We're Still Waiting

[Parker Hageman]

Image courtesy of © Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images

“I want a f*cking parade.”

That was Rocco Baldelli’s rallying cry to his clubhouse in spring training. He wasn’t talking about incremental improvement or simply competing for a division title. He was setting the bar at the top: a World Series championship, a parade down Hennepin Avenue, the kind of celebration that cements players into franchise folklore.

“The community will forever be indebted to you,” Baldelli continued. “Forever. They’ll f*cking love you.”

If you walk around Target Field, the evidence of what parades mean to Minnesota is everywhere. Kent Hrbek has a bar inside and a statue outside. Dan Gladden is a voice on the radio. Kirby Puckett is bronzed. Tim Laudner greets fans on the television broadcast. Bert Blyleven and Tom Kelly’s numbers hang in retirement. They aren’t remembered just because they were good. They’re remembered because they won. They gave this state parades.

The 2025 Twins didn’t deliver a parade. They didn’t even come close. What they delivered was another losing season, over 90 losses for the sixth time since Target Field opened in 2010. The offense spent April swinging pool noodles. The bullpen gave away leads. Fans sank into malaise. By July, the front office hit the eject button and turned the roster into a liquidation sale.

This wasn’t the corner turned in 2023, when Minnesota finally won its first playoff series in two decades. That team felt like the start of something. Instead, ownership slashed payroll, lost its TV deal, left swaths of the fanbase unable to watch, floated a sale, then backpedaled and brought in investors to cover debts. The same hands on the wheel. The same directionless drift.

And so, instead of a parade, Minnesota got prospects.

There were brief flickers of life. A 12-game winning streak in May. A handful of strong individual performances. But the overriding story was failure and frustration. The offense looked lifeless. The bullpen collapsed again and again. Fans checked out. By August, Target Field felt like a ghost town.

I remember what a parade feels like. In 1987, I was a kid in first grade, standing downtown with my sister, ticker tape in the air, the city buzzing, Sal Butera’s car catching fire in the procession, the kind of chaos that never leaves your memory. In 1991, it was the same energy, the same joy, the same proof that a baseball team could unite an entire state. Leaving downtown in ’87, I stuck my hand out the car window along Washington Avenue and strangers in Twins gear slapped it like we were all family.

That’s what a parade does. It bonds people. It brands memories. It tells you that for once, in this corner of the sports universe, we are winners.

And that’s why Baldelli’s words cut so deep. We want that f*cking parade. Not just for the players. For all of us.

Could the Twins get back there? Maybe. Byron Buxton, when healthy, is still one of the best centerfielders in the game. Pablo López and Joe Ryan are a formidable one-two punch. Royce Lewis has star potential, Luke Keaschall appears ready, and the pipeline is stocked with names like Walker Jenkins, Emmanuel Rodriguez, and Kaelen Culpepper. The Twins have built a reputation for developing arms, and pitching depth is finally a strength.

But hope is fragile. López, Ryan, even Buxton could be moved this winter. Ownership hasn’t inspired confidence. And fans know the cycle too well. The peaks of 1987 and 1991 followed valleys in the early ’80s. The division titles of the 2000s came after the misery of the late ’90s. The Twins lose, they rebound, they hang around the fringes, they collapse, and the cycle repeats.

2025 felt like another valley.

I’ll admit something. This was the first year in my life that I didn’t attend a Twins home game. Part of it was life. Kids in travel sports. Work that swallowed spring and summer. Part of it was principle. I wasn’t eager to hand ownership money after they tore the roster apart. And part of it was heartbreak. Watching the promise of 2023 vanish so quickly.

But I know myself. I’ll be back. We all will. That’s what baseball does. It gives you just enough. A streak here. A promising prospect there. A glimpse of what could be. And it keeps you coming back.

And we keep coming back for one reason.

We want that f*cking parade.

It likely won’t be next year. Maybe not the one after that. But somewhere down the line, when this core grows, when the prospects click, when the cycle turns upward again, we’ll be back downtown. Ticker tape in the air. Kids on shoulders. High-fives out of car windows.

Because we all want what Baldelli wanted this past spring. A f*cking parade.

 

View full article

[Glorybound]

This franchise has never been farther from a parade than today. Ownership will have to change to direct the ship on a course for a championship. If that doesn’t happen I hate to tell you but more seasons like this last one are in the future. “Right sizing” the payroll will continue next season and beyond.

[nclahammer]

A 20 game season ticket holder since 2010, I'm out next year.  My cost, even for the cheapest seats, has more than doubled since 2010 and the little perks like free TwinFest tickets and such are never coming back. 

[Richie the Rally Goat]

25 minutes ago, Glorybound said:

This franchise has never been farther from a parade than today. Ownership will have to change to direct the ship on a course for a championship. If that doesn’t happen I hate to tell you but more seasons like this last one are in the future. “Right sizing” the payroll will continue next season and beyond.

I remember the early 80s and the mid 90s to 2001. 

dark days

[mikelink45]

The downward spiral is a tough one to stop.  The article lists so many ways that ownership has failed the fans and yes the fans are the key to any sport.  Fans drive sponsors, television, radio, and ticket sales.  But when you pull the rug out of an excited fandom after winning (finally) a playoff series then you start with anger and need to reconcile.  It never happened.

Falvey can try to sell hope, but two years in a row winning streaks that started to garner hope turned out to be empty promises.  Next year even a 12 game winning streak will lack luster as fans do the been there, done that routine.  

It will take a full, sustained year to gain momentum again and that means less revenue in, less money out and thus we have a spiral that points downward. 

[Peter]

Next year will be way better!!! And future is looking great!!! We got great prospects that are ready to step up!!! And Lopez/ryan aren’t going anywhere!!! Just sucks no more Twins baseball until next year!!!

[MinnInPa]

please stop including Rodriguez in any future plans ..what has ge ever done to impress????

[CRF]

...and into the abyss we go. There is no hope, until the Pohlad's are no longer the owners. 

[AlGoreRythm]

34 minutes ago, Peter said:

Next year will be way better!!! And future is looking great!!! We got great prospects that are ready to step up!!! And Lopez/ryan aren’t going anywhere!!! Just sucks no more Twins baseball until next year!!!

If only we could ask share your delusion lol

[rv78]

It will take new owners with a desire to win to ever get another parade. You can have the best stable of prospects coming up in the next few years to turn the tide but without a commitment to add a few key Free Agents to complement those top prospects you will never get over the top. Without adding players like Dan Gladden, Chili Davis, Juan Berenguer, Jack Morris, and Bert Blyleven, players like Hrbek, Puckett, Viola, Gaetti, Tapani, Erickson wouldn't have ever made it on their own. Owners have to commit and the Front Office has to find the right pieces to add. Players like Gallo, Margot, and the dozen or more other washouts they have tried, will never work. Add in over-spending and tying up your budget with a Correa contract that will go down as one of the worst in Twins history if total failure on their part. The people in charge from the owners all the way down to the coach at the bottom of the totem pole aren't being held accountable for that failure. Only the fans can make it change by boycotting this team until those changes are made.

[Coach Wheels]

1 hour ago, Richie the Rally Goat said:

I remember the early 80s and the mid 90s to 2001. 

dark days

I believe we back to this times again

[Brandon27]

I don't see Pablo and Buxton on this team next year twins going trade them this offseason I believe both have no trade clauses which going to force them to wave them 

[palmspringstwinsfan]

Well said Parker. Thanks

[bunsen82]

29 teams are not going to get a parade.  
 

We are not going into the abyss.  As of now we have two high end SP.  Abel, Bradley Matthew’s Festa and SWR give the team a lot of quality options with high ceilings.  
 

We have some really good hitters coming up the season which is something we need.  This sell off will open up the window again in 2027.  

[Doctor Gast]

Pohlads have made a ton of mistakes, the greatest is letting Falvey take over & keeping him on. The problem was never the core; it was management. I hate to rain on your parade, but nothing will change until there is change at the top.

[Maybebaby]

The little bit of hope for this team is to start by retaining Lopez and Ryan.  If that happens that light at the end of the tunnel might NOT  be a train.

[Eris]

"This wasn’t the corner turned in 2023, when Minnesota finally won its first playoff series in two decades. That team felt like the start of something. Instead, ownership slashed payroll...."

It seems too easy to lead the discussion with money.  The Twins payroll is approximately equal the Tigers and greater than the Brewers, Guardians and Reds.  As I write this all these teams are in the playoffs or still in the race (Reds).  A detailed analysis is far more nuanced than just money.

The 2023 team made it into the playoff from a 2nd half surge led by Julien, Kepler, Castro, Lewis, Jeffers, and Wallner.  These were career years for Julien, Lewis and Jeffers.  The 2nd best careers years by fWAR for Kepler, and Castro.  Since then, Julien and Kepler will likely be out of baseball next year.  Lewis has been one of the worst hitters in baseball for past year.  Wallner's career has failed to take flight.  What the h*** happened that all these players did so will in the 2nd half of 2023 (and the first half of 2024).

In addition, the Twins have had a horrible success rate with first round draft picks. Buxton, Lewis, Larnach and Lee are the Twins 1st round picks that are on the active roster.  Lewis, Larnach and Lee combined for 1.4 fWAR this year.  Martin was also a first round pick for the Blue Jays.  That is a lot of failure in the scouting and development department.  Also worth of a detailed analysis.  The Twins perhaps have learned from the years of failure by drafting more athletic players with their first pick.  The Twins lack of success with high draft picks is one of the main reasons for years of failure on the diamond.

The Twins have continued to fail on the baseball field despite having success in their starting pitching department.  Poor defense, lack of situational hitting, lousy baserunning all seem to contribute.  Money will not fix these issues.

I spent my evening last night watching baseball.  A gem by Apel, several good defensive plays (Martin and Outman).  Afterwards I watched the end of the Ranger-Guardians game.  

 

[Riverbrian]

5 minutes ago, bunsen82 said:

29 teams are not going to get a parade.  

From San Diego to Baltimore... nearly all the organizations in baseball are waiting for this parade.

It's a nice mantra to set a parade goal... Rah Rah but it's not the first step. 

You got to get past the bouncers in front of this playoffs nightclub before anything happens to you inside.

There will be 162 games next year. 

 

 

[Squirrel]

3 hours ago, Glorybound said:

This franchise has never been farther from a parade than today. Ownership will have to change to direct the ship on a course for a championship. If that doesn’t happen I hate to tell you but more seasons like this last one are in the future. “Right sizing” the payroll will continue next season and beyond.

While we are far from a parade, I don’t know if we’ve been farther from it. The mid to late 90s were pretty awful. So were the early 80s. But, the point remains, we are far from it.

Edit: @Richie the Rally Goat beat me to it.

[GNess]

Sports teams including MLB teams get what they deserve - wanting it doesn't have much impact on results.

A MLB franchise that routinely makes suspect decisions in player acquisition, is hugely inconsistent in player development, often displays a lack of competitive toughness, doesn't seem tø emphasize solid fundamentals and is generally not willing to spend deserves to lose 90+ games. 

[ashbury]

I had forgotten that speech by Rocco. 

How much does a parade really matter to him?  Has he looked into whether the Dodgers have any job openings?

[Whitey333]

Twins are resting Buxton on Sunday.  The final game of the season.  I understand it's part tradition to rest veterans of non contending teams on the last day.  Why?  I don't know.  But it doesn't make me wonder about Buxton.  How could he ever agree to something like that with the great year he is having?  I don't get it.  If I'm not mistaken he has all winter to rest up.  I think it dims Buxtons light somewhat.

[sweetmusicviola16]

We have poor ownership that stays despite it failing. Therefore we have a poor FO that is allowed to stay despite its failing. Therefore we have poor on field managing that is allowed to continue on despite its failing. We have poor player development that is allowed to go on as is despite its failing. Nothing changes. This franchise is consistent I will say that for it. 

[Mahoning]

Even your positives are debatable. The farm system has "a reputation for developing arms?" Currently Bailey Ober is the only Twins' draftee in the starting rotation -- not exactly a Gavin Williams. Kody Funderburk seems to be pretty good. Matthews and Festa have proven nothing. Pierson Ohl and Travis Adams? Compare this crew to what Cleveland produces. Other teams -- Boston, for example, which always drafts lower than the Twins -- produce young hitting stars. The Twins? Maybe Keaschall. On the other hand, it's not quite right to demand a World Series champion because it devalues the regular season. If you have a team that wins more than it loses, it provides six months of baseball entertainment. 

[USAFChief]

"29 teams won't get a parade" completely misses the point.

Completely, totally, absolutely misses the point, and is exactly what the Twins are counting on, to boot 

[MGX]

4 hours ago, Peter said:

Next year will be way better!!! And future is looking great!!! We got great prospects that are ready to step up!!! And Lopez/ryan aren’t going anywhere!!! Just sucks no more Twins baseball until next year!!!

While I may not be in 100% agreement, have to love the optimism.

[IndianaTwin]

5 hours ago, MinnInPa said:

please stop including Rodriguez in any future plans ..what has ge ever done to impress????

I'm impressed with a .912 OPS in the minors, including an .853 in AAA this year, where he was 4.3 years younger than average. He didn't have the plate appearances to qualify, but had he, that would have placed him 16th in the 20-team  league. 

[LewFordLives]

I believe the current situation is more like the early 80s than the 90s. There is talent on this roster. They just need experience and time to separate the wheat from the chaff. 

[h2oface]

Parades don't come to quitters. It is apparent that Cleveland's success while Falvey was there had nothing to do with him, regardless of the spin that it did, and that it would transfer to us when he was given control. Cleveland continues to turn it on at the end of seasons, and we know what Falvey's Twins do. 

Cleveland was 46-49 at the All-Star break. (Twins were 47-49). Cleveland was 54-54 on July 31. Did they sellout, throw in the towel, and dismantle their team? Nope. They were 68-68 on September 1, 10.5 games back. The players didn't quit, either. Our Falvey threw in the towel. Decimated the team. Even with Lopez and Keaschall coming back, he chose to blow it up. Not Cleveland. 

Atlanta won a World Series in 2021 with many players hurt  and out for the season and 51-54 on July 30th. They didn't sellout the farm for the future, but Alex Anthopoulos made some improbable choices that worked (including a supposedly washed up Eddie Rosario, who had an improbable run and was MVP of the NLCS, batting .560 with three home runs and nine RBI in six games). And they didn't cash in all the trade value and deal an expiring Freddie Freeman, but kept him to make a run with him. They didn't give up! That got a parade.

Even when it seems improbable, great things can and do happen. But it never happens to quitters. When you sellout for hope and dreams in the future, you mostly find that the future was now, and the dream keeps recurring in the dream state, but not in reality. Will it always happen, if you don't quit? Nope. But it will NEVER happen if you do.

[gman]

7 hours ago, MinnInPa said:

please stop including Rodriguez in any future plans ..what has ge ever done to impress????

He always has an obp over 400. Doesn't matter what level or how injured he is.