Questions for 2025

[stringer bell]

As we prepare to turn the page to 2025, I am looking at the future of the Twins. 2025 is quite likely a transition year for the franchise, especially if the Pohlads manage to sell. So far the front office is sending the message that they will contend and try to win with a static payroll. I'm too old for a full rebuild so I back their efforts.

There are several issues to be answered and I will take a stab in this space to start a conversation about key questions going into next season.

1) What can the ownership and front office do to increase attendance? The Twins finished in the middle of the pack in the American League when they won their division in 2023 and fell back in a season where they were in position to make the playoffs until the final week or two. Ownership has taken a beating for reducing payroll after winning their first postseason series in decades.do they need different players, different owners or different front office personnel? 

2) On the field, can the Twins improve without adding significant talent from outside the organization? They have a full-time vacancy at first base, plus they have lost depth both in the infield and outfield. José Miranda is currently the favorite to become the full-time first baseman and he hasn't been able to put together a full productive season in his first three years in the majors.

3) Will minor leaguers step up to be ready to contribute in the coming year? Will someone move in to be the next major league catcher? Will the Twins top outfield prospects show their readiness? 

4) Related to #3, will young players (Lewis, Lee, Julien, Wallner) make the step forward to become established regulars?

5) Will there be enough pitching from within the organization? 

6) Will the Twins get any significant contribution from a left handed pitcher? 

[nicksaviking]

1) Seems to me they'll have better attendance if they do two things. Not stink early in the season; I don't think this team has gotten off to a hot start since 2019. And more importantly, make sure the games are available to watch on every TV in your market. Getting those factors wrong will make the fans forget your team in a hurry.

2-4) seem like the same question. I don't know if they will happen, but I think relying on enough of (not all) your young players on the roster to improve is better odds than adding sub-par free agents looking to bounce back on a 10M contract.

5) The old adage is you never have enough pitching. Still, any team that has to go 8 starters deep for significant innings likely isn't going to do much regardless of their payroll. For all the offensive injury woes, the Twins starters have been overall pretty healthy compared to the rest of the league the last few years.

6) Probably not, but with today's rules, over-managing based on handed-ness is just as likely to bite you in the butt than it is to save the day.

 

[Vanimal46]

Increasing attendance won’t happen right away… The Twins have been out of sight out of mind for a long time. I would start with eliminating all ticket fees for the season. Then implementing low cost concession items throughout the stadium. In reality, the Pohlads aren’t going to do any of that. Target Field will be 50% capacity all year except when the Yankees and Blue Jays come to town. 

[Craig Arko]

1 hour ago, Vanimal46 said:

Increasing attendance won’t happen right away… The Twins have been out of sight out of mind for a long time. I would start with eliminating all ticket fees for the season. Then implementing low cost concession items throughout the stadium. In reality, the Pohlads aren’t going to do any of that. Target Field will be 50% capacity all year except when the Yankees and Blue Jays come to town. 

And the Brewers.

[DocBauer]

1] Attendance will rise if the Twins win. And I agree with @nicksavikingthat a good start to the season definitely helps. No matter how much fan anger, frustration, and disappointment is directed towards ownership, if fans can now watch the games again, and the Twins play good ball, attendance will rise. But how much and how soon is a mystery. A change in ownership and a sense of optimism from the fanbase will make a huge difference, IMO. Having someone in charge...Falvey now I guess...who has a finger on the pulse of the public and what they want and need will help. But again, how much and how soon is a mystery. 

2] Absolutely! I fully appreciate the fact that I'm an optimist at heart, but I still like the framework of this team, even with some question marks that have not yet been addressed or answered. Wallner has really produced since his arrival in 2023, save a poor opening couple of weeks in 2024. Larnach has really improved. I think there's optimism that Correa is going to be 100% in 2025, and with Lewis working with a previous trainer that he believes will help him be more flexible...thus avoiding the soft tissues injuries that have been plaguing him...imagine a full year out of both he and Correa? I'm simply never going to believe Buxton will wake up one day and be a 140 game player. But with his knee "fixed" to the best extent possible, what if rest/exercise/therapy can get his hip stronger now that he's no longer favoring a bad leg? Could we get 120 games from him? (Not saying we will, but I do wonder). It seems to me all Miranda really has to do is just be healthy.  

I believe strongly in the 3 arms fronting the rotation. I've got a really good feeling about Festa, who was solid overall, but put up some really good numbers after his somewhat mediocre first 3-4 appearances. And might SWR be better with a full season under his belt? There's talent behind them at AAA but no experience. Hopefully nobody is needed from across the city until a couple months in to the season so they have time to get off to a good start. And while the pen doesn't have a proven LH arm...yet anyway...to make us feel good, I see a unit that is about 11-12 arms deep with ability to contribute, from decent middle men to a really strong 8th-9th inning contingent. Not everyone is going to be great, and not everyone is going to be healthy at the same time, so the depth will work itself out.

I've rambled enough here, but I've made my "glass is more than half full" point. There's a lot to like here. Better health is a key. But then again, health is an issue for pretty much every team.

3] I believe Keaschall and Rodriguez are going to debut at some point in 2025 and I believe both are going to be very good ballplayers, at least eventually. Always the standard caveat that it can take a rookie a little time to adjust. I wouldn't be shocked if Eeles proved to be the real deal and debuts at some point as well to help out. And as mentioned in point #2, the St Paul staff is going to be mostly made up of young and young-ish arms from within the system. There's talent but not much experience. But I can see Matthews, Morris, Headrick, Nowlin, Adams, and at least a couple of other arms being in a position to assist the Twins at some point this upcoming season. Again, I'm just hoping nobody is needed in an important position for a couple months.

4 & 5] I think I've already answered these two points previously. There's talent on the roster, There's talent at AAA. Some of that talent has already shown what it's capable of, but just needs to be healthy, OR, just needs to keep doing what it's been doing. I think it's accurate to say "young talent" instead of just saying "prospects". After all, Lee is barely removed from rookie status. He looked really good in ST, really good at AAA once back, and really good for 10-14 days with the Twins before he hurt his shoulder. We've seen greatness from Julien and really bad from Julien. Which is the real version? He certainly shouldn't be written off at this point. 

6] Based on what he did in MILB and his solid debut in 2023, I think Funderburk has a chance to be a pretty good LHRP, maybe even really good. But he definitely took a step back in 2024 with control. Headrick has a chance as a 1-2 IP reliever instead of a starter. But I think Nowlin, and the stuff he's flashed in MILB, might be the best LHRP option for the Twins by the second half. But I'm not writing any of those names in ink to begin the season. I'd rather have an all RH pen rather than roster a LOOGY who gets destroyed by the next couple of batters if he doesn't end an inning successfully. (Think Okert). 

When the offseason began I felt the Twins had 3 primary holes to address/fill. They were a RH OF who didn't stink against RHP, some help at 1B besides simply accepting Miranda was the #1 guy, and a LHRP who could also be solid against RH bats to avoid any sort of LOOGY presence. Of course, all 3 of those questions remain unanswered. And thanks to ownership, I don't know if any or all can be answered. At least, not without weakening another spot on the roster, trading away prospect depth, or being creative with a couple trades. But that doesn't mean, IMO, that all is dark and gloom or that there isn't a good, solid team in place with some help on the way that make real contributions at some point as well. I like this team. But I'd like it a hell of a lot better if they had a $145-150M payroll to work with.

[lecroy24fan]

First thing the new owners should do when a sale is completed is fire Dave St. Peter.

[Linus]

Great topic. I love the big picture discussions. 
As far as attendance goes I think they have a big problem as nationwide it seems young people aren’t as interested in baseball. Being on TV combined with a quick start could jump start attendance some. I would let kids attend certain lower demand games in to the upper deck for free. 
I think the Twins can be a good team as is and in fact would suggest they almost have to. Lewis Larnach Wallner Miranda Jeffers and Julien are at make or break points in their careers. If most come through the Twins are a playoff team. If they don’t big changes will need to be made going forward. 
I am not anticipating much help from the minor league system nor should we need it. Again the core has to come through not counting on prospects. Em Rod will likely see time as first option for an outfielder injury.  I would be open to trading prospects and / or Larnach for a right handed outfielder that doesn’t need to be platooned and can play defense but that’s all I need this off season. 
I’m pretty content with the pitching and would likely hang onto Paddack. I simply would pick up my office phone and tell Joe P he isn’t getting that $7.5 million so quit crying. Having him forndepth could be critical even though he’s pretty mediocre. I don’t like our left handed relievers but with the three batter minimum I don’t view handedness as a deal breaker anymore although a good lefty that can get righties out would be nice as I could go the rest of my life without watching Funderburk throw his slop all over the place. I know this off season is painfully boring for most of us but I think the Twins can be a good team. I am looking forward to finding out who is part of the solution. 

[jctwins]

As I understand it, attendance for the year is pretty well baked when Season Tickets are set. I have yet to receive my final 2025 ticket invoice, which indicates they are working to finalize things before doing so, even though they normally would have by now.

They collected post season ticket money for 2024, so they have cash, just unsettled numbers.

Thinking about much of anything else at this point is a fool's errand IMO cause this ownership group is just tying bows with the goal of getting a clean sale and moving on. Consider 2025 a see what we have for a new era year starting in 2026 if you're being realistic.

[tony&rodney]

1A. Attendance hinges on factors like access (people can watch games on TV), folks talking (hot starts help), good baseball (hitting, pitching, running, fielding), and weather among other things.

1B. Do the Twins need new players, owners, front office? Need? No. Whatever helps though. I don't expect new owners or front office or many new players for 2025. 

2. Falvey has the team he wants. The Twins can win if the players are productive and healthy. These are big ifs. The only established starters are Carlos Correa and Byron Buxton. Jeffers and Vazquez are a capable catching tandem. Willi Castro has shown himself to be versatile but was abused playing regularly as a shortstop or centerfielder. All of the others can be ok. 

3. There are rookies who could step forward. The Twins need to keep an open mind in Spring Training. Emmanuel Rodriguez and Payton Eeles are not betting favorites but if the talent is there, let them play. The Twin only won their division in 2023 because some rookies stepped up. 

4. All of Miranda, Julien, Martin, Lee, Lewis, Larnach, and Wallner are too close to being rookies to be considered established. There is some talent and it is up to the coaches/manager to put them in the correct position and then up to the players to prove they are worth a spot.

5. There is enough pitching. 

6. The Twins haven't pursued a left-handed pitcher, thus it doesn't seem terribly important. Sure, a couple of high quality lefties would be nice, but pitchers just need to get outs.

Lastly, despite great frustration at ownership it is past time to for folks, particularly the players, to clear the idea that the Twins are playing short due to budget constraints of any sort. Focus on the positive and complete the play at hand. An excuse extended is a weakness exposed. Recently I read that the Twins aren't expected to add any players this offseason because they can't and the team faces long odds of competing next season. I think this is a lazy comment laying groundwork for a disappointing year. The Twins have the talent to win. The direction and motivation has to be holistic effort. Falvey seems to really like the roster and from the top down perhaps that ideal can be adopted.  

[old nurse]

15 hours ago, lecroy24fan said:

First thing the new owners should do when a sale is completed is fire Dave St. Peter.

They more or less have as Falvey has his duties 

[lecroy24fan]

5 minutes ago, old nurse said:

They more or less have as Falvey has his duties 

He's still an advisor and has say in certain matters. My real hope is he retires after the sale process. He's peart of the reason attendance stays down after blaming fans for not showing up a few years ago when they were leading the division but playing like garbage. 

[old nurse]

There will always be excuses for why fans are not going to games. 

[old nurse]

8 minutes ago, lecroy24fan said:

He's still an advisor and has say in certain matters. My real hope is he retires after the sale process. He's peart of the reason attendance stays down after blaming fans for not showing up a few years ago when they were leading the division but playing like garbage. 

Yup, always have excuse for not going 

[jorgenswest]

23 hours ago, Vanimal46 said:

Increasing attendance won’t happen right away… The Twins have been out of sight out of mind for a long time. I would start with eliminating all ticket fees for the season. Then implementing low cost concession items throughout the stadium. In reality, the Pohlads aren’t going to do any of that. Target Field will be 50% capacity all year except when the Yankees and Blue Jays come to town. 

They were very much in my sight and mind winning the AL Central in 19, 20 and 23. They won a playoff series. According to Moneygeek they have been the second most affordable venue for a family of four to go to a Major League Baseball game.

[Vanimal46]

17 minutes ago, jorgenswest said:

They were very much in my sight and mind winning the AL Central in 19, 20 and 23. They won a playoff series. According to Moneygeek they have been the second most affordable venue for a family of four to go to a Major League Baseball game.

Right, but we are posting on a Twins forum on December 30th. We’re not exactly casuals. Those are the people I’m talking about where the Twins are out of sight, out of mind. 

[jorgenswest]

9 minutes ago, Vanimal46 said:

Right, but we are posting on a Twins forum on December 30th. We’re not exactly casuals. Those are the people I’m talking about where the Twins are out of sight, out of mind. 

The Twins have three recent first places finishes in the central. Out of sight and mind. They signed Carlos Correa to a massive contract. Out of sight and mind. They were the second most affordable place to bring a family of four to a game in 2023. Out of sign and mind. They won a playoff series and the response was disappointing future tickets sales leading into and during that playoff run. Out of sight. Out of mind. 

[chpettit19]

1 hour ago, jorgenswest said:

They were very much in my sight and mind winning the AL Central in 19, 20 and 23. They won a playoff series. According to Moneygeek they have been the second most affordable venue for a family of four to go to a Major League Baseball game.

 

58 minutes ago, jorgenswest said:

The Twins have three recent first places finishes in the central. Out of sight and mind. They signed Carlos Correa to a massive contract. Out of sight and mind. They were the second most affordable place to bring a family of four to a game in 2023. Out of sign and mind. They won a playoff series and the response was disappointing future tickets sales leading into and during that playoff run. Out of sight. Out of mind. 

2019 was a long time ago in the sports world. 2020 was also a long time ago, and there were no fans allowed at the 60 games played that year. Many fans also found new hobbies to do during the summer months that year. Since then, the Twins have won 1 division title in an historically bad division where they were the only team to finish above .500. In the other seasons since that no-fan, 60 game season of 2020 they finished in last place with 73 wins, 3rd place with 78 wins after collapsing down the stretch, won the division where no other team had more than 78 wins, then finished 4th while beating only the team who set the all-time single season loss record as they again collapsed horrendously down the stretch.

And during those years the president of the organization blamed the fans publicly for not showing up, the team's games were cut from numerous TV providers while their cable provider got into contract disputes with all of their partners, they had their games go black for half their TV customers in the 2024 season after having failed to come through on their promise to end blackouts for the 2024 season and gone back to their cable provider they were aware was in bankruptcy proceedings, had their owner say they had to cut payroll to "right-size" their business after having won their first playoff game in nearly 2 decades.

The Twins are out of sight, out of mind for almost every casual sports fan I know. That's obviously a small sample size in the grand scheme of things, but their performance on the field since 2020 and their actions following the 2023 season has absolutely put them out of sight and mind with many. Either they can keep doing what Dave St Pete loves to do and blame the fans for not showing up or they can change how they act and rebuild their relationship with fans and get butts back in seats. The fans don't owe the Twins anything. It's on the Twins to sell their product. Do better. Change your strategy. Improve your product. Earn your fans back. 1 playoff series win in 20 years followed by an immediate announcement of a $30 million payroll cut shouldn't have you expecting wonderful future ticket sales numbers. This is on the Twins, not the fans.

[jctwins]

28 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

 

2019 was a long time ago in the sports world. 2020 was also a long time ago, and there were no fans allowed at the 60 games played that year. Many fans also found new hobbies to do during the summer months that year. Since then, the Twins have won 1 division title in an historically bad division where they were the only team to finish above .500. In the other seasons since that no-fan, 60 game season of 2020 they finished in last place with 73 wins, 3rd place with 78 wins after collapsing down the stretch, won the division where no other team had more than 78 wins, then finished 4th while beating only the team who set the all-time single season loss record as they again collapsed horrendously down the stretch.

And during those years the president of the organization blamed the fans publicly for not showing up, the team's games were cut from numerous TV providers while their cable provider got into contract disputes with all of their partners, they had their games go black for half their TV customers in the 2024 season after having failed to come through on their promise to end blackouts for the 2024 season and gone back to their cable provider they were aware was in bankruptcy proceedings, had their owner say they had to cut payroll to "right-size" their business after having won their first playoff game in nearly 2 decades.

The Twins are out of sight, out of mind for almost every casual sports fan I know. That's obviously a small sample size in the grand scheme of things, but their performance on the field since 2020 and their actions following the 2023 season has absolutely put them out of sight and mind with many. Either they can keep doing what Dave St Pete loves to do and blame the fans for not showing up or they can change how they act and rebuild their relationship with fans and get butts back in seats. The fans don't owe the Twins anything. It's on the Twins to sell their product. Do better. Change your strategy. Improve your product. Earn your fans back. 1 playoff series win in 20 years followed by an immediate announcement of a $30 million payroll cut shouldn't have you expecting wonderful future ticket sales numbers. This is on the Twins, not the fans.

Truth hammer here.

[tony&rodney]

The Vikings, Wild, Timberwolves, and Loons sold out every game last season. At least that is what the internet tells me. The Twins averaged just over 24,000 per game at Target Field, capacity 39,504.

There is room for improvement.

[Irishman]

4 hours ago, chpettit19 said:

 

2019 was a long time ago in the sports world. 2020 was also a long time ago, and there were no fans allowed at the 60 games played that year. Many fans also found new hobbies to do during the summer months that year. Since then, the Twins have won 1 division title in an historically bad division where they were the only team to finish above .500. In the other seasons since that no-fan, 60 game season of 2020 they finished in last place with 73 wins, 3rd place with 78 wins after collapsing down the stretch, won the division where no other team had more than 78 wins, then finished 4th while beating only the team who set the all-time single season loss record as they again collapsed horrendously down the stretch.

And during those years the president of the organization blamed the fans publicly for not showing up, the team's games were cut from numerous TV providers while their cable provider got into contract disputes with all of their partners, they had their games go black for half their TV customers in the 2024 season after having failed to come through on their promise to end blackouts for the 2024 season and gone back to their cable provider they were aware was in bankruptcy proceedings, had their owner say they had to cut payroll to "right-size" their business after having won their first playoff game in nearly 2 decades.

The Twins are out of sight, out of mind for almost every casual sports fan I know. That's obviously a small sample size in the grand scheme of things, but their performance on the field since 2020 and their actions following the 2023 season has absolutely put them out of sight and mind with many. Either they can keep doing what Dave St Pete loves to do and blame the fans for not showing up or they can change how they act and rebuild their relationship with fans and get butts back in seats. The fans don't owe the Twins anything. It's on the Twins to sell their product. Do better. Change your strategy. Improve your product. Earn your fans back. 1 playoff series win in 20 years followed by an immediate announcement of a $30 million payroll cut shouldn't have you expecting wonderful future ticket sales numbers. This is on the Twins, not the fans.

CHPettit19, you nailed it.     That's truth.   I lost faith in Twins ownership and FO.   

[DocBauer]

I'm a little more of an optimist by nature. I believe 2019 and 2020 still resonate with fans. I think the injury related collapse of 2022 and the even worse collapse of 2024, COMBINED with the RIDICULOUS lack of viewership due to assanine blackouts, have played a part in fandom apathy. Justifiably so.

What really HURT fandom was ownership following the 2023 season. To have a good ball club, a winning ball club, a playoff winning ball club, ravenous fans in the stadium, and then to have ownership just pull the magic carpet out from under the fan base is what's really tanked fan interest. And to have ownership blame the fans, and offer up excuses like "right sizing" the payroll at the peak of interest is a malfience of poor ownership. 

What's even worse is the Twins were actually fun to watch and follow most of 2024.

New ownership will hopefully be a boon to the franchise. It would be hard to be worse. But as the OP asks questions about 2025, I hope we can begin to push aside the fan interest and ownership debates and focus more on a team that actually does have a lot of talent on hand, and has the potential for a good season.

[Doctor Wu]

On 12/30/2024 at 1:58 AM, DocBauer said:

Attendance will rise if the Twins win

That's all there is to say!

[tony&rodney]

Winning usually is the answer to increased attendance. There may be other factors though. Last summer I was at a game in August that somewhat personified the 2024 season. The opponent made all the plays, took the extra base, and put the bat on the ball. The Twins missed several plays, took one base at a time, and came out of their shoes a couple of times where contact was called for. It was actually a good game but the fans left frustrated and one could hear numerous comments walking out of the stadium. Winning is the most important factor but clean fundamental baseball would help too.

[CBtwinsfan]

Has there been any talk of Larnach moving down to first base which would then allow a path for Emanuel Rodriguez to come up to the big leagues and play left field full time and slide over to center field when Buxton needs a break.  What do you all think of that move?

[jorgenswest]

1 hour ago, CBtwinsfan said:

Has there been any talk of Larnach moving down to first base which would then allow a path for Emanuel Rodriguez to come up to the big leagues and play left field full time and slide over to center field when Buxton needs a break.  What do you all think of that move?

I have to believe he has been tried at 1B in practice in college and the minors. It would be very surprising for a player who plays only corner outfield to have the skill to play 1B and never play there in college or the minors. In his first full season in the minors the Twins used 6 different players at 1B at his A ball stop and 9 in AA. They never used Larnach at 1B.

[ashbury]

On 12/30/2024 at 4:21 AM, lecroy24fan said:

He's still an advisor and has say in certain matters. My real hope is he retires after the sale process.

I believe DSP still has a seat on the board of directors.  An advisory role is an excuse to pay him a stipend.  That board goes away once any sale is completed.  I foresee him being completely gone after that.