Yes, Derek Falvey should be Trusted to Make Trade Decisions at the Deadline

Put even more concisely, it's his job.

It’s a common question posed by fans and commentators this trade deadline: Should Derek Falvey be trusted with potential franchise-altering trades? Our own Matthew Taylor asked that same question this weekend. He laid out the general points: Falvey’s job status beyond this season isn’t guaranteed, given the looming sale of the franchise and the team likely missing the playoffs in four of the past five seasons. There's a potential misalignment of goals (given that Falvey’s position may lead him to focus more on the short term than long-term organizational health), and many have questions about his trade record in the past. You can read Matthew’s piece for a more fleshed-out version of these factors (and my history of Falvey’s deadline deals, while you're looking for more light reading).

But I’m here to tell you that answer: like it or not, he has to make those decisions at this deadline. Or at least, he has to be left alone to be open to them.

To be clear, no one is arguing about whether he should be allowed to dump the expiring contracts; we’re talking about guys like Joe Ryan, Griffin Jax, or Jhoan Durán, or who knows, maybe Brock Stewart, Ryan Jeffers, or Trevor Larnach—players with at least a year remaining of team control after 2025. We just saw him deal Chris Paddack, but the real stakes lie with the longer-term moves. There, too, lie the real questions.

But, again, the answer to this question is very simple. If he has the job, he has to do the job. Although it may seem like the organization is shooting itself in the foot, allowing a decision-maker to make potentially franchise-altering decisions on the way out the door, there are a few things to keep in mind here.

First, the obvious: there’s no indication Falvey will not return in 2026 and beyond in a baseball decision-making position. There’s no indication he will, either, but such is the nature of a team that’s currently up for sale with no concrete news as to when a new owner will start calling shots—or what that owner’s preferences are.

Given the assumption that no one knows the answer to that question (and at least publicly, that’s true, though it may be a different story behind closed doors), it’s incumbent on the organization to act as if there will not be changes to the decision-making roles. They need to act as if they will continue to be making those decisions for years to come.

I mean, what’s the alternative? They take their ball and go home? Say, “I don’t know if I’ll be here next year, so I won’t do anything now?” Good luck explaining that to your new boss.

Second, related to the first: making a silly, shortsighted trade of a valuable piece like Duran for some short-term gain is also not a good way to endear oneself to ownership. Doing something reckless to try to win in 2025 or sell out for 2026, like the recklessness by omission of doing nothing, isn’t good for a career, either.

Third, are we all talking about the same Derek Falvey? As an executive, his public reputation is that of a notoriously hard bargainer. Making a deal on a controllable asset just to make a deal seems out of character—as an outsider, at least—which should give Twins fans comfort. By all accounts, and from watching him for eight seasons, it would be surprising to see him complete a deal that he didn’t think he won. It would, frankly, be confusing.

Of course, you may have reached the end of this and maintained the opinion that you simply don’t trust him to make decisions, because you think he’s not good at his job. I’m not here to stop you from believing that.

But too bad, I guess.

That’s not an argument against him making these specific deals; it’s an argument that he shouldn’t have this job anymore, which, again, I won’t stop you from making. But it’s a different discussion. At that point, your stance should be that he shouldn’t be allowed to try to find deals for Harrison Bader and Willi Castro, and that a new decision-maker should replace him before we reach the deadline.

But that’s not what we’re discussing. We’re talking about an executive doing the job that he’s paid to do. And if a team comes knocking, willing to overpay for one of the Twins' pricier pieces, it's incumbent on this organization to pull the trigger, regardless of the cloudy picture in 2026 and beyond.