Twins Fan Optimism Hits New Lows: Can the Club Prove the Doubters Wrong?

I used to get all excited about the draft, the articles on our prospects, and subscribing to the athletic (which I dropped last year) but last couple of years or so I've come to the conclusion that this team won't reach it's full potential under this management. Yes, Falvey has finally got the pitching pipeline pumping (what he was hired to do) but most everything else he has come short. I don't care if we don't have money to spend on FAs that Falvey wants to sign, Our competitors spend less & are more optimistic than us. I don't want us to sign FAs, I want the Twins to develop our young players & have enough faith in their efforts to play them & if we don't have the young players to fill the areas of need go out there & trade for them. I have total faith in the core that broke that curse of record consecutive postseason losses. But not in this organization. Unless something significant changes soon, I'm fighting it but I might take a break from the Twins. If the Twins don't have faith in the work that they're doing with the young players, why should I have faith in the Twins?

This team CAN be very good.... if.... 

Miranda, Lee, Julian, Larnach, Wallner produce while Buxton and Correa stay healthy. 

Oh and Zebby ;has a breakout year...

LOT-O-IFs....

Twins can be very good if all of them produce as they are paid to do.

It feels like the Dodgers have this thing wrapped up in March.

9 minutes ago, Vanimal46 said:

I really believe they’re going to break the Mariners’ modern day wins record of 116 wins.

And it does seem like there are only a handful of teams that can even compete with the Dodgers (Phillies, Braves, and by default whoever make the World Series from the AL). 

1 hour ago, Vanimal46 said:

Winning solves a lot of things. The Twins need to win early and often when the regular season begins. 

💯this! Start the season with some dubs ⚾️

I believe this team can win the division and make it to October with the roster and talent they have. But like I've been previewing during my shows, the Minnesota Twins season will come down to injuries and staying healthy so there isn't another complete MELTDOWN like last season. I also use the saying, the only thing that will beat this Minnesota Team like most if not ALL Minnesota Sports teams will be themselves. 

What the heck does "optimistic" mean?  Better than last year? Division winner?  World Series?  A healthy team?

If we are talking about winning a WS, all optimism was washed away when the owners decided not invest in improving the on-field product and talked about reducing payroll.

Personally, I had poor luck when I attended Twins games last season. It wasn't the wins and losses. It was the slow plodding on the bases mixed in with outfielders missing the cutoff man, throwing the ball to the wrong base, and heaving throws to the backstop when the opposing runner just cruised across home plate. The infielders were pretty good on balls hit directly at them but struggled going in directions.

When October arrived, I was aware that several Twins had seen their value drop due to less than stellar results, but it seemed like the front office would be proactive in the trade market. I was prepared for a roster budget of $100-120 million and believed anything higher than that would be bonus cash. The payroll limit was a total nonissue for me. Looking around the league it felt there were opportunities for some change, specifically to upgrade the defensive talent and roster players who could run a little bit.

Turns out that wasn't the plan. I was wrong - dead wrong. As a Twins fan this is a time to reset and recover. It is time to swallow whatever hopes loomed during the offseason and accept the present roster, to cough up some optimism for the campaign ahead. I'm hoping Carlos Correa and Byron Buxton have their best years yet and hoping that some other players emerge as complimentary pieces to support them. I'm hopeful the Twins pitchers stay healthy and productive and focus on what they can do and not to worry about those events out of their control, like the issues of other's gloves. I'm hopeful the Twins uncover playing time for a couple of young talented players and win the division. The Twins are going to win the World Series.

If we think in terms of the areas of the roster (SP, RP, IF & OF) there is room for optimism.  We have SP pitching depth and a good BP.  That's always a good place to start.  I also think too many people don't see beyond Buxton, Correa, and Lewis.  Wallner and Larnach established themselves last year.  Sure, they need to follow-up with another good season but we are looking good in the OF now and we have two darn good prospects not too far off.  The infield some question marks that need to get sorted out.  It would sure help if Lee steps up and we should all be pulling for Keaschall to crush it in the minors and get here ASAP.

I'm excited. There are several young-ish players that are all coming out of their sophomore slump seasons. It could be a magical year if Miranda, Larnach, Julien, Wallner, and more have career years (which I don't think is impossible). If they don't then I'm not worried. No amount of adding the best players in the offseason would fix them. I'm ready to watch as many of the 162 as I can regardless of how many wins they get. I was a Tigers fan in 2002 and 2003. I can take anything. 

The entire line about a lack of financial commitment/ spending is confusing to me. A large number of comments have included versions of this in their thoughts. Who was going to be added the last two years? A large chorus of people called for the Twins to sign Jordan Montgomery and Rhys Hoskins for the 2024 team. What were the targets this past winter? From my couch it seems like the Twins front office put together exactly the roster they desired for this coming season. It may not have been what I desired but Falvey gets what Falvey wants. The Twins added Coulombe, Bader, France, and Gasper. They also decided to hold Paddack, Castro, Vazquez, and the rest. Next week we shall see how the team begins their campaign and how the Twins plan unfolds. That is about our only choice. Go Twins. 

This team has collapsed 2 of the last 3 seasons. They honestly weren't a very good club for most of 2023 either but that gets papered over. The broadcast situation last year was a disaster. They've done absolutely nothing at the trade deadline the last few seasons. "Right sizing," payroll became a running joke. Upper management is blaming fans for not turning out. Injuries have plagued their biggest FA signing, and most recently Royce Lewis didn't even make it to Opening Day before missing a significant amount of time. I mean....

The Pohlads should be thankful that a beautiful ballpark was greenlit, and that the Twins play in a location where cabin fever is very real. They would be drawing TB type attendance numbers if the Twin Cities had TB weather year round. 

I have often , expected the worse, which usually make what actually happen much, much better.

Sadly I have failed to do that with the Viqueens, often enough.