Twins

SCHREIER: Cuddyer, MacPhail Offer Words of Wisdom Before Twins HOF Induction

Michael Cuddyer and Andy MacPhail were inducted into the Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame this weekend because of what they have done for the franchise during their time in the Twin Cities. But both the former outfielder who was on all six AL Central championship teams from 2002-10 and the general manager who brought two World Series titles to Minnesota also have something to offer to the team going forward.

For Cuddyer, it’s the importance of professionalism. For MacPhail, it is the emphasis of adapting to the times. Both currently have an active role with an MLB team — Cuddyer is currently a special assistant with the Twins, and MacPhail is the Philadelphia Phillies president of baseball operations — and feel an obligation to pass on the lessons they learned from years in the game to others.

“You spend your whole career accumulating experience and accumulating knowledge,” said Cuddyer. “To keep it inside your head is very selfish, in our opinion. So I think that’s what we need to do, we need to let it go and help these guys in whatever way possible.”

Cuddyer says his role with the team is about addressing the intangibles that he felt impacted the successful Twins teams he was on — clubhouse leadership, camaraderie and a willingness to relinquish a cherished role for the betterment of the team.

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“What we deal with is on the character side of things, more on the camaraderie, the chemistry and the mix that you can have down in the clubhouse,” said Cuddyer, referring to himself and his fellow special assistants Torii Hunter and LaTroy Hawkins.

“What we provide is the knowledge and the experience that we’ve had in the clubhouse, and I think that’s an invaluable experience as well.”

MacPhail obviously isn’t interested in turning the Twins into a winner again, he’s employed by the Phillies, but his message about adapting to the changing times is important. He’s seen it all, from winning the World Series with the Twins to bottoming out with the Cubs and Orioles in his other GM stints and everything in-between.

He was hired by the Twins in 1984 at age 32, was named the general manager at 33 and now at age 64 he has the most influential position in the Phillies organization. He’s had to be innovative and creative in order to achieve so much at a young age and still be relevant this late in his career.

“Unfortunately I’ve had the whole spectrum — from World Champions to last place,” said MacPhail, who left the Twins job to become the general manager of the Cubs in 1994 and held that post until 2006. “It’s been the full experience, and the game’s ever-evolving, you have to stay alert to trends and understand how your opponents are playing.”

The year after stepping down from his position with the Cubs, MacPhail took over as the president of baseball operations with the Baltimore Orioles. Between 2007 and 2011, when his contract expired, he traded Erik Bedard for Adam Jones and Chris Tillman, acquired Chris Davis and Tommy Hunter, hired Buck Showalter as manager and in a move Twins fans rue to this day dealt two minor leaguers to Minnesota for J.J. Hardy. That core of players was instrumental to Baltimore’s turn from perennial losers to a playoff team after his departure.

“This was an important chapter of my life, unlike any other,” he said of his time with the Twins.

Not only did he construct the two World Series teams with limited resources, but he did so with two separate pitching staffs.

“You think about four years, winning two championships without one pitcher [from the previous World Series team], we had to turn the whole pitching staff over, and we got them from all sorts of different ways — it might be a trade, it might be the draft, free agency, guys in your system,” said MacPhail.

“We used every method we possibly could. I’m not a big hard-and-fast rule guy, because as soon as you make a hard-and-fast rule, you gotta find a reason to try and break it. We just try to take it case by case and make the best decision and go from there.”

Pitching is currently holding the Twins back to this day. Kyle Gibson, a 2009 first-rounder, hasn’t panned out. Kohl Stewart and Tyler Jay — the team’s first round selections in 2013 and 2015, respectively — remain jammed in the minors with many other promising pitchers who are either injured or haven’t developed to their potential. The team had to acquire 44-year-old Bartolo Colon to shore up the rotation this summer and still doesn’t have five pitchers who can be counted on to make a quality start or a surefire ace.

MacPhail ran into similar issues the Twins have now and found a way around it. He gave Jack Morris the first-ever player option, and he offered Rick Aguilera the first-ever mutual option. He didn’t have the ability to spend big like high-revenue teams in bigger markets, but he was able to cobble together enough pitching despite that disadvantage.

“The player option came about with Morris because it was February, and we still couldn’t get him to sign, so we were pulling out all the stops,” said MacPhail, laughing. “We were creative. We were playing in the Dome, and our revenues weren’t gonna match New York or L.A., so we had to try and attack it in a creative way.”

Even with the increased revenues from Target Field and an environment where every MLB team is flush with cash due to the overall financial success of the league, the Twins need to outsmart their competition in order to become winners again. They are still a mid-market team and don’t have a massive TV contract like the New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers or even the Arizona Diamondbacks that allows them to hide colossal mistakes in free agency.

They also need to establish a culture of professionalism and emphasize camaraderie between the players in order to make the most of the talent that they have. These are difficult to measure on paper, but can be evaluated by players that have been in the dugout and set locker room standards like Cuddyer.

Cuddyer and MacPhail were honored for what they have done over the weekend, but their emphasis on professionalism have relevance to this day. The game may be ever-changing, and players come and go, but both of them have a message that could help the Twins to this day.

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