Tom Pohlad Has a Differing Vision for the Twins. That Might Be the Problem.

[Nick Nelson]

Image courtesy of © David Berding-Imagn Images

"We will be competitive in 2026," said Tom Pohlad on Friday, reiterating an assertion he's made multiple times since taking over as controlling owner of the Minnesota Twins in December. It's a proclamation that defies reality, and certainly hasn't been backed by any significant action on the roster-building front. 

Coming off a 92-loss season, mired in question marks, and lacking much in the way of relief pitching, the Twins face a steep uphill climb to fulfill Pohlad's ambition. That point of friction seems to be what resulted in Derek Falvey stepping aside. While this split has been positioned by the team as "mutual," Falvey could surely see the writing on the wall and was ready to move on. 

Opinions will vary on the effectiveness of his tenure, but no one can deny Falvey has been stifled and railroaded repeatedly in trying to do his job over the past couple years. Minnesota's 2023 success was immediately followed by a momentum-shattering payroll slash, with sharper spending limits imposed since. 

 

The about-face in strategic direction this winter had to be the final straw from Falvey's point of view. The Twins' approach at the deadline clearly signaled intentions for a rebuild, or at the very least a temporary reset. Shipping out 10 players set the stage for a presumed follow-through in the offseason that would see the Twins trade Pablo Lopez and/or Joe Ryan (who was by all accounts very nearly dealt in July) for peak remaining value. 

This was a tough pill to swallow for Twins fans, but in the aftermath of what Minnesota did at the deadline, it was the only viable option. That is, until ownership threw a curveball and Tom took over from Joe as executive chair. With him, the new figurehead brought a contradictory mandate: compete now. No kicking the can down the road.

 

As a fan, I can appreciate what Pohlad is trying to do. He sees that interest in the team is spiraling, he knows the difficult road ahead for Major League Baseball, and he wants to temper the crash in fan morale by demonstrating some level of care and investment. Thus, we have the "we're going to compete" campaign, and the green light for modest acquisitions like Josh Bell and Victor Caratini. (Not to mention calling up canceled season ticket-holders personally.)

But here's the thing: it's too late. The die was cast for the 2026 season at the deadline when the front office traded three top relievers under team control, as well as Carlos Correa with no expectation of backfilling his salary. If the Twins were going to have a shot at rebounding from those losses, it was going to take higher-scale moves than Bell, Caratini and an army of waiver claims or scrap-heap signings. The Twins are projected in Vegas for 72-74 wins, which seems a very fair expectation objectively.

 

Derek Falvey knew it, helping explain his decision to jump ship. He was in line to be a scapegoat this summer, following in the footsteps of Rocco Baldelli, and he got out ahead of it. As for the motivations of Tom Pohlad and the Twins? Those are harder to reason, both in this instance and at a broader level. Parting ways with Falvey at this peculiar moment feels more like a denial of reality than an inspired shakeup.

"We're in the business of winning baseball games," Pohlad said back in December when he took over the reins. But therein lies the problem: business savvy doesn't win baseball games. It takes visionary baseball leadership and sound big-picture decision-making. The departure of Falvey leaves a huge experiential void in that department, while the Twins navigate aimlessly into a season that is bound to disappoint.

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[Post-Concussive Blues]

This is the explanation for Falvey’s departure that makes the most sense to me.

[Dave Borton]

Someone help me understand the pic/graphic at the top of the article.

Can't solve the puzzle any better than the Pohlad family seemingly can't solve theirs.

[dxpavelka]

Gotta love this site.  Whine for years about the direction of the team.  Team responds.  Whine about the direction of the team.  Like i've said for a long time:  The only thing Twins fans hate more than the team not doing what the fans want them to do is the team doing what the fans want them to do.  Twins fans wake up every morning thinking that someone pissed in their cereal and if no one did they do it themselves.

[Whitey333]

Great story.  Im not a Falvey fan and IMO he needed to go when Baldelli was dumped.  Anyway my guess is there was philosophical differences and in particular major payroll differences that Falvey didn't agree with.  This "mutual" parting of the ways comes at a peculiar time.  This organization keeps shooting itself in the foot.  Im guessing the payroll will stay between 100-110 This year and likely less.  I would expect the Twins to actively trade all or some of Lopez, Jeffers, Ryan, and Buxton.  We are going to become the Pittsburgh Pirates of the American league.  Maybe even the Miami Marlins.  Unbelievable.

[Bodie]

Insanity - doing the exact same thing over and over while expecting different results.

Or, reading twinsdaily.com...

[DJL44]

Tom - you don’t have a shortstop on the roster.

[theBOMisthebomb]

Classic Minnesota Twins mismanagement - infuriate the fanbase for two years then try to switch course and further infuriate some of the fanbase.

I think it was time to move on from each other so I'm falling for the mutual parting of ways story. Maybe it will help things to get a fresh start in the front office. Falvey (and Levine) did an okay job over their tenure all factors considered. 

[mluebker]

11 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

Tom - you don’t have a shortstop on the roster.

If they’re ever going to be more than a temporary aggregation of ballplayers that might be able to hit somewhat regularly and have only a general idea how to use their gloves, someone in the organization is going to need to start thinking in terms of “team” and continuity instead of “roster” and one-year contracts. Promising to be “competitive” is a long way from actually trying to win.

[rv78]

They are a dysfunctional bunch with different visions. Unfortunately all of their visions are flawed. In 2019 they had one of the best teams in baseball. They dismantled it in 2 years, built it back up by 2023 then went in the opposite direction the following season instead of building onto it. In 2025 they have a fire sale, tearing the team down even farther. After the season they claim they will compete in 2026, adding basically no one to date that will actually turn this team into a competitor.

There is no doubt in my mind that both Tom and Falvey want to win. Tom understands the need to win to get fans in the stands, thus the reason for calling cancelled season ticket holders. He also probably understands that Falvey wasn't going to produce that winning formula with a limited budget that the Pohlads require. Maybe some of the season ticket holders that he talked to, told him Falvey needed to go too. Falvey's problem was that he was just terrible at evaluating players. He'd see a player that had 1 good season in their entire career or even just half a season (Jorge Lopez) and expect him to be the star he was looking for. Even when the Pohlads gave him star caliber type money to spend he blew it on a player like Correa, or good money on Joey Gallo. The pitching pipeline he was suppose to develop only produced 1 starter named Bailey Ober, in his entire 9 year tenure. How many players did he bring in that were injured or injury prone? Even his last acquisition from Colorado, Kaminska is coming off TommyJohn surgery. Falvey took Terry Ryans vision of "Hope and A Prayer" to another level. Why? Because he wasn't the smartest man in the room afterall.

[thelanges5]

Falvey’s job was getting harder. It’s hard to win with no resources. Payroll, scouting, tech, development all heading in the wrong direction budget-wise. Just like Baldelli, Falvey will get hired again. We’re stuck with the Pohlads. 

Tom thinks his business sense and clubhouse vibes are worth wins on the field. He is overestimating both. 

I liked this bit from a Souhan piece this morning:

Tom Pohlad has yet to say anything that would inspire confidence in a discerning fan. During a Zoom news conference on Jan. 30, he asked that we stop obsessing over payroll size. He also said that if the Twins win this year, then the payroll will go up. Which ignores the fact that sometimes you have to increase the payroll to win.

 

[Coach Wheels]

When the team is no longer owned or led by someone named Pohlad, we can then talk seriously about building this organization and competing again.

[chpettit19]

2 hours ago, dxpavelka said:

Gotta love this site.  Whine for years about the direction of the team.  Team responds.  Whine about the direction of the team.  Like i've said for a long time:  The only thing Twins fans hate more than the team not doing what the fans want them to do is the team doing what the fans want them to do.  Twins fans wake up every morning thinking that someone pissed in their cereal and if no one did they do it themselves.

I don't think there's any contradiction in my stance since the deadline. I said then that I didn't think they were doing a full rebuild but instead were going to try to play both sides of the fence and rebuild while being competitive. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe Joe and Falvey were planning on doing the full rebuild that I (and many others) hoped for. But I have that same stance today. And I think many others agree with it now. Whether they did before or not.

Tom has changed lanes, making me undeniably correct now, and upsetting people. The team didn't respond. At least not in the way you seem to be implying. The team didn't fire Falvey, according to Gleeman, Bonnes, this article, etc. It truly was Falvey and Tom not agreeing on the strategy moving forward and Falvey was happy to get out of the way as Tom Pohlad was against a full rebuild and is truly thinking the 2026 Minnesota Twins will and should be competitive. That is not the team picking a direction in a responsible way in the big picture. That is Joe having picked a direction and Tom changing the direction but not actually giving the resources to meaningfully go in that direction. Well, unless you'd like the FO to trade away their entire farm system in some last-ditch effort to win in 2026. I don't think you'd find a single other poster on this site to back you up on that idea. 

Tom Pohlad expects the Twins to compete this year. Joe Pohlad had not been expecting the Twins to compete this year. Tom Pohlad took over as executive chair on December 17th. It was made clear to us fans up until that point that nobody could/would even give Falvey a 2026 payroll number until that point. Suggesting this is an example of successful leadership from ownership that should be making us all happy as fans is an interesting stance.

Edit to add: This is not a defense of Falvey. I think it was time for all parties to move on. I think the timing was awful and the Pohlads have handled things from the deadline to now about as terribly as you could (well from October 2023 til now, really), but Falvey has had 9 years, and it was time for a shakeup. This is just me saying the Pohlads haven't smoothly picked a direction. Handing the guy trained by Falvey the job 2 weeks before spring training with no plans to search for a replacement is not some significant change in direction and this has been far from a smooth transition of power between Pohlad brothers.

[chpettit19]

1 hour ago, Whitey333 said:

Great story.  Im not a Falvey fan and IMO he needed to go when Baldelli was dumped.  Anyway my guess is there was philosophical differences and in particular major payroll differences that Falvey didn't agree with.  This "mutual" parting of the ways comes at a peculiar time.  This organization keeps shooting itself in the foot.  Im guessing the payroll will stay between 100-110 This year and likely less.  I would expect the Twins to actively trade all or some of Lopez, Jeffers, Ryan, and Buxton.  We are going to become the Pittsburgh Pirates of the American league.  Maybe even the Miami Marlins.  Unbelievable.

I am nervous that they won't trade those guys. Tom keeps talking about being competitive. Keeps saying that building a business that can support a competitive team requires the 2026 Twins to be competitive. I am nervous that we will get to the deadline and he'll tell Zoll that he can't trade anyone and that Zoll just needs to figure out how to be competitive with the pieces he has because he's yet another in the long line of 3rd generation Pohlads who have absolutely no idea what they're doing in running a professional sports team. The new minority owners don't seem to be helping guide this ship in a better direction in the early goings.

[Major League Ready]

Based on last year's deadline, you have to believe Falvey was going to rebuild.  They were positioned much better to do this quickly than the vast majority of teams that rebuild.  It seemed to me like most of the baseball world assumed he would sell of their remaining high value assets.

Then, they announced they were keeping Ryan / Lopez and we wondered if they were just posturing because it made little sense unless they were going to significantly increase spending which seemed highly unlikely.  

Here is what I think.  New guy comes in, surveys the situation,  Many fans hated the idea of a rebuild.  TD is a good example of that sentiment.  Joe does not want to look bad nor does he want to take the heat while the team rebuilds so he chooses to change directions which just happens to be the worst possible choice if the goal is to build an actual contender.  

If a lot of things go right, they will be competitive which in no way should be confused with a contender.  They can always change direction again at the deadline if they are as bad as expected next year.  The cost in terms of long-term health are not the great if Ryan/Lopez remain healthy and perform.  Of course, the cost will be substantial if that's not the case.  The worst case scenario is they are just close enough to influence them to not to sell-off and we end up with no return and no playoff series.  In other words, perpetual mediocrity.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

2 hours ago, Dave Borton said:

Someone help me understand the pic/graphic at the top of the article.

Can't solve the puzzle any better than the Pohlad family seemingly can't solve theirs.

This is a picture of the Twins empty seats at Target Field. The number 7 pays homage to one of the greatest players ever to wear this number and answers the frequently asked question: "Who's the Twins Daddy?" It's for Mickey Mantle one of the greatest players ever who played for the Twins' "Daddy", which we must admit is the New York Yankees. 

[bunsen82]

20 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

I don't think there's any contradiction in my stance since the deadline. I said then that I didn't think they were doing a full rebuild but instead were going to try to play both sides of the fence and rebuild while being competitive. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe Joe and Falvey were planning on doing the full rebuild that I (and many others) was hoping for. But I have that same stance today. And I think many others agree with it now. Whether they did before or not.

Tom has changed lanes, making me undeniably correct now, and upsetting people. The team didn't respond. At least not in the way you seem to be implying. The team didn't fire Falvey, according to Gleeman, Bonnes, this article, etc. It truly was Falvey and Tom not agreeing on the strategy moving forward and Falvey was happy to get out of the way as Tom Pohlad was against a full rebuild and is truly thinking the 2026 Minnesota Twins will and should be competitive. That is not the team picking a direction in a responsible way in the big picture. That is Joe having picked a direction and Tom changing the direction but not actually giving the resources to meaningfully go in that direction. Well, unless you'd like the FO to trade away their entire farm system in some last-ditch effort to win in 2026. I don't think you'd find a single other poster on this site to back you up on that idea. 

Tom Pohlad expects the Twins to compete this year. Joe Pohlad had not been expecting the Twins to compete this year. Tom Pohlad took over as executive chair on December 17th. It was made clear to us fans up until that point that nobody could/would even give Falvey a 2026 payroll number until that point. Suggesting this is an example of successful leadership from ownership that should be making us all happy as fans is an interesting stance.

Tom is the one who changed Ownerships  directions to Falvey.   Tom needs to improve ticket sales,  and think magically saying the Twins will be competitive in 2026 will make it happen.   You either had to spend or trade money to rebuild a bullpen. If expectations were not met,  then that was going to fall on Falvey.  Now Tom gladly accepted Falveys resignation,  but now he is bearing all of the weight of the Twins moving forward.   

I said it would take $25 million to rebuild a competent bullpen and maybe trade a decent prospect.  1 high leverage reliever,  2 -7th/8th inning guys (1 signed 1 traded for) then another arm like Rogers.  All we got is Rogers Orze who no one is confusing as a 7th/8th inning guy.  4 players to add to the bullpen, with Funderburk, Sands, and Topa and transition someone like Festa.  

I do think Joe and Falvey were comfortable with a tear down all things considered.  That was their plan coming into winter meetings,  then Joe got kicked to the curb.   That is not to say I think Joe was good in his role.  I also don't think Falvey did everything right.   He had faults.  He also had some pretty good positives as well.  You don't have a .520 winning % over 9 years without doing something right even in a weak division.  

I am always the guy looking at the positive side of things.   This is a situation where the odds things go well are slim.  They do have some young players coming up,  but most likely we are out of contention at the deadline,  so will Tom have the guts to trade Ryan and or Lopez?  As of his press conference I don't get the sense he will.   

[LastOnePicked]

There's the narrative about all this that I want to be true ... and then there's the mounting evidence against that narrative.

I really, really wanted this to be about Tom Pohlad waking up, realizing that Falvey's insistence that this team was on the cusp of contention was nonsense. Maybe he looked at the Vegas odds (Twins as a bottom-5 club in MLB). Maybe he read Keith Law's farm system ranking (Twins organization ranked 21st). Maybe he saw the moves that other clubs were making and realized that this team, again, was just sort of foolishly trying to nibble their way forward. I wanted to believe that he realized that there was no path to a championship with Falvey's way of thinking. Because there isn't.

But then I read Tom's comments, I don't know if it's delusion or deception, but the idea that this team will "compete" for anything other than the cellar in 2026 is ridiculous and insulting. These are the AL Pirates with a worse farm system. Free agency has dwindled to a trickle. Teams are prepping ST rosters.

I don't like being lied to. I like clear-eyed honesty from leadership. It's increasingly clear to me that instead we just have another inept, out-of-touch Pohlad at the helm.

[Parfigliano]

2 hours ago, dxpavelka said:

Gotta love this site.  Whine for years about the direction of the team.  Team responds.  Whine about the direction of the team.  Like i've said for a long time:  The only thing Twins fans hate more than the team not doing what the fans want them to do is the team doing what the fans want them to do.  Twins fans wake up every morning thinking that someone pissed in their cereal and if no one did they do it themselves.

I for one welcome our new....(fill in the blank)....overlords.

[NYCTK]

The Pohlad family really is a perfect illustration for the phenomenon where generational wealth is squandered in three generations. Just a bunch of rich idiots that somehow think they're geniuses because of their bank account. 

Tom's no better than Joe. I can't wait to see his terrible team fail to fail to be competitive in the worst division in baseball. 

[bunsen82]

Here is the other issue,  The Twins under Falvey had built up infrastructure,  more staff more analytics.   After 2023 it was dismantled.  Go look at the drafts.   We were consistently hitting late round draft picks all the way through 2022,  then it appears you have a 1 off in 2023,  2024 doesn't appear we got anything either.  We will see.   For someone who is a draft guy,  I am not sure I have as high of expectations they will be able to do well in the draft.  We will see, and they do have a high draft pick.  I just get the sense they are not investing the resources in the front office to be successful,  similar to a Pirates or Rockies situation and that is not good for the long term.  

[JD-TWINS]

Falvey is like a School Superintendent after the District builds a new school and wins an award ………. then the community quits paying taxes and the School District has to fire the good teachers (highest paid) to meet new budget constraints with no forewarning. Yep, it’s the Superintendent's fault ….”never liked him”!

Can anyone see Tommy P. signing KFA with an overpay and maybe another FA to save face? “All part of our commitment to being competitive.” The franchise can obviously afford a $125M payroll if they can generate some interest. I SURE HOPE SO!

I saw Dan Hayes state (maybe mis-state) on MlB Network that the Minority ownership bought 30% of the Club (I thought 20% range?) …………. regardless, I still do not believe that there was ZERO stipulation in “their investment terms” that said the Team needs to meet certain goals on spending/marketing/etc. Not having a say in day to day or in specific decisions doesn’t mean they are kept out n MUTE & IGNORED.

Organization has to do something else positive with the roster or Falvey may be “The Martyr” be season’s end?

[JD-TWINS]

2 minutes ago, NYCTK said:

The Pohlad family really is a perfect illustration for the phenomenon where generational wealth is squandered in three generations. Just a bunch of rich idiots that somehow think they're geniuses because of their bank account. 

Tom's no better than Joe. I can't wait to see his terrible team fail to fail to be competitive in the worst division in baseball. 

Always such a ray of sunshine for Twin’s fans!

[sweetmusicviola16]

If Tom isn't willing to trade the teams top assets  thinking this team is competitive as it is, maybe that just mirrors the Pohlad family. Squandering the assets. We're competing to be non competitive. 

[sweetmusicviola16]

12 minutes ago, NYCTK said:

The Pohlad family really is a perfect illustration for the phenomenon where generational wealth is squandered in three generations. Just a bunch of rich idiots that somehow think they're geniuses because of their bank account. 

Tom's no better than Joe. I can't wait to see his terrible team fail to fail to be competitive in the worst division in baseball. 

Somewhere these dolts lost 450mil recently, I don't believe the vast majority of that was on the Twins. But when you're not the one making the careful and hard decisions in building something up from the ground you become careless in thinking mistakes are free and that the source will never dry up because you have plenty of it. The Pohlad empire is quickly sinking into becoming irrelevant. 

[Vanimal46]

 

This classic scene from The Office is probably an accurate representation of Falvey’s relationship with the Pohlad family over the last 3 years. Snip snap, snip snap. 

Tough talking Tom can continue saying we will be competitive all he wants. It’s not based on anything in reality. The Pohlads still don’t get it. Fan morale crashed because of them! There’s a large subset of fans who are sick of them, and only them. They won’t spend another dime at Target Field until they sell the team. 

[LastOnePicked]

17 minutes ago, NYCTK said:

Tom's no better than Joe. I can't wait to see his terrible team fail to fail to be competitive in the worst division in baseball. 

I can see KC, CLE and DET being pretty good teams in 2026. After all, they'll each be playing against the Twins thirteen times. That's gotta be a 10-3 boost to their records right there.

[Squirrel]

2 hours ago, Nick Nelson said:

Opinions will vary on the effectiveness of his tenure, but no one can deny Falvey has been stifled and railroaded repeatedly in trying to do his job over the past couple years. Minnesota's 2023 success was immediately followed by a momentum-shattering payroll slash, with sharper spending limits imposed since. 

This kind of sums it up for me. Whether or not you liked Falvey and Rocco, it won’t matter they’re gone. It won’t matter who comes in. So what if we get new chairs, chairs we like, they will still be sitting on the deck of the Titanic. Until there is change at the very top (completely new ownership), whoever comes in will be stifled with the Pohlad’s lack of baseball business sense. And we as fans will be disappointed season after season.

[JD-TWINS]

Isn’t the deadline “fire sale” overblown, relative to the effect on the 26-man Roster?

Correa is about 50% washed, with up & down effectiveness at the plate - inability to play “well” at SS and being hurt routinely…….why, after taking a big swing with his signing (3.5 seasons later), would any reasonable FO not move off $25M/yr ……. assuming “some” of the funds would become available to help replace/rebuild the Roster?

Coulombe - Bader - Castro - Paddack were all going to be FA’s & gone in ‘26 OR they would need to negotiate a new deal. Get some returns if at all possible IF Team has decided they aren’t competing in ‘25…….what’s the problem?

Dobnack ……. good to get out from under.

Stewart ……. in his best year he threw 37 innings for Team (1 inning every 4.4 games) and he threw 3 1/3 innings for Dodgers after July 31, 2025 - out for the year - hurt again! He was not a mainstay - he was very effective in short bursts - no real long-term loss with the continued lack of availability.

That’s 7 of the guys that were moved……. Duran, Jax, & Varland are all missed on some level.

Tait & Abel for Duran ……. we’ll see. Not terrible thing if EITHER of these guys develops into expectations. Never fun to see a high performer leave. Not long ago, traded Arraez after winning the batting title with fingers crossed.

Bradley……big potential to start after JAX has previously washed as a starter ……can always consider Taj in the PEN. Griffin’s stuff was lights out most nights (fun to watch) but he was too often like a “wound too tight spring” with pitch mix issues……at least in ‘25. His ERA in ‘25 was 4.23 & he was 1-7. His 5 year career he has a 4.04 ERA and a record of 23-31. We didn’t trade Nolan Ryan.

Varland had a 4.94 ERA for the Blue Jays in last  2 months of the season. He’s a horse & a competitor and he can be lights out some days. …….. I’ve said many times, if Louie was from Kenosha, the trade would be viewed differently………Rojas has a real shot at being a rotation guy after this year - this was the basis for the trade - Roden was another guy that has “a shot” but essentially a throw in guy.

I’m sure many will not like this take but I just don’t see the moves being a bad thing for the organization’s future. There was a lot of drama and media buzz and surprise with the concentration of the moves, but not necessarily bad moves, from my viewpoint.

 

 

[USAFChief]

Tom Pohlad certainly has a flawed vision of the Twins chances in 2026. But he's been in the picture for what? A few weeks?

At the risk of repeating myself, let's look at the POBO's resume:

9 years into Falvey's tenure, the Twins have

- 2 above average position players: Buxton and a part timer in Jeffers. Only one of those came to the Twins during Falvey's time. The other is aging and a constant injury risk. That's it. Question marks or outright failures everywhere else

- zero bullpen assets. Zero. 4 or 5 mediocrities or worse, then squadoosh. For what many people here like to refer to as "the easiest thing to build" (those many people are way wrong, of course, but I read that often.) How do you get to a position where not one, single solitary reliever in an 8 man pen is someone you can depend on??

- 2 good starters, neither of which were developed under Falvey

- 1, maybe as many as 3, prospects that have a realistic chance at being above average MLBers some day. Whoop-de-doo. That and 5 bucks will get you a coffee. 

- a team that, if we're honest, has no chance of being competitive in several years

 

No matter who owned the team, Falvey was a failure, by the standards he himself set when hired.  

They weren't perpetually competitive. Just the opposite. One strong team (2019) that he gets partial credit for, and a couple teams only in contention for the weak ALC. 9 years in, we're objectively terrible. 

Somehow blaming Tom Pohlad for the state of our favorite baseball team is...well let's just say missing the Forrest for a few trees.