TNtwins85

Everyone around here consistently thinks that the Twins are gonna come out of this salary cap/ salary floor situation showered in gold but they forget one thing. If everyone is spending the same that creates more competition. Which means you’re not gonna have your teams to beat up on. With a salary cap there’s gonna be less incentive for teams to lock up and sign players to massive long term deals which means more player movement. Your jersey of X star player will be less relevant. Which also means your star player probably gets traded away to maximize the cap/floor. Teams at the top of the cap take advantage of teams with more cap by unloading high priced aging players to sign younger players. If teams like the bottom dwellers are going to spend like the middle tier teams it creates less spots for younger more exciting players which ultimately makes the game “older.” Unless the drafting and development structure is also changed it could lead to longer term irrelevance. There won’t be a super rookie who can come in and jumpstart a franchise right away like the NFL/NBA as it still takes years in the baseball structure. It will create less avenues for younger players to come in. Also, just like in the NFL and NBA you’re still gonna have teams like the Arizona Cardinals, the Lions until recently and the Browns. Teams like the Clippers, the Hornets/Bobcats and yes until recently 20 some years of irrelevance from your own Minnesota Timberwolves in the NBA. With that in mind if the structure is somewhat the same which is what everyone seems to want it seems teams on the wrong side of the coin seemed to be forever mired in decades of terribleness. Even in this magical Narnia scenario where everyone thinks that their team comes out better there still seems to be teams that never cross that threshold and feed off the bottom for 5,10,15 years. That could be the Twins. It could make it harder for teams to rebuild with younger players and accomplish a turnaround as their forced to sign players to simply be over the floor. All I’m saying is that everyone seems to look at a cap/floor as something that helps the Twins, but maybe they turn into the Browns and the Timberwolves. Then what do you do? Shout from the mountains that the system isn’t fair once again? Once the genie is out of the cap/floor lamp you’re never putting it back in. Be careful what one wishes as your Twins could become the Browns. Good run teams will still be good run teams and badly run teams may be really bad for decades as evidenced in the other sports. The Phoenix Coyotes were once a team as well. With all the praising of the cap/floor system your Twins could become the next Browns, Lions, Clippers or Timberwolves and an ownership group will convince the league that baseball is unsustainable in Minnesota. Also, new owners can always be worse. That’s a thing. Just as this could be a great thing for the Twins it could be a nail in the coffin for Minnesota baseball. A massive change in a CBA creates changes good and bad. The league and MLBPA will always sell you the good but they will never tell you the bad. Especially when professional sports more and more mirrors large corporate America.

I’m in the same boat as far as a high walk rate in the minors and questions about contact. I guess that’s why I don’t see him as the super prospect some do. Once he gets attacked on the corners and by major league quality breaking balls I’m not sure that walk rate holds up. I think a super utility OFer is his future and he could succeed. Kinda like a RH Willi Castro who only plays OF. Idk. I’m just not impressed by Mr. Rodriguez

Doesn’t need to be a narrative or the front office showing their hand. Simply informing fans of what the direction is and how that will be accomplished and being honest goes a long way to giving fans something to look forward to.

How is that jerking him around? You tell him that’s gonna be his role. He rotates around. Plays RF for Wallner against a lefty. Plays CF to give Buxton a rest once or twice a week. And plays LF once a week to give whichever LH hitter or Martin needs a rest. Probably plays 3-5 of your 6 games during a week. Probably a good role for him. Then again I don’t believe he’s the super prospect everyone else expects either. Nothings being handed out? Pretty sure it says to hand him over a job.

Agree with everything except “handing” Emma a job out of ST. If he looks competent in ST he may be a candidate for a rotating platoon role/ 3-5 starts a week type of job. There’s a bevy of LH OFers and to slot him into a role where he rotates around the outfield maybe makes sense. Idk if he’s ready though with the hit tool being kinda a question mark. He’s there in everything else but I’d hate to watch him hit .160 out of the gate and be stuck at St. Paul until mid summer.

If only he can stay on the field now. Love how hard he plays and the passion but I can see the article now. “ Another Twins player constantly injured!”

Typical Twins outrage and for that matter everything else. Read the headline and immediately go to comments or social media to tell everyone else how outraged you are without understanding the whole picture.

It’s starting to show a split between ownership and the FO. I think Falvey is starting to show cracks that he wants to build a team to compete and is pushing the microphone over to ownership to see what they say in a very subtle way. Which is what he should do. He obviously has a vision representative of how he handled the deadline and the players he focused on. He wants a quick turnaround focused on potentially competing in ‘26 but definitely going for it in ‘27. Everyone can see his model. It’s ownership that forced his hand after ‘23. Its ownership that forced Falvey to turn the ship a different direction and try to compete in ‘24 and ‘25 with a hand tied behind his back. The last 3 years have more resembled a hostage negotiation than a cohesive ownership/FO group and I believe Falvey is starting to show signs he’s no longer willing to be played like a fiddle by a Pohlad ownership group who seems more interested with the Pohlad business empire then the Minnesota Twins.

Exactly. This is purely a marketing and communication issue which we know is not a strong suit of the Twins. Whoever marketed the “get to know em” campaign of the early 2000’s was a genius. If the front office could simply be honest and drum up “real” excitement over the direction of the team and not just some fake excitement and direction this could all be much more palatable from a fans perspective. Instead of trying to be like every other team simply lean into a direction and market the hell out of it! Not only would a large section of fans be more accepting but the big thing is they wouldn’t feel lied to all the time.

I would love to know what the development budget for each team is. Also it would probably go a long way for the public to know what their specific team is focused towards. With how free agency is it catches headlines because it’s public. I think that is part of the reason why everyone focus’s so hard on free agents. If people had data that shows how a team is focused as far as a development budget it would be just another way for fans to focus their energy. Also, that’s a way that the players union drums up excitement by focusing everything on free agency. Take the Twins for example what excites the fan base? Carlos Correa, Donaldson. Why? Because it’s what makes headlines. It’s what the Yankees and dodgers do. So when they do what they do it makes them excited. When they trade away those guys they think the world is ending. But if you attached a tangible number of development value to a prospect couldn’t that be viewed as a free agent number and drum excitement as well? Especially when you can assign stats and money to create a “worth” as a salary number does? Also knowing that that number delivers more fruit as opposed to a 29 or 30 year old that will inevitably get worse. I think that could help a fan base get on board with prospects more.

I like the idea. Create an ownership group. I’m not sure how many people would be in for that but if we all invested the investment money wise would surely be worth it as far as ROI and to have a seat in the boardroom. Has this ever been done before for any sports franchise?

But surely needed. And starts to point towards the Twins keeping Jeffers rather than trading him.

Because Vazquez is way older, terrible hitting, defense getting substantially worse and would probably never sign for anything close to $1.8M.

If they did that you would have complained that they should have traded for a backup catcher. Eeles is not a major league shortstop in any way. Didn’t get a chance at all last year. They traded a guy they were never gonna use for a guy who they need. Solid trade. Addresses depth. Simple as that.

Well, if you read anything about him other than his stat line he fits the mound of a BACKUP catcher. Good defensively, good arm, can crack a couple over the fence. Way better than Gasper. What were you looking for?

This path would make even more sense in a salary cap environment. It would be hamstrung by a salary floor environment. I agree with you and have said on here just as you have that the best sustainable model for any team is through development. The most valuable commodity in baseball since the beginning of professional baseball in the late 1860’d has and always will be young inexpensive talent. Anything else you hear from the league as far as a salary cap( the owners) or a salary floor (mlbpa) disincentives the game and the fans. Period!

Omg!!!! Love this article I vote this article of the year on Twins Daily. It hits a point that should talked about more! I have said this from time to time over the last year which what has been going on. Brilliant article! Thank you!

If that’s the deal you trade Lopez for sure!

That’s great! I’m really proud of you! This was never intended to be an argument with you. Someone else (in this article and other people in several other articles) cannot fathom how the “Twins”(the baseball team itself that most average people see them as) and the “Pohlads” (as in the Pohlads they know as the owners of the Twins and not the owners of several other large businesses) can “lose” $500M. I was simply explaining that it doesn’t make any sense that the “Twins” lost money but through business dealings can shift a debt burden onto another business that is more easily funded and can find more investors. That’s all I was saying in that the “Minnesota Twins” in no way could lose $500M in 3 years. That’s what the stories were. Not what I claimed. It makes it confusing to normal people and most people don’t understand how that all works. It would explain how a normal person gets so upset when billionaires don’t pay taxes. Although that doesn’t seem fair it can be summed up in a quote. “Don’t hate the player, hate the game.” Ice-T

Go look at corporate America today a show me someone who tells the truth and does the right thing. I recently watched Ken Butns “Baseball” recently. I believe it was the 1870’s when players began getting paid as professionals and owners started acting as owners and implemented the reserve clause. Ever since then this has been big business and players, fans and owners all battling each other.

The $400M-$500M was the reported storyline all summer. From the moment Ishbia pulled out of the running all the way up to the Pohlad interview a month or so ago that was what was reported and what they claimed. Do a google search on it. There will be numerous stories as that was the talking point from Ishbia on. I don’t know where you were but that’s been the hot button issue since say last March or so. The $500M number is not my number. It’s the reported number.

Right, I was emphasizing a point but from the research I did the Marlins still turned a profit of somewhere between $17M-$23M. The point of the discussion was that the Twins are somewhere in the middle of revenue. If that’s the case there is no way that after signing 3 guys for $65M as early as 3-4 years ago that in that time they managed to accrue $500M in debt as the person that posted that claimed. Even if you lost $30M in revenue that doesn’t take you to half a billion in 3 years without money from other businesses being pushed over to the Twins as a franchise. Especially when you know there’s plenty of buyers who would love that steady, easy ever growing revenue stream. Pohlad Companies simply pushed their debt into their most lucrative asset and got not just 1 but 2 supposed buyers. A smart and necessary business move yes. A really crummy situation for fans? Absolutely! But in no way was this the “Twins” debt.

But that’s what the line was. Anywhere from $400M-$500M. You don’t lose that much money by paying the 3 top guys $65M per year. Something happened and they decided to put all of their debt into the Twins because they knew they could get investors to jump on board and pay that down. Will it be able to happen again? No. Not with new limited partners. I don’t plan on them spending $150M the next couple of years but they have time before this next wave gets expensive. I was simply making the point that this is not the Minnesota Twins debt. It’s the Pohlad Companies debt. The Twins don’t lose money. There’s no way. At least not enough to rack up half a billion dollars worth in 3 years. The math doesn’t add up any way you look at it.

The dodgers had a terrible BP. All the stars and they relied on a few failed starters and a rookie. As I said above you need competence not excellence.

Yes! The Bluejays got to within a couple of outs with Jeff Hoffman as the closer. He gave up more HR’s than any other closer. You need competence not excellence. There’s no better example than the Twins bullpen of the last 3 years.