The break for the 2013 All-Star game at Citi Field is just around the corner and it can’t get here quickly enough for the Twins who are mired in another losing streak and are now in New York to face the Yankees. The Twins have not won a series in New York as long as Gardenhire has managed the Twins and that started back in 2002.
Speaking of Gardy, the pressure seems to be mounting for the ballclub to fire him before his contract ends after this season. I find it humorous that Twins fans that have been clamouring for the organization to bring up the “young guys” and let them play and learn the game are now getting frustrated because the team is not winning. I don’t know what fans expected, young players are going to make some dumb plays, lose their focus at times and play bad baseball as they learn to hit, pitch and win in the big leagues. For some fans, the solution is simple, fire the manager and the pitching coach. I think if you fire Gardenhire now you will be making a change for the sake of making a change. No one the Twins could name as the new skipper is going to speed up the learning process for these young players, they have to play and gain experience and that takes time and games played.
The rest of this season will be very interesting as more youngsters get called up and the learning process continues. Personally I hope that Gardenhire and GM Terry Ryan can weather this storm and turn the Twins into a winning team again, I really think they are the right people for the job if the Twins hope to beat the MLB betting odds and make the playoffs in the next year or two. No manager could have fielded a winning team with the players that the organization put in Twins uniforms the last few years, Gardy has earned the right to show us what he can do with some good young players in his dugout.
The hopes of the franchise rest on the shoulders of some of these young players like Dozier, Florimon, Plouffe, Hicks, Arcia, Pressly and Gibson already with the club and others that have yet to see Target Field for the first time like Sano, Buxton, Rosario, Meyer, Kepler and several others. It may take a few years but if the players in the Twins system are as good as everyone says they are, Twins fans might once again be wagering a few dollars on the local nine when they are betting MLB World Series.