Minnesota Twins: Should Neil Allen Return in 2017?
We are approaching one month from the Minnesota Twins (mercifully) seeing their season come to a close and perhaps a nice long offseason will do the team some good.
So what type of offseason moves could we expect from the Minnesota Twins.
One move that could help would involve a large portion of the coaching staff.
As I’ve said before, the Twins could look to some familiar faces but one spot could be tougher to replace.
More from Puckett's Pond
- Minnesota Twins: Grading the Twins’ Joey Gallo signing
- Minnesota Twins: 4 Possible Trade Chips not named Kepler or Arraez
- Minnesota Twins: After missing out on Correa, what comes next?
- Minnesota Twins: Free Agency should be Ace or Bust for the Rotation
- Minnesota Twins: Grading the Christian Vazquez Signing
Front and center for the Minnesota Twins’ struggles was their starting pitching, which features an ERA of 5.09 through Sunday.
Also with Neil Allen’s own personal struggles this season, the team’s new General Manager may look to shake things up.
The new era could also look to make some substantial roster moves as the players are the ones not performing.
Guys like Tyler Duffey, Phil Hughes, Kyle Gibson and Tommy Milone have all seen better days but may see their way out if things don’t change.
That said, it’s easier to see a team moving a player who struggles but would they really send Allen packing?
It’s tough to see, especially after how long they gave Rick Anderson, but that was also under the previous regime.
Depending on what the new GM wants to accomplish, we may see a very different Minnesota Twins coaching staff in 2017.
Would it be a wise move to fire Allen? The general consensus is there should be some change to the coaching staff as Tom Brunansky and Allen have all seen subpar results.
Either way, if the Twins don’t make a decision on Allen before next season starts, then it’s likely Allen will live to see another season.
Personally, I don’t foresee the Twins firing Allen. The staff has struggled this season but it has also dealt with injuries.
Not to mention, Allen did help the staff semi-turn things around last season when it posted a 4.07 ERA.
So I say the Minnesota Twins give him one more season to prove himself. Besides, if the team endures another rough season like this one, we may not see any of the coaches return.
That doesn’t mean the team won’t make any pitching moves as we’ve outlined in a number of posts and as most fans probably assumed.
Hopefully the team will stick the course and keep Ervin Santana around as he could be a great mentor to young pitchers.
Outside of him, I don’t believe any of the other staff members are entirely safe.
But we’ll see, this offseason should be an interesting one.