About the Project » Derek Shelton had the opportunity to leave the Twins

organization but credited the support of Derek Falvey and Thad Levine as part of the reason why he chose to remain with the team for the 2019 season."Analytics has a rap of lacking individual thought. The third time through the order penalty exists for pitchers http://www.yankeesfanproshop.com/authentic-giancarlo-stanton-jersey , so we have to lift the starter even though he was cruising and had thrown only 80 pitches. The defense has shifted to cover only half the field but I’m a slugger so I shouldn’t bunt for a base hit. On and on, we’re told that teams and players are making decisions simply because numbers told them.An extension of that is the idea that these people disregard what certain players and/or coaches have meant to their respective organizations. We just saw that recently when Derek Falvey and Thad Levine made the decision to fire Doug Mientkiewicz following the 2017 season. The former Twins first baseman had spent five years working at various minor league stops as manager until the front office relieved him of his duties. It didn’t take long for Mientkiewicz to find another job, following former Twins manager Ron Gardenhire to Detroit as the skipper of the Toledo Mud Hens, the Tigers’ Triple-A affiliate. Many Twins fans were upset with the firing. The expressive Mientkiewicz was perceived as a good leader due to his fiery nature. That argument was reinforced as he had a winning record every year of his managing career, including a 73-66 record this past season with Toledo. When Mientkiewicz had been passed over as Twins manager when Paul Molitor was hired, plenty of fans felt the organization had missed out and those cries grew louder when Mientkiewicz was pushed out by Falvey and Levine. Since we didn’t have all the facts on the decision-making process, it appeared that the front office was completely ignoring his success simply because he wasn’t one of “their guys.” Fast forward to earlier this fall with the firing with Molitor. In my opinion, we probably shouldn’t have been as shocked with this as a new front office almost always brings in their own coaching staff to run the team. Falvey and Levine were given an unusual circumstance as they were required by the Pohlad family to keep Molitor for the final year of his contract. The new guys accepted (acquiesced?) and to everyone’s surprise, the Twins exceeded expectations while making it to the AL Wild Card game. While the original plan was likely to move on from Molitor at the end of the season, winning the AL Manager of the Year award threw a wrench into the gears and the Twins were almost forced to re-sign him to a new three-year contract. However, he was only given a one-year leash and after a disappointing 2018 season, he too was shown the door.I feel that some fans look at Falvey and Levine and think of them as cruel, heartless businessmen, but the aftermath of hiring Rocco Baldelli paints a different picture. Before Baldelli was hired, current bench coach Derek Shelton was also under consideration. The 48-year old was hired out of the Blue Jays organization where he spent one year as a “quality control coach,” which entailed assisting then-hitting coach Brook Jacoby Joe DiMaggio Jersey , involvement in advance scouting of opponents, and made recommendations to the coaching staff. Prior to that, he had experience as a manager in the Yankees minor league system and as a major league hitting coach for Cleveland and Tampa Bay. Reportedly a well-respected man by the players, he was under heavy consideration until Baldelli emerged as the winner. The initial reaction was that it was business as usual with Falvey and Levine as we started learning of Shelton’s disappointment on losing out to Baldelli. Then, there was the possibility that Shelton would bolt when Texas came calling with their manager opening. However, after the Rangers ultimately settled on Dodgers third-base coach and former major leaguer Chris Woodward, Shelton announced that he would remain with the Twins organization for the 2019 season.Though I don’t know how much risk there was in losing Shelton, it was a big announcement as Falvey and Levine looked at him as an integral part of next season’s coaching staff. In fact, they said they were looking at a partnership between him and Baldelli, similar to the one that Falvey and Levine have themselves while running the front office. This cooperative role was made possible by their handling of Shelton, with him mentioning to Dan Hayes of The Athletic, “I’m truly very appreciative of not only the process in Minnesota, but how (Falvey and Levine) supported me in the process in Texas. I don’t think you get that a lot of places. It speaks to the quality of people we have working with the Minnesota Twins.” That sure seems antithetical to the current perception of the front office. Shelton specifically expressed his gratitude towards their encouragement despite his potential departure, which was a different result than the losses of Mientkiewicz, Molitor, and others such as former hitting coach Tom Brunansky Mickey Mantle Jersey , who was fired before he worked a single regular season game under the guidance of the new front office. Maybe it’s that the new guys are learning some people skills, or perhaps their supposed cold-hearted nature was overblown. Regardless, the front office left a positive impression on Shelton and thus were able to retain a coach that they felt is a valuable part of the organization. As this team looks forward to playing a competitive 2019 season, the hope is that Shelton’s expertise is key to getting the organization back on track next year. LOS ANGELES (AP) — After every unusual thing that had already happened between the Dodgers and the Diamondbacks this week, two catchers taking the mound wasn’t even the height of wackiness for this weird series.There’s nothing weird about the Dodgers’ prolific offense, which shook off the disappointment of a 13-inning loss and just kept pounding away.Cody Bellinger hit two homers and drove in a career high-tying six runs, Justin Turner added five RBIs and Los Angeles rebounded splendidly from that early-morning defeat with an 18-5 victory over Arizona on Saturday night.Bellinger had four hits and Joc Pederson had three after leading off the game with his third homer for the Dodgers, who got 19 hits from 11 players. The two-time defending NL champions have scored 34 runs in their first three games, hitting 13 homers and looking like a powerhouse even before April begins.“It’s tough to navigate our lineup,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.These NL West rivals’ seasons are just three games old, but they’ve already been extraordinarily eventful. The Dodgers set a franchise single-game record by hitting eight homers Thursday to win on opening day, but they stranded 17 runners Friday night while losing the longest regular season game in Dodger Stadium history, a 365-minute affair.By comparison, this win was a fairly ordinary blowout — except for the two catchers making their big league pitching debuts in the late innings.Arizona backup John Ryan Murphy gave up seven runs in two innings of mop-up relief, including homers by Bellinger and Austin Barnes in the eighth.Dodgers backup Russell Martin also made his first pitching appearance, closing it out with a perfect ninth inning on 10 pitches.“It would have been really http://www.yankeesfanproshop.com/authentic-giancarlo-stanton-jersey , really hard to blow that lead,” the 36-year-old Martin said. “It was weird going toward the catcher (after the final out). I’ve never had that happen before.”Turner, Bellinger and A.J. Pollock had consecutive RBI singles during the Dodgers’ four-run third inning, while Corey Seager, Bellinger and Max Muncy drove in runs during a five-run sixth.Jarrod Dyson hit a leadoff homer for the Diamondbacks. Alex Avila, Adam Jones and David Peralta also homered for Arizona, but only after the Dodgers had built up a big lead.Zack Godley (0-1) had the Diamondbacks’ third straight disappointing start, but he stayed in even after eight consecutive Dodgers reached base in the third. Manager Torey Lovullo didn’t have many other options.“It’s got to get better, there’s no other way to look at it,” Lovullo said of his starting pitching. “We depend on the starters, and they’ve just got off to a slow start. We haven’t quite hit our stride on the mound.”Both managers let their starters go long in a bid to save their bullpens, and Kenta Maeda (1-0) gave the Dodgers 6 2/3 innings of five-hit ball in the third straight excellent start by Los Angeles’ rotation. Maeda even chased Godley in the sixth with a bloop double over the head of a badly fooled Peralta in left.Godley yielded eight hits and seven earned runs while pitching into the sixth, but he lamented his throwing error early in the Dodgers’ big third inning.“That inning is the big thing for me,” Godley said. “I’ve got to be able to minimize it a little bit more, and cut it down from four runs to maybe one or two.”Jones’ homer in the seventh was his second in three games with his new club after 11 years in Baltimore.PITCHING CAMEODown by eight runs, Arizona sent Murphy to the mound in the seventh Roger Maris Jersey , and the former high school pitcher nearly escaped unscathed. The Dodgers loaded the bases but didn’t score in the seventh against Murphy, whose pitches rarely topped 65 mph.“I’m not a huge fan of it, but sometimes you have to do it,” Lovullo said of his decision to put a position player on the mound. “We felt like whoever threw (out of the bullpen) today would be missing tomorrow.”TRAINER’S ROOMDiamondbacks: 1B Steven Souza Jr. will have surgery on his badly injured knee Tuesday in Cincinnati. The slugger will miss the entire season after stepping awkwardly on home plate Monday. “He’s in for a grinding year (of rehab), we know that,” Lovullo said.Dodgers: Clayton Kershaw threw a 50-pitch, three-inning simulated game on the field, taking another step in his return from shoulder inflammation. Roberts said Kershaw will throw on the side Monday before the Dodgers decide whether to send him to Oklahoma City or Tulsa for a minor-league rehab start. After that, Kershaw and the team will determine whether he needs one more start before returning to the majors.UP NEXTIn the series finale, Walker Buehler makes his season debut for the Dodgers after going 8-5 with a 2.62 ERA in his breakthrough 2018. He faces Luke Weaver, who debuts for Arizona after being the Diamondbacks’ primary return in the trade that sent Paul Goldschmidt to St. Louis. Weaver went 7-11 for the Cardinals last season.