Two Very Different Roads Forward for Twins Roster After Pohlad Family Ownership Decision

[Cody Christie]

Image courtesy of © Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

The Minnesota Twins’ 2025 season was already shaping up to be one of the most disappointing in the Derek Falvey–Rocco Baldelli era. Popular players were shipped out at the trade deadline, the roster is underperforming on the field, and now the Pohlads’ announcement that they will remain as owners has put a bit of a damper on hopes for significant organizational change.

With ownership unchanged, the front office still has to answer a significant question: What direction does this roster take from here? As things stand today, there are two drastically different paths forward.

Path 1: The Full Teardown
If the Twins are ready to admit they’re entering a true rebuild, there’s little reason to hold onto pitchers like Joe Ryan, Pablo López, and Bailey Ober. The organization was transparent with Carlos Correa before dealing him to Houston, acknowledging that this wasn’t what he signed up for. If the front office is serious about building a roster to compete a few years from now, those starters won’t be around for the next window of contention.

Ryan was already the subject of trade conversations in July, and those talks can easily be revisited this winter. López, owed $21 million in 2026, is now the highest-paid player on the team. In a cost-conscious approach, the Twins might prefer replacing him with younger, cheaper options from their system or via smaller acquisitions. Ober, while not yet expensive, is becoming more so through the arbitration process. Like Ryan and Lopez, he could also bring back useful prospect capital, if he has a strong finish to the seaspn.

This route is about maximizing return on assets before their value dips, and it signals a clear commitment to a multi-year rebuild. This is something the Twins have been reluctant to admit publicly. However, there is a way for the team to get their overall payroll below $100 million if they choose this path. 

Path 2: Reinvest for 2026 and Beyond
The alternative is to take the salary relief gained from the deadline deals and use it to stabilize the roster. That could mean offering an extension to Ryan and/or Ober, ensuring the pitching staff retains a reliable core. Ryan Jeffers is another extension candidate, especially with no strong catching prospect near the big-league level. 

The math makes sense: even after arbitration raises, Minnesota’s projected 2026 payroll sits under $100 million. For context, they were at $158 million in 2023 before the infamous “right-sizing” of the payroll leading into the 2024 season. Minnesota ranked in the middle of the pack for payroll for multiple seasons coming out of the pandemic. However, that is no longer the case. According to Spotrac.com, their 2025 figure of about $125 million ranks 20th in MLB following the team’s moves at the trade deadline. 

The space is there to add a bat, shore up the bullpen, and retain key arms, but history tells us that’s not how the Pohlads have been leaning. The messaging from ownership points toward a Tampa Bay Rays/Milwaukee Brewers style model, where payroll remains modest and efficiency becomes the defining trait. That doesn’t mean they can’t win, but it does mean relying on high turnover and sustained player development, rather than locking in veteran talent.

The Twins’ trade deadline sell-off may have hurt the 2025 big-league roster, but it’s already paying dividends in prospect capital. MLB Pipeline’s post-deadline farm system rankings have Minnesota sitting second overall, an impressive leap from their preseason ranking of 10th. The front office added 10 prospects in those trades. That group is headlined by Eduardo Tait, one of baseball’s top catching prospects; he was acquired in the Jhoan Duran deal. Combined with the five 2025 draft picks, the Twins now feature a rare blend of elite talent and organizational depth that should help define their next competitive window.

The Twins stand at a familiar crossroads. The Pohlads’ decision to stay on as owners means the philosophy at the top likely won’t shift dramatically. A complete teardown might be the clearest baseball move, but it would mean another long wait for meaningful games in September. Reinvestment could keep the team competitive sooner, but it requires a willingness to spend in a way the franchise hasn’t embraced in recent years.

In either case, the 2025-26 offseason could be one of the most crucial in recent Twins history, not just for the roster, but for the tone it sets with the fanbase.

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Which path will the Twins follow? Leave a comment and start the discussion. 

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[karcherd]

While we all want answers now, we won't know until the partnerships are announced.  We do not know how much influence they will have, it will be their money as well.  Maybe they are bought into the Pohlad vision but maybe they have their own they can steer the family to.

They are going to be putting in probably around $200-250m each, I am not sure anyone wants to put that money into the team just to be a passive investor.

We need to be patient and we will see this offseason what direction the team takes.  I want to know now as well but it isn't going to be known until we know how the relationship works between the Pohlads and the partners.

[Whitey333]

Great article.  IMO I think they wind up dumping more players especially Pablo Lopez.  I mean why keep a 21 million a year player that only pitches once every 5 days?  Why spend that kind of money if you have no plans to contender?  I hope they keep him and Ryan but I think the writing g is on the wall.  It's been over 30 years since our last world series championship team.  What's another 30 years?

[SarasotaBill]

If nothing else, the Twins need to think of 2025-6 as development and evaluation. The payroll now allows extending Ryan and Jeffers. If they don't extend Jeffers during the off season then they have to trade him. Every transaction needs to be about 2027 and after.

[In My La Z boy]

Question: What is the best possible return could you hope for in trading Joe Ryan?
Answer: Another Joe Ryan
Question: Then why trade Joe Ryan?
Answer: 

 

[tony&rodney]

5 minutes ago, In My La Z boy said:

Question: What is the best possible return could you hope for in trading Joe Ryan?
Answer: Another Joe Ryan
Question: Then why trade Joe Ryan?
Answer: 

 

The Twins desperately need position players. Can they manage to acquire one? The results from the last 9 years don't look too hot. Accepting a deal where extra, superfluous prospects come from Boston is pointless. If the Twins trade Joe Ryan, they should able to acquire a Top10 guy or someone already playing well in the major leagues. That will be difficult because it is a challenge deal.

Nobody should be surprised if any player is traded.

[Glorybound]

9 minutes ago, SarasotaBill said:

If nothing else, the Twins need to think of 2025-6 as development and evaluation. The payroll now allows extending Ryan and Jeffers. If they don't extend Jeffers during the off season then they have to trade him. Every transaction needs to be about 2027 and after.

If I am Joe Ryan why do I sign an extension? He has been very healthy aside from the injury last season. I just don’t see it happening. He basically said he would welcome a trade. I don’t think the “new investment” type ownership changes one single thing.

Lopez is so gone that all we will be talking about is the return.

[Coach Wheels]

9 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

The Twins desperately need position players. Can they manage to acquire one? The results from the last 9 years don't look too hot. Accepting a deal where extra, superfluous prospects come from Boston is pointless. If the Twins trade Joe Ryan, they should able to acquire a Top10 guy or someone already playing well in the major leagues. That will be difficult because it is a challenge deal.

Nobody should be surprised if any player is traded.

The phrase, "desperately need position players" is interesting to me. I see an infield in 2016 of Lewis, Lee, Keaschall, and a platoon at 1st base. I see an OF of Buxton, Wallner, and Larnach. I don't hate that lineup in 26, depth off the bench concerns me quite a bit (use late in last night's game as a reference).

There are guys in this lineup that need to be better, and obvious statement, but its worth a shot. The bullpen has to be remade but the rotation next year of Lopez, Ryan, Abel, Ober, and Bradley can potentially win the AL Central, certainly compete for a wildcard. Get back a bullpen and in the Central, you're never out of it

[In My La Z boy]

10 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

The Twins desperately need position players. Can they manage to acquire one? The results from the last 9 years don't look too hot. Accepting a deal where extra, superfluous prospects come from Boston is pointless. If the Twins trade Joe Ryan, they should able to acquire a Top10 guy or someone already playing well in the major leagues. That will be difficult because it is a challenge deal.

Nobody should be surprised if any player is traded.

A #1 starter is the most valuable asset on a baseball team. Very few teams have one. There are maybe 20 pitchers in the entire league you'd "classify" as a #1. Joe might be one, probably is one. A #1 starter, with 2 more years of control is what every team wants. On my team, everyone is always available for the right price EXCEPT whoever I think is a #1 starter, or who could become a #1 starter. 

[Linus]

There is a way forward to be successful relatively quickly but it will require some out of the box thinking and a couple of astute trades. Those two requirements may deem this impossible but here goes. If the Twins have a surplus of talent it would be pitching and they need a couple of bats badly. 
So deal López for a good cost controlled bat, preferably an outfielder who is athletic, can play defense and doesnt need to be platooned. Trade Larnach and and a prospect (maybe Julien?) for a bat first first baseman. With this new outfielder and Keaschall in the lineup we now have some speed and athleticism. With Pablo’s salary gone we should be in a stable position to hang onto our younger players through arbitration and maybe extend a couple. Now for the out of box thinking: grab your 15 best pitchers regardless of current role. The first 5 are your starters, the next two go to St Paul for the depth you will need at some point. The next 8 go to the pen. It’s Maki’s job to get enough innings for the younger guys that they could still stretch out and start later in the year if needed or next spring training. Think Abel or Bradley for example. This is a team that could be competitive next year and really good in a couple years. When  / if Em Rod or Jenkins need a spot Wallner DH s or is traded. Lee gets SS until Culpepper is ready. 

[TwinsDr2021]

17 minutes ago, SarasotaBill said:

If nothing else, the Twins need to think of 2025-6 as development and evaluation. The payroll now allows extending Ryan and Jeffers. If they don't extend Jeffers during the off season then they have to trade him. Every transaction needs to be about 2027 and after.

@Cody ChristieI keep hear extending Ryan from writers and commenters. What does that look like? I can only really find two pitchers that even compare to extending Ryan who is locked up though age 31 season. 

Jacob DeGrom age 30 in 2019 (5/137) and Luis Castillo age 30 (5/108) in 2023.

Mets bought out two Arb years of DeGrom  and it could be considered a good investment he went 7.2 WAR CY in 2019, 2.6 WAR in 20 (in 12 games), 4.5 WAR in 21 and 1.5 WAR in 2022(but has basically been injured since the 21 season until this year). He signed this extension after winning the CY with a 9.4 WAR and previously  had WARS of 3.1, 5.3, 3.4, 4.2 (but ages 33, 34, 35 didn't go to well for him)

Seattle bought out the last year of Luis Castillo in before the 2023 season and has put up WARs of 3.2, 1.8, 2.0. 

Those are the only two, so what does a extension look like? Are the Twins likely to pay a 25 million for a pitcher 33+ (They didn't for Gray?) 

So I ask again what does an extension look like? in the ball park of 5/125?

[The Great Hambino]

17 minutes ago, Glorybound said:

If I am Joe Ryan why do I sign an extension? He has been very healthy aside from the injury last season. I just don’t see it happening. He basically said he would welcome a trade. I don’t think the “new investment” type ownership changes one single thing.

Lopez is so gone that all we will be talking about is the return.

That seems to get glossed over whenever people discuss extensions.  Twins can't just unilaterally impose extensions on whomever they please.  It has to make sense for the player as well.  They would need a good reason to pull themselves out of the free agent market, which for vets close to free agency means one thing: a significant overpay.  For the Twins to agree to make that overpay would be incredibly bizarre given all their other actions ever since the right-sizing.  This all applies to the calls to extend Bader as well.  I could see why the Twins would've wanted one, but why in the world would Bader?

The Jackson Chourio-style extension for a young player that gets the player money faster while providing cost certainty and some extra years of control to the team?  That I could see the Twins doing for someone like Jenkins, maybe Keaschall.  But I think we can assume vet extensions are off the table until their actions prove otherwise

[David Maro]

To be honest here Joe Ryan probably would have been gone except for the fact that his fiance is with child. It is something they probably both talked about and decided to wait until the off season. This team is years from competing for the division and even longer going to a WS.

[NYCTK]

35 minutes ago, Coach Wheels said:

I see an infield in 2016 of Lewis, Lee, Keaschall, and a platoon at 1st base. I see an OF of Buxton, Wallner, and Larnach.

This is a bad team. Not only is Lee a huge question mark, Wallner and Larnach are terrible defenders and there's no 1B. 

So that's 4 big question marks, and means the Twins desperately need position players. Like he said. 

[hitterscount]

Several articles on doing it the Milwaukee way the past few days…. It’s like they do a rebuild every other year. Since 2016, they have had one bad season (throw out the covid year) otherwise they will hit their 5th 90 win season since then and the other years they have been in the mid to upper 80’s in win totals.

The difference is with similar payrolls they have the FO with a strategy or philosophy that puts those types of players on the field and a manager (Counsell & now Murphy) that understands how to hold players accountable while being respected and players buying in. 
 

Milwaukee has some bigger contracts, Yelich, and to a smaller degree Contreas, Woodruff. They know how to identify the players they want to be on the field and. They draft well and have an uncanny ability to know when to move on from players. Burnes, Williams, Hader…

i just don’t get the need to move Looez and Ryan this offseason. 20 million for a quality starting pitcher is a steal in today’s market. If you don’t have quality starters nothing else matters because you’re not winning.

[Dman]

I have so many thoughts and scenario's in my mind about this I could write a small book.  The true blind fan in me would like see the Twins just hang onto the starting pitching they have and find a way to extend Jeffers.  Add some decent bullpen arms and try to find at least one more hitter to lengthen the lineup.  I think that could be a decent playoff caliber type team if most everyone stays healthy. They'd have great starting pitching and a ton of young options ready to come up and fill spots.  The weakness would still be the lineup unless Gonzalez or the perpetually injured Rodriguez were good out of the gates which seems unlikely.

The questions I have before blindly keeping this team pretty much in tact for 2026.  Is there any possibility they can extend Ryan with 2 extra years and maybe an option with buyout for a third?  Given what hitters say about his unique rising fastball being really hard to square up it would be nice to have him four more years..  He is a unicorn arm and likely all star pitcher every team needs in the playoffs.  Anything can happen to an arm but just given his unique arm slot I think he will be one of those arms that ages better than most, but who knows.  He has had trouble staying healthy for full seasons.

If you can't extend Ryan and don't see the team "truly" competing next year then you better get All Star caliber talent back.  Don't go pennies on the dollar as we can keep him and still get a comp pick in the end..  The deal they make better be really, really good.  We traded a MLB player and batting champ for Pablo.  They better get something good for Ryan if they decide to trade him.

If they really want to save money to spend on another quality bat then trading Pablo makes sense as it clears 20M from Payroll which they could reallocate to the offense which needs another big bat in the lineup.  It wouldn't hurt if said player could actually play plus defense either.  I mean they have pretty much pitched without Lopez all year and while the results haven't always been great I think with all the young arms they have coming up they can fill that spot better than they can fill their offensive holes.  I would prefer they hang onto him as he is a playoff caliber starter and when he is on a really, really good arm.  Again if they do decide to trade him it needs to be an overpay.  He too can get them a comp pick just by hanging onto him.  He is cost controlled and 20M for a pitcher of his caliber is a deal that is hard to come by these days on the open market.

I guess bottom line for me is I would keep the starting pithing for next year.  If the team sucks yet again there still would be the deadline to hash this out again.  If they can't extend Ryan I understand looking at overpay deals. but it must be an overpay to move him IMO. Extend Jeffers. Even though he isn't a great defensive catcher he is one of the better offensive catchers out there.  We can't afford to take even just competent bats from the lineup.  I could on go and on but will stop here.

[rdehring]

Truth is we all are going to have to wait and see what happens this winter and during the next season.  The only thing I think I know is that it will be interesting.  Or maybe I should have said HOPE it will be interesting.

Personally, I expect to see several moves come winter.  I don't know what approach they will take with pitching, but as of today they should have a strong starting rotation.  Three top starters at the top, three guys (Festa, SWR and Matthews) who will have over a year of big league experience, and three young guns picked up at the deadline, Abel, Bradley and Rojas.  That's nine which should give them an excellent starting rotation, depth at St. Paul and one or two who can be moved to the pen or traded.  Should they choose to attempt to compete in 2026, that starting staff would be one of the better ones in baseball, assuming reasonable health.

The problem this team has had is in the field.  Their position players have been a big disappointment with their bats and the defense has been spotty, at best.  With Rodon here and several young outfielders expected to compete for positions soon, I see them moving on from one of Larnach or Wallner.  I also don't know what to expect from Lewis, who has to be a huge disappointment for the Twins.  Does he still have value should they consider moving him?

I remain hopeful that they try to bring in a couple bats and relievers this winter and try to compete in 2026.  Like all guys my age, we want to see the Twins compete.  And soon!

[Patzky]

1 hour ago, Coach Wheels said:

The phrase, "desperately need position players" is interesting to me. I see an infield in 2016 of Lewis, Lee, Keaschall, and a platoon at 1st base. I see an OF of Buxton, Wallner, and Larnach. I don't hate that lineup in 26, depth off the bench concerns me quite a bit (use late in last night's game as a reference).

There are guys in this lineup that need to be better, and obvious statement, but its worth a shot. The bullpen has to be remade but the rotation next year of Lopez, Ryan, Abel, Ober, and Bradley can potentially win the AL Central, certainly compete for a wildcard. Get back a bullpen and in the Central, you're never out of it

I will cling to Joe Ryan with my last popcorn purchase. But the position players you listed are largely the ones we're going with now! No! If we can't depend on a couple of Saints or Wind Surgers and a decent (better than Bader or Santana even ) FA we aren't going to compete even with this years SP lineup. Raya, Eeles there are names we haven't even talked about for awhile. I can't believe as much as I'd like to that this lineup and the same top three starters sans any high leverage revilers will do any better than we are this year. I'd love for them to prove me wrong.. not seeing it.

[Doctor Gast]

With this FO, it does make sense to tear everything down to the studs. #1- I don't trust them to maximize the trades. #2- The farm system will be bloated with redundant prospects. #3- I don't trust them to develop the positional prospects. We'll bring up prospects that won't impact the team the way we need to compete. Our roster will be bloated, where we'll help many teams to pick up many good prospects that we can't fit onto the roster because of the Rule 5 draft.

With this FO, it doesn't make sense to spend big money on our bigger contracts (even though they aren't expensive) or in extending many of our players or going out to sign FAs to replace valuable players we let go (that would be very counterproductive after giving away valuable players that have been knitted into this team & then overpay for players that are not).

With this FO, we are damned if we don't & damned if we do.

"The Pohlads’ decision to stay on as owners means the philosophy at the top likely won’t shift dramatically."

We were blessed with many good players that fell into our laps, who helped us break the curse of losing soooo many playoff games & won a playoff series. We didn't win them because of Falvey & his philosophies (as he claimed), it was in spite of them. There have been many excuses throughout the years why the Twins underperformed. They have ran out of excuses, which leaves the core has to be the problem. IMO, the core has never been the problem as many of them have dominated away.. The problem has always been the FO's inabilities. IMO, the Twins will flounder for years even after Falvey & Co, leave.

 

 

 

[mikelink45]

The third and worst case is to continue to be middle of the road, continue to flirt with 500.  Watch players like Ober pass their peak, hold on to Larnach, Julien, Martin, Clemens, Gaspar, Roden and believe in the BP that we currently have.  

[tony&rodney]

50 minutes ago, In My La Z boy said:

A #1 starter is the most valuable asset on a baseball team. Very few teams have one. There are maybe 20 pitchers in the entire league you'd "classify" as a #1. Joe might be one, probably is one. A #1 starter, with 2 more years of control is what every team wants. On my team, everyone is always available for the right price EXCEPT whoever I think is a #1 starter, or who could become a #1 starter. 

The Chicago White Sox had a #1 starter in Garret Crochet. Right? They traded him. Why? It is pretty simple really. A last place team rolling out a #1 starter is still a last place team. The path forward is to acquire a player or players who can be top players when the team is able to compete. The best example from my time as a baseball fan was Steve Carlton. Joe Ryan would sign a long term contract with the Twins .... if offered around $150-200+M. Will the Twins make that offer? I will let you answer that question.

Do I enjoy watching Ryan pitch? Yes, I watch every game he pitches. I often only check on other Twins games from time to time watching certain batters and a few pitching matchups. The other times I prefer the minor league games and watching other teams who offer hope or play a different brand of baseball.

If the Twins can find a way to acquire top players/prospects without trading any or all of Ryan, Lopez, Ober, and Jeffers that would be awesome because that means the team would have a few pieces to improve their fortunes. 

In any event, what I am totally certain of at this time is that I have no idea what goes on in the mind of Derek Falvey. I am not a fan of his brand of baseball, but hey maybe he has learned something in the last 9 years and there will be a sudden shift in his philosophy of how to build a baseball team this offseason. 

[In My La Z boy]

7 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

The Chicago White Sox had a #1 starter in Garret Crochet. Right? They traded him. Why? It is pretty simple really. A last place team rolling out a #1 starter is still a last place team. The path forward is to acquire a player or players who can be top players when the team is able to compete. The best example from my time as a baseball fan was Steve Carlton. Joe Ryan would sign a long term contract with the Twins .... if offered around $150-200+M. Will the Twins make that offer? I will let you answer that question.

Do I enjoy watching Ryan pitch? Yes, I watch every game he pitches. I often only check on other Twins games from time to time watching certain batters and a few pitching matchups. The other times I prefer the minor league games and watching other teams who offer hope or play a different brand of baseball.

If the Twins can find a way to acquire top players/prospects without trading any or all of Ryan, Lopez, Ober, and Jeffers that would be awesome because that means the team would have a few pieces to improve their fortunes. 

In any event, what I am totally certain of at this time is that I have no idea what goes on in the mind of Derek Falvey. I am not a fan of his brand of baseball, but hey maybe he has learned something in the last 9 years and there will be a sudden shift in his philosophy of how to build a baseball team this offseason. 

If you are not a fan of Falvey than you shouldn't advocate for him receiving more "prospects" to NOT develop for an already stud pitcher like Joe Ryan. This was the point of my comments. We agree. And we aren't the White Sox. In the spring of 2026 we will have a top caliber starting staff, and every draft pick Falvey's had in the field. Lee, Royce, Keaschall, Larnach, Wallner - we have an awesome CF & C in Bux & Jeffers. This is not a White Sox caliber team here. We might be playing like one, but I won't start on Rocco.

[hitterscount]

15 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

The Chicago White Sox had a #1 starter in Garret Crochet. Right? They traded him. Why? It is pretty simple really. A last place team rolling out a #1 starter is still a last place team. The path forward is to acquire a player or players who can be top players when the team is able to compete. The best example from my time as a baseball fan was Steve Carlton. Joe Ryan would sign a long term contract with the Twins .... if offered around $150-200+M. Will the Twins make that offer? I will let you answer that question.

Do I enjoy watching Ryan pitch? Yes, I watch every game he pitches. I often only check on other Twins games from time to time watching certain batters and a few pitching matchups. The other times I prefer the minor league games and watching other teams who offer hope or play a different brand of baseball.

If the Twins can find a way to acquire top players/prospects without trading any or all of Ryan, Lopez, Ober, and Jeffers that would be awesome because that means the team would have a few pieces to improve their fortunes. 

In any event, what I am totally certain of at this time is that I have no idea what goes on in the mind of Derek Falvey. I am not a fan of his brand of baseball, but hey maybe he has learned something in the last 9 years and there will be a sudden shift in his philosophy of how to build a baseball team this offseason. 

If it’s possible the CWS just might be more incompetent and poorly run than us. They traded Crochet and still suck. 

[Major League Ready]

3 hours ago, Cody Christie said:

 

Path 1: The Full Teardown

This route is about maximizing return on assets before their value dips, and it signals a clear commitment to a multi-year rebuild. This is something the Twins have been reluctant to admit publicly. However, there is a way for the team to get their overall payroll below $100 million if they choose this path. 

Rebuilds do generally takes several years.  However, most of the time, rebuilds happen after a window of contention where the team has not had high draft picks and they have traded away prospects for missing pieces like the nationals for example who are in year 6.  Those teams generally do not have many good prospects that are near major league ready.  That is far from the case here.

The Twins already have three young SPs in SWR / Matthews / Festa and Abel that are just starting to establish themselves in the majors.  They have several others in the system.  Some will certainly fail but some others will be ready in the next year or so.  Where position players are concerned.  Buck has 3 more years and Keaschall looks like a game changer.  Wallner needs to go to a part-time defensive player but the bat is somewhere between above average and great.

Both corner OF spots need to be replaced but they have both quantity and quality for these positions.  We don't have many options that are near at SS but the one we have looks great.  That leaves 1st base as the big hole and that's not a hard position to fill.  

This just does not look like a 5+ year rebuild.  They have a lot to work through in 2026 but they should have a very talented young team in 2027.   

[High heat]

2 hours ago, karcherd said:

While we all want answers now, we won't know until the partnerships are announced.  We do not know how much influence they will have, it will be their money as well.  Maybe they are bought into the Pohlad vision but maybe they have their own they can steer the family to.

They are going to be putting in probably around $200-250m each, I am not sure anyone wants to put that money into the team just to be a passive investor.

We need to be patient and we will see this offseason what direction the team takes.  I want to know now as well but it isn't going to be known until we know how the relationship works between the Pohlads and the partners.

Why would someone silent invest that much $ you say?   Well because with revenue sharing if your payroll is low it’s a guaranteed profit business even if the organization is run poorly.

 Slash payroll down to bare bones and collect revenue sharing check. A’s, Pirates, Marlins all do this.  
 

Even the proposed new local TV deal is selling all 14 teams as a package not just the Twins as individual organization.

[terrydactyls]

1 minute ago, Major League Ready said:

Both corner OF spots need to be replaced but they have both quantity and quality for these positions.  We don't have many options that are near at SS but the one we have looks great.  That leaves 1st base as the big hole and that's not a hard position to fill.

If a competent first baseman is so easy to find, why did the Twins sign Ty France this past off-season and now have Clemens and Julien alternating there?

[dex8425]

2 hours ago, In My La Z boy said:

Question: What is the best possible return could you hope for in trading Joe Ryan?
Answer: Another Joe Ryan
Question: Then why trade Joe Ryan?
Answer: 

 

Easy. To save $. He's due raises in arbitration and a minimum salaried player will be cheaper! Slash payroll and cash in those revenue sharing checks to get the new investors their return on investment. 

[hitterscount]

4 minutes ago, In My La Z boy said:

If you are not a fan of Falvey than you shouldn't advocate for him receiving more "prospects" to NOT develop for an already stud pitcher like Joe Ryan. This was the point of my comments. We agree. And we aren't the White Sox. In the spring of 2026 we will have a top caliber starting staff, and every draft pick Falvey's had in the field. Lee, Royce, Keaschall, Larnach, Wallner - we have an awesome CF & C in Bux & Jeffers. This is not a White Sox caliber team here. We might be playing like one, but I won't start on Rocco.

I just don’t know where they go. They could have one of the better starting rotations in all of baseball if they keep Lopez and Ryan. 
 

The issue is the BP is a complete disaster and will need a legit closer and 3-4 more reliable arms. Trading everyone was shortsighted unless they are going full tear down this offseason and plan on moving both Lopez and Ryan.

Than we go to the everyday lineup. What do we really have? I believe you need both corner OF positions filled. 1st base is s big need, don’t want to hear Clemens or Julien are the answer. Is Lee a MLB starting SS? I am in the camp he’s not. Will Lewis stay healthy and can he return to anywhere near his 23 production? 
 

So you have a core of Buxton, Keaschall and Jeffers. I just don’t get keeping Outman down at St.Paul, let’s see if a change of scenery helps. Abel and Bradley should be up… another BO game today, just idiotic. Need Cullpepper and a couple other minor league players to be ready next spring or you are definitely moving Ryan and Lopez at next year’s trading deadline…. they will still have a ton of value. 

[In My La Z boy]

9 minutes ago, dex8425 said:

Easy. To save $. He's due raises in arbitration and a minimum salaried player will be cheaper! Slash payroll and cash in those revenue sharing checks to get the new investors their return on investment. 

Ha! 
A prudent investor would see he brings about $25M in value for about $10M in arb costs. Ryan should be a +$15M player in these next 2 years. No doubt you could get a haul for him at the 2026 deadline if we stink up the world next season.

[terrydactyls]

In my mind, the decision between a complete teardown and a reinvestment in the current team can be found in the new ownership agreement.  If the minority investors (unknown as of now) have bought in (similar to George  Bush with the Rangers) just so they can boast at the Country Club about being owners of a major league team, then a complete teardown is probably the path to follow.  But, if the agreement has some sort of wording that allows the minority investors a strong voice in how the Twins move forward, then a reinvestment might be the way to go.  BUT, there is a caveat to this also.  The minority investors must have a "win the world series" (not "win the Central Division") mindset.  I'm a little worried that the minority investors might be Pohlad clones and will continue the "profit is #1" view of MLB ownership.  So until the new investors and the terms of the agreement are known, I'm not going to worry about what happens next.