Why am I a fan of this (fake) poverty franchise?

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While I was hoping for a top starter to join the Twins over the winter, I can understand the front office's hesitation at signing a free agent. Just announced today: 

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Initial imaging showed damage in the right elbow of Boston Red Sox starter Lucas Giolito that could cause him to miss the 2024 season, league sources told ESPN.

At 19 million plus a year,  and even though it's barely spring training it makes you wonder how long he knew he would need surgery. 

[Major League Ready]

On 3/4/2024 at 11:00 AM, Brock Beauchamp said:

Also, look at your own argument. Yes, the Diamondbacks made it to the World Series.

But they lost.

And who'd they lose to? One of the most free-spending teams of the past three offseasons.

There is absolutely no doubt that spending twice as much as other teams is a big advantage, especially in the playoffs where the ability to add a Ohtani and Yamamoto should be big.  IDT anyone here would really dispute this position.  However, are the Dodgers more willing (free spending) or do they have twice as much money to spend???  Even with the deferred money to Ohtani, the Dodgers 2024 payroll will be around 50% of 2022 revenue plus a conservative estimate of the increase for 2023 plus a bump in revenue from adding Ohtani and Yamamoto.     

These percentages compared to average revenue teams are a little deceiving.  We also need to take into account, that a team at the top of the revenue heap is not spending double on operating costs.  For example, if the Twins or Dbacks spend $80M on grounds Player Benefits, Signing Bonuses, Grounds Maintenance, Travel, non-player personnel, etc and the Dodgers spend $140M, the Dodgers will be spending roughly 20% whereas the Dbacks/Twins would be spending 28%.  This obviously is theoretical given we don’t have financials but the theory that the Dodgers spend a lower percentage of revenue on payroll seems quite sound.   

As much as fans would like to portray this as a willingness to spend, the advantage they a creating is not a product of willingness to spend, if they are spending a similar percentage of available funds.  It's a product of a revenue advantage.

[AZDane]

Hey all.
Glad this generated some discussion on the direction that the team overall, big picture is taking.
It's easy to try and paint this as an ALL or NOTHING commitment by the team, but that is just a straw man. No one is saying that billionaire owners should just go stupid spending, just to maybe set aside the books and run into the red for a year or two until the TV shenanigans work out.
Even in this modern age of sports worship, running the Twins as a 'normal business' that needs yearly profit seems shortsighted to me.
I'm just looking for the team to judiciously spend some capital on building what the roster accomplished in 2023, and keep moving forward.  
Winning the AL Central should be the floor, not the ceiling for the talent that we already have.
If the arms aren't there this year, I hope we can loosen the purse strings and give the rest of the league a good scare of even more.  
I'm still skeptical that our ownership cares about winning it all though, so roast away on that.

 

[AZDane]

On 2/27/2024 at 12:48 PM, Twins_Fan_in_NJ said:

And sorry to belabor the point but there is a reason why Snell and Montgomery remain unsigned. Even the big market teams are reluctant to throw big $$$ and long-term deals at two pitchers that while productive have their flaws.

I don't disagree with you one bit here.  
I'm not going berserk and demanding a Snell signing, I just think the team did great and maybe allocate some money into the roster again instead of pointing at the books and shrugging.

[Major League Ready]

5 hours ago, AZDane said:

Hey all.
Glad this generated some discussion on the direction that the team overall, big picture is taking.
It's easy to try and paint this as an ALL or NOTHING commitment by the team, but that is just a straw man. No one is saying that billionaire owners should just go stupid spending, just to maybe set aside the books and run into the red for a year or two until the TV shenanigans work out.
Even in this modern age of sports worship, running the Twins as a 'normal business' that needs yearly profit seems shortsighted to me.
I'm just looking for the team to judiciously spend some capital on building what the roster accomplished in 2023, and keep moving forward.  
Winning the AL Central should be the floor, not the ceiling for the talent that we already have.
If the arms aren't there this year, I hope we can loosen the purse strings and give the rest of the league a good scare of even more.  
I'm still skeptical that our ownership cares about winning it all though, so roast away on that.

 

There has only been one small market team in the past 20 years to win a WS.  Two if you count the Chicago White Sox as low revenue.  They won it 19 years ago.  The Royals. only had one free agent that contributed much and that was Edison Volquez who was on a 2/20M contract.   38% of their WAR was from drafted players and 32% from players that were acquired as prospects.  They got good by being bad for a VERY long time and by trading their best player for two players who had made the ML level but had yet to produce a 1.5 WAR season.  (Cain & Escobar)

The three most successful low revenue teams since the turn of the century (Oak, TB, Clev) have averaged 12% of their WAR from free agents and you will find that all of those free agents were modestly priced / short-term.  They produced 25% of their WAR from drafted players.  What may surprise you is that 45% of their WAR came from trading established players for prospects or players that made the ML level but had had yet to produce a 1.5 WAR season.

BTW ... These three teams have been substantially more successful than any of the other teams in the bottom half of revenue.

 

  

[Squirrel]

On 3/8/2024 at 1:33 AM, AZDane said:

Hey all.
Glad this generated some discussion on the direction that the team overall, big picture is taking.
It's easy to try and paint this as an ALL or NOTHING commitment by the team, but that is just a straw man. No one is saying that billionaire owners should just go stupid spending, just to maybe set aside the books and run into the red for a year or two until the TV shenanigans work out.
Even in this modern age of sports worship, running the Twins as a 'normal business' that needs yearly profit seems shortsighted to me.
I'm just looking for the team to judiciously spend some capital on building what the roster accomplished in 2023, and keep moving forward.  
Winning the AL Central should be the floor, not the ceiling for the talent that we already have.
If the arms aren't there this year, I hope we can loosen the purse strings and give the rest of the league a good scare of even more.  
I'm still skeptical that our ownership cares about winning it all though, so roast away on that.

 

I would have liked to see ‘more’ from the Twins this off season. I don’t think what they’ve done is awful, but it also feels like they aren’t building on the success they had last year. I’m skeptical (but still hopeful) that this starting rotation can do as well as last year’s. One of the things that made the rotation so successful last year was that they were relatively healthy all season. The other was that they got a near-career year from Gray and others they called upon stepped up. It’s still possible that this year’s rotation can do as well, but I’m skeptical without a better addition. And we will need to stay as healthy and we will need some real steps forward from a couple of players and no regression. Again, skeptical but remaining hopeful. I wasn’t expecting them to spend on the FA market, but a Lopez-like trade would have been nice. But then we’d see a lot of consternation about losing a top player or prospect, like we did when Arraez was traded. However, I think we have one of the best bullpens I’ve seen in a while, something I’ve complained about for years. Maybe a really great BP can balance some of the weakness in the rotation. Something we didn’t have a couple of years ago when we also had a much, much weaker rotation.

I also have little complaint about the infield or outfield, although, we will see if the bats come through. Thats where I’d rather they have spent in free agency and not on a pitcher.

That said, some of these tropes thrown about every year gets old. I get where they come from … our emotions. I do doubt when you or others say that Joe Pohlad doesn’t care about winning. Just because they don’t do what we want them to do, doesn’t mean they don’t care, and it doesn’t mean they are just happy to win the Central. Frankly, we should all be happy they win the Central. That is step one toward a WS. Because I rejoice in winning the central doesn’t mean I don’t care if that’s all they ever do. But I’d rather win the Central than not. So let’s not proclaim others as just being happy to just win the Central.

And as has been said by others, the title is a bit offensive for those experiencing real poverty. I get where it comes from … it’s emotional and trying to make a point … still, not great. But our payroll ranks at 19 out of 30 this year. While not great, and again, reread my first paragraph if you think I’m okay with it, it’s far from the worst. It’s truly easy to spend someone else’s money but I don’t truly know inside the Twins’ books, no one here does, because owners are not that transparent.

We could be the top spender and still not win. While yes, it does give us a better chance, it’s not a guarantee. Doesn’t mean I don’t want them to spend, it just means it’s not a guarantee. I’m just hoping for good health and good games and we will see where it gets us. I’m glad Buxton is back (for however long), Correa is over his plantar fasciitis, we will (hopefully) have a full season of Royce, Ober is looking good, hope Lopez continues where he left off … there is still a lot to be happy about and cheer on even if it’s not everything we wanted.

We could have it a LOT worse even if it doesn’t fulfill all our wishes. A healthy dose of context and perspective never hurts, but it certainly helps keep my blood pressure in check!