In a Way, the Twins Made the Playoffs Last Night

[NYCTK]

51 minutes ago, Ron said:

The Correa signing was one of the biggest blunders in Twins history. He can give Rocco all the death stares he wants. He was and is damaged goods. 30 million/year for what?

You're not wrong. 

How you sign Correa to that contract is baffling. $200 Million dollars guaranteed for a player that failed multiple physicals just weeks prior. You're a third of the way through the contract, paid $12 Million per win, and now he's on the wrong side of 30 with $130 Million still owed to him. 

Even if he wanted a trade, even if the Twins wanted to move him, there aren't more than a couple teams in baseball that would even consider taking on that contract. 

[Ron]

20 minutes ago, TwinsAce said:

IMO, the Correa deal is still a win by the Twins.  He's provided elite defense and leadership from SS and has hit (especially this year) at an elite level.  The injuries hurt, so future years will still dictate this as a win or a loss, like you said.

However, it looks a lot better if his deal is part of a $150 million roster instead of a $100 million roster.  Especially if that $100 million roster also has a $22 million pitcher (which is necessary IMO).  Curious what will happen this offseason..

Any defense of the Correa signing is baffling. No team would take him in a trade with that contract. He's being paid more than twice what he's worth considering the amount of games he misses. He was damaged when they signed him. Everyone who pays attention knows that.

[Schmoeman5]

1 hour ago, Nashvilletwin said:

For some, if not a vast majority, of us TDers, the answer always comes back to the penury and/or avarice of the Pohlad family (other posters can be pedantic as well, lol).

Once again, no one on this site really has a clue as to how the finances of the Pohlad’s businesses operate.  It has been suggested by some, myself included, that it is entirely possible that the Twins - across their entire franchise - lose tens of millions of dollars on a cash basis annually. If true, how those losses are financed (debt, support from other family businesses, selling assets, or just plain vanity personal contributions) is for the Pohlad family to decide.  But given the business success of this family over two generations (which, it should be pointed out, is not easy), it should be assumed that the Pohlad’s apply some degree of financial discipline (i.e. ROI and comparisons to other investment opportunities) in how they commit capital. Disappointing as it is for many TDers, the Twins are not a vanity asset for the Pohlads.

But the Pohlads are not blame free for the disappointments of this season.  The buck should stop at the top and the Pohlads are not absolved from Harry Truman’s now age old adage.

It’s very clear this team lacks confidence in themselves and in their leadership. Yes, the trade deadline, even though assets were expensive, was a missed opportunity. However, which young player on the Twins is not virtually a shell of himself at this point of the season vs. earlier?  Wallner and, possibly, Larnach - and they comprise the entire list. Julian, Alcala, Duran, Lee, Lewis, Jeffers, Kiriloff, etc.  They are mentally shot.  It’s sad to watch. That is on Rocco and his staff. And Rocco still at the helm is 100% on the Pohlads.

Put another way, if the Pohlads are interested in seeing a return on their assets, why have they allowed their most dear and important assets - their players - to remain underdeveloped?  If they are going to insist on a lower spending model, then they sure as hell need to get a higher return on those less costly assets. That is the entire strategy on which the Twins model for success is based.

Yes, we can all wish the Pohlads were free spenders.  They have been willing to invest, but free spenders they will never be. No, the bigger issue with the Pohlads is that they dawdle in making personnel changes when the writing is on the wall.  We’ve seen this for decades now.  We will see how long, if at all, it takes to bring in new leadership on the field.

So this season may end a week early. Sad, yes. But if that result clearly exposes the changes needed to move this franchise forward, then we as fans should be counting our blessings. But those changes won’t involve the Pohlads going on a spending spree or selling the Twins.  Let’s hope instead that the changes start with better on field leadership and the family can make those calls.

 

Nonsense. EVERY YEAR, EVERY BILLIONAIRE loses money. ON PAPER. Their businesses all somehow lose money.. Yet every year every billionaire gets richer. How's that happen?  Because they're such great people? 

[NYCTK]

7 minutes ago, Ron said:

Any defense of the Correa signing is baffling. No team would take him in a trade with that contract. He's being paid more than twice what he's worth considering the amount of games he misses. He was damaged when they signed him. Everyone who pays attention knows that.

Yeah, I think Twins fans are in for a rude awakening on this contract. His body is seemingly a ticking time bomb at this point and the first 2 years of the contract should be the best outcomes. And we paid $12 mil per win. That's bad! And it's likely going to get worse! 

3 minutes ago, Schmoeman5 said:

Nonsense. EVERY YEAR, EVERY BILLIONAIRE loses money. ON PAPER. Their businesses all somehow lose money.. Yet every year every billionaire gets richer. How's that happen?  Because they're such great people? 

I am BAFFLED by the defense of the Pohlads I've seen by...anyone really. The fact that Carl's statue is able to exist without constantly getting smeared with feces is an indictment of Twins fans. 

[Schmoeman5]

Seems I remember an article suggesting a runner not try to score due to an opponent injury while the ball is still in play. Rainbows and lollipops and kittens/puppies fantasy.  Getting all absorbed. Dont forget Santa and the Easter Bunny. I want to live in that world too. Unfortunately it doesn't exist.

[LA Vikes Fan]

39 minutes ago, jmlease1 said:

Pretty fair assessment of the season and the utter collapse down the stretch has unquestionably taken the heart out of the fans, many of whom have felt badly used this season to begin with. It's been a seriously disappointing season from a team that should be in the playoffs and even though they're technically not eliminated, they've felt like they've been on the beach for weeks now.

I won't say the players quit or choked. That's far too harsh.

there's going to be a lot of blame for such a disappointing season thrown around, and it's going to mostly be deserved. No one covered themselves in glory this season.

 

I agree that the players haven't "choked" because that assumes current performance is substantially below expected performance. I'm not sure that's true. I think Correa, Buxton, Castro and Jeffers are going to finish right where their talent and health is in terms of performance and games played. I think it's wistful thinking to expect more from them. Same for the starting pitching staff with the exception of Ryan's injury. We've gotten about will be to have expected to get and more in Ober's case. The bullpen has performed below reasonable expectations but not by much given the talent level there, and anyone expecting Brock Stewart to give us more than 30 innings this year simply ignored his past body of work.

This year's team was always going to be between 80 and 92 wins depending entirely on the play of the young guys coming into their own - Lewis, Larnach, Wallner, Miranda, and Julien (with hope for Lee), plus Varland, SWR and the rest of young pitching. That's the group that was going to make or break this season and they just haven't performed well enough to make us a playoff team in a competitive division. Wallner has looked great at times, and unplayable at times like early in the season and the last couple of weeks. Lewis has not been what we hoped he would be, not even close. Miranda has been past streaky at best and overall, pretty average, Julien is way below average, and Lee is overmatched at this stage. Larnach has developed into what he is – a solid left-handed hitting platoon outfielder. He is unlikely to ever be much more. Varland has been a terrible starter but might have potential to be a very good reliever. SWR and the rest of the young pitching has actually been better than reasonably could be expected but they been overstretched because of Ryan's injury and a lack of veteran depth so the wheels have come off. 

You are what your record since you are. That's absolutely true of this year's Twins - a slightly better than average team with potential that may or may not ever realized. This isn't a competitive playoff team that choked. This is who they are, an about 84-win team. This team will rise and fall for the next few years on the backs of those young players development.  Let's all be prepared for a very rough ride. They may not be good enough. 

[Fire Dan Gladden]

Thank you for the article.  Really well written and a different narrative then we have seen lately about the Twins being in a pennant race.

Many people are quick to blame the FO (they spend the moneslightly exceedy!) over Ownership for the current problems.  I need to remind people of a few things:

- Injuries plagued this team consistently all year.
- Castro, Wallner, Miranda, Larnach, even Santana and the Jeffers/Vazquez combination exceeded all expectations this year.
- Buxton and Correa were back to elite form when on the field (regardless of your usage opinions.  Outside of his recent slump, the same can be said of Lewis.
- Ober and Ryan met or exceeded expectations this year.  SWR definitely exceeded expectations this year.  Sands and Alcala came back from the dead.  Jax turned the corner from good to one of the better relievers in baseball.

I say this not to cherry pick the success stories.  Lopez took a step back.  Margot, Kepler. Farmer, and Thielbar did not perform to expectations.  But player-by-player, this team exceeded expectations.  Where they failed was the lack of spending on depth.  When vets went down or stunk (Paddack, Okert Jackson) and the injuries started to pile up on the core players, the Twins had no option but to go with the youth.  When the younger players (Varland, Festa, Matthews, Martin, Lee, Julien, Kiriloff) failed, the Twins had no choice but to keep running them out there because ownership gave the FO no money to work with.

Enjoy the high stakes games now, because when the season is over and the Twins do not make the playoffs, the blame squarely on ownership.

[Karbo]

IMO Falvey gets to stay but the coaching staff needs to be changed. I'm not really that surprised about missing the playoffs, after all, this team has been pretty bad against teams with winning records. Even if they made the playoffs, how far could they go?

[S Bart]

Trevor Plouffe gave great insight in the skor north podcast yesterday. Three points to note about Rocco that are accurate that he mentioned.

1. The lefty/righty and righty/lefty emphasis (Rocco) is not proven to be a good move in many cases.

2. Reverse splits are not reliable.

3. Rocco is set in his ways on how he manages.

 

[Nashvilletwin]

1 hour ago, Ron said:

"It has been suggested by some, myself included, that it is entirely possible that the Twins - across their entire franchise - lose tens of millions of dollars on a cash basis annually." 

Really. That defies logic. If that were the case it would be public knowledge. They bought the team for $33 million from Calvin. What's it worth now? They are not baseball people and if they are losing tens of millions annually it suits their financial objectives. They won the two world series primarily from players obtained during Calvin's ownership and stumbled accross the boy wonder, Andy MacPhail, who made a few deft trades.

Another blame it on the cheap Pohlads comment. Sheesh, it’s the oldest bellyache broken record in the book.

First, there is no doubt that the EQUITY value of the Twins has grown exponentially since the team was purchased.  You are 100% correct. However, given the current environment, it’s not clear that such growth will continue. There are risks to the former model of an ever rising tide raising all ships. Just because it happened in the past does not mean it will continue in perpetuity. Smart investors know that trees don’t grow to the sky and the Pohlads have been pretty shrewd investors over two generations now.

Second, you will notice that I “suggested” that it may be “possible” that the Twins over the entire franchise might be losing tens of millions annually on a CASH basis. If so, how are those cash losses funded?  Do they take from their auto or property businesses to put into the baseball business? What if the ROI for capital in the other businesses is higher? What if the other businesses actually don’t have the cash?  Where does that cash come from and how much should be put in annually to fund baseball over the “possible” tens of millions they are already fronting the business? Maybe the decision is already to invest $___millions in annual losses to make $____ millions in future equity value. In other words, the Pohlads may actually already be employing the strategy you are implying, but just not to the extent you wish.

Third, you need to get over it.  The Pohlads are not going to become vanity spenders on baseball. They never will. So until they sell, which they seemingly have no intent on doing, please come up with constructive ideas as to how to build a consistent winner (which by the way, the Twins have pretty much done over the past half decade anyway) given the business model under which they operate.

At the end of the day, you really have four choices: 1. Continue to harp about how cheap the Pohlads are (which is fine if that makes you happy); 2.  Find another team where that isn’t an issue; 3. Stay a Twins fan and enjoy cheering for your favorite team while carping about things that could possibly be changed; or 4. Earn enough money to make the Pohlads an offer they can’t refuse and then you can spend all you want (with whatever results that may or may not bring).

Personally, I’m choosing #3 and working on #4.  

[Sjoski]

1 hour ago, Ron said:

The Correa signing was one of the biggest blunders in Twins history. He can give Rocco all the death stares he wants. He was and is damaged goods. 30 million/year for what?

I wish it was only 30 million. Twins actually forked over 36 million this year...and 36 more in 2025.

Imagine how an extra 6 million could of been used on the bullpen? And in 2025, 2026, 2027,  2028.

If this isn't the worst contract in Twins history, can someone show me one that is?

[Finfineman]

2 hours ago, Nashvilletwin said:

For some, if not a vast majority, of us TDers, the answer always comes back to the penury and/or avarice of the Pohlad family (other posters can be pedantic as well, lol).

Once again, no one on this site really has a clue as to how the finances of the Pohlad’s businesses operate.  It has been suggested by some, myself included, that it is entirely possible that the Twins - across their entire franchise - lose tens of millions of dollars on a cash basis annually. If true, how those losses are financed (debt, support from other family businesses, selling assets, or just plain vanity personal contributions) is for the Pohlad family to decide.  But given the business success of this family over two generations (which, it should be pointed out, is not easy), it should be assumed that the Pohlad’s apply some degree of financial discipline (i.e. ROI and comparisons to other investment opportunities) in how they commit capital. Disappointing as it is for many TDers, the Twins are not a vanity asset for the Pohlads.

But the Pohlads are not blame free for the disappointments of this season.  The buck should stop at the top and the Pohlads are not absolved from Harry Truman’s now age old adage.

It’s very clear this team lacks confidence in themselves and in their leadership. Yes, the trade deadline, even though assets were expensive, was a missed opportunity. However, which young player on the Twins is not virtually a shell of himself at this point of the season vs. earlier?  Wallner and, possibly, Larnach - and they comprise the entire list. Julian, Alcala, Duran, Lee, Lewis, Jeffers, Kiriloff, etc.  They are mentally shot.  It’s sad to watch. That is on Rocco and his staff. And Rocco still at the helm is 100% on the Pohlads.

Put another way, if the Pohlads are interested in seeing a return on their assets, why have they allowed their most dear and important assets - their players - to remain underdeveloped?  If they are going to insist on a lower spending model, then they sure as hell need to get a higher return on those less costly assets. That is the entire strategy on which the Twins model for success is based.

Yes, we can all wish the Pohlads were free spenders.  They have been willing to invest, but free spenders they will never be. No, the bigger issue with the Pohlads is that they dawdle in making personnel changes when the writing is on the wall.  We’ve seen this for decades now.  We will see how long, if at all, it takes to bring in new leadership on the field.

So this season may end a week early. Sad, yes. But if that result clearly exposes the changes needed to move this franchise forward, then we as fans should be counting our blessings. But those changes won’t involve the Pohlads going on a spending spree or selling the Twins.  Let’s hope instead that the changes start with better on field leadership and the family can make those calls.

 

 

[AKTwinsFan]

It's true, you need star players doing star things to "fill the seats" yet the pohlands just expected it after cutting tens of millions off the payroll, and didn't make any moves at the deadline except Trevor Richards who was terrible. I think the moral around the team just died, as well as any hope to get back to the ALDS. 

[Nashvilletwin]

1 hour ago, OvertheHill said:

Thanks for asking.

We’re not in the room when off-season and trade deadline decisions are made, but as a fan it sure doesn’t feel like there’s a consistent approach that’s building anything. It comes across as “how do we fill this hole with something that might sort of work “. I’m patient enough to be okay with a build it up from the bottom reboot, take our lumps, and field an exciting group of guys that I can picture being here for a brighter future. This feels like gaslighting. 

I don’t completely embrace the way analytics seems to drive every imaginable ingame decision. I have for my whole life studied and tracked the (hopefully meaningful) stats, and understanding them is part and parcel to enjoying the game for me. But I’ve always expected them to be tempered with an “eye test” or “in the moment” sort of approach. This Manager’s uncreative, detached, entirely predictable approach to in game decisions leaves me cold. 
 

The “anyone can play anywhere “ and a million different lineups thing sucks for me as a fan. It just seems counterintuitive to me to expect players to not gravitate towards a set role, routine, etc. I don’t see how it helps with player development, thus shortchanging the future. 
 

I could go on, but that’s a start. 

Love it.  Great suggestions.  Thank you.  Btw, they seem to mostly revolve around managerial style….

[Finfineman]

So the word "penury" actually means "poverty, homelessness, economic downturn, etc."  That's hardly the case for the four-billion-dollar Pohlads and a misuse of the word.  You actually used the word "avarice" correctly, meaning greed etc,.  So let's work from the avarice premise.  Here are the facts.  The Twins earned 342 million dollars last year and had a payroll of 162 million dollars.  There were bonuses in there so let's say they had profit after gross revenue of 170 million dollars.  This is hardly "Penury".   They obviously had administrative salaries, their own salaries, rent etc.  It seems hard to believe that the "poor" Pohlads couldnt find ten or twenty million dollars to buy an Ace.  One Ace and the Twins would have been in the playoffs.  One Ace and you pitch him, Lopez and Ober in a three-game playoff.  I like the odds.  Sorry, the Pohlads could have done a lot more.  Winning or losing......starts with them.

[Sjoski]

33 minutes ago, Nashvilletwin said:

2.  Find another team where that isn’t an issue;

I've lived in 5 different states,  MN since 2002.  Been to 100 of games in 20+ stadiums.

I find it very difficult to embrace this organization and totally understand the frustrated fan base. As a transplant, its very easy for me to "find another team." 

Go D-Backs. Ownership has far less money than Minnesota, but spending $172 Million in 2024... 42+ than MN. 
They also spread the money over several players, not just TWO. 

ESPN the Magazine rated the D-backs as the No. 6 team in Major League Baseball in its Ultimate Standings, which gauges success both on and off the field and has referred to the Arizona Diamondbacks as the "best workplace in sports."

Under Kendrick’s leadership, through equity and debt restructures, the team has eliminated more than $350 million of debt.

[Ron]

26 minutes ago, Nashvilletwin said:

Another blame it on the cheap Pohlads comment. Sheesh, it’s the oldest bellyache broken record in the book.

First, there is no doubt that the EQUITY value of the Twins has grown exponentially since the team was purchased.  You are 100% correct. However, given the current environment, it’s not clear that such growth will continue. There are risks to the former model of an ever rising tide raising all ships. Just because it happened in the past does not mean it will continue in perpetuity. Smart investors know that trees don’t grow to the sky and the Pohlads have been pretty shrewd investors over two generations now.

Second, you will notice that I “suggested” that it may be “possible” that the Twins over the entire franchise might be losing tens of millions annually on a CASH basis. If so, how are those cash losses funded?  Do they take from their auto or property businesses to put into the baseball business? What if the ROI for capital in the other businesses is higher? What if the other businesses actually don’t have the cash?  Where does that cash come from and how much should be put in annually to fund baseball over the “possible” tens of millions they are already fronting the business? Maybe the decision is already to invest $___millions in annual losses to make $____ millions in future equity value. In other words, the Pohlads may actually already be employing the strategy you are implying, but just not to the extent you wish.

Third, you need to get over it.  The Pohlads are not going to become vanity spenders on baseball. They never will. So until they sell, which they seemingly have no intent on doing, please come up with constructive ideas as to how to build a consistent winner (which by the way, the Twins have pretty much done over the past half decade anyway) given the business model under which they operate.

At the end of the day, you really have four choices: 1. Continue to harp about how cheap the Pohlads are (which is fine if that makes you happy); 2.  Find another team where that isn’t an issue; 3. Stay a Twins fan and enjoy cheering for your favorite team while carping about things that could possibly be changed; or 4. Earn enough money to make the Pohlads an offer they can’t refuse and then you can spend all you want (with whatever results that may or may not bring).

Personally, I’m choosing #3 and working on #4.  

Ridiculous. You are denying who the Pohlads are. For all of Calvin's flaws he did love baseball and sold it out of necessity. He brought the franchise here and hated selling the team. I've watched and supported the Twins since the 70's so I have every right to point a finger at ownership. They tore down the wrong statue.

[saviking]

I didn't know Budda knew anything about baseball .. 

[jmlease1]

8 minutes ago, Ron said:

Ridiculous. You are denying who the Pohlads are. For all of Calvin's flaws he did love baseball and sold it out of necessity. He brought the franchise here and hated selling the team. I've watched and supported the Twins since the 70's so I have every right to point a finger at ownership. They tore down the wrong statue.

So our only choices are cheap billionaires who maybe don't care about baseball or a racist garbage fire who didn't have the money to resource the team in the first place?

Ownership of this franchise has never deserved statues.

[NotAboutWinning]

Hahaha.... When I read the title, I was sure it had been written by Falvey. That's exactly how he would spin it!

Seriously, I think there is a rift between the Pohlads and the FO. Not a penny at the deadline in 2023, cut payroll 20% going into 2024, couldn't find a few million at this year's deadline when the team was punching well above its weight. FO has apparently not been extended. That is not how you operate with someone you have confidence in. 

[OvertheHill]

34 minutes ago, Nashvilletwin said:

Love it.  Great suggestions.  Thank you.  Btw, they seem to mostly revolve around managerial style….

I’ve come to learn that managerial style doesn’t exist in a vacuum, and for better or worse is an extension of how the FO thinks about roster construction. It would seem that FO and Manager need to share a constructive philosophy for the product on the field to be successful, entertaining, etc. It’s easiest for me to see how that relationship manifests itself by analyzing the Manager, so yeah he gets the focus.

[Rosterman]

The team should've never been in this position. But they are. Still in the hunt. Stgill playing Margot and farmer, instead of giving time to Kiersey or Helman or martin. Loo and Julien sit on the bench. Irvin and Tonkin are getting innings.

Amazing, you go the whole season in the category of playoff team and in the last week of joyous home games, you stink. Putrid offense. No movement from the trade dedline utilizing a rich prospect system full of guys who will never set foot on the field... at least as a Twin.

A good portion of the season the front office collected monies from a television contract that didn't play out on a cable system that couldn't agree to broadcast the games.

Your ads are great, Twins. But you do have to advertise somewhere other than JUST on your own games. 

I don't expect any free agent big splash for 2025. The team ahs three solid contracts to pay off in Lopez, Correa and Buxton, all top-flight players if healthy. You see nexy year's 26-man roster on the current 40-man. Actually only 3-5 places a best witll open up in the off-season, and there is only 1-2 that the Twins really need to even consider for Rule 5 protection.

There is solid rotation depth, if you can afford to give them starts, as you did this year to Matthews and Festa, to fail but develop. The arms that can't start can be switched to bullpen arms. Except for catcher beyond 2026 (a second one), and a surefire choice at first base (is Severino still in the mix), all positions have solid depth for the next half-decade before guys become minor league free agents or a traded away.

We can argue about Rocco and his lineups, bulling pitchers, leaving pitchers in to get out of a jam, lefties and righties, whatever. The team is a bit redundant. Can players develop into brng different than the guy in front or behind them in the lineup?

Did the front office fail in NOT bringing in a rotation arm, as no one expected SWR to pitch well all season. At the trade deadline two arms in the pen (like a Chapman, Taylor Rogers, whatever) who would cost prospects, or even in August just money, were avoided. Signing minor league free agents, or bargain basement free agents, didn't pan out if you are a true competitive playoff team.

The excitement of 2023. Getting out or Round 1 of the playoffs. Hoping to go further still in 2024. 

But I' m not sure how I will feel looking at the Twins as the 4th place team in a division that wasn't all that special.

[Riverbrian]

Yep

There is no need to wait for the actual playoffs.

The Twins are in the playoffs right now.

They have been in the playoffs for quite some time. I'll contend that the Twins were in the playoffs starting September 6th with that 3 game series that Kansas City swept. 

People like to look back at the 18 game playoff losing streak with fondness. 

That 18 game playoff losing streak is history. It no longer matters.

The 5-12 Record so far this year IN THE PLAYOFFS is much more concerning.  

 

  

[Ron]

57 minutes ago, Nashvilletwin said:

Another blame it on the cheap Pohlads comment. Sheesh, it’s the oldest bellyache broken record in the book.

First, there is no doubt that the EQUITY value of the Twins has grown exponentially since the team was purchased.  You are 100% correct. However, given the current environment, it’s not clear that such growth will continue. There are risks to the former model of an ever rising tide raising all ships. Just because it happened in the past does not mean it will continue in perpetuity. Smart investors know that trees don’t grow to the sky and the Pohlads have been pretty shrewd investors over two generations now.

Second, you will notice that I “suggested” that it may be “possible” that the Twins over the entire franchise might be losing tens of millions annually on a CASH basis. If so, how are those cash losses funded?  Do they take from their auto or property businesses to put into the baseball business? What if the ROI for capital in the other businesses is higher? What if the other businesses actually don’t have the cash?  Where does that cash come from and how much should be put in annually to fund baseball over the “possible” tens of millions they are already fronting the business? Maybe the decision is already to invest $___millions in annual losses to make $____ millions in future equity value. In other words, the Pohlads may actually already be employing the strategy you are implying, but just not to the extent you wish.

Third, you need to get over it.  The Pohlads are not going to become vanity spenders on baseball. They never will. So until they sell, which they seemingly have no intent on doing, please come up with constructive ideas as to how to build a consistent winner (which by the way, the Twins have pretty much done over the past half decade anyway) given the business model under which they operate.

At the end of the day, you really have four choices: 1. Continue to harp about how cheap the Pohlads are (which is fine if that makes you happy); 2.  Find another team where that isn’t an issue; 3. Stay a Twins fan and enjoy cheering for your favorite team while carping about things that could possibly be changed; or 4. Earn enough money to make the Pohlads an offer they can’t refuse and then you can spend all you want (with whatever results that may or may not bring).

Personally, I’m choosing #3 and working on #4.  

 

15 minutes ago, jmlease1 said:

So our only choices are cheap billionaires who maybe don't care about baseball or a racist garbage fire who didn't have the money to resource the team in the first place?

Ownership of this franchise has never deserved statues.

After a period of time Rod Carew said he did not believe Calvin was racist. He brought him to his office and said he would trade him to the Angels because he couldn't pay him what he was worth. Carew said a racist wouldn't have done that. Calvin, for all his flaws has been wrongly smeared. It was time for him to sell when he did, but it's unfortunate it was the Pohlads. 

[NYCTK]

1 hour ago, Nashvilletwin said:

Another blame it on the cheap Pohlads comment. Sheesh, it’s the oldest bellyache broken record in the book.

 

We don't hate our billionaire overlords enough actually. 

Eat The Rich. 

[Russ]

As we wind down the season the Players and FO are tip toeing out the door before the door hits them.  It will be an interesting off season and hear the excuses and who knows what to build or improve the Twins in 2025.  Rocco has turned most of the players into utilities types and the one's who are not utility players can't play 120 games of a season.  Too many days off, too many injuries (They replaced the trainers because games missed previously, how did that work out?)  No set lineups, pitchers who can barely pitch an inning, Pinch hitting in the early innings.  I wonder if the Twins brass would attend a Twins Daily crowd focus group?

[ashbury]

Quote

Every pitch, every swing, every fielded ball, every umpire's call, every emotional response and every change in the direction of the wind has meaning and urgency.

What's missing is that in actual playoff baseball, there is some demonstrated capacity to succeed.

[NYCTK]

44 minutes ago, jmlease1 said:

So our only choices are cheap billionaires who maybe don't care about baseball or a racist garbage fire who didn't have the money to resource the team in the first place?

Ownership of this franchise has never deserved statues.

Holy ****, I was completely unaware of what he said. So the Minnesota Twins have been a trash organization their entire existence in Minnesota? That tracks I guess. 

[NYCTK]

33 minutes ago, Rosterman said:

Irvin and Tonkin are getting innings.

Jax and Duran have thrown a combined 28 pitches in the last 5 days. That's just hilarious. Blowouts happen with a lack of urgency from the manager. And, well, here we are. 

[NYCTK]

29 minutes ago, Ron said:

He brought him to his office and said he would trade him to the Angels because he couldn't pay him what he was worth. Carew said a racist wouldn't have done that.

Racists are generally pretty stupid and can justify showing to respect to someone they view as "one of the good ones". And people often find it hard to believe people in their life, that have treated them with respect, could be so racist towards others. So, I will take Calvin at his word.