I have angrily, vehemently protested Ron Gardenhire’s continued employment by the Minnesota Twins. A real organization dedicated to winning would have removed him about 5 years ago. I say this because a team dedicated to winning would have parted ways with Gardenhire based on his playoff record, which is one of the worst in baseball history for a manager. Anyone who says that it has more to do with the Yankees and their outrageous payroll, I point to the fact that the Twins lost series to the Angels and A’s as well, and that fellow AL Central rivals Detroit, Chicago and Cleveland all went to the World Series or at least won their series versus an AL East team. The Twins just suck in the playoffs. It’s on the GM to put the players in place to get to the postseason, but the onus shifts to manager in the postseason, because of game strategy, clubhouse attitude and the condition of the players, particularly the bullpen, become more important and more magnified when the playoffs start. The Twins have been historically bad in the postseason. That’s on Gardenhire.
Now, though, there is a sentiment that Gardenhire shouldn’t be blamed for this season and last. Last season, I will say, should not be on Gardy’s head. I wonder why some of the blame shouldn’t be placed on Gardenhire this season, however. The primary thing Gardenhire’s supporters point to is the reduced payroll, which allegedly means that there is no way for the team to be competitive. The Twins have a payroll in the top half of the league, and in the middle of the AL Central. They aren’t exactly poor. And besides, those huge drains on the payroll? Mauer, Morneau, even Willingham? All performing about as they should, and in some cases better.
No, the problem has been a lack of development among young players filling those other roster spots. I thought for the longest time that Gardenhire would be great with a young team because of his focus on fundamentals. This team has proven otherwise. Elite talents like Joe Mauer, or self driven guys like Denard Span (who by the way was also a first round pick) have improved over the past several years, but it’s difficult to find many players who have become much better under Gardenhire’s tenure, particularly in the last 2-3 years. I can’t think of any Latin American position players that have achieved success during his entire tenure, and guys like Danny Valencia or Trevor Plouffe who have displayed personality just haven’t figured out offense or more surprisingly, defense.
That’s one part of the problem. Young players, even ones that had a bit of a personality used to get better back in the 2000s. In retrospect, perhaps this is because the organization used to be stronger up and down. Clearly, it wasn’t simply what was going on at the major league level, and it likely wasn’t simply Gardenhire’s commitment to the fundamentals. He was lucky to be at the top end of a good organization, while having a good general manager helming the ship.
Replacing Gardenhire wouldn’t fix everything, certainly. The pitching would still be awful, and all those players seeing regular time who aren’t getting better would see that nobody is safe. The General Manager was already changed, and big money players like Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau aren’t going anywhere. The only thing that can be quickly changed is the manager. Send a message to the team, and remove the only constant to a team that has failed to meet it’s goals in the past 10 years. It’s time.
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