Written By Chris Schad
We are less than one week away from the Minnesota Twins’ opener, and this is the time when baseball fans start to warm up to optimism about their favorite team. Of course, that’s been hard to find in Twins Territory as the local nine is coming off their fourth straight season with 90 or more losses.
After several years of doing nothing, general manager Terry Ryan finally pulled the trigger last October and fired long-time manager Ron Gardenhire. His replacement, Paul Molitor, was met with some excitement and some skepticism as it was a hire from within. However, many thought that the move would give the clubhouse the edge it’s been lacking since the early years of Gardenhire’s tenure.
As the Twins trimmed down their roster last weekend, Molitor proved that theory has some legitimacy as he laid the hammer on two players that were expected to be in the starting lineup when they head to Comerica Park next Monday.
The first player who received a rude awakening was outfielder Aaron Hicks. Long a prospect who had a ton of potential coming through the Twins pipeline, Hicks has struggled when getting an opportunity in the majors. A lot of that has to do with his lack of mental toughness that has gone as far as eliminating his switch-hitting approach at the plate.
This spring, Hicks was at it again when he forgot how many outs there were during a March 10 game versus Toronto. Had this happened during the old regime, it’s possible Gardenhire might have given him some orange slices and told him to go out there and have fun.
Instead, Molitor benched Hicks and ultimately decided to send him back to Triple-A Rochester in favor of light-hitting Jordan Schafer and utility outfielder Shane Robinson. Such a message could light a fire under Hicks, but it could also signal that the organization’s patience is starting to wear thin.
Over in the starting rotation, Mike Pelfrey was made aware that the “Twins Way” has changed. After battling his tail off to a 1.23 ERA in 14 ⅔ innings, Pelfrey was informed that he would be demoted to the bullpen in favor of Tommy Milone.
This led to Pelfrey questioning the big, bad Molitor who might have nottruly had an open competition for the fifth starter spot, and that would make Pelfrey welcome a trade. Of course, there aren’t many teams lining up to acquire a starter who has a 5.56 ERA in 34 starts after undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2012, and the Twins probably know what they have in the 31 year old.
A simple conversation made Pelfrey realize how great the bullpen could be, but Molitor again sent the message that hadn’t been sent with the previous regime.
Early on, Molitor is showing that he’s going to tell it like it is to his players rather than telling them to have fun and smile. In a perfect world, he wants the Twins to be less adorable and more like a mirror image of himself as a player. There’s a long way to go before we know if it actually works, but it could help turn them from division doormats to surprise contenders.