Since this is a topic I've already covered once within the last month, I'll try to keep it a little short this time around.
With the Twins being shut out for a 13th time this season, there is a question that needs to, not only be asked, but quite frankly, one that needs to be answered sooner rather than later. That question is: Who will be held accountable for the Twins' offensive struggles this season?
I've contended for most of the season, even before the offense went from mediocre to sub-par, that the Twins' front office needs to take a serious look at changing some of the major "players" in order to make a significant change going into 2012. When I say "players," I'm not referring to those that take the field on a day-to-day basis (or a day-to-every-third-day basis, as is the case with one Mr. Mauer). I'm referring to the coaching staff. As the saying goes, the definition of "insanity" is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. With the Twins scoring one run or fewer for the 40th time this season, I would say that constitutes doing the same thing over and over again and waiting for a different result, wouldn't you?
Quite honestly, the three coaches who have the most impact on the team itself are pitching coach Rick Anderson, hitting coach Joe Vavra, and the manager himself, Ron Gardenhire. In any organization, sports or otherwise, when the employees are unable to get the job done, the "bosses" are looked upon to determine if the proper training and coaching was given to allow them to succeed. If the answer is yes, then the employees are let go and replaced. If the answer is no, the boss is deemed to be inadequate, and often times replaced.
Take a department store, for example. When a particular department is not succeeding, the Store Manager would look at the supervisor of that department to determine if he/she has been giving their employees everything they need to be successful. If they have, the Manager would ask the the employee be fired. If the Manager deemed that the supervisor was not providing the best leadership to those employees, then it would be the supervisor who would find him or herself replaced.
What Gardenhire needs to do is take a long, hard look at his staff. That look needs to take into account the overall season's performances, and not allow personal friendships to interfere. After all, this team is actually a "business". What he needs to realize is that, although they may have been great at getting results in the past, their message may now be stale. The results both Vavra and Anderson attained in years past may have ultimately been the pinnacle of what they were capable of attaining. It may just be time for someone else to take over the reigns to take this team a little further going forward.
As with any sport, the goal is to win. Plain and simple. As with many sports, that goal is attained by outscoring your opponents. In football, if a team gives up 40 points, but scores 45, they win the game. In hockey, if a team gives up five goals, but scores seven, guess what? It's still a win. The same theory can, and should, be applied to baseball. Unless you are a team fortunate to have the likes of a Roy Halladay, Justin Verlander, C.C. Sabathia, or a Felix Hernandez at the top of your rotation, the likelihood of you needing only a run or two to outscore your opponent is slim to none.
That being said, it would be imperative for a team like the Twins, with the inconsistent track record of their pitching staff, to put an emphasis on the offensive side of the ball. This season, the Twins have more games of four or fewer hits (20) than any other team in baseball. How have the Twins decided to address this issue thus far? They've decided to fire both Tom Nieto and Floyd Rayford, their Triple-A manager and hitting coach. But those 20 games of four or fewer hits took place at the Major League level, not Rochester. Of those 20 games, the big four of Mauer, Morneau, Cuddyer, and Kubel each played in at least nine, so, to say that the lack of hits came as a result of the injury bug would be a stretch, considering even the "big guns" were unable to hit their ways on base.
The Twins' front office needs to consult Gardenhire and allow him to make the correct decision for the ball club, which is to remove Joe Vavra from his position as the hitting coach of this team. Vavra has served the team well over his almost six years as hitting coach, but as with many things, it's time to move on. If Gardnhire is unwilling to make that difficult decision, or doesn't see it as an option, then perhaps the front office needs to look long and hard and making a different change; that being at the managerial position.
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