Have the Pohlads Earned Back Twins Fans’ Trust?

[stringer bell]

Won back trust? No, but OTOH, I haven't trusted the Pohlad family to be committed to having a winning franchise for years. I think Tom Pohlad has said the right things and I was encouraged that they spent some money at the trade deadline. Did everything work out? Nope, and the Twins have company in that regard. A lot of teams with more serious playoff aspirations ended up finishing their season in September. Boston, Philadelpia, Houston and the Cubs barely got a taste.

I feel better about the talent on the field than I did a year ago. The owner has said they will increase payroll and give the GM some room to work with. If this is true, it will give Zoll a fair chance to show he belongs in the GM chair. I am not as highly critical as most of the posts above, but I still need to be shown a lot more before I'm trusting the ownership and front office.

[djvang]

We're in a season ticket group in the Legends Club. We go to 8 games a year. People criticize those who still go to games for giving money to the Pohlads. I don't think about the Pohlads when we go to a game. Yes, the Twins were disappointing but we saw 6 playoff teams. If I didn't think it was worth it we wouldn't go.

[Whitey333]

So far all the Pohlads are selling is hype and hope.  Its been their marketing program for decades.  I woild love to see more day games especially during the weekend.  Also they need to complain about the idiotic scheduling they keep getting.  Playing 20% of your home games in April is a disaster.  And its happening again next year. Ridiculous in this climate.  And yes add to payroll.  But dont just throw money at it.  Meaningfully disperse tge payroll.  Signing players like Correa to huge contracts is terrible when you dont have the will or means to build around it.  Falvey was terrible at distributing the payroll dollars given him.  I hope Zoll doesnt become Falvey 2.0

[JD-TWINS]

22 hours ago, rdehring said:

I don't really care how much the Twins payroll increases.  I care that they improve the team with good off-season decisions.  Unfortunately, this off-season will likely be a total mess with the CBA challenges.

What I want them to accomplish is: 1) trade several players to clear their roster, including Larnach, Wallner, Ryan and probably Ober; 2) get several young players from those trades who will be close to playing for the Twins early next year; 3) Sign a starting catcher for at least two years, hopefully Jeffers; and 4) sign at least two relievers with one being a top late inning closer.  

There are other questions that must be addressed, including Lewis and first base.  Seems the payroll will increase, but the above would make me happy regardless of whether the payroll is up $10M or $40M.

As for Zoll, seems like a capable young man who has ten months under his belt and the opportunity to prove he is the man for the Twins going forward.  Personally, would love to see him succeed.

I understand the broad strokes comments about Payroll increases not being the cure all! Good decisions are tough to quantify in the near-term as lots of variables come into play going forward…….good decisions are hind-sight observations. Sure want to make positive moves & expect good results!

However, Team cannot seriously improve the PEN via trade or FA w/o being willing to spend $15-$20M more in ‘27 (2 guys)….IMO. I do not think they sign any PEN pieces in off-season………they work with options in house and spend at the deadline (Minter - Hoffman types) via trade, if there’s an obvious need.

Team cannot improve at Catcher without spending $5-$17M additional $$ over ‘26.

There needs to be focus on 1 BAT improvement to be serious for any post-season chances. Maybe that’s not until the Deadline? It will cost some $$ over last 2 months or years going forward depending upon contract as well as a trade piece or two…..which is fine.

LOTS of competition for good players in the market, that want $$$, so just wanting to “spend & sign guys” isn’t an easy task. ………. that competitive difficulty in signing guys really supports your point that they cannot rely on spending alone to fill the current voids.

Wallner has been jettisoned, obviously, I like Ober in the PEN along side Rojas from the left side……..guys that can each throw 1+ - 3 innings per outing every 2-5 days depending upon pitches thrown. To me that’s valuable. It gets guys like Sands cut down to 1 inning max and not using him (them) with extraordinary expectations. I keep Ryan & see how things go & if it’s advantageous to sell at Deadline, then sure……. risk, sure but gives Team a real shot to be pretty decent out of Spring Training. I keep Larnach as the platoon guy opposite Keaschall & Buxton at DH. Larnach, when platooned, had very solid & “like years” in ‘24 & ‘26. He’s cheap at $7M for the value provided. I have no reason to think that Roden or Rodriguez will flourish as hitters and potential effective LH candidates at DH….big “maybe?”

Trading Wallner & young pitcher ……… Roden & young pitcher may land a couple “potential assets” in the PEN…….. not counting on that working out.

Buxton - Jenkins - Keaschall - Rodriguez - Gonzalez/Martin …….. Martin, to me is a stretch. He might go in a bundled deal with Roden or Wallner with a Team exploring OF depth/options.

$157M in ‘23 …….$107M in ‘26 ……. gotta pay more $$ across the board to be competitive. Ryan - Larnach - Jeffers are all valuable players and paying them (guys like them) at market rates, does not swell the payroll to some level even approaching the ‘23 payroll spend……..Make a serious run at Jeffers & trade Caratini and pay $4M of &10M owed him and obtain a guy like Jackson IF $$ are that tight. …….. Jeffers leaves after QO year, or, if signed for multiple years, he can easily be moved when young guys in system are ready.

Obviously, the various paths seem infinite at this point …….. am always hopeful that things will work out…….🤞