Is There a Light at the End of the Tunnel for Twins Fans?

Twins Daily is, above all else, a fan site. It was founded by fans, it is fueled by fans. We do not try to spin toward objectivity or neutrality: we filter everything through the lens of the fan experience. And so, while mainstream outlets are doing an excellent job covering and analyzing the events taking place on the field, I feel it is our obligation to say plainly: this sucks. Not just the quality of baseball we've been witnessing, but the shameful all-around grind that customers have been put through for the mere offense of trying to like and support this ballclub.

Some are angry. (The comment section at Twins Daily of late is evidence enough.) Some have grown ambivalent. But no one can be particularly happy about what we've been seeing over the past 18 months, especially backdropped against the elation of a playoff series win in 2023. The Twins snapped a 20-year curse with a record payroll coming off the historic Carlos Correa signing. It felt like embattled fans, who'd endured a lot of uncompetitive baseball and irrelevance in the first dozen years at Target Field, were finally getting the payoff they deserved. 

Since then, fans have been subjected to:

• A substantial payroll slash for the 2024 season, blunting the momentum that had been built through all the success of their breakthrough in 2023. This came complete with tone-deaf remarks from Joe Pohlad about right-sizing and financial obligations.
• Immense challenges trying to watch the team on TV. The team first backtracked on a promise to part ways with Diamond Sports and end blackouts last year, which led to broadcasts going dark on Comcast for a substantial portion of the season. The delayed rollout of the Twins TV streaming product this year was anything but smooth or transparent.
• Almost inconceivably bad baseball. While the Twins enjoyed a several-month stretch of high-caliber play last season (most of which Comcast subscribers were unable to watch), it gave way to a historic collapse that featured some of the most uninspired, unwatchable play you will ever see ...
• ... That is, until the events of this season started unfolding. Picking up right where they left off, the Twins came out of the gate with no fight, stumbling to a 7-15 start that has included blowouts, blown leads and plenty of plain old badly played ballgames.
• Oh, and the one faint ember of an underlying storyline that was keeping full-on doomerism at bay — the prospect of a franchise sale that would usher in fresh leadership at the very top — has also fizzled out. Overwhelming optimism gave way to the opposite when Justin Ishbia backed out of his pursuit, leaving the debt-saddled Pohlads with a lukewarm market and egregious demands. For now, we're stuck with them.

It all adds up to pure torment. Aside from the enjoyment of watching baseball and the vibe of a nice day at the ballpark, there has been scarcely anything from which to draw joy as a fan of this team, for far too long now. In conversations I've had, even some of the true romantics are starting to peel off and disengage already. The 23-year low in attendance at Target Field last Monday spoke volumes about where the fanbase is at. Is an end in sight?

They say the night is darkest before the dawn but right now it's hard to find a flicker of light on the horizon. There have been no indications of meaningful progress on the franchise sale since Ishbia dropped out two months ago. On the field, the team has shown zero ability to gain control and escape their ongoing tailspin. Rocco Baldelli may be on the verge of getting fired, which would at least be some type of notable shakeup, but it would bring fans like me no pleasure. I like Rocco. If anything, his departure as the victim of this organizational rot would only make the situation more depressing.

There are some good prospects on the way up. But fans have heard that story before. If things continue as they are, we're in for more pain in the months ahead, with the front office all but certain to swing some seller-driven trades ahead of the deadline, both to unload payroll and to reshape a nonfunctional talent core. The outlook at this moment feels bleak.

And yet... it's baseball.

If there's any small comfort to cling to in such a dreary landscape, it's that this game — maddening and magical as it is — has a way of flipping the script when you least expect it. We've seen it before. Streaks turn, players catch fire, clubhouse vibes shift, and suddenly the team you’d written off is the one you can’t stop watching. I don’t say that to excuse the missteps or sugarcoat the current mess — fans deserve better, and their frustration is more than justified. But I do say it as someone who's seen the tides turn, even in the darkest moments.

Target Field may be echoing with empty seats this summer, a reflection not of apathy but of a fanbase that's been pushed too far. And yet, those of us still watching — still caring — do so because we know how good it can feel when it finally turns around. When it does, it won't be because we forgot how painful this all was. It'll be because we held on anyway.