Was 2024 the Most Disappointing Season in Minnesota Twins History?

[Cody Christie]

The 2024 Twins season will be remembered for all the wrong reasons. How does it stack up with other disappointing seasons in team history?

 

Image courtesy of Matt Blewett, Jerry Lai, Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports

After a Twins season that failed to live up to expectations, many fans have a sour taste in their mouths. Minnesota sports fans have become accustomed to watching their favorite teams fall short in critical moments. The Twins have had several seasons that did so, leaving fans disappointed. Here are a few of the most notable, starting with the most recent:

2024 Season
Expectation: The Twins entered the season as the clear favorites in the AL Central. Minnesota’s expectations were high, following the team’s first playoff series win in two decades. Other AL Central teams seemed to be in various stages of disrepair or transition, so it looked like it was the Twins’ division to lose.

Disappointment: Cleveland got off to a tremendous start and ran away with the division title. Kansas City added pieces over the winter and at the trade deadline to bolster their roster. Detroit sat below .500 at the trade deadline and became sellers, but went on an unbelievable run to end the year and win a Wild Card spot. Minnesota had playoff odds over 90% entering August and collapsed down the stretch. Three AL Central teams made the playoffs, and the Twins were left on the outside looking in.

2022 Season
Expectation: The Twins surprised the baseball world by signing Carlos Correa to a massive free-agent deal coming out of the lockout. Earlier in the winter, Minnesota had traded for veteran starter Sonny Gray. It was a clear message to the AL Central that the Twins were going to contend, and put the horrible 2021 season in the rearview mirror. 

Disappointment: On Aug. 6, the Twins were in first place by two games and stood seven games above .500. There was a 62.3% chance for the team to make the playoffs. Injuries plagued the team in the second half, and their playoff odds evaporated. Minnesota finished in third place (14 games back), with a record below .500. Adding to the disappointment, Correa was headed back to free agency and seemed likely to sign elsewhere.

2011 Season
Expectation: Coming off division titles in 2009 and 2010, the Twins were expected to dominate again. They had a strong core of Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, and Michael Cuddyer. Jim Thome re-signed with the club, after a renaissance season during his first year in a Twins uniform. Minnesota also signed Tsuyoshi Nishioka, whom they hoped would be the next great Japanese player. Also, Target Field was still buzzing with excitement in its second year. 

Disappointment: Instead, the team fell apart, finishing 63-99, their worst record since 1982. Injuries to key players like Mauer and Morneau and a collapse from the pitching staff made this season particularly frustrating. The ageless Thome suddenly aged very rapidly, and Nishioka struggled to transition to the MLB level (40 OPS+). Warning signs became evident during the team’s midsummer cave-in: Minnesota was heading into a dark decade, with the team struggling to be relevant. Eventually, the baseball operations department needed to be overhauled, and the team moved on from two different managers. 

2001 Season
Expectation: Minnesota entered the 2001 season with the eyes of the baseball world on it. During the offseason, MLB discussed plans to contract the Twins, but the plan was blocked by a court injunction that forced the team to honor their lease at the Metrodome, and by challenges from the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA). This large cloud looming over the team put pressure on young players to perform. With players like Torii Hunter, Doug Mientkiewicz, and Brad Radke leading the way, the Twins burst out of the gates, holding first place for much of the year and looking like a playoff contender.

Disappointment: A midseason collapse saw the Twins fall out of contention. They finished with an 85-77 record, missing the postseason. This season stung, because it seemed like the team was finally ready to compete again after a decade of rebuilding. It was the first step in what would become a decade dominated by the Twins in the AL Central. Minnesota won the division five times from 2002 to 2009, including making the ALCS in 2002. One must wonder what could have happened if the team had more playoff experience during the 2001 campaign. 

1992 Season
Expectation: The Twins were coming off a World Series win in 1991, and expectations were that the club would be in contention for another title. They had a strong core of Kirby Puckett, Kent Hrbek, Shane Mack, and Scott Erickson. Minnesota entered play on Aug. 4 in a three-way tie atop the American League with Oakland and Toronto. The Twins were in position to become the first back-to-back World Series winner since the Yankees in the late 1970s.

Disappointment: Instead of building on their success, the Twins faltered down the stretch, finishing 27-29 after that day in early August. Minnesota finished six games behind Oakland in the West division and missed the playoffs. To add insult to injury, 1991 World Series hero Jack Morris signed with Toronto and helped them win the pennant. Despite having personnel similar to their 1991 championship team, they ran out of gas in the second half, leading to one of the most disappointing post-title letdowns in franchise history. It was just the start of a downward slide, too.

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These seasons were painful for fans, as they all followed periods of high expectations or early success. How would you rank the seasons described above? Should other seasons make the list? Leave a comment and start the discussion.

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[TwinsDr2021]

I am 52 and yes it is the most disappointing season I have seen. There may be bigger individual disappointments (92, Puckett's eye, the Yankee loses, Trading Johan and many others) but as a collective nothing has been more disappointing than this season. Starting with the declared right sizing of salary, picking up Farmers option and not trading him, picking up Polanco's option and trading him for trash. Not improving the team at the deadline, Ryan's injury, and others, all the horrendous in game decisions and play by the players, then the epic collapse. Not making the wild card but two other central teams (the f'n Royals and Tigers, WTF!). Followed by the worst thing of them all, telling the fans Rocco's job is safe after we all seen the team quit on him.

Good Luck Twins on attendance next year. Anybody else feel like we are living in the real life version of Major League?

[lunemann]

I remember 2001 much more fondly. It was the first light we had seen in nearly a decade and was at least something to build on. I would take the feeling from 2001 10 times out of 10 versus the garbage of 2024.

[Riverbrian]

Yes it was.

I have tossed the previous disappointments aside and moved on with life. 

This wound hasn't healed yet. 

I'll be fine by the time spring training rolls around.

Tomorrow is always a new day. 

[Finfineman]

no it went as expected.  They could have gotten an Ace after they didnt try for Sonny Gray.  They cheaped out.  They put in Mathews and others that lost over ten games.  It was about money first, winning second.

[Whitey333]

After nearly 60 years of following Twins baseball this one has been the most frustrating and I might add, demoralizing.  Perhaps part of the reason is it's so fresh and current.  But the truth is this group of "professional athletes" was awful.  Great expectations and the players playing like they don't care.  The organization is at a very low point in it's relationship with its fans.  I'm not a fan of just firing managers but for Joe Pohlad to back Baldelli and the front office is a huge slap in the face to fans.  He provides no leadership and his insistence on a strict adherence to analytics and it's playback was almost laughable at times.  Analytics are fine but nothing wrong with good old common sense baseball decision making mixed in.  Pohlads endorsement of Baldelli and Falvey rings hollow.  To endorse someone that presides over some of the most despicable baseball over players that performed for 2 months as if they couldn't wait for the season to end is inexcusable.  The excuses have already started.  That's Twins baseball.  Expect more of the same next year.

[Twins_Fan_in_NJ]

2001 wasn't that disappointing. That was such a young team. You knew the future was bright.

1992 is the most disappointing for me. That three game sweep against Oakland in the Metrodome. IIRC, Randy Ready hit a kill-shot homer off Aguilera. Oofda! It was also an old team with Smiley hitting free agency. Kind of saw that as the end of a championship window and that certainly proved to the case.

2024 - is what it is. When Joe Ryan got hurt and the Twins responded with Zebby Matthews, the writing was on the wall.

 

[Doctor Wu]

11 minutes ago, Twins_Fan_in_NJ said:

1992 is the most disappointing for me. That three game sweep against Oakland in the Metrodome. IIRC, Randy Ready hit a kill-shot homer off Aguilera. Oofda! It was also an old team with Smiley hitting free agency. Kind of saw that as the end of a championship window and that certainly proved to the case.

That would be my pick too. This season was a disappointment, certainly, but it almost seemed inevitable over the past month that this team would falter. 

[nlites09]

Following the Twins since their inception I have had lots of dissapointents.  2024 is a big one, perhaps because I watched a bit closer.  I am a fan, not a player anymore.

  Analytics has changed the game, but why do other teams, winning teams, seem to play a set lineup?

Rocco needs to go.  The first night we heard Margot was pinchhitting and 0-30 my wife looked at me and asked would they still use him as a pinchhitter?  Great question.  That is no longer playing the lh/rh philosophy, that is POOR managing.

And just one example of it.  It gets old watching your team flounder and that's what happens time and time again.

Correa is not the same player, Lewis & Buxton are platoon players due to injuries.  You are making the same of Larnach, Martin, Lee and all of them.

Sure, I'll watch again in 2025, that's what I do.  But, I won't likely pay to go to a game.

 

 

Edited September 30, 2024 by nlites09
spelling

[Aerodeliria]

Yes. 

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

2001 was a ray of hope, not a disappointment. 1992 was a victory lap season.

Incredible that leadership of this team, at all levels, in all aspects baseball and non-baseball, could look at the last few years and say to themselves “yes this is good for our brand, give us more of it.”

[Aggies7]

2001 was one of the best years ever. It was the first time I was old enough to even see a winning record after all those terrible 90’s teams 
 

I forgot they finished 14 back in 2022 😂 21-30 to finish the year. Still not as bad as this season 

[VivaBomboRivera!]

For sheer putridity - 1981 (48-61-1 in a strike-shortened season)

Continued futility - 1982 (60-102)

More strike madness - 1994 (53 - 60)

Why stop there? - 1995 (56 - 88)

A hair worse than '82 - 2016 (59 - 103)

The Sand Pebbles - 2024 (70 - 53, then 12 - 27), as not seen on TV

[LastOnePicked]

This one seems the worst to me. 11 months ago the mantra from this team was "you ain't seen nothing yet." And I guess they were right, but not in the ways we had hoped.

What makes it the worst is that it's just an incredible unforced error by the organization. Last fall, I saw more Twins jerseys at work and in the neighborhood than I had in years. There was a palpable sense that the promise of having an established superstar (Correa) supporting an up-and-coming class of stars was about to yield results. After all, the curse was lifted, right?

Instead, we know what happened. The organization immediately bobbled the ball on payroll and broadcasting, and that fundamental shakiness eventually hit the dugout, the batter's box and the playing field. Ripples of incompetence, staffed by people without the skills to steady the ship.

And now, what exactly? Keeping payroll flat (as Joe Pohlad suggested) essentially means a cut, since payrolls across MLB tend to rise each year. The play of the rookies doesn't suggest that the farm system is building a smooth transition to the major leagues. Cleveland, Detroit and Kansas City are on the rise, meaning that the Twins now share a dogfight division rather than a cakewalk division. And the central voice in the dugout - the skipper who has overseen two of these "most disappointing seasons in Twins history" in just the last three years - will remain the same.

Baseball can surprise us all, but I'll be really surprised if 2024 wasn't the start of a prolonged franchise slide.

[strumdatjag]

This season is less disappointing than most of the others listed because it can be explained away by injuries and youth.  
The Twins for much of the season over-achieved during periods where core players were injured.  It gave a chance for three rookie pitchers to get their feet wet. The return of Joe Ryan and continuing development of their young pitchers, add in Andrew Morris, Cory Lewis …, and the debut of E-Rod should fuel some optimism for the future.  
The slow start and the late collapse were quite frustrating but massive despair is unwarranted.  

[Fire Dan Gladden]

Disappointing in that the writing was on the wall.  The Twins have a strong core in place, both pitching and defensively, but ownership forced the FO to role the dice with youth and retreads everywhere, basically getting nothing out of anyone and doing nothing to help correct the situation.

Make no mistake that injuries played a huge part in how this year went.  But 20% of pitched innings went to Paddack, Varland, Matthews, Festa, and Thielbar.  Not acceptable for a team supposedly in playoff contention.

[DuluthRoots]

This was the worst for me in all the years since 1960, when I first started following the Twins.

The only thing close is the long string of first round playoff losses.

Reminds me of 1964 Phillies (I lived outside Philly at the time), but over a longer time frame.

I also remember 1967 as a two-game heartbreak.

This will haunt the manager AND the players next year, so I feel a new manager and a fresh slate of players is needed. Look what Detroit did this year as the contrapositive.

[TheLeviathan]

I had higher expectations in 2011 than I did for 2024, so I lean more towards that one.  That fangraphs chart shows the uncanny nature of 2024 though.  

So maybe 2011 was more disappointing and 2024 was more shell-shocking?

[TwinkieFan4life]

Without having been able to watch much (maybe 3-4 games all year), it sure sounds like the Twins were a tough watch.  I hope I can rekindle some attachment to this team next year.  Even if next season is disappointing, that would be an improvement over what they made me feel this season (nothing at all).

[Mike Sixel]

Hahaha. No. They literally won more than 70 games once from 2011-2016. All but one of those years was worse. Truly unwatchable years with zero chance most of them. Awful baseball. Unwatchable. That's way worse

[nddan67]

A Twins fan since the beginning in 1961.  This season hurt but we all saw it coming as they started struggling in mid-August.  It was like watching a train wreck in slow motion.  The first Twins heartbreak for me was 1967 when they  went to Boston for the last two games of the season.  They had to win one of two to make it to the World Series and lost both.  Calvin Griffith whe he owned the team was never afraid of making manager changes.  Sam Mele replaced Cookie  Lavagetto early in '61.  Mele got the Twins to World Series in 1965.  He was replaced fairly early in 1967 by Cal Ermer.  Several others came after that.  The worst Twins baseball was the years after Rod Carew was traded to the Angels and again in the mid 1990's..  In 1984 the young guys Hrbek, Gaetti, etc were coming of age.  There have always been ups and downs with the Twins.  But this year we saw coming starting in Mid-August and then early September.  I hope some players are found and I will be back in 2025.

[Brett]

Cody, you must be too young to remember Ron Davis. It’s been 40 years, and I can still feel that stabbing pain when I heard “Ron Davis is in”. 14 blown saves does that to a guy.

[BillyBallLives]

3 hours ago, nlites09 said:

Sure, I'll watch again in 2025, that's what I do.  But, I won't likely pay to go to a game.

 

Ditto! 

Haven't paid for a game since 2019. The trend will continue in 2025. 

 

[BillyBallLives]

August 4th: After beating CWS for the 12 time)

 

 Correa said. “If everybody tries to get better throughout these last two months … it’s all in-house. I think we have the talent to win it all.”

( I thought they did too ... they had us all duped... even the FO. )

 

Guess everybody didn't try to get better.

 

[Jeff K]

4 hours ago, Whitey333 said:

After nearly 60 years of following Twins baseball this one has been the most frustrating and I might add, demoralizing.  Perhaps part of the reason is it's so fresh and current.  But the truth is this group of "professional athletes" was awful.  Great expectations and the players playing like they don't care.  The organization is at a very low point in it's relationship with its fans.  I'm not a fan of just firing managers but for Joe Pohlad to back Baldelli and the front office is a huge slap in the face to fans.  He provides no leadership and his insistence on a strict adherence to analytics and it's playback was almost laughable at times.  Analytics are fine but nothing wrong with good old common sense baseball decision making mixed in.  Pohlads endorsement of Baldelli and Falvey rings hollow.  To endorse someone that presides over some of the most despicable baseball over players that performed for 2 months as if they couldn't wait for the season to end is inexcusable.  The excuses have already started.  That's Twins baseball.  Expect more of the same next year.

So true.  We can't fire the owners and the owners won't sell.  Pohlad indicated he had to make tough "business" decisions.  ok, do the Pohlads recognize what keeping Baldelli will do to their bottom line when attendance bottoms out next year?  

[Craig Arko]

Disappointing? Sure, although after Ryan went down not that unexpected. Nowhere near 1998 Vikings disappointing.

[insagt1]

When you are 17 over .500 in August and finish just 2 over, yeah, this was a gut punch. What was most disturbing to me was the WAY the Twins lost games down the stretch. Mentally they looked they were somewhere else. Unable (or unwilling) to be creative in getting runners home with less than 2 outs. Having players they were counting on totally disappearing.

Most disappointing season ever? Totally subjective. Its what each fan sees, remembers and is affected by. No wrong answers. No scolding if one happens to disagree. Some here go back a long way. Some don't remember the stuff prior to 1990. I think this was a VERY disappointing season based on how so many players simply stopped doing what they are paid to do best.

We can argue about whether they were 'trying', or did they 'give up' on Rocco or any number of things we all saw through our own lenses. What did seem to be clear though is by these past few games even the radio guys, who are mostly paid to be 'positive', or even 'homers' were fed up. Not used to hearing that. And even the O's Jim Palmer was exasperated by the Twins mis-steps on the bases...fundamental baseball. That 'looked like' the guys just didn't care anymore. But we'll never know for sure.

My opinion only: given the way this season degenerated, I truly believe there needs to be a shakeup with the on-field leadership. Its not unusual for teams to change managers and coaches, sometimes just to get new direction. Perhaps the current manager has 'favorite players' he was protecting. A new manager could come in with a clear slate and more objectivity? Real good managers  do get fired. They also get new jobs rather quickly because the baseball powers that be understand the 'system'. If you truly aren't a good manager or coach, you don't get re-hired. Perhaps a small litmus test?

Twins need a flush. And I still believe it will happen no matter what Falvey is saying 'now'.

[Rufus]

2011 for sure, that was a veteran team that were in their prime and began their decline, This years team was a bunch of young players that failed to take the next step after a year of over achieving.  Hopefully they learned a lot this year and with some reinforcements from the farm and a couple of key signings for the bullpen.  Hopefully they will come together over the next couple of years. I think the talent is there,   Coaching needs to get this guys to focus on the fundamentals.

[Florida Flash]

5 hours ago, TwinsDr2021 said:

I am 52 and yes it is the most disappointing season I have seen. There may be bigger individual disappointments (92, Puckett's eye, the Yankee loses, Trading Johan and many others) but as a collective nothing has been more disappointing than this season. Starting with the declared right sizing of salary, picking up Farmers option and not trading him, picking up Polanco's option and trading him for trash. Not improving the team at the deadline, Ryan's injury, and others, all the horrendous in game decisions and play by the players, then the epic collapse. Not making the wild card but two other central teams (the f'n Royals and Tigers, WTF!). Followed by the worst thing of them all, telling the fans Rocco's job is safe after we all seen the team quit on him.

Good Luck Twins on attendance next year. Anybody else feel like we are living in the real life version of Major League?

Agree. Very obvious the team quit on Rocco. I still cannot understand ALL the injuries. I dont remember the Twins of old, Killebrew, Allison, Versalles, Rollins, etc, being hurt all the time. Granted Tony wrecked his knee on an outfield sprinkler, but seemed to always play.

Also, it seems everyone is swinging for the fence every at bat and every situation. I guess that is where the money is. A 210 hitter with 24 homeruns makes a lot more money than a 310 hitter with 4 home runs.

[Mike Sixel]

2 minutes ago, Florida Flash said:

Agree. Very obvious the team quit on Rocco. I still cannot understand ALL the injuries. I dont remember the Twins of old, Killebrew, Allison, Versalles, Rollins, etc, being hurt all the time. Granted Tony wrecked his knee on an outfield sprinkler, but seemed to always play.

Also, it seems everyone is swinging for the fence every at bat and every situation. I guess that is where the money is. A 210 hitter with 24 homeruns makes a lot more money than a 310 hitter with 4 home runs.

What .310 hitter? Five qualified hitters hit that this year. The game has changed, a lot. The pitching is so much better, it's not close.