Hold Up! The Twins Might Not Cut Payroll After All

[Cody Christie]

It was widely reported that the Twins were expected to trim the club’s payroll for the 2025 season. However, quotes from the team’s newly appointed general manager might point to the contrary. 

 

Image courtesy of © Kim Klement Neitzel-USA TODAY Sports

The Minnesota Twins have habitually found ways to remain competitive while managing a middle-tier payroll. Most projections have the Twins sitting with a payroll north of $140 million for 2025, and it had previously been reported that the ownership wanted to be closer to $130 million. However, in a surprising shift, the team may no longer be expected to reduce payroll this offseason. This revelation, shared by GM Jeremy Zoll, opens the door for intriguing possibilities as the organization navigates its offseason priorities.

On Thursday, Zoll addressed the financial outlook for the club, noting that trimming payroll is not a driving force behind the team’s decision-making process.

“We feel like the spot we’re in is something that allows us to be creative and opportunistic,” Zoll said. “[We’re] continuing to vet all the different options and ways that we can make the team better. But at this point, we don’t feel like cuts are in order from an overall payroll perspective. Just working to find ways to explore every opportunity to do the best we can.”

For Twins fans, this is an encouraging sign. Over the last decade, the team has walked a delicate balance of building competitive rosters while maintaining financial flexibility. Yet, this offseason’s lack of a mandate to cut payroll suggests confidence in the team’s financial health and a willingness to invest in the club’s immediate future. It may also be tied to other reports that the sale of the franchise is trending toward completion. New owners may be more willing to invest in the team’s payroll than the Pohlads have been in recent years. 

Many in the industry expected that the Twins were attempting to shop multiple veteran players this winter, including Chris Paddack, Christian Vázquez, and Willi Castro. Trade speculation around these players has increased recently, especially following the Twins’ acquisitions of two catchers who played at Triple-A last season in the form of Diego Cartaya and Mickey Gasper. If the right opportunity arises, these moves might make it easier for Minnesota to part with Vazquez or Ryan Jeffers. 

“From our perspective, building out our catching depth feels really good,” Zoll said. “It always feels like you can never have enough quality catching options. We felt like it was an opportunity to try to catch some upside, and we really love the package of tools [Cartaya] brings to the table and the reputation he has from a makeup perspective.”

This shift doesn’t mean the Twins will recklessly pursue high-priced free agents or load the roster with big contracts. Instead, Zoll’s comments indicate a more nuanced approach with a commitment to staying agile and opportunistic. This approach could mean adding a high-impact player if the situation is right, retaining current talent, or exploring creative trade opportunities to address roster needs.

It’s important to note that baseball’s unpredictability means situations can evolve quickly. As any seasoned baseball executive will tell you, it only takes one phone call to change the course of an offseason. A surprising trade proposal, a free agent unexpectedly within reach, or a sudden shift in the market could prompt the Twins to reevaluate their plans.

The lack of pressure to cut payroll also highlights a level of stability within the organization. Over the last few years, the Derek Falvey-led front office has focused on building a sustainable model for success. In that model, they have prioritized player development, targeted acquisitions, and strategic spending. This framework has allowed the Twins to remain competitive while avoiding the dramatic boom-and-bust cycles that plague some franchises.

Minnesota’s roster might already be set with only five weeks remaining until spring training. However, as Zoll’s comments suggest, the Twins will remain open to opportunities to improve the club. Whether by retaining key contributors, making a splash in the free-agent market, or engineering a trade that adds a difference-maker, the Twins are signaling they’re ready to take calculated steps forward. And in the unpredictable world of baseball, that’s all fans can ask for.

Will the Twins enter the 2025 season with a payroll above $140 million? Leave a comment and start the discussion. 

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[Original_JB]

Just a lot of Twinspeak. I read it as 'everyone knows we're in a spot, just like a few other teams, and as such, teams are using that leverage to make highly one sided trade offers. We're not giving things away for free, so I guess we'll roll with what we got unless someone actually makes a reasonable offer that makes sense to us.'

[Doctor Wu]

This shift doesn’t mean the Twins will recklessly pursue high-priced free agents or load the roster with big contracts.

Well, I don't think any of us were ever worried THAT would happen!

[Whitey333]

Just more Twins double speak and a writers attempt to spin positive an organization that basically relies on hope and hype.  If we do get new ownership this year one of the first things they should do is dump Falvey and Baldelli and get Twins baseball back in vogue.  How does missing the playoffs 3 of the past 4 seasons, twice in horrible fashion indicate Falvey and company is doing a great job.  Most of the prospects brought up have done very little and have a lot to prove.  Falvey has produced one season with 90 wins or more and only one decent postseason and that didn't even go very far.

[Coach Wheels]

With arbitration complete, trades can begin. Castro, $6.4 million, most likely gone. Paddock, with no spot in tje rotation guaranteed, most likely gone.

This team will add minor league guys and roll with the roster they have. Platoon at 1st, Julien & Miranda. Lewis at 2nd, Correa at SS, Lee at 3rd, and an OF of Larnach, Buxton, Wallner, Martin, and 1 more guy. 

The rotation isn't bad if all stay healthy and the 8th/9th inning is above average. We'll see how it goes.

[Blyleven2011]

I don't think they could organize  or explore to navigate out of a brown paper bag , it's alot of twins gibberish before twinsfest  ....

Why couldn't they communicate with the fans earlier in the offseason  and just tell us to be patient and that they would explore and be creative at making the team better , I'm not saying contenders , because I'm not a pretender  ...

[TheLeviathan]

Cool.  Let me know when it happens.

[Jeff K]

My take is mostly positive.  The previous thinking, at least on this board, was that the Twins would have to reduce payroll back to 130 million from the projected 140 million.  I'd like to see the Twins keep Paddack rather than dump his salary.  He seems like a decent bet for starters depth and possible relief pitching.  Seemingly, they won't give away Castro now.  Vazquez may still be at risk, but for me, so what.

[Diane]

35 minutes ago, Coach Wheels said:

With arbitration complete, trades can begin. Castro, $6.4 million, most likely gone. Paddock, with no spot in tje rotation guaranteed, most likely gone.

This team will add minor league guys and roll with the roster they have. Platoon at 1st, Julien & Miranda. Lewis at 2nd, Correa at SS, Lee at 3rd, and an OF of Larnach, Buxton, Wallner, Martin, and 1 more guy. 

The rotation isn't bad if all stay healthy and the 8th/9th inning is above average. We'll see how it goes.

I agree with this.  It's kind of the "Twins way".  Unfortunately for those of us who always cheer them on, I get tired of always seeing the players we love to follow finally grow into their roll, and then they have to leave for greener pastures.  I'd like to see some of them get a chance to do the Kirby and Joe thing and stay around for a career.

 

[Parfigliano]

Why is Micky Gaspar continually referred to as a C prospect?  I don't think he has ever played the position in a MLB game and only sparingly in MiLB.

 

[wavedog]

I had a positive take on this as well in terms of we won't need to make a bad trade to reduce payroll down to $130M or less.  Doesn't mean we won't trade and reduce payroll but can do so based on trade value/needs.    Perhaps the news that the sale will be coming sooner than later influenced this change as the Pohlads won't be on the hook for this years payroll if the sale comes before the season starts.    For the new owners what's a couple million when you are spending $2B to purchase the team - probably have that loose in their couch cushions (note to readers of this post - this is a joke from a long ago era when people used to carry change in their pockets that would fall out when sitting on their sofa's).         

[LambchoP]

To me this just sounds like the Twins finally admitting that we're just going to stand pat and keep the same roster as last year. If we get better health from our core guys and production from guys like Keaschal, Eeles, Festa, Canterino, maybe Mccusker and Rodriguez, it might not be too embarrassing of a season :). I think next year's off-season will be the one to prep for, as long as we get the new kind of ownership we're all hoping for.

[mikelink45]

Time to tweak the fanbase and sell some tickets.  I will just wait and see - no expectations, but happy to be surprised by a real move - nothing they have done so far counts for a real move.

[Otaknam]

The quote from Zoll (“We feel like the spot we’re in is something that allows us to be creative and opportunistic,”) sounds meaningless, as is the speculation that a new owner, which can’t come soon enough, MAY be willing to spend more. The fact is the team has a decent and fairly young  roster with some potential IF the big boys can stay on the field and the top three starters pitch well. But competitive rosters are largely built with money, and right now they are just throwing a wide net hoping they get more than bottom feeders. Good luck with that approach! 

[tony&rodney]

Both mlb.com and mlbtraderumors.com cover all MLB teams in a relatively neutral fashion. Dan Hayes of The Athletic also works to be a fair reporter on Twins news. 

in October (or was it November?) of 2023, the Twins put out their brain dead statement that the payroll budget would be cut. Leaving passion and general disgust with the idea aside, one could understand that the one time BAM money and the failure of the RSN deal portended a fall of cash in that ultimately could result in reducing cash out. It happened and we were not happy at all. Unhappy. Sometimes reality sucks.

At the close of the 2024 season there were pointed and repeated questions about the status of the 2025 player payroll. The club responded that no further cuts would occur. From there the Twins just ignored and refused to discuss financial matters. From a distant viewpoint there was zero reason to do so because it was a lose-lose conversation. Many people seethed at the debacle of the 2024 season and put the entire record as a consequence of the reduced payroll. The screams of "We need to sign Jordan Montgomery" or "The Twins need Rhys Hoskins" are still echoing.

Fast forward to this offseason and every article has claimed some form of "self-imposed" payroll comment, even when a post had zero to do with finances. It was/is absurd and reflected poorly. 

The team is for sale. The revenue is still impacted by the media money decline. The Pohlads want a sale to go though asap as much as those fans who are managing to hold ire at such impressive levels. The payment of salaries for 2025 will fall to a new ownership. A reduction or increase in payroll does not affect them in any manner. It is pretty much common sense that no major free agent signings were going to occur under the current status-team for sale. Likewise, a teardown was similarly not going to take place. The roster shuffling was always going to revolve around any transactions that the front office managed to complete. Falvey has latitude to make changes but he was never going to deal for the sake of change, only if the deals made the team stronger. Crickets thus far is not actually surprising despite my wanting to see a few deals. 

The idea that suddenly the Twins might not cut payroll for 2025 is only news to those who steadfastly refused to pay attention, listen to or read the actual comments from the Twins, or more likely were so enraptured with their rage from the 2023 cuts that only a mantra could soothe the pain. 

I'm hoping this sale goes through today so that I don't have to stumble through the anger against the Pohlads when I'm trying to read an article on prospects or ways in which a pitcher may improve next season. When the sale is complete I will think - good riddance - and hope the Pohlads are absent from Twins Daily articles.

 

[Physics Guy]

I see this as a positive.  If the Twins do move any of the Paddack, Vazquez and Castro trio, as has been rumored, maybe it won't just be to dump salary.  Maybe they can actually bring back a RH outfielder or LH reliever, which are the two glaring weaknesses on this team (outside of avoiding the IL).

On another note, I don't understand why nobody really talks about just putting Paddack in the BP.  Yes, his salary is a bit high for the BP ($7.5M), but if they can't get adequate return they should try to make lemonade.  He looked good in 2023 out of the BP in the postseason.

[jmlease1]

Look, it would be a good thing if the Twins don't have to do salary dumps of any additional players like Castro, Paddack, or Vazquez just to fit under ownership's self-imposed payroll limits (which are at least partially due to their own poor business decisions, development, and lack of investment in the team). It would be nice to not get one last middle finger from ownership on their way out the door, but I won't bet on it until we get to Opening Day.

The front office aren't reliable messengers on this one, because they're just out fronting for ownership and doing what they need to in order to keep their jobs. This is neither worthy of any excitement, nor renewed predictions of doom, really. Words mean nothing right now, actions speak far louder.

Reality is the Twins have had a poor off-season where they've done next to nothing to improve the team. It's almost entirely because of ownership's self-imposed payroll limits. That said, there's still plenty of talent on this roster and an average level of health will make this team competitive with the status quo. But after the terrible optics of the end of last season, fan understandably want to see more than just status quo.

[Aerodeliria]

What are words for? When no one listens, what are words for? When no one listens, there's no use talking at all.

 

Suddenly this just popped into my brain...

[FargoFanMan]

1 hour ago, Jeff K said:

My take is mostly positive.  The previous thinking, at least on this board, was that the Twins would have to reduce payroll back to 130 million from the projected 140 million.  I'd like to see the Twins keep Paddack rather than dump his salary.  He seems like a decent bet for starters depth and possible relief pitching.  Seemingly, they won't give away Castro now.  Vazquez may still be at risk, but for me, so what.

Agreed. What if the Twins do what many thought at the beginning of the offseason and simply ran everything back again in 25? Does it really look like such a bad thing at this point? I mean, it’s not what was expected but after adding a little more depth it doesn’t seem all bad. The royals haven’t added much. Cleveland wildly subtracted. Detroit has added Torres and looking to add maybe Bregman or Santander but we’ll see. I believe the Twins have more depth than last year. More upside and better pitching than the rest of the central. 

[FargoFanMan]

14 minutes ago, jmlease1 said:

Look, it would be a good thing if the Twins don't have to do salary dumps of any additional players like Castro, Paddack, or Vazquez just to fit under ownership's self-imposed payroll limits (which are at least partially due to their own poor business decisions, development, and lack of investment in the team). It would be nice to not get one last middle finger from ownership on their way out the door, but I won't bet on it until we get to Opening Day.

The front office aren't reliable messengers on this one, because they're just out fronting for ownership and doing what they need to in order to keep their jobs. This is neither worthy of any excitement, nor renewed predictions of doom, really. Words mean nothing right now, actions speak far louder.

Reality is the Twins have had a poor off-season where they've done next to nothing to improve the team. It's almost entirely because of ownership's self-imposed payroll limits. That said, there's still plenty of talent on this roster and an average level of health will make this team competitive with the status quo. But after the terrible optics of the end of last season, fan understandably want to see more than just status quo.

Fans want big trades where the Twins seemingly win the trade just by the name. Fans want big FA signings based on a name. Maybe the people who get paid lots of money to make these decisions seen the situation and rather than making trades and eating money here and including this guy to save a million there just to get one guy here. Maybe it was more effective to just make moves on the fringes and roll this roster back. Logic tells me that makes more sense than making moves just to appease fans based on the names. Let’s be honest. If they traded 3 guys to save $12M what are they getting for $12M that replaces those guys and even marginally improves this team. 

[saviking]

The important part was it came from the Twins and was not just a rumor. My guess is the new owners want to make any current/future moves. 

[Russ]

and how are season ticket renewals coming?

[Original_JB]

I think that more than a little angst isn't just the "payroll cut" it's not getting the team sorted out, roles-wise. Who's the full time 3B? 1B? 2B? who's backing up CF? Where are the RH bats? Sure, we can apply names to most all these positions (Miranda 3B, Lewis/Lee 2B, Julien 1B, etc.), but have any of these guys shown they can "own" and thrive at those positions (if given the opportunity to not just be a platooner?) Yeah, Nick Punto could cover a lot of positions too, but is that what we want to see?

[sweetmusicviola16]

This confirms what I have thought for some time now, that the 130mil budget either never truly existed or has been abandoned. When Castro was tendered this was evident. If the budget was hard he would have either been traded before being tendered or let loose. If the budget was hard you couldn't take a 6.4mil risk. Seeing Vazquez and Paddack not getting moved was further confirmation.

 

But with that said, now that they have put out the PR I am holding them to improving the team in the next 2 and a half months before opening day. Enough talk. Put your money where your mouth is. There are still a few players left on the board, though dwindling, who could help the 2025 team win. The reality is the present team will finish under 80 wins.

[Original_JB]

"When Castro was tendered this was evident."  Yeah, non-tendering the team's MVP would've really gone over well the way the last 6 months have played out.

[D.C Twins]

Cody... you entered the spin zone and got spun...

Actual Translation:

1. Nobody is interested in taking on Vazquez's 10 mil or Paddack's 7mil and we need Castro be be a competent MLB team... so we will spin that as 'We are not going to have as significant of a budget cut as we said!'

2. Now that all of the decent free agents are off the board (ie nobody left to sign), we are free to say that we are much more open concerning the budget to look good with no attractive option to do so!

[MesaTwinsFan]

The only way to get rid of Vasquez's contract is if another team's starting catcher goes down in spring traine. But as a Twins fan since 61 I dò wish the brothers who own the Sun's get the team soon and become the owners we had hoped Polhad be when he took over from Calvin

[NYCTK]

2 hours ago, FargoFanMan said:

Agreed. What if the Twins do what many thought at the beginning of the offseason and simply ran everything back again in 25? Does it really look like such a bad thing at this point? I mean, it’s not what was expected but after adding a little more depth it doesn’t seem all bad. The royals haven’t added much. Cleveland wildly subtracted. Detroit has added Torres and looking to add maybe Bregman or Santander but we’ll see. I believe the Twins have more depth than last year. More upside and better pitching than the rest of the central. 

More depth? Where? 

OF they lost Kepler and Margot (no loss there) but added...Emmanuel Rodriguez in the mid summer potentially? 

IF they lost Santana, Kiriloff, and Farmer and added...Mickey Gasper? 

Starting rotation is pretty deep, but was last year too. 

This team was mediocre, if not outright bad, last year and have made no effort to improve other than cross their fingers. 

[GNess]

It's a matter of perspective. The FO sits on their hands while most other MLB teams do stuff to try to make a change that might help their club. It really isn't the finances that bothers me so much it's the basic inactivity from a team with potential, but went 82-80 last season. I don't want to hear about being opportunistic - I want the Twins to make opportunities happen - plenty of teams with lower payrolls are doing just that.

[rdehring]

Interesting.

Want to get back to Paddack and my belief that the time to trade him is not now.  First, let him pitch half a season to confirm he is the quality pitcher the Twins traded for.  Second, keeping him until the break allows the Twins to confirm that 1) SWR is the pitcher we saw last summer, and 2) Festa and or Matthews are solid big league starters, or 3) One of more of the younger guys makes it all the way to the Twins and proves he can pitch at a big league level.

Assuming the answers to two are positive, then you look at trades for Paddack this summer.  Should he be pitching well, the Twins just might get a nice return.  Maybe that young catcher or first baseman?