Trevor Plouffe Backs Tom Pohlad. Should Minnesota Twins Fans?

[Richie the Rally Goat]

1 hour ago, Craig Arko said:

Welcome to AI world.

I mean sure, it’s Skynet, but it’s cheap extinction of the human race.

[Parfigliano]

4 hours ago, Heiny said:

Chill out everyone!!!!  Remember, it doesn't matter who wins or loses.  Jus as long as the players are having fun.

Hand out the participation trophies and then it's orange slices for everyone.

[old nurse]

3 hours ago, Richie the Rally Goat said:

It was a team of 5

Yup, said that at one point, still doesn’t change that they have analytics to give them a picture of what the player is about. 

[Brandon]

I think the Pohlads do the best with what they have.  They took losses for COVID.  They did spend money on the payroll.  The timing of their scale back was upsetting and I do not give them a pass for that.  But looking forward.  2026 is a transition team.  We could be competitive or we could swap out 3 OFs and a SS from the minors.  We could develop another starter who succeeds or trade Ryan and Lopez for top prospects.  Our pen could be slightly above average or torn down further with failed starters getting opportunities out of the pen.  I'm optimistic for the season and either way it will be fun because of the solid replacement options ready to contribute should we start cycling more players through to the majors.

[bean5302]

It's encouraging Plouffe is giving Tom the thumbs up as far as I'm concerned. Plouffe has not been a patsy for the Twins front office in the past or the ownership. He's been openly and vocally critical of ownership many times.

I'm not impressed with the roster construction of this team at all, but the roster construction is on Falvey and now Zoll, who I don't think has a job at the end of the year at this point.

[CharlieDee]

I'm giving him a chance. I have to.  I've been a Twins fan for nearly 60 years and I'm always optimistic when the season starts. It's not about who owns the team, or what the payroll is. It's supporting and cheering for the players we have....Win Twins!

[LastOnePicked]

I really, really don't need a guy who's always angling for MLB insider access to tell me to "give Tom Pohlad a chance" this year. The Pohlads have all had plenty of chances. Plouffe makes money from the organization, and he wants to keep making more, so of course he's going to say this. We fans pay in to this organization. Big difference. Respect will be given when it's been earned. Sorry to disappoint "Coach Trev" on this one.

Plouffe is the one who was calling for Baldelli to keep his job for another year, too. So color me a little skeptical of his instincts and his motives.

[Whitey333]

Trevor Plouffe is good to have on the broadcasts.  However he so clearly rides the fence when talking about the team, especially when it plays poorly.  That's understandable.  He is nit going to say much negative about the boss who signs his paycheck.  I don't think too many of us would.  I don't think the 2026 Twins will be competitive at all.  In that vein I think it would be better if they traded Lopez and his 21.5 million salary this year and get some real bullpen help with real decent players not the scrap heap.  I'd hate to lose Lopez.  But the Twins need to move him and Ryan and Jeffers and Buxton to solidify a direction and some future.

[bean5302]

Just going to grab the AI response on this.

 

Yes, former Minnesota Twins third baseman and current media personality Trevor Plouffe has been critical of the Minnesota Twins ownership and front office, particularly regarding the team's payroll reductions and strategy during the 2024 and 2025 seasons. 

• Critique of 2024/2025 Moves: Plouffe described the Twins' moves in the 2024–2025 offseason as a "bloodbath" and expressed sympathy for fans frustrated by the team shedding payroll.
• Ownership Concerns: He has questioned the ownership's direction, specifically discussing with local media whether the Pohlad family was "playing keep away" regarding the team's sale status and financial strategy in August 2025.
• Front Office Transactions: While acknowledging general manager Derek Falvey was trying to make moves, Plouffe indicated that the team's inaction at the 2024 trade deadline was expected due to constraints.
• Fan Perspective: Plouffe has positioned himself as someone who understands the frustration of the fan base regarding the organization's decisions to reduce spending. 

Note: The search results also indicate Plouffe was not a fan of manager Rocco Baldelli publicly calling out the team in 2024, focusing his criticism more on the structural and financial decisions of the leadership, rather than just on-field play. 

[Mahoning]

Plouffe is the best of the ex-players on the broadcasts -- the most fun. Tom Pohlad says he wants to earn trust, but he doesn't want to talk about the payroll. And there is a problem. We are told the low payroll is a necessity, but of course the books are closed, so we are required to take this on faith. That's simply not good enough. You want us to believe? Open the books. As Ronald Reagan used to like to say, "Trust . . .  but verify."

[lake_guy]

[Greglw3]

23 hours ago, Nshore said:

I'll probably be eviscerated for this comment.  But these days I think back with appreciation to the Calvin Griffith/Sherry Robertson/Jim Rantz days.  Obviously Calvin had his issues, but he was an owner who was a baseball man to his core.  He understood the game. Killebrew, Carew, Oliva, Blyleven, Kaat, Puckett - Hall of Famers who could compete with anyone.  Now, I'm thankful when a new year comes and the Twins haven't moved out of state.

For what he did in the total destruction of the team including Carew, Bostock, Hislee, Bill Campbell, Dave Goltz, Dan Ford, Blyleven - with no effort to retain a single one of them, he deserves a split verdict, under the reserve clause, what you say is true. Under free agency, he is quite possibly the worst owner of the last 50 years, the only competition coming from Charlie Finley. I will never pine for the days when he broke my heart by trading Carew to the Angels for a sack of baseballs and letting Bostock and Hisle walk for nothing.

[Greglw3]

I disagree with your takes and find them extremely pessimistic and out of line with reality. The Twins have done a lot of good things since end of last season, at least very consequential. Fired Falvey and Baldelli, finally. Hired Derek Shelton who I keep hearing lots of good things about. They’ve signed Josh Bell, who after making adjustments to his swing, had a good 2nd half and hit righties hard..

They hired Grady Sizemore, Latroy Hawkins and Ryan Pressley. They added Banda and Chafin, and Orze, Taylor Rodgers, Liam Hendricks. Caratini is at least another bat that won’t duplicate the Twins achilles heel of having myriad .1xx to low .200 average hitters in their lineups the last few years. Wagaman hit .283 vs L and can make a good platoon partner. Every indication is they’re going to be aggressive and run this year.

As far as Tom saying we’re going to compete, I think he meant they were going to compete when they finish the job of adding players AND payroll and indeed, they’ve been adding players since then that should help.

And he meant they were going to compete, considering they have at least 5 players with star potential, close to ready or ready in Gabriel Gonzalez, Walker Jenkins, Emmanuel Rodriguez, Hendry Mendez and Kaelen Culpepper. And Rosario and/or Fedko may just find themselves as platoon bats this year. Neither Larnach nor Wallner should bat against lefties.

The family also had the guts to kick Joe to the curb and install Tom. Let’s give him a real chance hear. Jeremy Zoll is another reason for optimism and the restructuring of operations so there won't be a Derek Falvey type position complicating things for the GM. Let’s let a little more time go by and see about any further additions to payroll and the roster. I also liked bringing back Laweryson, we’ll see.

 

[Vanimal46]

BREAKING: Current Twins employee receiving pay checks directly from the team is optimistic about the team that compensates him. This is groundbreaking. 

[IndianaTwin]

People keep saying that it’s the same team that ended the season 19-35. Let’s look at that:

• That team got three starts from López. This year would expect 10 in that span.
• That team got 10 starts from a struggling Ober. This team has Ober starting anew.
• That team had six starts from SWR. This team would expect 10.
• That team had eight combined starts from Urena, Adams, Ohl, Hatch. None of those are currently in their top eight starters.
• That team got 17 combined starts from Bradley, Abel and Matthews. One of them will probably be in the rotation to start the year, but they likely won’t combine for nearly a third of the team’s starts. And even if they do, they will be further along in development and expected to pitch better.
• That team got 26 starts from Jeffers at catcher. This team would get 36 if they go with the 2:1 ratio that gets him to 108 games for the year.
• That team had 28 starts from Vazquez, Gasper and Pereda at catcher. This team replaces those with Jeffers and Caratini.
• That team had Clemens for 32 starts at 1B, along with 21 for Julien and one for Gasper. This year’s looks to get theirs from Bell, Caratini and Clemens (if he’s playing well).
• That team had Keaschall and Lee up the middle. This team has the same, but with more experience.
• Both teams have Lewis and Buxton.
• In right, that one had Wallner performing well below his career numbers. In left, it was a hodgepodge of Roden, Larnach, Clemens, Martin and Outman until Martin got most of the starts over the last 30. This year will have some combination of the best-performing two of that group (with potential assistance from Jenkins and Gonzalez). It will be a better mix.
• At DH, last year had mostly Larnach with a few Juliens and McCuskers scattered among other regulars getting a day or so there. This year’s has Larnach plus Bell, Caratini and other regulars getting days there.
• Last year’s bullpen had so many forgettables I’ve tried to forget them. I don’t know what the mix will be this year, but a combination of Rogers, Hendricks, Topa, Sands, Banda, Orze, Chafin, Funderburk,, Adams, Laweryson, Klein, Altavilla, Bash, Bowman, Canterino, Hartwig, Merryweather, Raya, Prielipp and Morris will be better. It has to be better. You can’t have this combination of 20, nearly half with legit major league experience, even all-star-level experience, pitch as bad as the pen did the last third of the year. There are just too man to choose from.

I get it. They will have injuries and not all of my “this years” will come true.
But the mix starting spring training is way better than what ended the year.

 

[Tjwalsh65]

On 2/14/2026 at 5:24 PM, Dave Borton said:

I think Plouffie believes T-3 to a degree, conditioned along with Plouffie's positive optimism and the seat in the broadcast booth.

In my book, Plouffie is grading this team at a C+.  I am going with a 74-88.

 

80-82  at this point.

[dxpavelka]

I agree.  Yes, you ARE a cynic.  The irony is that while HE has to prove himself to be "more than a schmoozer" writers never do.......

[Fred]

On 2/14/2026 at 2:43 PM, Old Twins Hat said:

Lots of hate out there.

Going to check my browser because it says this is a Twins' fans site.

Not sure what happened.

I lost my pom-poms, and I don't look good in a short skirt. 😄

[Fred]

19 hours ago, Greglw3 said:

For what he did in the total destruction of the team including Carew, Bostock, Hislee, Bill Campbell, Dave Goltz, Dan Ford, Blyleven - with no effort to retain a single one of them, he deserves a split verdict, under the reserve clause, what you say is true. Under free agency, he is quite possibly the worst owner of the last 50 years, the only competition coming from Charlie Finley. I will never pine for the days when he broke my heart by trading Carew to the Angels for a sack of baseballs and letting Bostock and Hisle walk for nothing.

In Griffith's defense,  baseball was his only business. He couldn't afford  to treat it as a hobby, and take an occasional loss. I, too, was happy when he sold; I just wish it would have been to somebody that could afford to treat it like a hobby. I'm not asking for anybody to lose money on a consistent basis, but I don't see a way for a small market team to be consistently profitable and consistently competitive.

[Dawgzilla]

No, being Trevor is just towing company line.  He would actually say no, if put under oath!😉