What’s the Twins' Payroll Situation And Do the Pohlads Care?

[Cody Christie]

The Twins' offseason has been relatively quiet until last week additions So, where does the Twins’ current payroll sit, and do the Pohlads care how high it goes?

Image courtesy of © David Berding-Imagn Images

The Minnesota Twins have had an interesting offseason, announcing the team's potential sale and relatively few roster changes until last week. The front office agreed to deal with Danny Coulombe and Harrison Bader for a combined $9.25 million. While these moves improve the team’s bullpen and outfield depth, they also raise questions about the organization’s payroll strategy. The Pohlads, long known for their measured spending habits, slashed payroll from $158 million in 2023 to $130 million last season. Early indications were that the 2025 payroll would remain around that mark, yet the Twins currently sit at an estimated $146 million. So, what changed?

One possibility is that ownership has decided to loosen the purse strings slightly in an effort to keep the roster competitive. After all, the team was left reeling at the end of 2025 after one of the worst collapses in team history. However, there have also been rumors that the Twins are shopping veterans like Willi Castro, Christian Vázquez, and Chris Paddack. Each of these players fills a critical role, whether as a versatile utility option (Castro), an experienced catcher (Vázquez), or a back-end starter (Paddack). Trading any of them would take away from the team’s depth, so why explore those moves if payroll isn’t a significant issue?

Another potential explanation is that the Pohlads are preparing to sell the team. Reports indicate that new ownership could be in place by midseason, meaning the current regime may not be overly concerned with keeping payroll at a strict level. By June, another owner might be writing the payroll checks so it won’t be the Pohlads’ problem. If the Pohlads are indeed on their way out, they might be willing to increase spending as a parting gift to fans, allowing the Twins to remain competitive without the expected financial constraints.

President of Baseball Operations Derek Falvey recently spoke on the subject, acknowledging that the team had been granted additional financial flexibility. The spending space came about after Twins chairman Joe Pohlad “greenlighted… the ability to add a little bit here to this team. I think that’s a credit to them and certainly a tick up for us that allows us to add a little bit more to this roster that we feel already had a good base, but now we’ve clicked off some of those needs."

Falvey also discussed that the trade market has cooled in recent weeks as teams prepare to head to spring training. This could mean the Twins trio of expiring contracts might stay with the club. However, the Twins have made trades late in previous offseasons, so never say never when it comes to this front office. 

“I think teams are a little more focused internally now as they’re ready to ship off to Arizona and Florida and try to get things squared away [for Spring Training],” Falvey said. “Some of those last remaining free agents, I think that’s been the vast majority of the noise.” 

Yes, the Pohlads were willing to stretch the budget beyond initial projections, but it remains unclear just how far they are willing to go. Some reports have the Twins interested in adding a backup shortstop, which would likely put the team’s payroll closer to $150 million. Will the Twins continue to make additions, or will they look to trim payroll before Opening Day? If the team does end up moving one or more veterans, it could signal that ownership is still mindful of finances, even as they prepare for a potential sale.

For now, the Twins ownership has pushed the payroll, but other moves would likely need to come via trade. The additional spending has allowed them to solidify their roster, but the looming uncertainty surrounding ownership makes future moves challenging to predict. It seems a foregone conclusion that the Pohlads are on their way out the door, and they may be willing to let payroll rise as a final gesture of goodwill to the fans. Either way, Twins Territory will watch closely to see how the situation unfolds.

Do the Twins have any more wiggle room in the payroll for 2025? What’s the team’s most significant need at this point? Leave a comment and start the discussion. 

 

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[KnoblauchWasFramed]

Spending more money on dumpster diving finds is still dumpster diving.  

[Twins GFP]

The Pohlads care as long as they own the team.  The shaking of the financial trees as of late (as small as it is) may be an indicator a Twins sale is closer than we know.

[Rod Carews Birthday]

I think it’s a combination of knowing they needed to add a little bit to ensure that the team remain competitive, both for fans and for ownership sale marketing purposes, and an optimistic awareness that the sale might bail them out of paying the bills before they are all due.  

[BillyBallLives]

They say you get what you pay for,

but the Twins keep trying to prove ‘em wrong.

[Mark G]

What’s the Twins' Payroll Situation, and Do the Pohlads Care?

I remember the old adage "it's not that I don't care, it's just........well, actually, I don't care".  

What do you think, the former?  Or the latter?  😏

[Blyleven2011]

Alittle to late with the greenlight , and I agree with posts that it's still dumpster diving  ...

[Guest]

TD was premature to conclude the Pohlads would not revisit payroll limits.  They simply listened to Falvey when he recommended last winter wasn't the time to buy, i.e., last winter's market was inflated.  Why buy high?  Falvey's baseline case is that the team's current talent is in or approaching career primetime.  Ride this horse and try to add value at the margins when the market eases a bit.  

France is a bounce-back candidate.  Columbe filled an essential need.  If the team's prospective buyers are in the LOI stage, I find it hard to believe any buyer would balk at 7-figure deals as closing approaches.  But, there's nothing like an evil billionaire take where TD's concerned....  Count on TD to headline someone else's money faster than the ink drying on Omar's next marriage certificate....

[Linus]

I wouldn’t be surprised if the payroll number  was $140+ but Falvey had to wait for the bargain bin to fill. Or it’s a lower number and the subtractions will soon start.

[Doctor Gast]

I suppose Pohlad came tired of Falvey crying that he wanted to sit with the big boys to throw money away at the table. IMO Pohlads got the greenlight from the new owners. Hope Coloumbe & France work out. IMO we threw money away with Bader.

[NeverSeenATwinsPlayoffWin]

The thing that frustrates me about the Pohlads, especially the last couple of years, is there seems to be a disconnect between the front office (who they hired) and what they've done with the budget.

These payroll fluctuations are frustrating as a fan (and I'm assuming they're also frustrating for the front office) and do not facilitate efficient use of money. 

[Fatbat]

If the rule 5 draftee Castellanos produces better WAR than any of the FA signings, we can finally stop signing low level replacements. Hopefully! 

[old nurse]

31 minutes ago, Fatbat said:

If the rule 5 draftee Castellanos produces better WAR than any of the FA signings, we can finally stop signing low level replacements. Hopefully! 

If he is pitching in mop up situations and gets a ton of strikeouts he will accumulate WAR. If Coulubr pitches in high leverage situations, gets ground outs but above average in run stopping he will have less WAR. Which was more valuable to the team?

[Fatbat]

1 hour ago, old nurse said:

If he is pitching in mop up situations and gets a ton of strikeouts he will accumulate WAR. If Coulubr pitches in high leverage situations, gets ground outs but above average in run stopping he will have less WAR. Which was more valuable to the team?

Great question! I wasn’t thinking about specifics and didn't consider that.  Its probable that WAR only says so much about their individual success. Good low leverage pitching does keep pressure off the high leverage guys and keeps them fresher over the season. Its a team game and I am excited to see both these guys on the roster. Assuming they are worthy of course. 

[Doctor Wu]

The Minnesota Twins have had an interesting offseason...

Sorry, you lost me with that first sentence. 

[Whitey333]

Let's just wait and see how this all shakes out.  The three recently signed players do not move the needle much.  France doesn't even have a guaranteed contract.  Makes me believe he is just an insurance policy for Miranda or others.  I'm thinking he's not even here when the season starts.  Just more dumpster diving.

[JD-TWINS]

Never have been sold on the TD slant that after Ownership stated, “they wouldn’t lower payroll”, they wouldn’t/couldn’t spend any more than $130M. To me, that was all imagined by those either here or in the media. What’s the advantage of telling the public, all other 29 Teams, what your max. budget may be for a season. I don’t recall the FO announcing that they would set payroll spend at $154M in ‘23 - right?

The premise from organization was $130M floor. If they end up at $147M, there sure can be debate on whether they are spending those $$ on the best roster possible! It seems they have somewhat stumbled into the roster they’ve ended up with to this point.

Gotta say that if Team said they were going to keep the 3 guys that will be FA after ‘24 and they would add Bader/Coulombe/France a couple months ago it probably would have seemed like a cohesive plan and maybe more well accepted.

I think the best use of payroll would be to trade a prospect arm with one of those 1 year contract vets (even Duran) for some real offense……seems doubtful at this point.