The Twins and the Illusion of Hope in a Rebuild

[Cody Christie]

Image courtesy of © Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

For every fan base dreaming of a championship parade, there’s a phase where hope becomes the most valuable currency. It often starts with a message from the front office about patience and progress. Young players are coming. The future is bright. A better club is on the horizon.

That’s a comforting idea, especially when a team sits near the bottom of the standings. But for most organizations without top-tier payrolls, the results don't live up to the promise. The Minnesota Twins know this feeling all too well. After six straight losing seasons from 2011 to 2016, a complete rebuild had had time to unfold. High draft picks, a new player-development focus, and a growing farm system were supposed to set the stage for sustained success. A few division titles followed, but the team never made it past the ALDS—and if one discounts the 60-game pandemic season, they never made back-to-back trips to the postseason. Now, after trading away nearly 40 percent of their roster at the 2025 deadline, the cycle might be starting over.

So what can fans realistically expect from a rebuild? To answer that, it helps to look at two teams that took drastically different paths to relevance.

Houston’s Ruthless Rebuild
When the Houston Astros committed to tearing everything down between 2011 and 2014, it was baseball’s version of a controlled demolition. They lost over 100 games in three straight seasons. Payrolls hovered near the league minimum, and fans were asked to endure some truly unwatchable baseball.

But Houston’s approach was unapologetic. They invested heavily in analytics, revamped player development, and stockpiled top draft picks. Those painful seasons produced cornerstone players like Carlos Correa, Alex Bregman, and George Springer. By 2017, the rebuild had evolved into a dynasty. Eight straight playoff appearances and seven consecutive ALCS trips followed, along with two World Series titles.

The Astros became the model for a modern rebuild. They proved that patience, when paired with elite scouting and player development, could lead to dominance. Yet, even that success came at a cost. Years of losing alienated fans, and their later sign-stealing scandal cast a shadow over their achievements. Still, few would deny that Houston’s plan worked as intended.

Baltimore’s Long Road Back
The Baltimore Orioles followed a similar blueprint, though their results have been more complicated. Between 2018 and 2021, the Orioles lost over 100 games in three of four seasons. The front office (headed by ex-Astros wonk Mike Elias) prioritized high draft picks and a complete overhaul of the organization. Their farm system quickly became one of baseball’s best, producing names like Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson, and Jackson Holliday.

For a brief stretch, it looked like Baltimore’s patience was paying off. They reached the playoffs in 2023 and 2024, reigniting hope in a long-suffering fan base. But the dream stalled in the postseason. They never made it out of the ALDS, and in 2025, they tumbled below .500 again, finishing 19 games back in the brutal AL East.

Baltimore’s rebuild succeeded in creating a fun, young roster, but financial limitations and an inscrutable unwillingness to spend on established stars have left their project of domination unfinished. They built the foundation, but never added the capstones. It’s a story that feels familiar to Minnesota fans.

The Double-Edged Sword of Rebuilding
A rebuild offers an easy sell for a front office. It buys time. It allows ownership to lower payroll, while still promising better days ahead. Fans are told to be patient, trust the process, and celebrate the future rather than the present. The problem is that for most small-market clubs, that future never truly arrives.

Teams like the Astros are the exception, not the rule—and their massive media market gave them a cushion the Twins do not enjoy. Rebuilds can lead to improved farm systems and more innovative player development strategies, but without consistent financial investment, they rarely deliver championships. In the meantime, losing becomes normalized, and fans are left to wonder when all the suffering will finally matter.

For the Twins, the challenge now is to prove that this next phase isn’t just another reset. They’ve rebuilt before. They’ve drafted well at times. They’ve won the division. But if the cycle of tearing down and treading water continues, the promise of a brighter future might start to feel like a well-rehearsed sales pitch rather than a real plan. Asking fans to believe that new wave of innovation is coming without a change in front-office leadership is a tall order.

Hope is powerful, but it only lasts so long before fans start asking for results.

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Are the Twins in a rebuild? When is their next winning window? Leave a comment and start the discussion. 

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[ashbury]

Discussion of Houston and Baltimore needs to be supplemented by at least a mention of Pittsburgh's perpetual rebuilding status.

[Rod Carews Birthday]

It is my skepticism about a "rebuild" that makes me want to hang onto the good players we have -- Pablo, Ryan, Buxton, Jeffers. . .   I can imagine nothing worse than tearing it down to the studs and being terrible in 2026 and 2027, while only losing 90 games instead of 100 in 2028 and 2029.  Keep your best players.  Sign some guys.  Bring up some prospects.  And compete for the playoffs and division.  If we tear it all down, if we're lucky, we might be as good in 2028 as we were in 2025.  Yuck!

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

24 minutes ago, Cody Christie said:

Hope is powerful, but it only lasts so long before fans start asking for results.

I know a lot of fans asking for results—fans that don’t even post here! I get that you don’t read these but still.

Anyway, the MLB draft is different now, too, than it was during the Houston and Washington teardowns. Too soon to tell about Baltimore, but I rate them a soft buy (I am optimistic for them)

Going forward in 2026, a 100-loss season will still get you better than 50/50 chances of landing a top 3 pick (woo-hoo! 🙂 100 losses! great job everyone!) but you cannot really count on getting the top pick year after year like those teams did. I went back, and Houston actually swung and missed on a couple those. 

Toronto did not do a hard reset, and have a manager in the mold of Rocco Baldelli, and yet here they are. 

Many ways to get to the promised land now in the 3 wildcards era. 

[Teflon]

Given the depleted roster and failed prospects, 4 or 5 years seems like the shortest possible timeline to rebuild the Twins - if we had a competent front office with the will to do so.  To do that, the Twins need to get something of promise now for Buxton, Lopez, Ryan and Jeffers instead of waiting for their contracts to expire. They're never going to taste postseason bubbly again here in their careers - so it would be in their best interests to waive any no-trade restrictions and pick a contender. (Holds up a picture of Louis Varland pitching in the World Series as an example)

Equate 2026 to 1982 when the Twins brought the core group of players together that would reach the World Series five years - and one GM change - later. That would assume we have the equivalent of young Hrbek, Gaetti, Laudner and Viola here, right now - and Puckett coming up in the minors. That would assume we could add Brunansky and Gagne for our veterans. That would assume we could deal for the likes of a Blyleven, Reardon, Berenguer and Gladden when we're on the doorstep. We should go all in on building the 2031 Twins.

[ashbury]

15 minutes ago, Teflon said:

Given the depleted roster and failed prospects, 4 or 5 years seems like the shortest possible timeline to rebuild the Twins - if we had a competent front office with the will to do so.  To do that, the Twins need to get something of promise now for Buxton, Lopez, Ryan and Jeffers instead of waiting for their contracts to expire. They're never going to taste postseason bubbly again here in their careers - so it would be in their best interests to waive any no-trade restrictions and pick a contender. (Holds up a picture of Louis Varland pitching in the World Series as an example)

Equate 2026 to 1982 when the Twins brought the core group of players together that would reach the World Series five years - and one GM change - later. That would assume we have the equivalent of young Hrbek, Gaetti, Laudner and Viola here, right now - and Puckett coming up in the minors. That would assume we could add Brunansky and Gagne for our veterans. That would assume we could deal for the likes of a Blyleven, Reardon, Berenguer and Gladden when we're on the doorstep. We should go all in on building the 2031 Twins.

1985 and especially 1986 looked like regression.  The magical 1987 post-season happened only because they were in the weak Western Division, nosing out KC and Oakland - 4 East teams were ahead of them in wins.

Taken literally, your template is risky in terms of milestones along the way. and the patience a repeat of 1985/6 would require now.  Nine years into Falvey's regime, I'd be more inclined to insist on progress each year, rather than implicitly give a 5-year blank check to try giving us a winner again. 

Now, if Falvey were replaced by someone good from outside, I'd have no choice but to sit tight for this 5-year plan.

[Doctor Gast]

Suppose Falvey had really taken full responsibility of the team, instead of finding every excuse in the book to redeem himself. In that case, he'd step aside as FO & let someone who was able to initiate essential trades, good at player evaluations & development, & get back to real baseball. Twins could have built off the '23 team that beat TOR, we'd be where TOR is right now. 

Are we supposed to have hope in the one who failed to do that, completely gave away 40% of well-proven players for unproven, undeveloped, AAAA & redundant players/prospects? With all that, be responsible for the rebuild? Our hope begins when Falvey is out of the equation.

HOU & BAL knew how to draft & develop players & things are different now, drafting isn't a given even if you knew what you are doing. Twins are probably waiting out the '27 lockout. But by that time, Falvey would have dug a pretty deep hole to climb out of. I want to be optimistic but it's hard for me, with the way things are.

[S Bart]

The recent star Tribune article evaluating and providing the 2025 the player stats. was superb. MT. Everest needs to be scaled and superb coaching along with some needed FO/owner spending is a must.  The pitching staff ERAs are pretty scary except for a couple. Hitters like Wallner need coaching. Fingers crossed...bit tough for a die hard Twins fan not to shake his head..

[TNtwins85]

Not a rebuild until they trade Pablo and Buxton. Until then I’m not gonna think this is even remotely close to a rebuild. They traded 4 relievers and all but one to be free agents. They were never gonna resign any of those guys and they got rid of relievers for starters and position players. They didn’t trade for all A ball guys either. Not a rebuild. The Twins fans “sky is falling” nature is getting overblown. When a guy like Walker Jenkins is in AAA a rebuild is not in the books. The prospect cupboards are not bare and last time I checked they’ve still got a bunch of really good players. I believe a rebuild when everyone over 27 is gone.

[Nashvilletwin]

“Rebuild” may be what people perceive as the correct moniker for the Twins’ strategy over the next several years.  But in reality that term is being misapplied to the Twins as it is fact not the true crux of the actual strategy the team should be pursuing.

Until a true salary cap model is in place, the only strategy that any small to mid market team without a “sugar daddy” owner can employ to successfully compete year in and year out is to: a) draft/acquire, develop, and prudently extend their own cheap homegrown talent; b) trade that talent if necessary when about to lose it to free agency and/or it’s a peak value; and c) thoughtfully (i.e. don’t break the bank on contract dollars or length) augment the talent with one or two key free agents as needed.  The ability to successfully apply this model is highly dependent on the coaching staff/player development capabilities. That is where the ability to build some level of meaningful competitive advantage begins and ends. And failure in this area has been the most critical reason for the lack of success in the Rocco/Falvey era.

So the trading of Ryan, Lopez, as well as possibly Buxton and Jeffers, should not necessarily be looked at as “rebuilding”, but, instead, what smart smallish market teams do when it’s obvious their “star” players either will not resign (for whatever reason) or have dwindling future value.

Any small market team that is proficient in these areas should expect to not only put a competitive, entertaining product on the field annually, but also compete for playoff berths more often than not and have legitimate World Series aspirations from time to time.

 

 

[Lasorda_This_Out]

Cody..Minnesota is not a "Small Market" team? Mid? Yup..

Big difference.

Otherwise, enjoyed the take..

[CRF]

I'll be honest...I don't really have any idea what they're doing, and what the long range plan is. The problem is...I don't think Falvey does either. 

[Doctor Wu]

10 hours ago, TNtwins85 said:

Not a rebuild until they trade Pablo and Buxton. Until then I’m not gonna think this is even remotely close to a rebuild. They traded 4 relievers and all but one to be free agents. They were never gonna resign any of those guys and they got rid of relievers for starters and position players. They didn’t trade for all A ball guys either. Not a rebuild. The Twins fans “sky is falling” nature is getting overblown. When a guy like Walker Jenkins is in AAA a rebuild is not in the books. The prospect cupboards are not bare and last time I checked they’ve still got a bunch of really good players. I believe a rebuild when everyone over 27 is gone.

Good and accurate take on the current situation. I don't see this as a rebuild at all at this point. Of course, who knows what the front office will do between now and April. But I still feel that we have the foundation of a competitive team next season. Perhaps trading a guy like Ryan and getting back an impact bat in return will make a difference. If guys like Lewis, Lee, and Wallner product like we hope they can, that's another plus. But, oh yeah, there's the matter of that depleted bullpen. Sure, that's an issue, but I think that problem will be easier to patch up as opposed to trying to find four capable starting pitchers. We have enough arms for the rotation, even without Ryan, and I think maybe one or two of those guys could go the Duran/Varland route and turn into good relief pitchers. Plus, as you noted, we have some darned good talent in the minors, waiting to make an impact. Not a rebuild at all. 

[Major League Ready]

7 hours ago, Nashvilletwin said:

“Rebuild” may be what people perceive as the correct moniker for the Twins’ strategy over the next several years.  But in reality that term is being misapplied to the Twins as it is fact not the true crux of the actual strategy the team should be pursuing.

Until a true salary cap model is in place, the only strategy that any small to mid market team without a “sugar daddy” owner can employ to successfully compete year in and year out is to: a) draft/acquire, develop, and prudently extend their own cheap homegrown talent; b) trade that talent if necessary when about to lose it to free agency and/or it’s a peak value; and c) thoughtfully (i.e. don’t break the bank on contract dollars or length) augment the talent with one or two key free agents as needed.  The ability to successfully apply this model is highly dependent on the coaching staff/player development capabilities. That is where the ability to build some level of meaningful competitive advantage begins and ends. And failure in this area has been the most critical reason for the lack of success in the Rocco/Falvey era.

So the trading of Ryan, Lopez, as well as possibly Buxton and Jeffers, should not necessarily be looked at as “rebuilding”, but, instead, what smart smallish market teams do when it’s obvious their “star” players either will not resign (for whatever reason) or have dwindling future value.

Any small market team that is proficient in these areas should expect to not only put a competitive, entertaining product on the field annually, but also compete for playoff berths more often than not and have legitimate World Series aspirations from time to time.

Talk about hitting the nail on the head.  This is what it takes to be successful and it’s far from a theoretical point.  History proves your point quite emphatically.  Lots of people here ignoring how good teams have been built because they don’t like the strategy that has been proven to win.   The rationale is that we have not been good enough at developing.  Then get better at developing but following an inferior strategy is the worst possible scenario.

The whole selling hope thing cuts both ways.  Is it more realistic to believe Lewis and Lee are going to go from below average to the kind of players necessary to be a serious post season team and that we can fill the many holes in the BP, as well as 1B, and BU catcher.  The corner OF needs serious upgrades as well.  Basically, we have a good starting staff, Buxton and Keaschall.  Every other position is in need of upgrading.  Yet, somehow that’s an easier scenario to believe in.

Anyone unwilling to invest in the future should not complain in 2028 and beyond that the Twins are unwilling to do what it takes to build an actual contender.  Trading Ryan could obviously flop but it’s what’s necessary if building a contender is the goal.  If we just want the best team possible next year, keep Ryan.  Win 76 games instead of 72 and forego whatever the return would have been for 6-7 years.  Really bad strategy bit it requires no pain.  
 

[Riverbrian]

7 hours ago, Nashvilletwin said:

“Rebuild” may be what people perceive as the correct moniker for the Twins’ strategy over the next several years.  But in reality that term is being misapplied to the Twins as it is fact not the true crux of the actual strategy the team should be pursuing.

Until a true salary cap model is in place, the only strategy that any small to mid market team without a “sugar daddy” owner can employ to successfully compete year in and year out is to: a) draft/acquire, develop, and prudently extend their own cheap homegrown talent; b) trade that talent if necessary when about to lose it to free agency and/or it’s a peak value; and c) thoughtfully (i.e. don’t break the bank on contract dollars or length) augment the talent with one or two key free agents as needed.  The ability to successfully apply this model is highly dependent on the coaching staff/player development capabilities. That is where the ability to build some level of meaningful competitive advantage begins and ends. And failure in this area has been the most critical reason for the lack of success in the Rocco/Falvey era.

So the trading of Ryan, Lopez, as well as possibly Buxton and Jeffers, should not necessarily be looked at as “rebuilding”, but, instead, what smart smallish market teams do when it’s obvious their “star” players either will not resign (for whatever reason) or have dwindling future value.

Any small market team that is proficient in these areas should expect to not only put a competitive, entertaining product on the field annually, but also compete for playoff berths more often than not and have legitimate World Series aspirations from time to time.

 

 

[Linus]

I think the Illusion of Hope is thinking the current team, with some minor moves this off-season, has any chance to compete next year. 

[Riverbrian]

This re-whatever it is.

Doesn't have to take a long time. 

Can it take a long time? Yes it can. 

If the Twins aggressively commit to development and stop the Frankenstein approach. This doesn't have to take a long a time. 

If they sign a bunch of IKF types to fill space.

This re-whatever it is... will take a long time. If they platoon Erod and Jenkins. This will take a long time. 

 

[Major League Ready]

10 hours ago, Riverbrian said:

This re-whatever it is.

Doesn't have to take a long time. 

Can it take a long time? Yes it can. 

If the Twins aggressively commit to development and stop the Frankenstein approach. This doesn't have to take a long a time. 

If they sign a bunch of IKF types to fill space.

This re-whatever it is... will take a long time. If they platoon Erod and Jenkins. This will take a long time. 

I am with you here.  This team is likely to look very different by the middle of 2027 with a SS and an OF that are much more complete players.  Brooks Lee can still play a valuable role as a utility IFer.  That’s a very different team offensively and defensively which will be a lot more exciting to watch.

It’s not rocket science.  They have to get impact players in return for Ryan and Lopez.  Two good players (the kind that should be returned for those players) added to Keaschall/Jenkins/Culpepper/Tait and whoever else emerges would significantly improve the odds of fielding a contender.  The high 2026 draft pick and Tait should be here in 2028.  There is a 22% chance for Roch Cholowsky and that pick has a good shot at impacting the team at some point in 2028 even if it’s not Cholowsky.  

I don’t understand the gloom and doom 5-year predictions.
 

[Riverbrian]

21 minutes ago, Major League Ready said:

I am with you here.  This team is going to likely to look very different by the middle of 2027 with a SS and an OF that are much more complete players.  Brooks Lee can still play a valuable role as a utility IFer.  That’s a very different team offensively and defensively which will be a lot more exciting to watch.

It’s not rocket science.  They have to get impact players in return for Ryan and Lopez.  Two good players (the kind that should be returned for those players) added to Keaschall/Jenkins/Culpepper/Tait and whoever else emerges would significantly improve the odds of fielding a contender.  The high 2026 draft pick and Tait should be here in 2028.  There is a 22% chance for Roch Cholowsky and that pick has a good shot at impacting the team at some point in 2028 even if it’s not Cholowsky.  

I don’t understand the gloom and doom 5-year predictions.
 

I can only guess but the gloom and doom long term thought from many... probably comes from the past. It comes from a long standing stigma attached to youth that in my opinion is no longer necessary or accurate.  

The farm system is much much more relied upon in today's baseball than it was in the past. Teams are relying upon youth to a larger degree and this has increased the value of prospects to the point where it is now expensive to acquire them. This wasn't true back when the Cubs were giving up a boatload for a half year rental of Aroldis Chapman. If you want a top end prospect now. You'll have to give up talent with years of control to get a top end prospect. 

The Twins are at a crossroads right now. They can go down the path chosen by Milwaukee and Cleveland with more money as they commit to development at the major league level right now. Doing so will free up significant money to spend to compete for one or two key free agents at a higher price point. 

Or they can just go down the same path they have taken since Falvey/Lavine arrived in Minnesota. That path is the same path that Philadelphia and the Yankees go down without the money to significantly compete with the Phillies and Yankees on this same path. There is a difference between signing Bryce Harper and signing Ty France. A huge difference but it's the same path.   

If they continue down the same path that Philadelphia takes and do so without Philadelphia money. If they jJust fill the numerous development gaps with the affordable free agents that Philadelphia doesn't want and still running out of spending money in the process. This will take a painfully long time and there will be a new front office completing it. 

For 2026 and 2027... I'll just say... Youth doesn't scare me. It's all about finding talent as quickly as possible right now.  

 

[Sparky55]

With this ownership there isn’t much hope. They said when the time feels right we will spend. Well after winning a playoff series for the first time in forever they failed to add pieces to get over the top. I guess we can hope for every player to have a career year and have that magical year

[rv78]

Falvey doesn't do rebuilds. He builds perrenial contenders. That is what we were promised when he and Levine took over. A perrenial contender. In his 9 years, they have been to the playoffs 4 times. 3 of the 4 times was in the first 4 years of his tenure, Only 1 of those times has it been in the last 5 years. This pretty much proves the players leftover from the last regime were better than what he has brought in. When you take over a team and it gets worse instead of getting better you are failing at your job. The Pohlads don't care or Falvey would have been fired along with Rocco. 

These are the players Falvey brought into the organization since the start of the 2025 season in no particular order: Lovelady, McCaughan, Beede, Bride, Clemens, Wentz, Gillispie, Davis, Pereda, Hatch, Kriske, Cabrera, Bradley, Abel, Tait, Jimenez, Outman, Horn, Rojas, Roden, Mikulski, Mendez, Villoria, Armstrong, Gallagher, Lugo, Kreidler. Most are minor league fodder. 11 of them are 25 years old or older. The few that have already seen major league action have never been difference makers yet they will NEED to be if 2026 is not going to be another 90 loss season. So, I ask you, where is the improvement going to come from? Will Ryan, Lopez, Buxton, and Jeffers still be here in 2026? If not, this team could set the record for the most losses in a season. If 2 or 3 real difference makers are not brought in, this team won't be any better than last year and I don't expect the Pohlads to spend to make that happen and I don't expect Falvey to know how to do it even if the Pohlads would give him the green light. 

[Mahoning]

After the July sell-off, Falvey described it as "the next big push." We are still waiting to learn what the "big push" consists of. The Twins' ownership and leadership test our patience, and encourage cynicism, by their lack of candor. They want fan loyalty, as all teams do, but never come clean. What are the finances? What are the plans? They don't seem to understand that honesty would cost them nothing and buy a great deal of good will.

[SteveLV]

I am one of us old enough to remember the brutal '82 Twins. Lost a million games, but lots of young players learning and adapting to the major league.  Hrbek homering in Yankee stadium comes to mind. Viola lost a bunch of games but learned to pitch.

The Team lost, but the number of good young players sparked optimism for the future with a core that eventually won the 2 World Series in '87 and '91.

I have zero problem following the Twins in '26 and '27 as long as they are giving the young potential star players a chance to play regularly and learn to play the game at the MLB level.

What I don't want to watch and follow is the "bargain bin" approach to FA with a bunch of older never-going-anywhere cheap players who block the chance for younger players.

Since neither Ryan or Lopez are ever going to see another contract from the Twins, the prudent move is to move them (and Buxton if he wants to leave) and gather as much young talent as possible.

 

[Jeff K]

8 hours ago, Lasorda_This_Out said:

Cody..Minnesota is not a "Small Market" team? Mid? Yup..

Big difference.

Otherwise, enjoyed the take..

I had to look it up; MSP is the 16th largest metro with 3.7 Million souls.  Houston, on the other hand, has the 5th largest metro at 7 million souls.  I think they qualify as a pretty large metro with much greater financial resources.  

[Peter]

First off twins are small market team!!! Second they are perfect for buy low!!! This is best time to be twins fan now is time to support them! If you hate team get off bandwagon now!!! Once they get good you can’t jump back on!!! This team will win a World Series!!! Can’t wait for next season as it’s going to be intense and exciting!!!

[jorgenswest]

16 hours ago, Cody Christie said:

But Houston’s approach was unapologetic. They invested heavily in analytics, revamped player development, and stockpiled top draft picks. Those painful seasons produced cornerstone players like Carlos Correa, Alex Bregman, and George Springer. By 2017, the rebuild had evolved into a dynasty. Eight straight playoff appearances and seven consecutive ALCS trips followed, along with two World Series titles.

Springer was not drafted as result of a 100 loss season. Those were the 2012 to 2015 drafts. Like Altuve and Keuchel he was one of the pieces that was acquired prior to the drafts that resulted from the 100 loss seasons. Their top picks from those disastrous seasons were Correa, Aiken and Appel all picked first and Bregman picked second overall.

Like the Brewers and Guardians it was about acquisition and development. By 2013 it was a commitment to young players instead of veterans in team friendly one year deals. They were an old team winning 74 and 76 games in 2009 and 2010. They had few pieces to trade off and the returns on those trades were not a part of the championship run. They committed to developing their own and did it well.

The Twins don’t need to lose 100 games four years in a row. They need to develop their players well and give them sustained opportunities in the majors. If they can’t develop players it won’t matter if they are at the top of the draft 4 years in a row.

[GNess]

It ˆs commonplace to point to successful outliers such as Houston or Baltimore and conclude, "we can do that - they did it." Well, first it is not that simple because championship level player evaluation, player development, timing of trades and increasing expenditures are a product of skill, ability and a touch of luck by the key decision-makers in the process.

What about the Twins key decision-makers make it likely they can pull this off?

I guess there is hope.

[Whitey333]

IMO  the near future looks quite bleak.  I hope it all works out but I doubt it.. I think the Twins under Falvey have done a poor job of developing their cant miss prospects.  Almost all of them have missed.  People just assuming.prospects like Jenkins, Gonzales are going to step in and be immediate superstars are just like management.. wishful thinking and over hype.

[NotAboutWinning]

What? Now we don't even have hope? Just the illusion of hope? 😢😢😢

[Riverbrian]

I have no inside information therefore no way of knowing but I believe that Falvey and Lavine arrived in Minnesota with an impression that they could significantly increase payroll. 

The reason I have this impression is because nearly every move they made to staff the roster each and every year can only be justified if they are under the impression that they could significantly increase payroll. 

They did... they significantly increased payroll and then it stopped. Right about the time that RSN money went away.

All of sudden nearly every move they made left the impression that they had absolutely no money at all to work with and they didn't change course. 

Now Falvey gets a chance to do things more in lines with traditional Minnesota revenue. To not get the rug pulled from under. No false or unsustainable impressions. 

Commit to youth... Develop or Die.

After two years of trying to squeeze the last ounce of baseball out of Ty France and others. There should be no impression that there is significant money to work with. What has to happen next should be absolutely clear. Commit to youth... Develop or Die and maybe just maybe... a decent core can be built at a price point that can augmented by higher price point free agents for a better class of free agent.