Doesn't Mauer batting second feel so much better? If you are like me, it makes the frustration I have that he does not drive the ball to RF almost completely go away. I now think of him as a Rod Carew type #2 hitter and not an Albert Pulhols or Miguel Cabrera type hitter that can carry the team on his back. I could never understand why Gardy wanted him in the #3 slot. Now I can finally appreciate him for who he is and not be annoyed that he is not the hitter he was the year before he signed ...
In looking at average team WAR in the American League over the 11 years of the Gardenhire era, we see consistent yearly offensive values of +19 wins, pitching values of +13 wins, and fielding values of zero. Comparing the Twins’ performances in each of the Gardenhire seasons to those averages gives us a quick picture of the successes or failures each season and how the offensive, pitching, and fielding prowess of the Twins has trended. 2004-2006. Do I need to say it? ...
After approaching 100 losses in back-to-back seasons, the Twins clearly needed to make some changes. As we put it when introducing our Offseason Handbook yesterday, complacency was not going to be an option this winter. They wasted little time shaking things up, parting with their entire coaching staff – save for pitching coach Rick Anderson and manager Ron Gardenhire – in the very first day after the season came to an end. Bullpen coach Rick ...
Here's my first shot at this. I'm assuming no one will see it, but if you do, Thanks....and sorry. I was going to post something earlier with predictions and such but then remembered I hate predictions and such. So I decided to give it a few games before I chimed in. I have to go at this from the only perspective I have, from the view of a fan 4 hours away. So far its pretty simple: This is bad. It hurts to watch on TV. I half expect Bert to jump from the booth to his werciful demise. ...
Yesterday, a comment on 1500ESPN by "Everyday" Eddie Guardado took Patrick Reusse and Jim Souhan into a brief rant against the quiet, introverted Twins clubhouse. My first instinct was to write it off as being just another "back in my day we were tougher and manlier" speech. Then, I started thinking about the relationship between clubhouse dynamics and communication, like I blogged about earlier this week. It seemed to me Olson's concept of cohesiveness applies to ...