For Twins, History Shows, A Change At The Top May Help

With the Twins starting 7-20 thus far in 2012, coming off a 99-loss season in 2011, many people, myself included, have been advocating for a change in leadership.  I know I am in the minority on this, but I do believe the time has come for the Twins to explore a regime change in the dugout.  Ron Gardenhire has run his course, and my fear is that if a change is not made, that course may continue to run the Twins further into a hole that may be very difficult to climb out of in the near future.

Saying that he needs to be relieved of his managerial duties is not to say that Ron Gardenhire is a bad person.  It's also not to say that he hasn't done some very good things for this franchise.  But often times a strong sense of loyalty from upper management is something that can hinder the future development of the organization.

Many "experts" have said that it would be unreasonable to call for Gardenhire's head, making the excuse that "he's only able to do so much with what he's given."  Sadly, those "experts", in my opinion, are losing focus on exactly what it means to "manage" and "coach".  Quite honestly, managers and coaches are paid to do what their titles imply.  To pawn off a team's poor record and performance on the talent of the players ultimately implies that it really doesn't matter who is at the helm, if you don't have good players, you'll never succeed.  Frankly, this is a cop out.

Recent history may show us that a change at the top may actually be what's needed to help move the organization into a new and better direction.

• In July of 2010, the Arizona Diamondbacks made a managerial change, firing manager A.J. Hinch after going 89-123 (.420) in a season and a half.  That season, prior to being fired, Hinch amassed a 31-48 record (.392).  Replacing Hinch in July was first-time manager Kirk Gibson.  Thus far, in just about two seasons as Arizona's skipper, Gibson has turned the D-Backs around, leading them to a 142-132 record since being hired (.518), reaching the playoffs for the first time in 2011.

• May of 2009 brought an end to Clint Hurdle's tenure as manager of the Colorado Rockies.  In Hurdle's final season and a half, he had a combined record of 92-116 (.442).  Hurdle was replaced by new manager Jim Tracy on May 29th of 2009.  At the time Tracy took over, the Rockies had a record of 18-28 (.391).  By season's end, Tracy had completely turned the Rockies around, leading them to an improbable Wild Card run.  Since taking over for Hurdle, Tracy's overall record with Colorado is 242-225 (.518).

• The end of the 2010 season saw the Milwaukee Brewers make a change, as they opted to not bring back incumbent manager Ken Macha, instead electing to go with Ron Roenicke.  Macha managed only two seasons in Milwaukee, leaving with a combined record of 157-167 (.485).  In his final season, Macha led the Brewers to a 77-85 record (.488).  In Roenicke's first season at the Brewer's helm in 2011, the team finished 96-66 (.593) and lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Championship Series.

• Back in 2006, the Texas Rangers struggled with manager Buck Showalter leading the team.  Showalter's final two seasons in Texas saw the Rangers win a total of 159 games while losing 165, a win percentage of .491.  After that season, the Rangers let Showalter go, deciding to give Ron Washington his first opportunity to manage in the Big Leagues.  Since taking over the managerial duties of the Rangers in 2007, Washington has put together an impressive resume, with a record of 445-393 (.531), and has seen his team reach back-to-back World Series.

Again, the idea of firing Gardenhire shouldn't be so much an indictment of his managing, but more an act to breathe life into the team, and hopefully bring forth a sense of urgency that appears to be lacking.  One reason it may be lacking is the fact that it appears a sense of complacency has set in with the organization. By not making a change, it seems the organization is content placing blame upon the players for the current failures.  In many cases, these are obviously players that the organization ultimately drafted and/or signed.

By drafting and signing these players, the Twins have shown them that they believe in what they can do.  By placing blame on just the players, it's telling them that the organization doesn't care for their success.

There's a saying I believe fits this occasion, and it goes a little something like this:

If you can't change the people [players], then we need to change the people [manager and coaches].

Twins Can't Have Cake And Eat It, Too

It's really about time for the niceties to disappear.  It's about time for some feelings to be hurt.  More importantly, the sooner you get your hands dirty, the sooner you can clean them off again.

These are all things the Twins' front office needs to think about in the coming days if they hope to retain any shred of dignity they have left.  Otherwise, they risk losing more than just 100-plus games.  They risk alienating a fan base yearning to fill seats in a new ballpark while enjoying a winning culture.  They also risk tarnishing a reputation of being a model franchise in a small market, competing annually on a budget far less than their top tier competition.

As many have pointed out in the past, what this organization seems to pride itself on are things like competing, rather than winning.  When push comes to shove, the Twins seem to be the ones being pushed, rather than being the ones doing the shoving.

For the greater good of the franchise, sacrifices need to be made.  Accountability must be held, at all levels.

In business, when success isn't being had, it is more often than not the line-level employees who hear the ridicule, feel the pressure, and are ultimately blamed for failure.  It is often easier to change the pieces than to change the message, or start over.  But when a supervisor continues to change those pieces, and the results continue to be the same, at some point, upper management must decide whether it truly is the pieces, or if it's the message being handed down to those pieces.

In the case of the Twins, the pieces have been changed.  Players have been brought in, and players have been dismissed.  New players have been brought in, and still others have been dismissed.  And the fact remains that the results continue to be the same.

It's time for the front office to change the messenger.

For years, we have heard from many within the organization, and many close to it, than Ron Gardenhire is a "players' manager".  We've heard that he never gets too up, and he never gets too down.  He's an even-keel kinda guy who takes the good with the bad.  We've heard that players love to play for him.

Sadly, I don't believe that is still the case.

When success is prominent, as was the case in 2009 and 2010, we hear great things about the coaching staff, mostly from the beat writers, but also from some front office personnel.  Case and point, 2010; the year Gardenhire was awarded the Manager of the Year Award.  We heard about what a great job Gardy did managing this team.  We heard about his ability to "put the puzzle together" and win.  We heard that, when Justin Morneau goes down 82 games into the season, on pace to win his second MVP Award, Gardenhire "made the right move" filling the first base hole with Michael Cuddyer, despite the fact that there really wasn't another logical option at that point.  We heard about the ability of Gardy and his staff (hitting coach Joe Vavra, and pitching coach Rick Anderson) to "get the most out of their guys."  Guys like rookie Danny Valencia (.311, 7 HR, 40 RBI in 85 Games), Delmon Young (.298, 21 HR, 112 RBI), Carl Pavano (17-11, 3.75 ERA), Francisco Liriano (14-10, 3.62 ERA, 201 K), and Kevin Slowey (13-6, 4.45 ERA).

On the flip side, over the last two seasons (2011 and thus far 2012), we've seen the Twins struggle more than at any time in recent memory, including the mid-to-late '90s.  During those struggles, if we're being honest with ourselves, we haven't seen "accountability."  What we've seen is subtle, quiet finger-pointing from  those closest to the situation, from the coaching staff to the beat writers.  We've been told things like: players aren't taking good at-bats, guys aren't getting into good positions out in the field, pitchers aren't throwing to their strengths, etc.

The question that should be asked is: If Gardenhire "made all the right moves" in 2010, and Anderson and Vavra were responsible for "getting the most out of their guys" during that season, why have the last two seasons been about the players' lack of discipline at the plate, or inability to focus on the mound,  or the fact that the team was hit with a massive injury bug?

It appears evident that Gardenhire and his coaching staff truly feel that the players aren't performing up to the standards expected of them, rather than the fact that perhaps they have lost the ability to get those most out of those players.  If even some of the players feel as though the full weight of this losing season is falling on their back, and that the coaching staff is unable to accept their part, then you've already lost them.

In order to show the players that it's not all their doing, the front office needs to show a bit of backbone.  A change within the coaching staff must be made.  That change, even if it is only one, will tell players that upper management doesn't feel like it's 100% your fault.  It will also give players a fresh perspective and a new outlook on the way they approach each game.

At this point, failing to make that change just shows that you're not ready to get rid of some of the pleasantries, that you're still worried about hurting feelings, and frankly, that you'd rather have clean hands and a poor reputation, than dirty hands and optimistic future.