This Team is Just the Timberwolves

[Hans Birkeland]

The Twins have been a frustrating watch this year, with the occasional virtuoso performance alternating with resounding duds against inferior competition. Nonetheless, they hold a roughly .500 record that leaves them in line for a playoff berth. We've seen this before in Minnesota sports, just look at the 2022-2023 Timberwolves.

Image courtesy of Jordan Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

The Minnesota sports scene is an odd mix. You have the over-performing Vikings that figure to take a step back this year with some difficult salary cap constraints, the underperforming Twins with a seemingly playoff-ready roster including three frontline pitchers (four if you’re a big Bailey Ober fan) and multiple superstar-level bats (in theory) complementing perhaps the best closer in the game in Jhoan Duran. Then there are the Timberwolves, who combined immaturity and odd roster fits to form a .500ish team that lost in the first round of the playoffs.

If the Twins could channel any of the Vikings’ more-than-the-sum-of-its-parts mojo, they would be considered World Series contenders. Obviously, they haven’t to any degree, and they may not even win the dreadful AL Central. They’ve become the Timberwolves, and the comparison runs pretty deep. You can break it down player by player:

Byron Buxton as Karl-Anthony Towns: The longtime superstar who battles injuries and maddening slumps. Buxton does appear to have a much better head on his shoulders, though.

Carlos Correa as Rudy Gobert: The key acquisition that cost a lot and while good, hasn’t played to the level he had established earlier in his career, perhaps due to injury. Came to the team with some baggage.

Alex Kirilloff as Naz Reid: The burgeoning offensive force who doesn’t play much defense and has missed time with wrist injuries.

Royce Lewis as Anthony Edwards: The young superstar and former number overall pick who has taken his lumps on his way to the top. Charismatic and doesn’t get in the way of the other big guns.

Jorge Polanco as Mike Conley: The seasoned vet who doesn’t have the legs he used to, but still gives a professional performance despite the clown show going on around him.

Jhoan Duran as Jaden McDaniels: Freak athlete at the top of his field. Seems calm; isn’t.

Joe Ryan as Kyle Anderson: Has an odd shooting/throwing motion, but makes up for it with elite ability to put the ball where it needs to go.

Max Kepler as Jordan McLaughlin: Seen once as a rising contributor with a great skill set for what the team needs, but has faded with his weaknesses exposed (contact quality and shooting ability, respectively).

Trevor Larnach as Jaylen Nowell: Lightning in a bottle on occasion, but injuries and inconsistency have clouded his future with the team.

Sonny Gray as Taurean Prince: Hired gun and veteran emotional leader who gives amazing performances mixed in with inexplicable control issues. Plays about 75% of the time.

Pablo López as Nickeil Walker-Alexander: Acquired in a trade for a popular (or at least high-profile) player who shows all the tools to be a scoring prevention genius, but too inconsistent to really get there.

Eduoard Julien as Nate Knight: Some intriguing upside if only he weren’t such a bad defender.

Matt Wallner as Luka Garza: Some real offensive skills, but the team is stacked at his position and his defense isn’t great.

Jorge López as Austin Rivers: Got some run early on, but a little erratic and slipped down the pecking order.

That was fun, but the similarities run even deeper. The Wolves tended to play well against the good teams in the league, splitting the season series against the champion Denver Nuggets, Philadelphia, New York, Memphis, Golden State and Miami while winning series against Cleveland, both LA teams, Sacramento, Dallas (prior to tanking), New Orleans, and Atlanta.

They also lost series to Portland, Washington, Charlotte, and most egregiously, Detroit. Sound familiar? The Twins have played at their worst against the Guardians, White Sox, Angels, Nationals, and now the Tigers. Like the Wolves, they play well when expected to lose, like when facing the Yankees, Astros, Blue Jays, Padres and I’ll even throw the Dodgers in there, since that was one inch from being a series win on the road and two inches from being a sweep. They’ll probably surprise us one way or the other in the Boston series.

Both teams also lost a vocal leader in Patrick Beverly and Wes Johnson, though those impacts are arguable.

Mainly, both teams have alternated weeks where they were ascending and unstoppable with weeks where the sky has fallen by virtue of key injuries, strange officiating and most importantly, lifeless offense that looked unsalvageable.

With that said, the Wolves were never too far off of a playoff spot, and considering their star power and assortment of quality defenders following the DeAngelo Russel trade, they were seen as somewhat of a dark horse down the stretch, with Memphis and Sacramento looking like upset candidates should the Wolves meet them in the playoffs.

The West wasn’t a great conference, like the AL Central, and a .500 record was good enough to get to the dance. But, as we know, Reid fractured his wrist, McDaniels his hand, and Gobert was limited by back troubles when the playoffs began. To make matters worse, the Wolves ended up facing the eventual champion Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs, and got steamrolled in five games.

That may sound grim to compare a tragic season that began with such high hopes to the Twins, who at the very least don’t seem to let immaturity get the best of them (can you imagine Correa taking a swing at Joe Ryan?). But the Wolves won a playoff game. Baby steps.

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[Dman]

That is a very interesting take and not all that far off.  It just seems like these franchises are cursed right now.  I can't say I loved the Gobert trade but I didn't see him making the Wolves worse.  I really believed in this Twins team.  It looked the best starting rotation in a long long time and the Offense seemed capable of doing damage at almost every position. The bullpen looked shaky but workable.  They just lost a series to the 4th place team in our division and now will lose the series to the last place team in the East.  This isn't a playoff team.  It is a team in need of more talent than they currently have.  Honestly it looks like another lost season to me.

[chpettit19]

That was fun, depressing, and rather accurate all at the same time. Not a big basketball fan, so I mostly follow the wolves by chatting with my buddies, and reading articles in The Athletic. But those comps seem pretty accurate. And that's not encouraging.

[ashbury]

Part of me wishes I followed the Wolves more closely so that I would fully grok all the great analogies and references.

The saner part of me reminds my other self that there's only room for so much aggravation in one's life.

[MABB1959]

a

[TopTwinsFan]

Sadly, I agree. The Twins are looking more and more like the incompetent, perenially losers. 

Attendance at Target Field tells you fans understand that too. 

The energy/emotion at Target Field this year is non existent. Well deserved when you have let the FO and Baldelli harm you product for years and ignored it.

Instead of enjoying baseball I wonder how much we lose by tonight and how many more years until we have a competent manager and FO again. 

 

[jkcarew]

Ugh! 
 

Don’t compare Buxton to Towns, I LIKE Buxton.

Often frustrated by Buxton…and yes he, like Town, is an under achiever. But Buxton doesn’t totally suck at 50% of the game he plays. Most notably, Buxton seems to give a —it…and WAY more likable than Towns. Way.

I like the analogies, but feel the urge to defend the Twins. The T-wolves are a historically bad franchise…epically bad. As dysfunctional as they are currently, this is near the zenith of their historical standard. Over 500 and sneaking into the playoffs is nearly as good as it’s EVER been. The Twins are merely historically mediocre, and the current situation is par.

[sampleSizeOfOne]

4 hours ago, ashbury said:

Part of me wishes I followed the Wolves more closely so that I would fully grok all the great analogies and references.

The saner part of me reminds my other self that there's only room for so much aggravation in one's life.

I knew i didn't know enough wolves to appreciate this either, but liked the article [before i read it] based on the effort put in.

 

I approve overly thought out analogies.

Edited June 21, 2023 by sampleSizeOfOne
left out a crucial detail... don't worry. i'll read it eventually. oh, and as analogies go, buxton = frodo, and his platinum glove is the ring of power. discuss amongst yourselves.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Excellent job @Hans Birkeland and not at all what I was expecting 

[TopTwinsFan]

Im excited to see if Gray goes 5-6 innings before Baldelli ruins his outing by taking him out at an idiotic time (too early or too late), then makes a confounding decision about who to bring in from the bullpen and we lose a close game.

OR,,,

Are we just non-competitive like the last two nights?

My sense is the players have a tough time staying motivated to collectively give it their all when their efforts will be ruined by the worst Twins game manager in my lifetime.

[HokieRif]

Not worried about Correa taking a swing at Ryan… There’s only a .219 chance he would actually connect in a way that’s meaningful. 

[Twodogs]

At what point do the Twins get back to total system failure and start over?  I know he was supposed to be the pitching pipeline guru because of his tenure with the Guardians.  But it seems that they keep producing pitchers even with Falvey gone?  So I'm guessing there is someone else in that organization that is producing the pitching, maybe they are being coached better at the lower levels?  Nonetheless, how long do we let these guys run this out?  I mean everyone who are looking for Baldelli's head have to realize that if Falvine is left in charge that they will hire another Baldelli type and really nothing will change.  Hopefully the Twins turn this around, but they will need a player to be a clubhouse leader and light a fire under this team, like Torii used to do.  

[jimbo92107]

Less than the sum of their parts? Could be, but all it takes is another spark...

Hmmm...

How much for a ticket to a Saints game?

[TopTwinsFan]

2 hours ago, jkcarew said:

Ugh! 
 

Don’t compare Buxton to Towns, I LIKE Buxton.

Often frustrated by Buxton…and yes he, like Town, is an under achiever. But Buxton doesn’t totally suck at 50% of the game he plays. Most notably, Buxton seems to give a —it…and WAY more likable than Towns. Way.

I like the analogies, but feel the urge to defend the Twins. The T-wolves are a historically bad franchise…epically bad. As dysfunctional as they are currently, this is near the zenith of their historical standard. Over 500 and sneaking into the playoffs is nearly as good as it’s EVER been. The Twins are merely historically mediocre, and the current situation is par.

True story. Knew a man who served Towns at his job about 2 years ago. Towns tipped him so poorly (10%) that the server said he would dislike Towns for the rest of his life. 

[jrod23]

5 hours ago, Twodogs said:

At what point do the Twins get back to total system failure and start over?  I know he was supposed to be the pitching pipeline guru because of his tenure with the Guardians.  But it seems that they keep producing pitchers even with Falvey gone?  So I'm guessing there is someone else in that organization that is producing the pitching, maybe they are being coached better at the lower levels?  Nonetheless, how long do we let these guys run this out?  I mean everyone who are looking for Baldelli's head have to realize that if Falvine is left in charge that they will hire another Baldelli type and really nothing will change.  Hopefully the Twins turn this around, but they will need a player to be a clubhouse leader and light a fire under this team, like Torii used to do.  

This is what Lewis is.  He is by far, the most charismatic, and best team leader we've had since Torii.  Downside, Baldelli can't stand him for some reason. Royce is everything Twins fans have been waiting for.  Baldelli is set up to ruin it.

[Doctor Wu]

6 hours ago, jrod23 said:

This is what Lewis is.  He is by far, the most charismatic, and best team leader we've had since Torii.  Downside, Baldelli can't stand him for some reason. Royce is everything Twins fans have been waiting for.  Baldelli is set up to ruin it.

When I glanced at the headline of this post my first thought was: except the Twins don't have a player with nearly the ability  or charisma of Anthony Edwards, But then I read the full article and found myself nodding in agreement. Great article! And as you noted, Lewis has, BY FAR, the most ability and charisma or any player currently on the team. I hope he can be the leader that they seem to need. 

[farmerguychris]

Fun article - nice idea and well written.

[Valdespino]

Such negativity.  It’s a long season, things can change in a hurry.

[Hans Birkeland]

2 minutes ago, Valdespino said:

Such negativity.  It’s a long season, things can change in a hurry.

True, baseball history is littered with teams that faced some sort of reckoning halfway through the season and ended up making deep playoff runs (most recently the Nats in 2019, Braves 2021, Phillies 2022). But then, its also filled with teams that faced a reckoning and collapsed.

[TopTwinsFan]

On 6/22/2023 at 12:22 AM, jrod23 said:

This is what Lewis is.  He is by far, the most charismatic, and best team leader we've had since Torii.  Downside, Baldelli can't stand him for some reason. Royce is everything Twins fans have been waiting for.  Baldelli is set up to ruin it.

Baldi will definitely ruin him day by day. Just like he has with Kepler. If Lewis wants to win too badly, they will trade him like Rosario, Berrios and Arraez. They cant stand that type of player. And their idiotic metrics dont account for their value.