“This is one of the biggest choke jobs of all time" Ex-Twins catcher slams organization after team falls to brink of elimination from playoff race
The Minnesota Twins have officially dropped out of the AL Wild Card race for 2024, even though they had more than a 90% chance of reaching the postseason at the start of this month. They were eliminated from playoff contention after a 7-2 defeat to the Baltimore Orioles on Friday.
Former Twins catcher AJ Pierzynski feels the team has choked at the most crucial stage of the season while calling the present situation of the franchise an 'organizational failure.'
AJ Pierzynski is a two-time All-Star who played for seven teams over his 19-year career in the MLB. He made his big league debut with the Twins in 1998 and played six seasons for the team. Pierzynski was a two-time All-Star and a key member of the Chicago White Sox, which claimed the World Series title in 2005 after a drought of 88 years.
Pierzynski currently works as a co-host on the Foul Territory podcast, and before Minnesota's official elimination, he aired his thoughts on his old team during the show this Friday.
“This is one of the biggest choke-jobs of all time, and you can put it on the players, you can put it on the owners, you can put it on (Twins manager) Rocco (Baldelli),” he said. “It’s an organizational failure. I’m sorry, there’s no other way to say it.
"They didn’t sign anybody in the offseason, they didn’t go trade for anybody at the trade deadline, they thought they could do what they did last year and cruise in. The Guardians didn’t go away, the Royals didn’t go away and the Tigers came out of nowhere. Like literally nowhere,” he added
Minnesota had stayed .500 and above in every month this season up until August. However, they have only managed a .370 winning percentage in September with a 9-15 record.
Tigers capitalize on Twins' late collapse
The Cleveland Guardians have had the best record in the American League Central for almost the entirety of this season. The Kansas City Royals held second place in the division at the start of August, followed closely by Minnesota. On the other hand, the Detroit Tigers were lagging more than seven games behind a wild-card spot at that stage.
The Guardians went on to seal the division title comfortably earlier this month while the Royals and Twins have struggled. Meanwhile, the Tigers have been almost indomitable over the past month and a half, which has allowed them to make a late comeback into the wild card race.
Heading into their final series of the season, the Tigers had posted a 31-14 record from August 6 onwards. In contrast, Minnesota has been on a 12-24 run since August 18, while the Royals have a 10-12 record in the month of September.
As a result of Minnesota's collapse, the Detroit Tigers and the Kansas City Royals are the ones who have clinched wild card spots.