Strib Gardy interview

by Luke in MN on Feb 21, 2010 6:39 PM EST

There was an "Only in your Sunday paper" interview with Gardy by LEN3 today. A nice read all around, and I thought it hit on some pretty interesting spots.

Re: 3rd base: Will be Punto/Harris/Valencia mix, depending on performance and, more importantly, scrappitude and get-after-itism.

Re: Backup center fielder: None. But Cuddyer, Punto, and Casilla might be playing some center in spring training just in case.

Re: Neshek: won't be babied.

Re: Mauer and Morneau: during spring training, will be babied as requested

Re: Mijares: Disappointed. Should have been at Twinsfest. May or may not be fat. May or may not have eaten own visa.

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Hahahaha....

“May or may not have eaten own visa”…love it, that’s hilarious.

by Jesse on Feb 21, 2010 6:55 PM EST reply actions 1 recs

HAHAHA

“Scrappitude and get-after-itism” Haha

I love Twins Baseball and Minnesota Vikings Football.

by Percy Harvin My Fav! on Feb 21, 2010 7:00 PM EST reply actions

I was basically just paraphrasing Gardy on both of those.

I think his answer on 3rd base involved “gritty”, “scrappy”, “get after it”, and about 3 other synonyms. His answer on Mijares’s visa involved a bowl of spaghetti. Seriously.

by Luke in MN on Feb 21, 2010 7:40 PM EST reply actions

Star Trib

Will probably post it later this week.

by clutterheart on Feb 21, 2010 9:46 PM EST reply actions

Same thing as last year with Mijares

out of shape, irritating everyone, bad spring training. They said he wasn’t ready to pitch, sent him down, a week later he’s in MN and getting people out.

I said it last year: he might just be that guy where you just have to put up with it. He’s going to annoy you, he’s going to be fat, he isn’t going to get guys out in spring training, but when the bell rings, he’ll do the job. At some point with guys like that, you have to stop letting it irritate you.

by Eric in Madison on Feb 21, 2010 10:31 PM EST reply actions

Rich Garces

Wasn’t he in kinda the same boat? Hung around forever. Weight issues were a concern. But he could still get people out!

Visit www.TwinsCards.com and check out "rosters" to see my collection!

by rosterman on Feb 24, 2010 6:58 PM EST up reply actions

Not to mention Dennys "Grand Slam" Reyes

"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot

by cmathewson on Feb 24, 2010 10:03 PM EST up reply actions

Gardy's fundamental contradiction

“I have zero tolerance for not playing the game the right way. Whether you’re a rookie or a veteran, we expect you to respect the game.”

“I love having Nick Punto out there. He’s the dirty, gritty player who’s fun to watch.”

On average, one out of every three games, Nick Punto shows fundamental disrespect for the game by doing it the exact opposite way from what he’s been taught his whole career.

"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot

by cmathewson on Feb 21, 2010 11:41 PM EST reply actions

Not fun to watch

It isn’t fun to watch boneheaded baserunning mistakes. If Punto was a better baserunner (no diving into first base, no running through stop signs, etc) he might actually be someone I could root for. He gets on base and plays defense well enough excepting the boneheaded relay plays. It isn’t really his fault he has no power, that’s genetics. He really gets into trouble when he has to think.

by DJL44 on Feb 22, 2010 10:32 AM EST up reply actions

sliding into first base

Sliding into first base isn’t a boneheaded move. The risk is injury, and frankly, I don’t think people on this site would be very concerned if he got injured.

Making a couple of bad decisions on the bases (ignoring 3B coaches), is different. But that isn’t exactly a weekly occurrence.

I think Mijares is a better example. Eric said that “you have to stop letting it irritate you”, but this is where the team culture issue comes into play. If you’re going to treat Bartlett, Casilla, etc that way, you need to do it to everyone. Send Mijares down again, if only for a month. His paycheck takes a hit, and maybe it motivates him. It definitely sends a message within the organization that you are expected to behave a certain way, which gives you credibility going forward.

If you run your team like the Twins do, this is worth a lot. In fact, it’s worth enough that you might want to consider showcasing him for the world, and trading him when a playoff contender needs some bullpen stabiliization.

I’m not saying that every team should treat him this way. If you’re the yankees or the cubs, or really most of the teams in the league, then this isn’t a big issue. You haven’t invested significantly in developing a certain internal culture. But, when you emphasize it like this, it isn’t worth risking this asset over one, above average relief pitcher.

by snolls on Feb 22, 2010 10:46 AM EST up reply actions

Sure, that's a reasonable counter to my point

But I wonder sometimes whether the Twins take it too far. While their “culture” probably has value, does it have more value than the players they alienate/jettison because of their insistence on it? I don’t know the answer to that.

I don’t know how much it played into it, but they got cranky at different times with Bartlett and Garza, and eventually made a bad trade of those guys.

Also, sending your best lefty reliever down for a month…at some level, that hurts the team and everyone else on it.

I’m not saying you’re wrong, I’m just not sure that I would handle it that way.

Consistency is good, but like everything else in this world, too much of even a good thing can be bad for you.

by Eric in Madison on Feb 22, 2010 11:01 AM EST up reply actions

"While their "culture" probably has value, does it have more value than the players they alienate/jettison because of their insistence on it? I don’t know the answer to that."

I think the answer is yes. You’re going to alienate the “well-behaved” if you indulge the bad behavior, so it’s not like it’s a choice between your culture and keeping everyone happy. It’s just choosing what your culture is going to be. Do you think Mauer appreciates being on a team with Twins-type culture? I think he does.

Also—and I didn’t hang out on TwinkieTown much when the Garza/Bartlett trade went down so I don’t know what the consensus was here—but I thought it looked pretty reasonable at the time. It’s just gone badly since the trade happened. Garza and Harris have been about what people thought they’d be, but Bartlett has been waaaaaay better than I think anyone thought possible, and Delmon has been disappointing. So maybe personalities played a role in making the trade, but I don’t think it meant the Twins were willing to dump them at bargain-basement prices.

by Luke in MN on Feb 22, 2010 12:16 PM EST up reply actions

Eric

I completely agree with the premise of your question. It is a strategic decision, and the Twins have decided that they can differentiate themselves by “playing the right way”, and doing all those feel-good things that remind you of a little league team. It is a strategy that should be debated, but I do think it has a lot of benefits. For I think it helps them attract certain types of players for less money than they would pay otherwise (Mauer, Nathan, Thome), and has significant benefits in the development process as players players reciprocate the loyalty they are shown.

Once you decide on a strategy like that, I think it is important that your tactics reflect that strategy. If you are simultaneously telling your minor leaguers “this is what you have to do to be a twin”, and telling your star catcher “stay with us, show us respect and we’ll show you respect”, while letting another player get away with easy to fix behavior, then you lose your credibility.

The key to me with Bartlett and Garza was that they needed to treat those players more respectfully, while still stressing the “twins way”. You do this by telling Gardy to shut up when talking to the media, and by stressing in the locker room – we think you are a great player – here’s what you have to do to be a Twin. You take the negativity out of the locker room and the media interviews, and even if those guys don’t fit the team, you get a better return in trade. To be fair, the twins did well (prospectivly, not retrospectively), in getting trade value. At the time, Delmon was big time talent.

by snolls on Feb 22, 2010 1:00 PM EST up reply actions

Double standards

I would buy that argument if it were uniformly applied. But the difference between Gardy’s reaction to Casilla making a boneheaded play and Punto is the opposite. He has zero tolerance for it when Casilla does it, and infinite tolerance for it when Punto does it. And it’s not just Casilla, it’s every player not named Punto.

And I’m not just talking about base running. I’m talking about trying to get outs when they’re not there and allowing the other team to take extra bases as a result. I’m talking about improvising on routine plays to make them look better and making errors as a result. Everybody thinks Punto’s defense is great. I would say, it’s good, but it would be great if he did everything according to fundamentals instead of playing defense like he’s on the Harlem Globetrotters.

"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot

by cmathewson on Feb 22, 2010 1:32 PM EST up reply actions 2 recs

You forgot....

He has zero tolerance for it when Casilla does it, and infinite tolerance for it when Punto does it. And it’s not just Casilla, it’s every player not named Punto.

I’d lump Cuddy in with Punto, lots of bonehead plays with no accountability.

"You don't realize how easy this game is until you get up in that broadcasting booth." ~Mickey Mantle

"The key to being a good manager is keeping the people who hate me away from those who are still undecided." ~Casey Stengel

by Michael in N.Cali on Feb 22, 2010 4:03 PM EST up reply actions

That's because only White guys can be scrappy.

Hispanic guys tend to be labeled differently when they do the same things.

"Pinch-bunters don't have a ton of value, even with the Twins"

by Steven Ellingson on Feb 22, 2010 5:59 PM EST up reply actions

They also need to kind of suck

Joe Mauer is as scrappy as Nick Punto except he’s talented, physically gifted, and doesn’t make bonehead plays

by ckb on Feb 22, 2010 8:41 PM EST up reply actions

Don't know if you've read this yet, but you might find it interesting if you haven't -

This article describes what the author calls “racism without racists,” including how only white guys get the “scrappy” label:

Baseball fans are commonly exposed to this sort of dichotomy, in which white players are often presented as gritty and do everything they can to maximize their talents, while minority players are "athletic" and "smooth," and "make it look easy out there." The successes of white players are attributed to effort, while the successes of non-white players are explained by inherent ability.

An interesting read – the author goes into much more detail than just that excerpt.

by what_would_gil_thorp_do on Feb 22, 2010 8:54 PM EST up reply actions

Good stuff

If I recall correctly, Gleeman had an SI poll from a while back showing that players have internalized many of these stereotypes as well. The players voted the top in hustle were whites, the players deemed lazy were all non-white.

I love Kent Hrbek, but just imagine the hell he would have gotten if he was black/Latino. The big guy got by on natural talent his whole career. A poor work ethic combined with bad habits led to a shortened MLB tenure.

by wcooley on Feb 23, 2010 9:25 AM EST up reply actions

+1

by caluofmn on Feb 23, 2010 2:34 PM EST up reply actions

Hrbek

It also got him a retired jersey number and 2 WS rings with the Twins. Plus 14 years with 1 team ain’t bad.

"Don't take life for granted, because tomorrow isn't promised to any one of us." -Kirby Puckett
"All morons hate it when you call them a moron." -Holden Caufield

by less cowbell, more 'neau on Feb 23, 2010 8:30 PM EST up reply actions

In the end, he'll have had a better career than Big Papi

"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot

by cmathewson on Feb 23, 2010 10:29 PM EST up reply actions

Good stuff...

Eric and CMath.

Where would this team be right now with past “problems” for Gardy in Garza and Bartlett?

Like you say, sometimes you just have to suck it up and manage egos. In fact, that has always been right near the top of the list on things I can’t stand about Gardenhire;

you’re paid to MANAGE. not to just coach a team of great all-around people. sometimes you have to manage an ego or two; that’s part of the job. especially in pro sports. so do it already.

by DJSkillz on Feb 22, 2010 12:50 AM EST reply actions