With the Twins deciding to renew the contract of manager Ron Gardenhire for another two years through the 2015 season, many Twins fans have expressed a lot of negative feelings toward the decision. Based on the recent track record of the club, those negative feelings are more than justified.
In an era of "What Have You Done For Me Lately?", the Twins front office has decided to make Memory Lane their permanent home. After three consecutive 96-loss seasons, what fans receive as an explanation for why the current coaching regime remains in tact is nothing short of a campfire story about how good the team was between 2003-2010. Unfortunately, reputation alone doesn't win ball games.
Ron Gardenhire may be the nicest guy around. He may be the best "players' coach" in the game. In fact, he still may be one of the best managers in all of Major League Baseball. But not for this team. Not anymore. In order to succeed in the future, you can't rely on the successes of the past.
The role of the manager can be both undervalued and overhyped at the same time. The sad fact is, managers often take the heat for the failures of a ball club, even if it's not necessarily their fault. Many believed that the 2012 demise of the Boston Red Sox wasn't Terry Francona's doing, but rather that his players quit on him. The same could be said for countless other managers who lost their jobs over the years. But, regardless of the sport, there does come a time where, no matter how nice a guy, and no matter what the past has brought, that a manager or coach's message becomes stale and lost.
To many Twins fans, that time was after 2012. The Twins' front office, however, has a different opinion.
On Monday, while Gardenhire was being notified of his two-year extension, another manager was being given his walking papers. Dale Sveum, the first-time manager for the Chicago Cubs, was fired after two seasons, in which he went 61-101 in 2012, followed by a 66-96 campaign in 2013. Two seasons. That's all it took for the Cubs to pull the trigger. Now, it's understandable to say that Sveum doesn't have near the track record that Gardenhire has with the Twins. But that is really where the comparison should stop.
For the last three seasons, Twins fans have been force-fed the excuse that Gardenhire "hasn't had much to work with." That statement should be an indictment on both the General Manager as well as the Owner, but instead, by most accounts, the Pohlad Family and Terry Ryan are given a pass by most members of the media. Not all...but most. The players Gardenhire "has to work with" are players drafted and/or signed by Ryan and the ownership. These are young, "talented" players we were told a couple of years ago would be the future of this Twins franchise. Players like Aaron Hicks. Players like Chris Parmalee. Players like Kyle Gibson. Now, the sample size for the likes of Hicks and Gibson are only a small portion of the 2013 season, but these were guys we were told would help bring this team to prominence again.
One of the reasons given for the Cubs making the decision to fire Sveum as their manager was that they felt that he hadn't developed their young talent the way they'd expected. Couldn't that very same thing be said for Gardenhire? Now, I have not heard this suggested by anyone else, but I personally feel that Gardenhire is solely responsible for stunting the growth of Aaron Hicks.
How, you ask?
I have absolutely no problem with the Twins bringing Hicks up to start the season on the big-league club. I have no issues making him the starting center fielder, even though he skipped right over Triple-A. Where my issue lies is that an experienced manager, a manager who is touted as one of the best in baseball, should have realized that beginning the season with Hicks as your lead-off hitter, with no real experience against Major League pitching, was something that could mentally hamper the young man from Day 1. In his first 10 games, Hicks was 2 for 43 at the plate, striking out 20 times during that stretch. Something as subtle and simple as positioning someone in the lineup is not something that can be blamed on the player, nor can it be blamed on the GM or the Owner. That falls on the manager.
Had Gardenhire done the responsible managerial thing, he would have started the season with someone more equipped to possibly lead off. Someone like Brian Dozier, whom Gardenhire eventually put into the lead-off spot later on, and watched him flourish. But for 10 games, Hicks struggled, trying to impress out of the gates, when he may have been more comfortable hitting in the bottom third of the order. This seems like a logical thought, but one that seemed to have eluded the manager. There are no doubt other examples.
It could also be debated whether or not Sveum had even less with the Cubs to work with than Gardenhire had with the Twins. But, regardless of the tools in his toolbox, Sveum was let go, while the Twins front office continues to make excuses for their fledgling manager. But as I've said many times, it's important to note that, if you're going to place most, if not all, of the blame on the roster for three straight 96+ loss seasons, then the roster is what brought the Twins to the playoffs six times in nine seasons from 2002 through 2010. But, we don't hear that. We always hear what a great job Gardy has done with this team. We heard during his first few seasons as manager, what a terrific job he did given the payroll he was given. How are the last three seasons any different. One word: Reputation.
As I stated earlier, the manager's role isn't a glorious one most of the time. People continue to say that "Gardy isn't the problem," or that "manager's are overrated." If the latter is truly the case, then why not make a change? Even if he's not the problem, but the role itself is overrated, what harm would it do to bring a new voice into the clubhouse? It's worked for many other teams over the years. Why should the Twins be any different, or be the exception to this rule?
