As 2018 opens, what sorts of promises should Minnesota Twins employees make to improve on their 2017?
The Minnesota Twins had an amazing 2017 season, but they weren’t perfect. What could the 2018 Minnesota Twins resolve to do in order to improve?
Molitor’s positives
Before we discuss those things that the man needs to change in 2018, it’s certainly wise to reflect on the fact that Molitor is coming off of a Manager of the Year campaign with the Twins.
Technically, Molitor has two .500+ seasons in his three seasons at the Twins helm, but he’s still got a sub-.500 managerial record due to the horrid record of 2016 dragging down his 2015 and 2017 records.
Molitor is highly regarded for his relationship with his players. He works well to give players the space they need to be a major leaguer, but he also has a good feeling of when to step in with a word or two to help get a guy back on track if needed.
The other thing Molitor has been well-regarded on is his hands-off approach with his coaches, giving them the space to work with their players. This worked tremendously well for James Rowson in his work as hitting coach with a young team in 2017, and it likely will fare very well with pitching coach Garvin Alston in his first year in the organization in 2018.
Finally, and most importantly for this exercise, the Twins front office lauded Molitor for his willingness to learn modern analytics and methods within the game. That should make some of these resolutions much more feasible in 2018.
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