The Twins' Pursuit of "Value" is Hurting Their Roster

[DJL44]

I will contradict my previous comments just to state that there is one benefit to signing a good relief pitcher - they're really tradeable at the deadline. If they give the money to Seranthony Dominguez they will have no trouble selling his contract in July.

[Cris E]

This isn't really a Falvey thing, it's a tale is as old as the franchise in Calvin Griffiths' days. We won't have the revenues of the big dogs and we never seem to have the confidence of the little ones so we wallow in the middle. And in recent years the Pohlads got into the cookie jar a little too deep and the money got even tighter. 

Falvey has spent what he gets, and when it whipsaws from Correa to a burn-down to No Half Measures in two years you're not going to have any coherence in the plans. It's been chaos and expecting him to stay the course is unreasonable.

That said, @DocBauerraises some fair points.  His notion of targeting specific talented guys early was torpedoed by the late date of the coup, but other moves like cashing in Larnach or spending a little bit of actual money on one quality bullpen arm or the utility guy all make sense within the budget numbers kicked around in November. There was time and payroll room to move some guys around without blocking the important work of getting the kids on the field in Minneapolis. 

[Cris E]

10 minutes ago, Chris Hove said:

Great article, Cody, and I 100% agree with your title. The bullpen is in complete shambles, with the Twins now having to convert some of their starters into bullpen roles and vice versa. I'm still not sure what the plan is moving forward, especially if Ryan and or Pablo get traded. It looks like this is what we will have come opening day.

Shifting young starters into relief roles is a constant in every organization and in every season dating back to the 50s.  This is not a problem, it's a process. If a guy is good enough you hope he develops as a starter so you get more out of him, but as his effectiveness or health wanes you slide him into the pen to see if he gets better. Some guys with injury concerns or who came to pitching later in their careers may debut in the pen, but all the way back to high school ball it's how things work. 

[Woof Bronzer]

2 hours ago, tarheeltwinsfan said:

 Hang in there Minneapolis. 

Thank you.  I needed this.  

[Craig Arko]

1 hour ago, LA Vikes Fan said:

Forgetting the baseball for a minute, as someone who lives out of state I just wanna say hang in there, Minneapolis. This can’t be fun to go through regardless of your politics. Just remember that this too shall pass.

Thank you.

[Eris]

I realize this article is about RP, but it doesn’t make much sense to focus on value when the team has two or three position players who average or above average. This is not a competitive team based on last year’s performance. We are left hoping that the once promising position players turn it around. 

[Woof Bronzer]

1 hour ago, LA Vikes Fan said:

Forgetting the baseball for a minute, as someone who lives out of state I just wanna say hang in there, Minneapolis. This can’t be fun to go through regardless of your politics. Just remember that this too shall pass.

Thank you.  Truly.

[rv78]

For those of you who are willing to give Falvey a pass, you have short memories. $11M for Gallo and a huge contract for Correa that proved to be so bad that they had to dump him for a player they have already DFA'd and eat part of his salary for the next 3 years only proves he is inept at his job. Even when he was given the money to improve the club, he whiffed. Now, with salary constraints the best he can do is a 1st baseman (Bell) trending towards the end of his career that is better suited for the DH role. 

The only way this team will make the playoffs in 2026 or beyond with Falvey in charge is IF SOME of the young players like Lewis, Lee, Wallner, Larnach, Martin, Julien, and so on, become really good players, so much so, that they play 50-100% better than what we have previously seen. The chances of that happening are "slim to none". The optimist better known as Falvey is betting on "slim". Most of the rest of us are betting on "none".

[Linus]

I’ve always thought FO types had a vision or plan for roster construction. I’m not sure Falvey does or one he adheres to anyway. I think he tries to raise the floor and get incremental improvements from the bottom of the roster which allows him to achieve “value” but has no plan to raise the ceiling of the roster. Rather he seems content to wait for one of his core players to break out and raise the the ceiling without spending money or prospects. In other words he doesn’t seem to adhere to an over arching plan of “I’m going to solve first base by trading for a good player or signing an athletic bat for the outfield rather he hangs around and when a value opportunity arises he makes the deal regardless whether the pieces fit together or not.  

[stringer bell]

3 hours ago, Chris Hove said:

Great article, Cody, and I 100% agree with your title. The bullpen is in complete shambles, with the Twins now having to convert some of their starters into bullpen roles and vice versa. I'm still not sure what the plan is moving forward, especially if Ryan and or Pablo get traded. It looks like this is what we will have come opening day.

I do expect at least one reliever to be signed to a major league contract, but the Twins will be extremely short on proven arms in the bullpen and it could be a trainwreck.

Falvey is stuck with little money to spend and major gaps to fill and has been since "right sizing"  began. I don't know if he's handled the situation admirably or even successfully, but I do agree that it is a tough assignment and if money is to be "saved", the bullpen is a good place.

Since the Arraez-Lopez trade, the Twins are trying to win by having their own talent develop and bringing in role players to augment their own talent. The failure really hasn't been the players brought in, but rather that their highly regarded talent has failed to become established solid big league players.

[Danchat]

4 hours ago, rv78 said:

And a huge contract for Correa that proved to be so bad that they had to dump him for a player they have already DFA'd and eat part of his salary for the next 3 years only proves he is inept at his job

I don't defend Falvey much, but the mandate to shrink payroll forced his hand to move Correa. Carlos wasn't having a great year but the deal wasn't "so bad" of a value else the Astros wouldn't have taken him. 

 

2 hours ago, stringer bell said:

don't know if he's handled the situation admirably or even successfully, but I do agree that it is a tough assignment and if money is to be "saved", the bullpen is a good place.

Since the Arraez-Lopez trade, the Twins are trying to win by having their own talent develop and bringing in role players to augment their own talent. The failure really hasn't been the players brought in, but rather that their highly regarded talent has failed to become established solid big league players.

Yup, player development been the big issue compared to the one year deals / DFA claims / and even moves like the Correa one. They desperately need talent to continuously come up because moves like signing Cruz, Donaldson, and Correa are a thing of the past. 

[Paul Walerius]

12 hours ago, JD-TWINS said:

PEN is a solid way to limit Festa & Prielipp’s innings while bringing value to the Big Club.

Raya - Klein - Adams - Morris (maybe not Ohl)

Matthews as a Closer. ……. all points you made above ……… Topa - Sands - Funderburk back for 6th/7th inning roles.

They acquired Orze in trade & that made sense on paper when looking at ‘25 stats.

A guy that has experience and upside with track record in FA should be doable as well.

To me, it’s just not that desperate of a situation. Unknown, yes - desperate, no.

Ohl as a starter has a 16.88 ERA, as a reliever 2.45 ERA.  Not to mention the last 6 outings he gave up 0 runs against teams like Yankees (2X), Indians, Rangers, Phillies (2 innings).  

[bean5302]

On 1/15/2026 at 11:25 AM, farmerguychris said:

I don't blame Falvey for this.  He has to try and wait for 'value' when it comes to free agents because the owners -DO NOT CARE-  if we win or not.  What else do they need to do to prove its only about the money for them.  They keep telling us they want to win, and we keep believing them - Why?  The Pohlads are no better than the Nuttigs in Pittsburgh and the Monforts in Colorado.  

I get being angry, but you're comparing 3 completely and entirely different ownership types.

The Pohlads signed off on a 6yr $200MM contract for Correa. They signed off on 10yrs and $285MM for Correa before Carlos initially signed with the Giants before that. The worst thing about the Pohlads is keeping Falvey employed.

[bean5302]

On 1/15/2026 at 11:38 AM, DJL44 said:

I will contradict my previous comments just to state that there is one benefit to signing a good relief pitcher - they're really tradeable at the deadline. If they give the money to Seranthony Dominguez they will have no trouble selling his contract in July.

Unless Dominguez has a bad start to the year or gets hurt, in which case they may not be able to get out from under the contract so easy. Both are high risks with a reliever like Dominguez.