Today was the first time this season I did not watch a single inning of the Twins game. My modem and router went on the blink and so I spent most of the day troubleshooting that issue and getting a replacement so I could get back on the internet.
The Twins lost in Atlanta today 8-3 and it marked their eighth loss in a row. The team is playing really poorly right now and it is hard to find any silver linings or moral victories. Moral victories are meaningless anyway, all that counts is wins and the Twins can’t find a win to save their life right now. The Twins starters keep allowing the opposition to score first and it just sucks the life out of the team and to be honest it really makes watching a Twins game a real chore. I love baseball and the Twins and I will keep watching but I want to see a team that is showing some life and making some progress towards being a competitive team and right now this bunch of players wearing the Twins uniform is doing nothing for me. These players realize they are not a very good team and they are playing to their expectations.
The Twins management stubbornly hangs on to their statement that the team is doing all it can to win but I think that management is starting to realize that a major rebuild is in order here. The other day they sent starter Pedro Hernandez down and brought up reliever Caleb Thielbar to help with all the extra innings the bullpen has had to throw. Reports are that Samuel Deduno will be brought up to start in Detroit on Friday and he will probably takes Vance Worley‘s spot on the roster since he was the second starter in the last few days to change his address to Rochester. The Twins will need to make another roster change in a couple of days to get a starter to pitch on Monday in Milwaukee and you have to think that Kyle Gibson might be the guy. Trevor Plouffe took a knee to his head on Tuesday night at second base, reminiscent to Morneau getting hurt in Toronto a couple of years ago and the Twins called up last weeks Twins minor league player of the week 1B/OF Chris Colabello to fill in for Plouffe while he recuperates on the 7 day concussion DL. You can sense that the Twins will be making roster changes frequently as the season approaches the 50 game mark in the next week.
I have always liked Ron Gardenhire as a manager and Terry Ryan as the GM but right now it appears to me that they have no plan and the Twins look like a “Chinese fire drill” and the team seems to be in a death spiral. Gardy appears to be grasping at straws and trying to go with who ever was hot the day before and making them a regular part of the line-up. Mr. Ryan seems to be missing in action when he should be leading the charge to make this team better. This team is going nowhere this year! Put the young guys in the line-up day in and day out and let them make their mistakes and learn the game until they get so sick of losing that they start playing the game the right way. Gardy keep pulling players like Chris Parmelee and Brian Dozier and putting them on the bench when they struggle and he would do the same with Aaron Hicks if he had anyone that could play center field. You only hurt the long-term future of the Twins when you don’t let these guys play every day. Jamey Carroll is a utility player and a good one but I should not be seeing his name in the line-up 3 or days in a row unless he is filling in for an injury like with Plouffe.
You won’t hurt fan interest by going with the young guys, everyone knows the team isn’t going anywhere so bring us the future and let’s see what and who we can look forward to watching in the next few years. I can take short-term pain for long-term gain but if major changes are not made to this team soon we are doomed to watching a team that has no wins, no hope and no future. You kill a fan base by taking away their hope, I hope that is not where the Twins are taking us.
No one said that running a baseball team was easy but that is what Gardy and Mr. Ryan signed up for and they get paid the big bucks to make the Twins a winning baseball team. I know these gents are up to the task, but we need to see some results soon boys!