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.

Plain And Simple: Twins Pitching Stinks

There really isn't any way to sugar-coat this anymore.  The Twins need to find a way to pitch better, and it needs to happen immediately!

Entering Tuesday's game against the Red Sox, the Twins pitching staff has the highest batting average against (.292) in all of Major League Baseball.  What does that imply?  Frankly, it implies that the Twins' "pitch-to-contact" philosophy is surely working.  Sadly, that type of game plan won't allow you to succeed in the professional game against professional hitters.  If they haven't yet, the Twins need to realize this, and figure out a different approach.

The fact of the matter is...what was already a problematic area when last season ended, was not addressed before this season began.  The Twins decided to rely on a rotation comprised of Scott Baker (career 4.15 ERA and .266 Opp BA), Carl Pavano (4.33 / .284), Nick Blackburn (4.56 / .294), and Francisco Liriano (4.35 / .250).  The addition of Jason Marquis to the starting rotation was the only real change made by the Twins entering the season.  Marquis is a great guy, and a serviceable starter, but he came into the season with a career ERA of 4.59 and an opponent's BA of .272.  Not exactly someone you could count on to shut an opponent down.

Those numbers brought into this season by the starters (with the exception of Scott Baker, who is on the Disabled List) have done nothing but gone up, and will probably continue to go up further as the season progresses.  The logic behind the Twins' "pitch-to-contact" philosophy is sound; allow batters to hit the ball and let our fielders make the plays.  What baffles me is that the flaw in the logic seems lost on the Twins front office and coaching staff.

What happens when the other team doesn't actually hit the ball TO our fielders, but in places where they aren't?

The answer to that question is what you saw with the 2011 club, and what you are now seeing in the 2012 Twins.  Excellent big league hitters are able to hit any type of big league pitching.  Average big league hitters are usually able to hit average to above average pitching.  Below average big league hitters can usually hit average pitching.  What the Twins have is below average pitching, which basically means that all levels of big league hitters will be able to tee off, and thus, they have.

So far this season, excluding the opening series against Baltimore, Twins' opponents have increased their team's batting average in three of the five series.  Texas increased its team BA from .257 entering the series with the Twins to .270 after it.  New York raised their BA from .253 before playing the Twins, to .276 after the four-game series.  So far, through the first two games of its series, Boston has raised its BA from .276 at the start of the series, to .291 after Tuesday night.  Needless to say, the Twins pitching staff has been a welcome sight for teams looking to improve their offensive numbers.

When asked about his starters during his post-game interview following Tuesday's 11-2 drubbing at the hands of the Red Sox, manager Ron Gardenhire said, "We have to get them straightened out.  We can't go out and buy people.  We've gotta make this work.  I can't rub a bottle and make people pop out.  We have to make these guys work."

You're right, Ron, you can't just go out and buy people.  That needed to happen six months ago.  With that ball having been dropped, you now need to figure out how to make the best of the situation at hand.  That's what great managers do.

It's put up or shut up time.