September 26, 2014

Twins Image

Howard Sinker notes the the way the Twins and Phil Hughes handled the bonus situation may have some positive effects:

Both the Twins and Hughes came away looking good.

That’s a small but important thing.

However the Twins move forward in reshaping the team for 2015 and beyond, they need to be perceived in a better way than they are right now.. J.J. Hardy, Vance Worley and Carlos Gomez have been among those with unflattering things to say after their exits. The David Ortiz complaints, however ancient (or valid) they may be, are ancient history.

Much had been made about the success of players after they have left the team, whether it’s the All-Star status of Gomez, the three ex-Twins among National League batting average leaders or the attention that Francisco Liriano and Worley have gotten for their work in Pittsburgh. Combine those with the tumble from postseason staple to baseball bottom-dweller and the picture is pretty ugly.

Obviously, $500,000 isn’t much to Twins management or to a pitcher making an $8 million salary this season. By themselves, the positions of the Twins and Hughes don’t mean much.
But as one step toward reshaping the team’s image, it’s a start.

It strikes me that the Twins have a coaching problem, not a front office problem. That goes all the way back to the Ortiz problem. From my outside view, the Twins coaching staff has a narrow mindset about how things should be done on the field, and it doesn’t necessarily mesh with every player’s strengths and weaknesses. That needs to change.

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