really meant that much to me. Nathan was the closest thing to that, but as we have seen, bullpen has been far from this teams biggest problem.

[Ybone]

The biggest disappointment besides the starting pitching has been the play of Plouffe, Valencia and Parmalee. At least one or two of them were expected to add some pop to the lineup but 2 homers between the 3 of them is not going to do it. On the bright side the bullpen has been pretty good, even Capps is 7 for 7 in saves.

[B. Amish]

if they would've kept cuddyer and signed one pitcher = $20 million. and how many more wins do you honestly think this team would have with 2 additional above average players?

let's be honest. to really compete for the world series this year. they probably would've needed to spend 50-70+ million on free agents and the multi year deals that would've gone with them.

[LABS4ME]

even Capps is 7 for 7 in saves.

The Matt Crapps we've all grown to know and love showed up last night! Granted it wasn't a save, but he blew it none-the-less.

Good Luck!

Ken

[Musky Buck]

JJ Hardy. We've been trying to find us a shortstop for years, why'd we give up so quick on this guy, when I heard he was gone I was like oh no, Mauer's good friend, super solid defensively, he's had 7 errors in like 164 games since he joined baltimore add in I think 37 homeruns and 90+ RBI's. He finally got that wrist healed up and was 100% again and we let him slide. Now it's Dozier's chance.

[mnviking28]

Never quite understood that trade Musky. You get a couple of minor league relievers for a proven major league shortstop? You have a Japanese player coming in to replace him? Of all of these players that have come from Japan, how many have actually made a big splash in the majors? Ichiro, Matsui, maybe Irabu and that is about it. It may be baseball over there, but it seems to be a different brand of baseball entirely. Nishioka will be another bust, he couldn't even make the team out of camp this year. Should have spent that money on a pitcher.

[thatoneguy]

if they would've kept cuddyer and signed one pitcher = $20 million. and how many more wins do you honestly think this team would have with 2 additional above average players?

let's be honest. to really compete for the world series this year. they probably would've needed to spend 50-70+ million on free agents and the multi year deals that would've gone with them.

You are correct. This team needs to be blown up and re-made from scratch. With a different recipe. I'm not even sure who on the current roster is worth keeping! Perkins, Dozier seems like a decent prospect (albeit with a low ceiling), Span (maybe), Willingham...is there anyone else on the roster that you get excited about?

Mauer is still a nice player, but since he forgot how to hit the ball with any authority, his contract is an abomination. Morneau is perpetually injured. Capps is not fit for anything other than mop-up duty. Doumit is a role player, and I can see him sticking in the right situation. Revere is a span clone. Carroll is fine, but he's 38 and not part of any long-term plans. Pavano is used up, Baker's going through major surgery and rehab. Marquis is garbage. Liriano would be worth keeping in the bullpen, I think, if he would agree to a massive pay cut. A couple of the new middle relief guys have looked OK, but aren't going to be enough to win games and turn this ship around.

To make it worse, the Twins have drafted VERY badly over much of the past half-dozen years, and the cupboard is pretty bare in the minors. A few very good prospects like Sano, Hicks, Arcia and Gibson - but that's about it, and Gibson is working his way back from surgery.

The organization needs an entirely new scouting and draft philosophy, IMO. They can't keep looking for low-ceiling/high floor guys who will progress quickly through the minors, but are extremely limited when they get to the big show. They need more power arms and power bats in the system in the worst way. They have, what, 5 of the top 75 picks in this year's draft, and it it CRUCIAL that they knock this draft out of the park. There are some terrific power pitching prospects who will be available at the top of the draft, and I'm PRAYING the Twins don't do their normal thing and pick a guy who tops out at 90mph because he can "pitch to contact" and "challenge hitters." No, they need to pick a guy who can miss bats and power his way out of jams. Period. And they need to pick up some power bats as well.

What a miserable time to be a diehard Twins fan.

/rant

[greebs]

JJ Hardy. We've been trying to find us a shortstop for years, why'd we give up so quick on this guy, when I heard he was gone I was like oh no, Mauer's good friend, super solid defensively, he's had 7 errors in like 164 games since he joined baltimore add in I think 37 homeruns and 90+ RBI's. He finally got that wrist healed up and was 100% again and we let him slide. Now it's Dozier's chance.

One never knows for sure but had heard that JJ wasn't a vanilla type of player that a a particular leader on the coaching staff didn't like. There have been a few talented players that have a little attitude in them that have been moved for supposedly the same reason through the years.

[deerminator]

I remember TK saying after the first World Series win something to the effect of I just fill out the line up card and the guys do thee rest. They deserve the credit. He wasn't giving himself enought credit. He played more of a role than that but he was right to the extent that the best manager in the world can't win a championship unless he has the right players. Right now, things aren't working. The guys they have can't seem to find a way to win like the ones in 87 and 91. They seem to be trying to salvage things to see if they can have Morneau and Mauer live up the their expectations - and so on. But it just doesn't seem to be happening. And it doesn't look like it ever will. At a certain point, it's time to cut bait and fire up the motor and try something new. That often involves a new coach. And trading the hometown prodigy if needed. It's nothing personal, it's just baseball or business. If you want to have a winning team, you can't just keep hoping things will get better. You have to make changes.

[Musky Buck]

I wasn't aware of JJ and his ways, I was aware that we need Joe to just start hitting line drives again. Found it a bit ironic that Josh Hamilton swings at the first pitch, highest rate in baseball and we got the opposite, think Joe should try Josh's philosophy why not at this point when Doumit is a higher rated catcher than Joe. Joe really needs about a week off to clear his head, you don't get time to clear your head in baseball, it keeps coming at you and it keeps beating you down. We get Morneau back and that will help some. Truthfully even if Joe was clubbing it there's almost no way unless you are in the playoffs and or winning it to live up to the deal he signed. Hope he got a good night sleep, he likely isn't lately. Baseball can kill a guy mentally.

[thatoneguy]

At a certain point, it's time to cut bait and fire up the motor and try something new. That often involves a new coach. And trading the hometown prodigy if needed.

What team in its right mind would trade for Mauer right now? His contract was created when he was coming off one of the greatest seasons EVER by a catcher, along with the fact that as the hometown hero, he was a marketing gold mine.

Now, he's a singles hitter who's not even a threat to win a batting title, who can't stay healthy as a full-time catcher, and who isn't doing anything to help his pitchers out (not that there's a lot to be done with this motley bunch of rejects).

At $23,000,000 a year, there is no way on earth a team would take on that contract with Mauer's current level of performance. Now if Mauer gets on a month-long hot streak and starts looking like the Mauer of old, the one who was on a fast track to Cooperstown, THEN by all means trade him if you can get something of value.

This team is SO far from being even middle-of-the-pack, let alone a contender, that they may as well treat it like an expansion franchise and just start completely anew.

[LABS4ME]

I believe Mauer and Morneau both have 'no trade' clauses in their contracts. Not that a trade couldn't happen, but 'they' get the say if it happens or not. Worst signing in Twins history... I was stomping my feet saying keep Ramos, let Mauer go... we'd be a totally different tema right now if we weren't giving 25% of the team payroll to the Golden Child. No way a team with a perrenially low payroll can ever pay a player that kind of money. We never have and though fans get angry when we don't, they for years used the money that would've went to 'one' player and signed multiple players the following year or traded them for multiple players to help keep the roster full of up and comers.

Good Luck!

Ken

[nofishfisherman]

I think the Twins were in a tough spot with Mauer when they signed him. I don't thnk a player has ever had so much leverage over a team like Mauer did. If the Twins don't sign him it would have been a PR nightmare, fans would have come out screaming that we never spend the money to sign a big time player and how can you let the hometown guy go. Once they did sign him they had a different group of fans screaming about how they overpaid for him and how we can't afford him. Either way they were in a tough spot. I think signing him was probably the right business move but maybe not the right baseball move and in the end this is a business first and foremost.

As for trading Mauer it can't happen. Like Labs said he has a full no trade clause and he'd have to approve any trade. I don't see him approving any trade and I also don't see anyone taking on the contract and giving fair value in return. So like it or not Mauer will be a Twin for a few more years at least.

I'm not sure of Morneau's contract but I'm sure it also has some sort of no trade clause. I'm not sure what value he'd even bring though. For sure you'll never get fair value for him since he's one bump on the head away from retirement. No team will give you the prospects you need for a player with such a high risk factor.

As realistic trade options you have Span, Capps, and maybe Burton. There have been Span rumors all over the place. Not sure if he's the right guy to trade though. We need youth and talent on this team and he's one of the few guys that fits that. He's a quality player that hits .300 and plays good defense, and I think he has a rather team friendly contract. I'd probably look to shop Capps and Burton since teams are always looking for relief help before the trade deadline. Besides theres no value in having good 8th and 9th inning guys when we are always down by 4-5 runs by then. You won't get the world for either player but you may be able to get a decent prospect or two for each of them, of course that depends on what the trade market looks like and how desperate a team may be.

I don't think we have any one single quick fix option right now. I think its going to take a few trades like Capps or Burton, bring in a few prospects and hopefully develop them into contributors. Its also going to take a good draft or two where we get a couple top picks that hopefully live up to their draft position.

I think we hold 4-5 of the first 70 picks so there is a chance we land a few decent prospects in that group. Gardy has already said he wants to see 4-5 pitchers with those 4-5 picks.

[Musky Buck]

True enough, we know if Joe would've left he'd be lighting it up for the new team. I think our run of good ball is coming, the team seems to be circling the wagons, they will win again tonight, saw some good things last night that I've been waiting on so far this season, look for Mauer to rebound, he hit rock bottom already, Morneau will just bring confidence to the line-up for sure, Willingham is doing what he does, we're ok I think now, I see good things on the horizon with of course some voodoo,bad luck, and poor plays at times but I think we're becoming as solid as we can be, cmon starting pitching !

[pikestabber]

I think our run of good ball is coming, the team seems to be circling the wagons, they will win again tonight...

Actually "tonight" ended a little bit ago in a day game, and they pulled off another one, 4-3 vs. Detroit. That makes a 2 game sweep in that series on the road, a 2 game winning streak, and a start...to the greatest comeback in baseball history All kidding aside, I like what I am seeing from some of the young pitchers. It was a nail biter today, but a win is a win.

[Musky Buck]

Oh wow lol, I see Morneau is wrist ok, Mauer needs a week off 0-5 and the other 0-2 and 0-3 were I think Casilla and Willingham, we got our pulse, and man the Angels and Tigers, I'd feel worse being a fan of theirs, man they are a struggling, ok Twins nothing to lose lets rip off a big winning streak here, our division isn;t what it appeared it might be, the beauty of baseball you got to play the game(s). We're really going to test drive our roster this year, but we need to know who can or will mesh with our nucleus.

[B. Amish]

fact is they couldn't play worse if they tried.

if they get more consistent starting pitching, there's no reason they couldn't play .500 baseball. defense is decent. bullpen is good. offense is good enough.

everyone likes to rag on mauer, but he's no where near the reason why they've started so bad.

[YiGGiN4SLoBS]

Their pitching staff is worthless. What did you expect? This is about what I expected from them after no attempt to address it whatsoever in the off season. Anyone who defends the way the twins went about FA and bettering this roster in the off season makes me laugh.... Your letting the Twins off WAY too easy IMO. There is nothing to justify it. I was just at the game on Tuesday vs. the indians and it was seriously the most pathetic thing ive witnessed in a long time. I cant see paying any amount of money to watch that team. Target field will (and should) be bare if this garbage continues.

Now Blackburn has come up with yet ANOTHER phantom injury after yet another bad performance. Why the twins are still putting up with this guy is beyond me. He does this every single time. Stop living on the one time he pitched good against the white sox how many years ago in game 163... This guy sucks!

[Musky Buck]

But we did let go a better catcher than Mauer in Wilson Ramos, not better athlete, but we all know it's the Napoli's,Ruiz's,Molina's, the tough guy catchers that lead the team. Mauer is a left handed Edgar Martinez. I don't understand his gold gloves as a catcher either, he should give one back for his pitiful % of base runners he's gunned down this year. The Mauer Power signs have an inch or more of dust on them. In his last 256 games he has 13 jacks, his big year he had 28 jacks in 2009 did that in 138 games, he stopped taking the juice lol ! And met a woman ! Voodoo ! JK but he needs to step it up a little or a lot!

[Musky Buck]

I better lay off Joe Joe, but go look at what Milwaukee's tandem of catchers is doing google their stats and whether you've even heard of Lucroy or Kottaras, combine their stats and they blow Joe out of the water and they share the job which equals Joe's at bats and neither cracks the 700K mark in salary, 1 of the 2 gets nearly league minimum, cbs.sports,baseball,players and read up. I just about threw up when they made the huge deal for him, that's really where my angst comes for Mauer, I told my dad the 1st row at target field in left is a lot further away then in the dome, expect declining numbers. Cmon Joe win me back man ! Do it tonight in interleague play ! Show George and Jonathan how it's done !

[Musky Buck]

Gardy will be king if he can put Drew Butera into the pen and have him shut teams down, he didn't look half bad and hit 94MPH on the gun lol. Carlos Gomez gets his name on that strikeout ball lol. My last Lucroy post came to fruition from last week. Joe had a nice weekend and no he's not our teams issue, he is really part of us getting back to where we need, sure beats seeing Matthew LeCroy, Henry Blanco, etc. We have 3 for sures in Mauer, Morneau, and Willingham, they are part of the solution but our starters aren't fooling anyone except Mr. Scott Diamond is and he goes tonight! Pavano can pitch also but his heater is losing some gas.

[B. Amish]

Is anyone giving Gardy credit for thier improved play as of late?