I’m not going to judge Tom Pohlad solely on if we buy, if we sell, or if we do both. It’s also important to judge HOW he does any of those things.
I’ll use the Kevin Gausman example, but the same thing could apply to other targets. He’s owed $7M (I’ll trust the author’s numbers). Some fans fear buying in a year like 2026, where the team is competitive-ish, but nobody’s idea of a title contender. Those fears are probably well-founded, but when you’re trading for a guy like Gausman there’s usually a spectrum of prospects you need to give up depending on how much of the contract you are taking on. You might be able to trade them your 10th best prospect if you take on the full contract, but maybe Toronto wants a better prospect and will take on the majority of the owed money.
The same works in reverse when trading away players. Depending on who you are trading, say, Josh Bell to, the 2.5M he is owed might be meaningful. Can the Twins take on the money and receive a moderate prospect, or are we salary dumping and receiving a silly lottery ticket?
For trades, as a fan, I don’t care about the money. I care about the prospects. So this is how I’ll be judging the front office and Tom Pohlad. He might have a chance to almost literally put his money where his mouth is.