It’s the Staleness of it All: How the Twins' Deadline Upheaval Managed to Feel So Small

[Greggory Masterson]

Image courtesy of © Denny Medley-Imagn Images

Maybe it’s irrational. But I’ve been rolling it around in my head for weeks. I think that there are a lot of things at play as Twins fans look at their favorite team and feel like there’s an anchor attached to the team.

It’s natural to have fatalistic feelings in times like this, but I think there is something unique about the Twins’ situation. Literally one year ago, they were in playoff position, and today they’re vying for one of the top lottery picks. They just traded nearly half of their active roster. And it all feels stuck.

I’m not about to point out what moves worked and what didn’t, who should be cut or fired, or anything like that. I just want to investigate why it seems like the Twins are trapped, and like it’s not going to change anytime soon.

First, there are a lot of pieces of this roster that do feel lodged in place. Maybe not in the bullpen, and not for as long as it might appear, but they do feel stuck. There’s been very little turnover, year-to-year. After 2023, the Twins lost Sonny Gray, Donovan Solano, Joey Gallo, Michael A. Taylor, Kenta Maeda, and Emilio Pagán, then traded Jorge Polanco. They were replaced with Carlos Santana, Manuel Margot, Anthony DeSclafani, Jay Jackson, Steven Okert, and Justin Topa.

That turnover largely consisted of downgrades, and after 2024, all but Topa were gone, along with Max Kepler, Caleb Thielbar, and Alex Kirilloff, this time replaced with Harrison Bader, Danny Coulombe, Ty France, and (later) Kody Clemens.

You’ll notice that the last wave was smaller. It’s easy to point at this factor as the key—there’s been very little new blood brought in from outside the organization, and in 2025, there was even little new blood called up internally. Luke Keaschall is the only notable prospect to see any real success with the Twins this season.

That lack of additions can be chalked up to two factors: a tightening of the belt by ownership and a lack of activity from management. After the Pohlad family spent 10 months attempting to sell the team, fans patiently waiting for change there were rewarded with the most inconsequential version of said sale: additional minority partners. Thus, even as the sale was technically completed, ownership is still left almost exactly where it started.

The inactive management team is also still here (at least for now). Don’t get me wrong; I was in favor of largely keeping the team intact after 2024. I also believed that the team hit a rough skid, but had the ability to compete for a division title again after a reset. But that doesn’t mean that the team doesn’t feel stuck in place, after effectively running it back in the wake of a disastrous collapse one year ago.

One perplexing aspect of this feeling, however, is that inactivity is a recent phenomenon for this front office, not their modus operandi. This is a front office that, at least compared to previous iterations, tends toward risk-taking and creativity. Three times, they signed the largest free-agent contract in team history—once with Josh Donaldson, and twice with Carlos Correa. The first Correa contract started a league-wide spree of creative, incentive-laden three-year contracts with player opt-outs after each year.

This is the same front office that traded a fan favorite and batting champion for a frontline starter, absorbing the risk of public discontent. This is the same front office that waited out a market and tried to sign Lance Lynn and Logan Morrison to pillow deals when they had nowhere else to turn. Even as recently as 2024, they traded Polanco for prospects, bullpen depth, and starting pitching depth, before using the salary saved to acquire a first baseman and another middle reliever—creatively skating under their spending cap and checking several items off their offseason shopping list.

Obviously, I’m not speaking to the success of these moves; I’m merely pointing out that this very front office—one that has largely been the same for the better part of a decade, at levels from leadership to analyst, only growing—was making risky decisions on a routine basis relatively recently. Their risky 2022 trade deadline, in which they acquired a frontline starter, closer, and setup man, was followed up with back-to-back acquisitions of one middle reliever who didn’t finish the season on the roster in 2023 and 2024.

It wasn’t always like this, but it's sure like this now.

Even on the field, though, the sense of ruthless repetition is getting palpable. This was the fifth season in which fans asked if Jorge Alcala could take the next step; if we’d see a healthy and productive season from Royce Lewis; and if Trevor Larnach would finally hit his ceiling. Really—we’ve been asking those same questions since 2021. The same was true with Chris Paddack since 2022. Ditto for pop-up prospects like Edouard Julien and Jose Miranda. Is this the year they start acting normal? The big three in the rotation have all been around for at least three years, without anyone else sneaking into the conversation over the last two.

There are bright spots on the horizon, like Walker Jenkins, Emmanuel Rodriguez, Kaelen Culpepper, or Connor Prielipp. But they also seem so far away, for a team that feels like it’s at its waist in mud, led by the same manager who has led largely floundering teams who just couldn’t quite make it work for a half-decade.

Again, this isn’t an analysis of what needs to happen or what went wrong. I’m just trying to work through why it feels like there’s no light at the end of the tunnel today. Maybe that feeling stretches throughout Twins Territory. Maybe the prospect pipeline has you feeling some creeping hope, even amid the gloom of this finish. Either way, though, it'd be great to see some tangible change this fall.

View full article

[JBK]

Nice article.  Lots of forgotten players and deals mentioned.  As a lifelong Twins fan, I've always been optimistic every Spring that our players will have career years, and the team will win it all.  The Pohlads have drained my optimism and it's time for them to sell.  If the owner doesn't have the passion and the will to win, how do you expect the front office and team to have it?  Please sell.  The Twins are more than just a tax write off. 

[Whitey333]

It's always hope and hype for the Falvey/Baldelli lef organization.  Now you throw the new can't miss prospects list at us.  Very few of the can't miss prospects make and many who make it to the Twins team seem to take steps backward.  The front office is best at spewing lies and false hope.  Those projected big drops in attendance is deserved

[saviking]

Have to blame the front office. Buck stops there. 

[ziggy]

Quote

Quote

They just traded nearly half of their active roster. And it all feels stuck.

 

They traded all but 3 players OTHER teams would want on their roster. The rest are DFA candidates.  Not exactly a scary roster.

The buck stops at the owners desk. Falvey made bold moves when he had the ok from the owners. The right sizing of the budget has left him hamstrung.  Now they cut the scouting department. JFC, there is more to baseball and the players than a stat sheet. 

I followed the Twins 'right sizing' of my budget and only attend ONE game this year. 

[Dman]

I go back and forth on the doom and gloom.  Lot's of teams had trouble with getting bats going this year so I don't feel like the Twins are completely alone there.  Still there are signs that Lewis, Martin and Lee are improving and could have better years next year.  Not to mention they have Roden, Rodriguez, Gonzalez, Culpepper and maybe Jenkins.  With some interesting non top 30 bats at AAA in Fedko, McCusker, and Eeles.  So there is room for change beyond the players mentioned in the article.

Pitching for now we still have the big three with SWR ascending and a bumpy Zebby behind with new additions Bradley and Abel to vie for that 5th spot.  If they keep everyone over the offseason that is.  Behind them are Morris who has looked pretty dominant since coming back (except for K rate).  Prielipp and Rojas who are lefties.  Raya, Klein and MaCleod as arms that could be better next year. So the cupboard isn't bare by any means.

I get the hopelessness though.  After the deadline Ryan hasn't been as sharp, Ober keeps having one really bad inning with a velocity drop.  Pablo never really made it back.  The young arms have been shelled at times.  They have had leads only to have the pen blow them up.  This hasn't been a good team since the deadline and it wasn't good team most of the year given they were sellers at the deadline.

As for sticking with players too long we have seen the other side that of that as well.  Rooker wasn't a great fit when we had him and he turned things around and he'd be a welcome bat on the team now.  I still like Larnach and I think his bat will get better, but as stated it took too long to get just mediocre results.  Too much young blood behind him now so likely gone.  Still you have to give young players time to adapt. You can't give up on them too early.

Bottom line this is a team in transition.  They are going to have to let the younger players develop.  I like that they have finally started listening to this board and have started looking for players that are more athletic that should lead to better defense and offense by having the ability to take an extra base and steal bases.

They are headed in the right direction, but it might take time like all of next year time to get "better". We'll see, but I do still have several sets of rose colored glasses so I should be covered for any disappointment along the way.

[LewFordLives]

If it's any consolation, if they had all the guys back that they traded at the deadline it probably would've only added a couple more wins. 

I'm not a fan of this front office or manager, but all is not lost. If Joe Ryan and Pablo are back next year it forms the nucleus of a serviceable rotation. There are young bats on the roster and on the way. Some will sink and hopefully a few will swim. Granted, the bullpen is a mess. Pulling a bullpen together with castoffs and rookies can sometimes work. They found guys like Coulombe and Stewart for cheap.

[Eris]

The reason it feels like there’s no light at the end of the tunnel is that the trades didn’t address the core issue  which is the position players as a group are significantly underperforming. To have a competitive team, the Twins need upgrades at 1B, LF, RF, possibly SS and 3B. That is half of a starting lineup. Maybe some of the upgrades will come from current players performing to their potential, otherwise we are waiting for the next generation of talent. 

[DJL44]

32 minutes ago, ziggy said:

They traded all but 3 players OTHER teams would want on their roster. The rest are DFA candidates.  Not exactly a scary roster.

That's an exaggeration. Lopez, Ryan, Ober, SWR, Keaschall, Buxton, Jeffers, Lewis, Wallner and Larnach would all have a job somewhere in MLB next season.

[The Great Hambino]

I think a big part of the negative feelings surrounding the aftermath of the trade deadline was the message they tried to sell the fanbase on coming out of it.  Management (I'm using this as a catch-all for ownership and Falvey's baseball ops) was already working from a deficit in the fan trust department, so Falvey's talk of "immediate impact" in the trade returns wasn't going to get the benefit of the doubt from a fanbase already skeptical of management's messaging.  Telling us isn't going to fly - they're going to have to show us before we start taking what they say seriously again.

What the returns have shown us thus far is that Falvey must have a very different definition of immediate (or maybe a different definition of impact) than anyone hoping for anything resembling contention in the near future.  Objectively, it's too small of a sample size to write off the returns as a failure, but it's hard to envision the returns performing any worse at the MLB level than they have so far.  None of the pieces that have been brought up - Bradley, Abel, Outman, or Roden - showed anything to suggest they're going to be a primary source of that immediate impact that was promised.  There might have been a couple flashes or reasons to project some development down the line, but that's a far cry from the level of impact they have to be able to provide in order for this team to have a chance to contend next year.  Once again, management is asking us to believe what they tell us over what we see with our own eyes. 

Their relationship with the fans might truly be broken beyond repair

[Riverbrian]

The front office was very aggressive in approach and it just stopped for whatever reason. It's easy to assume that the TV deal drying up was the reason. Who knows but since the two deadlines in a row without making a significant deal came after the Diamond/Bally debacle... it's just an easy assumption and it's still the assumption that I have.  

Bottom line... not doing anything at the deadline was not what this front office was doing prior. The front office was typically aggressive prior. 

OK... So let's assume that ownership/financials dictated a change in course. They were heading one direction and a roadblock was placed.  

This assumption raises some questions that I don't have answers to.  

1. When they started... Did the ownership give them the impression that payroll wouldn't be an issue? Were they under the impression that they could take payroll to 160 million, 180 million, 200 million (whatever was necessary) in the future? It's an important question because they staffed the roster like they could keep going. They stayed on the same path like they could keep going and clearly they couldn't.

Most of us have been Twins fans for a long time and in 2023 we reached 153 million. I understand inflation inflates numbers making math necessary to compare decades but 153 million is a level that none of us ever dreamed of. At least not me. 153 million was well above what teams in similar revenue situations were spending if you just wanted to realistic compare in a single season.

Did the ownership lead the front office to believe that payroll could keep rising because... all of sudden after reaching 153 million and the TV deal drying up. The brakes were applied, the course was corrected... the aggressiveness just plain stopped.

Did ownership give them the impression that they could continue to keep going with spending because if you are not bringing in significant young talent to fill roster spots... the only way to sustain success is going to be with the pocketbook. 

Even if given this impression by ownership and the rug was pulled out from under. How could they not see this coming regardless. Yes the media revenue going away was unfortunate but even if the regional TV money stayed intact... there was still going to be a limit. If you are not producing major league talent on your farm you have to pay for every spot. Even the big money teams will run out of money at some point. they will reach a limit and have to take a couple of significant steps backwards in regards to payroll. The Cubs, The Red Sox are just a couple of examples off the top of my head. The Red Sox sold their farm to get to the top and then they had to sell Mookie Betts because there was no money left and nobody on the farm. 

Why would this front office think they could just keep going? If you are driving on a road with no gas stations ahead. The car will run out of gas and you will be on the side of the road.  

The next question is this. Did they think they were a Carlos Correa away when they signed him. Did the Carlos Correa signing simply put them in a position where they had to continue to go for it... no matter what. Did it lead to the conclusion that Manual Margot and Ty France additions were necessary to go for it instead of because they dropped a load on Carlos and there was no turning back, because they brought payroll to new heights and there was no turning back.   

I don't know the answers to these questions... but I have reached one conclusion. This Twins front office approach to staffing the roster is very similar to how the Phillies and Yankees have been staffing their roster. WITH ONE HUGE DIFFERENCE... they don't have the money to spend that the Phillies and Yankees have to spend so the chances of success were going to challenged and even if successful... the window was always going to be short. 

 

 

 

[old nurse]

The term fan favorite gets bandied about here quite a bit. Currently it means nothing. Fans here do not come out and watch players play great. Attendance would have spiked when Grey pitched in 23. It did not. 

[USAFChief]

15 minutes ago, The Great Hambino said:

I think a big part of the negative feelings surrounding the aftermath of the trade deadline was ... Falvey's talk of "immediate impact" in the trade returns

To be fair, Falvey didn't say "immediate positive impact."

[old nurse]

3 minutes ago, Riverbrian said:

The front office was very aggressive in approach and it just stopped for whatever reason. It's easy to assume that the TV deal drying up was the reason. Who knows but since the two deadlines in a row without making a significant deal came after the Diamond/Bally debacle... it's just an easy assumption and it's still the assumption that I have.  

Bottom line... not doing anything at the deadline was not what this front office was doing prior. The front office was typically aggressive prior. 

OK... So let's assume that ownership/financials dictated a change in course. They were heading one direction and a roadblock was placed.  

This assumption raises some questions that I don't have answers to.  

1. When they started... Did the ownership give them the impression that payroll wouldn't be an issue? Were they under the impression that they could take payroll to 160 million, 180 million, 200 million (whatever was necessary) in the future? It's an important question because they staffed the roster like they could keep going. They stayed on the same path like they could keep going and clearly they couldn't.

Most of us have been Twins fans for a long time and in 2023 we reached 153 million. I understand inflation inflates numbers making math necessary to compare decades but 153 million is a level that none of us ever dreamed of. At least not me. 153 million was well above what teams in similar revenue situations were spending if you just wanted to realistic compare in a single season.

Did the ownership lead the front office to believe that payroll could keep rising because... all of sudden after reaching 153 million and the TV deal drying up. The brakes were applied, the course was corrected... the aggressiveness just plain stopped.

Did ownership give them the impression that they could continue to keep going with spending because if you are not bringing in significant young talent to fill roster spots... the only way to sustain success is going to be with the pocketbook. 

Even if given this impression by ownership and the rug was pulled out from under. How could they not see this coming regardless. Yes the media revenue going away was unfortunate but even if the regional TV money stayed intact... there was still going to be a limit. If you are not producing major league talent on your farm you have to pay for every spot. Even the big money teams will run out of money at some point. they will reach a limit and have to take a couple of significant steps backwards in regards to payroll. The Cubs, The Red Sox are just a couple of examples off the top of my head. The Red Sox sold their farm to get to the top and then they had to sell Mookie Betts because there was no money left and nobody on the farm. 

Why would this front office think they could just keep going? If you are driving on a road with no gas stations ahead. The car will run out of gas and you will be on the side of the road.  

The next question is this. Did they think they were a Carlos Correa away when they signed him. Did the Carlos Correa signing simply put them in a position where they had to continue to go for it... no matter what. Did it lead to the conclusion that Manual Margot and Ty France additions were necessary to go for it instead of because they dropped a load on Carlos and there was no turning back, because they brought payroll to new heights and there was no turning back.   

I don't know the answers to these questions... but I have reached one conclusion. This Twins front office approach to staffing the roster is very similar to how the Phillies and Yankees have been staffing their roster. WITH ONE HUGE DIFFERENCE... they don't have the money to spend that the Phillies and Yankees have to spend so the chances of success were going to challenged and even if successful... the window was always going to be short. 

 

 

 

If everyone else stayed healthy and performed to their potential it is possible they thought they were a Carlos Correa at full potential away. 

It is quite possible with an expiring TV deal they thought the next one would be larger. They did a poor job of monitoring the business of tv because cable was losing customers for a while before the Correa contract.  

[Coach Wheels]

2 hours ago, JBK said:

Nice article.  Lots of forgotten players and deals mentioned.  As a lifelong Twins fan, I've always been optimistic every Spring that our players will have career years, and the team will win it all.  The Pohlads have drained my optimism and it's time for them to sell.  If the owner doesn't have the passion and the will to win, how do you expect the front office and team to have it?  Please sell.  The Twins are more than just a tax write off. 

This year there was a bad vibe to start the year and, other than a 13 game winner streak, nothing about 2025 was special. The fire sale on trade deadline day sealed the deal for me in realizing that the Pohlad family has quit. You gave up players with multiple years of time and I have yet to see any of the return show me, we got better for 2026. I believe Bradley will be good for us but Roden, Outman, etc......no thanks.

The Twins had the lowest attendance numbers since 2000 and that message should be understood loud and clear by ownership; sell or make the product competitive. It's in the hands of the Pohlad family now.

[In My La Z boy]

22 minutes ago, Riverbrian said:

The front office was very aggressive in approach and it just stopped for whatever reason. It's easy to assume that the TV deal drying up was the reason. Who knows but since the two deadlines in a row without making a significant deal came after the Diamond/Bally debacle... it's just an easy assumption and it's still the assumption that I have.  

Bottom line... not doing anything at the deadline was not what this front office was doing prior. The front office was typically aggressive prior. 

OK... So let's assume that ownership/financials dictated a change in course. They were heading one direction and a roadblock was placed.  

This assumption raises some questions that I don't have answers to.  

1. When they started... Did the ownership give them the impression that payroll wouldn't be an issue? Were they under the impression that they could take payroll to 160 million, 180 million, 200 million (whatever was necessary) in the future? It's an important question because they staffed the roster like they could keep going. They stayed on the same path like they could keep going and clearly they couldn't.

Most of us have been Twins fans for a long time and in 2023 we reached 153 million. I understand inflation inflates numbers making math necessary to compare decades but 153 million is a level that none of us ever dreamed of. At least not me. 153 million was well above what teams in similar revenue situations were spending if you just wanted to realistic compare in a single season.

Did the ownership lead the front office to believe that payroll could keep rising because... all of sudden after reaching 153 million and the TV deal drying up. The brakes were applied, the course was corrected... the aggressiveness just plain stopped.

Did ownership give them the impression that they could continue to keep going with spending because if you are not bringing in significant young talent to fill roster spots... the only way to sustain success is going to be with the pocketbook. 

Even if given this impression by ownership and the rug was pulled out from under. How could they not see this coming regardless. Yes the media revenue going away was unfortunate but even if the regional TV money stayed intact... there was still going to be a limit. If you are not producing major league talent on your farm you have to pay for every spot. Even the big money teams will run out of money at some point. they will reach a limit and have to take a couple of significant steps backwards in regards to payroll. The Cubs, The Red Sox are just a couple of examples off the top of my head. The Red Sox sold their farm to get to the top and then they had to sell Mookie Betts because there was no money left and nobody on the farm. 

Why would this front office think they could just keep going? If you are driving on a road with no gas stations ahead. The car will run out of gas and you will be on the side of the road.  

The next question is this. Did they think they were a Carlos Correa away when they signed him. Did the Carlos Correa signing simply put them in a position where they had to continue to go for it... no matter what. Did it lead to the conclusion that Manual Margot and Ty France additions were necessary to go for it instead of because they dropped a load on Carlos and there was no turning back, because they brought payroll to new heights and there was no turning back.   

I don't know the answers to these questions... but I have reached one conclusion. This Twins front office approach to staffing the roster is very similar to how the Phillies and Yankees have been staffing their roster. WITH ONE HUGE DIFFERENCE... they don't have the money to spend that the Phillies and Yankees have to spend so the chances of success were going to challenged and even if successful... the window was always going to be short. 

 

 

 

We either have a large disconnect between Falvy & Pohlad, or Falvey is his bad cop? Pohlad has now embarrassed Falvey in my opinion. I just cannot believe Falvey signs Correa unless he has the future payroll runway cleared. If Pohlad pulled the rug, after greenlighting the rug, Falvey should quit. Pohlad was well aware it was a 6 year deal. You just don't make that signing, and turn around 2 years later and flush it down the toilet? Especially after doing the same thing w/Donaldson! I look for Falvey to continue the theme and get rid of every player making over $800K not named Byron Buxton this winter sadly.

[tony&rodney]

Pitching and defense are usually the core of winning teams. Teams will have as many top bats as their budgets allow but paying attention to pitching and defense matters. The Phillies have guys who hit but they signed Kepler and traded for Luzardo and Duran to strengthen their team.

The Twins have a poor defensive roster. They traded away their bullpen. The results were immediate and the team has played to their talent since August 1.

Keaschall has been a bright light and we won't know if he can be trusted at second base until he is fully healed. Lewis has been better at third base but we need a better bat than he has shown. Can Lewis deliver corner infield numbers? Buxton has a no trade clause in his contract. Will the Twins move him to a corner outfield position if there is a better centerfielder on the roster? Austin Martin has played like a guy who wants a job. Can he maintain or even improve his performance in the last 6 games to leave an impression that he is a guy for 2026? These are the three guys, plus maybe Martin, that are more or less set for 2026, unless one or more of them are traded. 

In addition to improved health and a big step in effectiveness from the young/inexperienced starting pitchers, the Twins need to build a bullpen through signings or otherwise. The staleness of the roster is merely the expected outcome of a philosophy on how to play baseball by the guy who puts together the roster. Can that change? Yes, people can change and 4-7 moves this offseason could bring about a different concept of what winning baseball looks like on the field. Doing the same thing over and over, such as returning the same roster, is madness. The current roster is a guaranteed 90+ loss outfit. We shall see what steps are taken to address the shortcomings in the next months.

[Woof Bronzer]

39 minutes ago, The Great Hambino said:

 Management (I'm using this as a catch-all for ownership and Falvey's baseball ops) was already working from a deficit in the fan trust department, so Falvey's talk of "immediate impact" in the trade returns wasn't going to get the benefit of the doubt from a fanbase already skeptical of management's messaging. 

Oh there was immediate impact alright.  The Twins immediately became the worst team in MLB.

[Riverbrian]

5 minutes ago, old nurse said:

If everyone else stayed healthy and performed to their potential it is possible they thought they were a Carlos Correa at full potential away. 

It is quite possible with an expiring TV deal they thought the next one would be larger. They did a poor job of monitoring the business of tv because cable was losing customers for a while before the Correa contract.  

I think your quite possible's are quite possible... because a plausible explanation is needed and it's about the only plausible explanation that I can think of. 

And it's exactly what weights heavy on my mind.

Thinking you are a Carlos Correa at full potential away? OK... maybe for a year, maybe two but certainly not for the length of the contract? Players get more expensive as time moves on. Payroll would need to keep rising. I'm sure they placed some large bets on Kirilloff and others that didn't pay off but a team with limited budget was going to need more than Kirilloff and I don't believe they placed enough bets because Kirilloff by himself was never going to be enough. They had to know that money was going to dry up regardless of the television revenue.   

TV/Cable... Baseball demographics... all of it was on shaky ground when they took the position. When it hit... it didn't just hit the Twins. It hit multiple teams. Many teams felt the financial hit but not every team felt the hit on the overall product like what occurred in Minnesota. This front office conducted themselves like the money was going to be there and they kept on the same path even when they had to know that the money was no longer there. 

We all know this but it's worth pointing out. They signed Ty France for an everyday 1B job at nearly the minimum and made him an every day player. The only teams that do this sort of thing are teams that have nowhere else to go. They can't afford better and they didn't grow better... and better was such a tremendously low bar to clear. 

[TwinsDr2021]

Just now, In My La Z boy said:

We either have a large disconnect between Falvy & Pohlad, or Falvey is his bad cop? Pohlad has now embarrassed Falvey in my opinion. I just cannot believe Falvey signs Correa unless he has the future payroll runway cleared. If Pohlad pulled the rug, after greenlighting the rug, Falvey should quit. Pohlad was well aware it was a 6 year deal. You just don't make that signing, and turn around 2 years later and flush it down the toilet? Especially after doing the same thing w/Donaldson! I look for Falvey to continue the theme and get rid of every player making over $800K not named Byron Buxton this winter sadly.

Or Falvey told the owners with Correa (and the current players on the team)the Twins are a real contender and will put butts in the seats and if need be we have prospects to trade to fill any hole that opens up during the year. Then when that didn't happen the Owners said you sold us and the fans a line of bull, now fix it. 

The question I have is the Twins problem a lack of FA spending or the inability to develop players? IMO it is the inability to develop players and/or keeping players healthy (On TV the announcers said one of the reason the Twins didn't run alot was they were trying to protect the players from injuries) and thus making it look like the lack FA signings in the problem. 

Lets be honest for the last few years, which position besides first did people really want money spent on? Couldn't be the infield they had Lewis, Lee, Keaschall, and dare I say Julien for those spots. Was it the outfield? The Twins had Buxton, Wallner (who we were told was one of the best hitters in the game), Larnach with ERod and Jenkins oh so close. Catcher? They already spend on that, and had Jeffers. Was it starting pitching? They had Lopez, Ryan, Ober, SWR and a pipe line beyond approach. Bullpen? We were already told it was one of the best in the league. The bench? is that were teams spend money? and to be fair they have been pretty decent finding bench players. 

So I am all for hammering on the owners they deserve it ALL, but isn't this really a FO problem? They are the ones that spend the money on Donaldson and CC and then forced the Owners to eat how much of that money? They are the ones that drafted and developed the players. If I was the owner I would have fired them but since they didn't they did the next things and forced them to produce and not cover their issues with money (which for the most part they had already proven they couldn't do) 

[Riverbrian]

8 minutes ago, In My La Z boy said:

I just cannot believe Falvey signs Correa unless he has the future payroll runway cleared. If Pohlad pulled the rug, after greenlighting the rug, Falvey should quit.

Lavine did. 

Why he left one of 30 major league jobs without another job lined up says something. Was he pushed out or did he just say... Screw This? 

I don't know both are possible but you just don't leave a well paying high profile job like that without another job lined up unless he was pushed out

Or the frustration/pressure level got to the point that he was willing to chuck something that he had spent 26 years cultivating to get to that position.  

We will never what was happening inside of those offices but what was leaking out of it sure gave the impression of turmoil. 

 

[Riverbrian]

2 minutes ago, TwinsDr2021 said:

Or Falvey told the owners with Correa (and the current players on the team)the Twins are a real contender and will put butts in the seats and if need be we have prospects to trade to fill any hole that opens up during the year. Then when that didn't happen the Owners said you sold us and the fans a line of bull, now fix it. 

I agree...

For example this off-season... I assume and I don't think it's a reach to assume that Falvey had to go to ownership and get a payroll bump approved just to add Bader to the roster and he got it. 

Even if we stayed in contention and didn't sell this deadline. We were going to sell in the off-season. 

They have been acting like a team that hit the max allowed.  

 

  

[USAFChief]

10 hours ago, Riverbrian said:

Lavine did. 

Why he left one of 30 major league jobs without another job lined up says something. Was he pushed out or did he just say... Screw This? 

I don't know both are possible but you just don't leave a well paying high profile job like that without another job lined up unless he was pushed out

Or the frustration/pressure level got to the point that he was willing to chuck something that he had spent 26 years cultivating to get to that position.  

We will never what was happening inside of those offices but what was leaking out of it sure gave the impression of turmoil. 

 

Zero chance Levine left on his own. Less than zero  in fact.

[Riverbrian]

3 minutes ago, USAFChief said:

Zero chance Lavine left on his own. Less than zero  in fact.

I agree he was probably pushed but he was allowed to tell the world that he left on his own accord. 

[Vanimal46]

11 minutes ago, Riverbrian said:

Lavine did. 

Why he left one of 30 major league jobs without another job lined up says something. Was he pushed out or did he just say... Screw This? 

I don't know both are possible but you just don't leave a well paying high profile job like that without another job lined up unless he was pushed out

Or the frustration/pressure level got to the point that he was willing to chuck something that he had spent 26 years cultivating to get to that position.  

We will never what was happening inside of those offices but what was leaking out of it sure gave the impression of turmoil. 

 

Turns out Levine was the smartest person in the room and left this mess of an organization before his reputation was tarnished. 

[Riverbrian]

13 minutes ago, Vanimal46 said:

Turns out Levine was the smartest person in the room and left this mess of an organization before his reputation was tarnished. 

And today he's doing? He's got a podcast so there's that.  

[Vanimal46]

The staleness of this organization goes back years... I would argue since the late season collapse in 2022. We've been watching the same trainwreck for 5 years. And all we've done to address the root cause of the problem is fire the athletic trainer, and firing hitting coaches. Marginal stuff to make it look like they're doing something different. 

Same thing with the roster. We have played it out seeing if the core of players mentioned in the article could improve, and they have not. 

[AKTwinsFan]

We need a manager that will create a solid lineup and only make small tweaks (not batting orders) depending on who's on the mound. Baldellis incessantly changing the lineup and batting order every single game just doesn't keep any consistency in the production. Buck should really be 2nd or 3rd. I think Baldeill should have been replaced after last year's late season collapse, but now we're forced to watch an entire year of this inconsistency next season as well. 

[ashbury]

40 minutes ago, Riverbrian said:

I agree he was probably pushed but he was allowed to tell the world that he left on his own accord. 

Yeah, if not for that, he might not be able to take part in that podcast you mentioned.  😄

[Linus]

The FO chose to run back the same crew as they were in or entering their primes. It was a defensible but risky move. None of the players took a step forward, a couple treaded water and several outright flopped. The reason why it was risky is what we see now: a roster with so many holes to fill that they realistically have to rebuild whether they want to or not.  I sometimes feel like Falvey is only comfortable making decisions when the sample size is large enough to put him at ease. Many times the horse is out of the barn by that point. And as @RiverBrian has pointed out, the lack of development hindered their available options. So now we wait for the next wave of prospects and hope they somehow are better than the last group.