Minnesota Twins Daily Morning Dip for September 29th, 2017
Minnesota Twins Daily Dip, September 29th, 2017
Welcome to the September 29th edition of the Daily Dip, your daily piece of news and notes here on Puckett’s Pond. You’ll find the scores and a quick summary of every level of the Minnesota Twins organization and links to any information you need to know to follow the Minnesota Twins here every morning!
News and Notes
- Twins planning next few days before Wild Card
- Tigers looking to play Romine at all 9 positions Sunday
Cleveland Indians 5, Minnesota Twins 2
With a “hangover” lineup of mostly non-starters on the day, the Twins and Indians both were scoreless going into the bottom of the 6th inning. Ervin Santana went 5 scoreless innings, allowing just 4 hits and no walks, striking out 1. Max Kepler had a pair of singles. Mitch Garver had a triple. Jorge Polanco had a single and a walk.
September 29th Probable Starter: @ Cleveland Indians, 11:10AM CT
Wild Card Game Standings
- Boston Red Sox, 92-67, —
- New York Yankees, 89-70, -3.0
- Minnesota Twins, 83-76, —
More from Puckett's Pond
- Minnesota Twins: After signing with the Mets, Correa spurns Twins again
- Minnesota Twins: You Spin Me Right Round, Right Round
- Minnesota Twins: What happens next at Shortstop?
- Minnesota Twins: Grading the Twins’ Joey Gallo signing
- Minnesota Twins: 4 Possible Trade Chips not named Kepler or Arraez
Notes from around baseball
- Special Olympics athletes get special surprise from Dodgers superstar
- Cubs rob home run for final out, officially eliminate Cardinals
- Stanton hits a pair of home runs to bring him to 59 on season
- Astros roll over Red Sox, but Boston magic number down to 1
- Nats walk off after Doolittle blows save
- Judge launches 51st home run
- Brewers knock off Reds and move closer in NL Wild Card race
- Indians win 100th, giving MLB 2 100-win teams for first time since 2004
- Red Sox announce “Take the Lead” initiative
- NL MVP race muddy
One Last Thing
Three years ago today, the Twins made the move to fire Ron Gardenhire. As the Twins are in the after-glow of clinching their first playoff appearance since 2010, it’s something that may disturb Twins fans, but a similar move may happen this offseason.
While the Twins have had a tremendous run under Paul Molitor, it is interesting to consider the legacy he holds currently among Twins managers.
Molitor currently holds a 225-258 record as the Minnesota Twins manager, good for a .466 winning percentage. Among the 12 managers since the move to Minnesota, that ranks him 10th in winning percentage. His 225 wins currently places him 7th among the 12, with no real shot to reach 6th place on the list, as he’s currently 43 wins behind Billy Gardner.
Molitor will not win the division this year, though he will make the playoffs. That puts him behind 5 other managers who have all won either a league or division title as manager at least once with the Twins.
Of course, none of that past really matters in this decision, and neither does Molitor’s playing resume or “local boy” background. The new front office that was hired last offseason was required by ownership to keep Molitor for one season. That’s a wise business move in general to come in and see how things are running with current staff before making sweeping changes when tasked to take over an organization.
We’ve seen the moves that have been made in the minor league and among scouts. While this season should be cheered and Molitor deserves any honor he receives for the team’s play this year, he simply may not fit with the goals of Falvey and Levine, and that could mean he’s out the door.