The Minnesota Twins Didn’t Tear It All Down, At Least Not Yet

[Greggory Masterson]

Image courtesy of © Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

I know, it’s clickbait Twins Daily at it again, selling out all of their integrity to get you to read about how it’s not that bad, actually! or three things that are Pollyanna at 1 Twins Way! or even everything is horrible and it will not get better! But no, I’m being serious. This is not a full-blow teardown—at least not yet.

Yes, the Minnesota Twins had one of the biggest fire sales you’ll ever see in American professional sports. A full 40% of their active roster (and 2019 playoff legend Randy Dobnak) is now wearing another uniform. They paid the Astros to take their star shortstop off their hands, with no return to speak of. They rid themselves of the top five arms in their bullpen. Their Opening Day first baseman, second baseman, and left fielder, as well as their current third starter? All gone.

It’s impossible to say that selling off that many names isn’t a shock to the system, and I won’t spit on your boots and tell you it’s raining. But I will say that it’s bordering on a half-measure. And you can take that however you will.

Look at what the Twins traded. First, five rentals: Harrison Bader, Willi Castro, Chris Paddack, Danny Coulombe, and Ty France. All five of those players were headed for free agency, and none ever had a great chance to get an extension of their liking from the Twins, even if the team’s payroll was higher. Technically, all of them are eligible to return to the Twins, but I wouldn’t have put those odds high beforehand. There’s truly nothing of note in trading the last two months of these players for future value. So let’s not even consider them.

What did the Twins really trade? What were the difficult decisions? Well, obviously, Carlos Correa was the biggest name. The Twins bailed out of the back half of his six guaranteed years, and they agreed to pay approximately one-third of his remaining salaries, removing about $75 million from their books in the process. Again, I’m not going to pretend that wasn’t shocking, notable, or future-altering. But I’ll come back to this.

The other four players were the top four right-handed bullpen arms—Jhoan Durán, Griffin Jax, Brock Stewart, and Louis Varland. Durán, Jax, and Stewart each had two years of team control remaining, but Varland had five. Most fans expected at least one—if not two—of Durán, Jax, and Stewart to be traded, but Varland was the surprise. The bullpen represented the greatest strength for this team.

And yet.

If we lined up all of the possible ways to trade 40% of a team’s active roster and ordered them from least devastating to most devastating, this specific one is probably on the lower end.

To start with, half of those players were not likely to return anyway. Even if you believe that any of those five should be back next year, you rarely see an extension signed this close to free agency. So, really, it’s Correa and four bullpen arms that have been erased.

There’s a whole gamut of opinions on Correa, but one thing is clear: he wasn’t worth the over $30 million he made per year during the first half of his contract, and betting men (no offense to any Cleveland Guardians) wouldn’t put money on a transformative turnaround. The trade cost the team their shortstop of the present, but he was also headed to third base soon, if he and the Twins allegedly had their wishes.

 

So, no, they didn’t trade their superstar shortstop. They traded their solid, highly-paid third baseman, who was playing shortstop for now. They got nothing of value in return, but they did free up about $20 million per year in spending money, which is more than they spent on free agents in the last two years combined. Naturally, you need to believe that the Twins won't cut an additional $40 million from the payroll for that to make a difference, but so be it.

The bullpen, on the other hand, was the strength of this team, and it’s a huge blow to peel off two upper-echelon late-inning guys and two very good setup men, one with five years of control. However, making the bet year-to-year that a bullpen continues its dominance is a risky one. Obviously, it’s not a coin flip. I’m not going to tell you that there’s a 50% chance that the pen would cease to be a strength next year if held intact. But if a team is looking for a way to consistently sell high on their value that might not be there in the future, here it is.

There’s going to be a lot of questions heading into 2026, and I won’t pretend that it’s easy to reconstruct a bullpen like this. But it’s a whole lot easier to reconstruct a bullpen than an infield or a pitching staff.

Speaking of which, the outlook for the lineup is relatively unchanged. The Twins lost Bader and Castro, who are more valuable high-end bench players, but they’re not building blocks. They lost Correa, whose defense has been waning and has not yet reached a league-average OPS for 2025. I don't want to be too dismissive of his talent; he was an elite hitter in 2024 when healthy, but his presence and performance in the first three years of his Twins contract has been shaky enough to scare even the most optimistic of fans, and we have seen worse falloffs before.

 

There is no great promise in this lineup as constructed, either. It’s been the greatest issue for the Twins, both defensively and offensively, but the (alleged) building block pieces are still there, and the Twins added additional options to sort through as 2025 concludes in Alan Roden and James Outman (you're free to hate the moves that brought them here, but—outside of Correa and his eighth-best OPS—the Twins did not subtract from their 2026 corps and instead added, even if only by technicality). If nothing else (and I believe that this factor has not gotten enough attention), if these hitters continue to struggle in 2026, they were always going to be a bad offense, regardless of this deadline.

And in the rotation, the Twins still boast two starting pitchers who comfortably fit into the number one starter category, as well as Bailey Ober and a host of young, developing starters between the ages of 23 and 25 in Zebby Matthews, David Festa, Simeon Woods Richardson, and newcomers Taj Bradley and Mick Abel. The starting rotation is also not only still intact but deeper ahead of 2026 than it was last week. Again, your mileage may vary, but the Twins did not take a step back in the rotation, instead adding.

In addition to bringing in far-off prospects, the Twins more or less stood pat in the lineup and bolstered the rotation. There are a ton of questions in the bullpen, but given where the Twins stand heading into next season, it’s hard to call this a full teardown.

The thing that would make it a teardown? Breaking up the starting rotation, especially the top two. And that's my biggest point. It's not torn down, yet—whether you agree with the above assessment or not.

The Twins were engaged in trade talks with Joe Ryan. That was widely reported. They maintained a high bar to acquire him, and no one met it, but he was technically available.

 

 

And it’s very possible that Pablo López would have been in trade talks, especially with all the emphasis on shedding payroll at this deadline, had he been healthy. It’s possible that the Twins ran out of time. But both Ryan and López are under team control through 2027, and with two guys like that on the roster (and Byron Buxton, I suppose), you’re not really packing it in for a couple of years. Or at least you shouldn’t.

Maybe in December they’ll change teams. Or perhaps in spring training, they’ll be flipped to some team that just lost their ace to Tommy John. But until then, the Twins didn’t trade either of their two most important pieces, and I refuse to call it a teardown. It’s trimmed to the bone in some places, but it’s not stripped to the studs. Not yet anyway.

And for what it's worth, former Twins GM Thad Levine seems to agree.

 

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[Nshore]

It would be interesting to know exactly where the $400 million+ franchise debt came from under the Pohlads.  Is it because the financing of fielding a Major League team in Minnesota truly doesn't work?  Or is it connected somehow to the Pohlads' other business interests?

[big dog]

To me, you raise a point that should re-frame the discussion for some. Was this a complete tear-down? No, in part because we had five players on expiring contracts and we were never going to re-sign them. Also because our shortstop was really a third basemen who had to play shortstop because we didn't actually have one.

To me, this all points out that you are correct, it wasn't really a tear-down. It was the logical result of a longterm failure to build. We always have free agents on expiring contracts we aren't going to re-sign, because we never build. Look at first base- Solano, Santana, Francis. Who was the last real first baseman the team had? Besides Morneau, I mean? We kept hoping Kiriloff would fill the role, after we quit hoping he would play outfield. 

If the team and Correa both expected we would get a shortstop and move him to 3rd base, why did we have Lewis (and Miranda) playing at 3rd base? Probably because only Correa actually thought it would happen, because it would have required money.

The first year Correa played, 2022, featured these players (non-pitchers) who appeared in at least 50 games (in order of most games):

Luis Arraez, Gio Urshela, Nick Gordon, Carlos Correa, Gary Sanchez, Jose Miranda, Gelberto Celestino, Max Kepler, Jorge Polance, BYRON BUXTON. That's the first name to still be on the team, and Correa is the only other one to start the year. 

After that?

RYAN JEFFERS, Kyle Garlick, Jake Cave, TREVOR LARNACH.

That's it. Only three players here who had over 50 games in 2022, and if we go farther down we only find Wallner with 18 and Lewis with 12. Who do we have from trading some of those players? Pablo Lopez and a couple of minor leaguers. 

OK, that was so fun let's do it for 2023, just two seasons ago. Who played the most games, minimum 50?

Correa (traded/dumped), Donovan Solano, Max Kepler, Michael A Taylor, Willi Castro (traded), Kyle Farmer, Joey Gallo, Edouard Julien (back on the team for who knows how long), Christian Vasquez (sigh), Jeffers, Kirilloff, Buxton, Polanco, Wallner, Larnach, Lewis.

At this point, we have six players from just two years ago who are still on the team, and we only traded two this year. Of those six, the only ones who played more than 85 games were the two catchers. Neither one had over 300 at-bats. The two we traded were first and fifth in games played.

You can't tear down something that was never built. You can only push it over and look for more cardboard and rusted sheet metal to build your next House of Scrap.

[Fire Dan Gladden]

At this exact moment in time, there is truth to this article. However:
1) Chances of Lopez being traded in offseason - 80%
2) Chances of Ryan being traded in offseason - 85%
3) Chances of FA signing with contract value over $5m this offseason - 20%
4) Chances of salary savings being reinvested in team - negative 42%

If the team sold tomorrow, and a new owner came in ready to spend this offseason, then the Twins would be more on a 1-2 year rebuild track than a 3-5 year rebuild track. If the team is not sold, Ryan and Lopez get moved, than this team is arguably the second worst team in baseball ahead of the Rockies heading into 2026.
 

[tony&rodney]

No direction. That is the problem. Adding players at the same level as a host of players already within the organization doesn't really change anything except for creating depth for injuries or perhaps massive trades of prospects in the winter. The Twins had guys just like every player added. Maybe Tait is an exception but he is so far away and even he looks more like another DH. Meanwhile, who is the player that is a copy of Duran?

Simply put, the wholesale trades are not the problem in my opinion, it is the return. An example of a trade that made sense was the transaction between San Diego and West Sacramento. Promise was given and promise was received in that deal.

The counter in all deals is to wait for 5 years until a full examination can be made. Fair enough but then we have the trade trees to consider for decades. 

All I'm waiting for is to see the Twins engage in a plan to improve the talent on the team. For now, the use of current AAA/AA players next year is the only hope. Of course that hasn't changed from a month ago.

[Cory Engelhardt]

If they do trade one of Pablo or Ryan (I don't see them trading both) I think we would have to look at what the focus would be. Let's say the return is a solid starting level catcher, another higher end prospect and a good reliever, then I can see (depending on results) that actually working ok for the lineup.

If they trade them for a bunch of lottery ticket types, then that wouldn't work in my opinion.

 

[bunsen82]

As much as we can be upset with the firesale,  its the unknown that is probably creating continued angst as this article addresses.  Of our hitters, starting pitching and relievers,  relievers is the easiest and cheapest thing to rebuild (even though it will be costly).   

MLB trade Values -  Joe Ryan 68.3 ,  Lopez  16.6,  Ober,  17.1.   

Lopez and Ober are the value of Varland.  Ryan is the only one that makes sense to trade for value purposes to assist in rebuilding.  Lopez and Ober at this point you are better off continuing to ride them and see if they can rebuild their value and or ride them out to the end of their contracts and see if you can get a compensation pick for them.   

Currently we have SWR, Matthews, Festa, Abel, and Bradley for 2 spots.  You add in Priellip, Culpepper, Morris, and Lewis.  That is almost too much depth.  

I still stand by Ryan is most likely traded in the offseason.  The Twins thought they could get more value for him then than at the deadline.  I have no idea what the return will be.  Ultimately we need to continue to move forward and create the next team that will give us a chance in the playoffs.  Ultimately the best way to do that is getting elite picks in the draft like Houston,  and hitting on them.  This current team will lead to a very high draft pick in what should be a good draft.  Its just another piece to the puzzle.   

[Greggory Masterson]

35 minutes ago, Fire Dan Gladden said:

At this exact moment in time, there is truth to this article. However:
1) Chances of Lopez being traded in offseason - 80%
2) Chances of Ryan being traded in offseason - 85%

I think this is the biggest question across Twins baseball at this moment in time. And those two decisions will guide the direction of this team even beyond the years the two are under team control, as you alluded to. This ain’t over.

[mikelink45]

Yes - it is a total teardown - I cannot accept the premise in this essay.  Kepler last year, Polanco before him . Alcala, Hennriquez need to be added from last year.  Those four plus ten this year is a tear down.  Not that they shouldn't have gotten rid of them,  But are they done?  We don't have a BP, Ryan and Lopez have been in multiple trade talk posts on this site.  And Vasquez should have gone but no one wanted him. 

I hope we will be better but the dissatisfaction is from the downward trend that began the day we finally won a playoff series.  Fan enthusiasm was high, where is it now?  

At 80 years old I do not want to hear that we should be better in five years when we could have been better last year and this one. 

In an era where the BP is more important than the rotation - at least MLB teams are valuing BP the highest ever, we just dismantled ours to a point where Tonkin and Funderburk and Davis are the fodder we put out.  

 

[Launch Angle]

You laid out a lot of great points in this article. As much as I can't stand ownership and to a lesser extent the FO, they aren't significantly worse off right now than before. Obviously their bullpen took a significant step back, but as you mentioned, that is the easiest to fix.

Our rotation is much deeper than at the beginning of the year which was already impressive. I imagine at least 1-2 of the backend guys could turn into shut down backend relievers if they fail as starters. 

You hit the nail on the head with your assessment of the current lineup. We're still relying on Lewis, Lee, Larnch, Wallner and to a lesser extent Martin & Julien to step up next year. If they can't, the 2026 Twins wouldn't have been competitive regardless if they kept all the top guys.

I am still pissed about the Varland trade though, that just makes no sense to me.

[bunsen82]

NM

[TwinsDr2021]

26 minutes ago, bunsen82 said:

Currently we have SWR, Matthews, Festa, Abel, and Bradley for 2 spots.  You add in Priellip, Culpepper, Morris, and Lewis.  That is almost too much depth. 

I agree with most of what you said, but I laughed at your comment because of this line.

Too much depth? off all the pitchers you listed there is One SWR that at this time would be considered a MLB starter, the rest are still working on it or have never been in the majors. 

Just for Reference (here are their ages, not saying they are too old, but they aren't young either, if we were talking about guys turning 23 and 24 it would look better) My guess out of these 9, most end up in pen.

Matthews - 26 May 22
Festa - 26 March 8
Bradley - 25 March 20
SWR - 25 September 27
Abel - 24 - August 18
Lewis - 25 - October 24
Morris - 24 - September 1
Culpepper - 24 - November 2
Prielipp - 25 - January 10

 

[bunsen82]

35 minutes ago, TwinsDr2021 said:

I agree with most of what you said, but I laughed at your comment because of this line.

Too much depth? off all the pitchers you listed there is One SWR that at this time would be considered a MLB starter, the rest are still working on it or have never been in the majors. 

Just for Reference (here are their ages, not saying they are too old, but they aren't young either, if we were talking about guys turning 23 and 24 it would look better) My guess out of these 9, most end up in pen.

Matthews - 26 May 22
Festa - 26 March 8
Bradley - 25 March 20
SWR - 25 September 27
Abel - 24 - August 18
Lewis - 25 - October 24
Morris - 24 - September 1
Culpepper - 24 - November 2
Prielipp - 25 - January 10

 

If we keep Ober, Lopez and Ryan - it means there is 2 spots open.  With 40 man choices coming up  You have to have SWR, Abel, Matthews, Festa and Priellip Raya that have to be on it and Adams and Ohl may force the twins to make a tough decision.   Yes its great to have pitching depth but you can only have so much you are holding in AAA.  You either need spots open at the MLB level or you need to move them to the bullpen.  Yes the decisions on Lewis, Morris, and Culpepper can be made a year later,  but we are definitely getting a glut of MLB ready level pitchers, and ultimately you need to create opportunities for them.  

[TwinsDr2021]

This isn't/wasn't a tear down, IMO, which is what makes it worse. Every move by itself (except Outman) made sense, as a whole they just confirmed what a failure this front office has been) 

If it was a tear down why are the guys that have proven they aren't real everyday players still here? Why did they call up the guys they called up, why is Outman in the minors.

IMO, this FO to do this must feel like the Twins are not going to be sold and felt their job was safe, because what they have done to this team (trading, playing, developing) surely screams fire them!

[LA Vikes Fan]

23 minutes ago, Launch Angle said:

You laid out a lot of great points in this article. As much as I can't stand ownership and to a lesser extent the FO, they aren't significantly worse off right now than before. Obviously their bullpen took a significant step back, but as you mentioned, that is the easiest to fix.

Our rotation is much deeper than at the beginning of the year which was already impressive. I imagine at least 1-2 of the backend guys could turn into shut down backend relievers if they fail as starters. 

You hit the nail on the head with your assessment of the current lineup. We're still relying on Lewis, Lee, Larnch, Wallner and to a lesser extent Martin & Julien to step up next year. If they can't, the 2026 Twins wouldn't have been competitive regardless if they kept all the top guys.

I am still pissed about the Varland trade though, that just makes no sense to me.

This. I think the Twins moves at the deadline, while extreme, were generally speaking necessary (I still don't get the Varland trade unless Rojas really is going to be a top-end starter). The core group they put together simply wasn't good enough to be competitive and that wasn't likely to change anytime soon. The 5 FAs were gone and were not going to help us win anything this year. It would have been borderline malpractice not to trade them. On the reliever side, we got real value. The idea that the A's did better Mason Miller trade is just not correct - we got as good of or a better haul for Duran and the A's included an established mid-rotation to backend starter in the package to the Padres. As for the rest, running basically that same group back made no sense. Correa is simply no longer a star player you can build a team around; he is a complementary player that can make a contribution to a team with an existing star core while not being part of that core. While it's wrong to focus on just one game, you could see in that 13 – 1 loss that this team just didn't have it and was coming apart at the seams. 

I just think a lot of the comments here are a little overboard. That may be because with the current ownership group, it's very hard to see how these changes are somehow molded into a more competitive team in the next 2 or 3 years. I'm hoping that a new ownership group will do things differently. There needs to be some wholesale changes in the player development group outside of the pitchers, and the team needs to embrace a more athletic, faster type of player at its core. That may mean a change in the Front Office and/or a change in manager as well. None of that was going to happen if this group was held together. Trading relief pitching for value was the right move given where this team was at.

I think if the team is sold this first off-season is going to be fascinating. We will learn quickly whether the new owner is looking to be competitive in the short term, medium term, or ever. If the team is not sold, that I take back everything I just said because we are screwed and looking at a prolonged period of futility under the current hapless ownership regime.

[bunsen82]

4 minutes ago, TwinsDr2021 said:

This isn't/wasn't a tear down, IMO, which is what makes it worse. Every move by itself (except Outman) made sense, as a whole they just confirmed what a failure this front office has been) 

If it was a tear down why are the guys that have proven they aren't real everyday players still here? Why did they call up the guys they called up, why is Outman in the minors.

IMO, this FO to do this must feel like the Twins are not going to be sold and felt their job was safe, because what they have done to this team (trading, playing, developing) surely screams fire them!

Because if they want find if there is any useable parts in the scrap heap for next year and they want to lose.  If they can find 1 usable piece maybe 2 that otherwise wouldn't have had an opportunity it is useful.  You have Adams and Martin that have flashed a bit.  

[USAFChief]

I disagree with the premise that bullpens are easy to build. 

Its relative child's play, for example, to fix first base. Just takes money or a single trade. 

Fixing a bullpen takes a half dozen or more successes.

And ultimately the bullpen is way more important. 

[In My La Z boy]

5 minutes ago, LA VIkes Fan said:

This. I think the Twins moves at the deadline, while extreme, were generally speaking necessary (I still don't get the Varland trade unless Rojas really is going to be a top-end starter). The core group they put together simply wasn't good enough to be competitive and that wasn't likely to change anytime soon. The 5 FAs were gone and were not going to help us win anything this year. It would have been borderline malpractice not to trade them. On the reliever side, we got real value. The idea that the A's did better Mason Miller trade is just not correct - we got as good of or a better haul for Duran and the A's included an established mid-rotation to backend starter in the package to the Padres. As for the rest, running basically that same group back made no sense. Correa is simply no longer a star player you can build a team around; he is a complementary player that can make a contribution to a team with an existing star core while not being part of that core. While it's wrong to focus on just one game, you could see in that 13 – 1 loss that this team just didn't have it and was coming apart at the seams. 

I just think a lot of the comments here are a little overboard. That may be because with the current ownership group, it's very hard to see how these changes are somehow molded into a more competitive team in the next 2 or 3 years. I'm hoping that a new ownership group will do things differently. There needs to be some wholesale changes in the player development group outside of the pitchers, and the team needs to embrace a more athletic, faster type of player at its core. That may mean a change in the Front Office and/or a change in manager as well. None of that was going to happen if this group was held together. Trading relief pitching for value was the right move given where this team was at.

I think if the team is sold this first off-season is going to be fascinating. We will learn quickly whether the new owner is looking to be competitive in the short term, medium term, or ever. If the team is not sold, that I take back everything I just said because we are screwed and looking at a prolonged period of futility under the current hapless ownership regime.

Bingo 🎯 No point in having a world class bullpen on this team. Falvey did the right thing, although Rojas had better pan out if Falvey plans to still be here in a couple of years, which I doubt he thinks he will be. I do think he believes these trades will be vindicated down the road.

[NYCTK]

14 minutes ago, LA VIkes Fan said:

The idea that the A's did better Mason Miller trade is just not correct - we got as good of or a better haul for Duran

I don't agree the Twins got better return, but this board wouldn't have been satisfied with an 18 year old prospect many years away from the bigs. 

15 minutes ago, LA VIkes Fan said:

I just think a lot of the comments here are a little overboard. 

My favorite is that fans insisting that the Varland was an intentional Eff You to fans. Yes, I'm sure Falvey and/or ownership really cares about your personal feelings about one specific relief pitcher just because he happens to be born in Minnesota. They were smoking cigars and discussing how best to piss you, specifically, off.

[Road trip]

It's a tear down.  Prior to July 31, it was fairly easy to project the possibility that the Twins would compete for a playoff spot in 2026.  Sure, some things had to go right, but with better health and some shrewd off season moves (following a team sale) it was likely that the Twins would have been listed among the contenders for a playoff spot next year.

80+ losses seems almost certain for 2026 now.  In fact, barring a minor miracle this looks like a 90+ loss team next year.  There are more holes now than any GM can fill in one year.

[jmlease1]

It's not a complete teardown, because Ryan, Lopez, Jeffers, and Buxton are still here (not that some of them could have gotten traded easily) but when they included Varland in the bullpen flips it pushed them much closer, and it's exceptionally reasonable to be afraid that further moves to make this team cheap and uncompetitive will be coming in the offseason without a change in ownership.

I have zero faith that the Pohlads won't instruct that Lopez be traded in the offseason, flipped for prospects and salary savings if they keep the team. Jeffers would likely be dumped as well, since he'd have some value and a contract that would pay him somewhere in the $7-9M range in arbitration. At that point Ryan probably goes too since he'd be making $7M and have real value. There's nothing to suggest that the Pohlads wouldn't strip this team down to the studs, pocket the money, and drop the payroll down under $70M.

That's the real concern. That if the team isn't sold, we're not done selling off players. The Pohlads are clearly uninterested in investing any more money in the Twins, and if they keep the team it will only be if they can find a way to make a consistent and significant operating profit on it again. And since they're never going to open the books to anyone, I simply don't care about their claims of $400M in debt that are sitting on it, as I have have no idea how it got there. (I suspect a great deal of it is from either business incompetence or through real estate deals they've involved the franchise in, but we will never know...and I no longer care. Screw them)

The cupboard isn't exactly bare here: we have the makings of a real rotation still, and there are some key positions in place, but we haven't seen the advancement and/or health from the young position players we need, we don't know if players like Keaschall, Rodriguez, Gonzalez, Lee, etc will be ready/healthy/good enough to make a difference. Jenkins & Culpepper might still be another season away, despite their promise. And the bullpen is going to need a lot of work, even if I do think they can reconstruct a new bullpen fairly efficiently. But it's probably going to take more than 1 off-season. And losing Correa, even if he was slipping at SS while struggling with health and at the plate blows a hole in the team in a variety of ways.

Total tear-down? Not quite yet (and the Varland deal sure pushed it closer to the line). But it might be coming.

In conclusion, Eff the Pohlads and Sell the Team!

[Major League Ready]

13 minutes ago, Road trip said:

It's a tear down.  Prior to July 31, it was fairly easy to project the possibility that the Twins would compete for a playoff spot in 2026.  Sure, some things had to go right, but with better health and some shrewd off season moves (following a team sale) it was likely that the Twins would have been listed among the contenders for a playoff spot next year.

80+ losses seems almost certain for 2026 now.  In fact, barring a minor miracle this looks like a 90+ loss team next year.  There are more holes now than any GM can fill in one year.

The question becomes ....  Do fans want a team with a chance to compete for a playoff spot, or do they want to build a team that can realistically have a shot at winning a WS or at least a deep playoff run?  If the only consideration is having a chance at a playoff spot next year, tweaking the mediocre roster the best course of action.   However, just making the playoffs is not the goal I see from most TD posters.

[Road trip]

25 minutes ago, Major League Ready said:

The question becomes ....  Do fans want a team with a chance to compete for a playoff spot, or do they want to build a team that can realistically have a shot at winning a WS or at least a deep playoff run?  If the only consideration is having a chance at a playoff spot next year, tweaking the mediocre roster the best course of action.   However, just making the playoffs is not the goal I see from most TD posters.

I hear what you are saying, and yes everyone wants a deep run, but you can't have a deep run without getting in.  And sometimes pretty mediocre teams win it all.  The 2023 Rangers, the 2006 Cardinals... heck even the '87 Twins.  It happens if a team gets hot in October, which is really unpredictable.

I don't really object to a partial tear down.  I'd have tried to keep Varland and one of Jax or Duran though so next year at least had a little hope?  I think attendance is going to be dreadful for a while now.  That doesn't bode well for increasing the payroll, which is going to be necessary to keep the next generation of veterans around.

[KirbyDome89]

2 hours ago, bunsen82 said:

 Currently we have SWR, Matthews, Festa, Abel, and Bradley for 2 spots.  You add in Priellip, Culpepper, Morris, and Lewis.  That is almost too much depth.    

 

1 hour ago, bunsen82 said:

You have Adams and Martin that have flashed a bit.  

Find a way to mass produce whatever copium you've stumbled upon. 

[NYCTK]

3 minutes ago, Road trip said:

The 2023 Rangers, the 2006 Cardinals... heck even the '87 Twins.

Rangers won 90 games. 

The 2004-2005 Cardinals each had 100 wins. That was a dynasty or sorts, not some miracle season. 

That 87 Twins were a bit of a miracle, but proved it winning 90 games 3 of the next 5 years. 

If you're not even sniffing a 90 win season, then you're not a contender. Counting on sneaking into the playoffs with 84 wins and crossing your fingers is not a winning mentality and not a franchise that is any fun to watch. 

[bunsen82]

9 minutes ago, KirbyDome89 said:

 

Find a way to mass produce whatever copium you've stumbled upon. 

You do realize the Athletics thought Rooker was just roster fodder too right?   

Martin had 1 really nice day.  Adams had 1 really nice outing, other than 1 pitch.  No offense that is better than the alternative.   Yes I am trying to find positives in this.   You also may have someone finally start figuring it out at the MLB level.  

As to the pitchers,  its not so much that its depth.  Some of it is better quality than others,  it either case its a lot to manage on 40 man even if I have stated there is a lot of wood to chop there.  Maybe it becomes trade bait.  Maybe you move some to relief pitchers,  and what that post was all about is, most likely at least 1 more spot opens up for a starting pitcher.   I very well could be wrong.  However,  I would say most still anticipate Ryan being traded in the offseason.   

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

2 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

Simply put, the wholesale trades are not the problem in my opinion, it is the return.

I only half agree. The trades themselves are problems, too. Fans, at least in baseball, come to see players. The Seinfeld joke about rooting for laundry.. is just a stand up comic making a joke for laughs.  

A lot of fans loved Carlos Correa. You had Duran’s entrance. Bader’s hair flips—reminiscent of Brian Dozier. Louie Varland was apparently fairly popular behind the scenes, we are finding out. There was “Pablo Day” at Target Field. Will they bring that back next year?

Bobble Head marketing idea for 2026: a generic unidentifiable Twins figurine, representing future value. Actually, the ball guys might like that idea. Seems kind of StatCast-y

[Vanimal46]

1 hour ago, USAFChief said:

I disagree with the premise that bullpens are easy to build. 

Its relative child's play, for example, to fix first base. Just takes money or a single trade. 

Fixing a bullpen takes a half dozen or more successes.

And ultimately the bullpen is way more important. 

Our previous iteration of the bullpen was 4 years of building. Duran came up and dominated right away in 2022. Jax was a reliable middle reliever in 2022-23 and took the leap to the back end in 2024. Sands was mostly bad in 2022-23 and stepped up to a middle reliever last year. 

With tons and tons of others included with a mixed bag of results. Rebuilding the bullpen is going to take at minimum 2-3 years to become a strength again. 

[Road trip]

17 minutes ago, NYCTK said:

 

That 87 Twins were a bit of a miracle, but proved it winning 90 games 3 of the next 5 years. 

If you're not even sniffing a 90 win season, then you're not a contender. Counting on sneaking into the playoffs with 84 wins and crossing your fingers is not a winning mentality and not a franchise that is any fun to watch. 

I guarantee you, the '87 Twins were plenty of fun, and they hadn't sniffed a 90 win regular season for over a decade.  You can ask anyone old enough to remember.

Of course you'd rather win 90+.   I suspect we will wait a while for that, new owner or not.

[NYCTK]

1 minute ago, Road trip said:

I guarantee you, the '87 Twins were plenty of fun, and they hadn't sniffed a 90 win regular season for over a decade.  You can ask anyone old enough to remember.

Of course you'd rather win 90+.   I suspect we will wait a while for that, new owner or not.

Point being, that team was obviously a good, up and coming team, as shown by the 90 win season that immediately followed (not to mention the second World Series victory). 

No one was looking at this roster and thinking that. They were given 3 seasons as a mostly intact core to prove they might be, and they showed through their play that that wasn't the case. 

And even so, as this post says, the team hasn't been completely torn down. Only the bullpen has been, as of yet.