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

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. 

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. 

2 hours ago, tarheeltwinsfan said:

 Hang in there Minneapolis. 

Thank you.  I needed this.  

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.

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".

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.  

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).