Woof Bronzer

There are 3 ways to add wins: internally, trades, and FA. If they are aren't finding those wins through FA, they have to either use current talent (reminder that it's a 57 win roster) or trades (reminder that Derek Falvey is still employed). So...do you think we can gain 25 wins through current 40 man roster improvements/young guys and trades?

If I am an MLB GM and I allow one good month to cause me to overpay for an average player than I am not going to have a job for very long. Isn't that what the whole sabermetrics movement is supposed to be about? Data driven decision making?

This is the kind of move that a mid market team absolutely cannot make and be seriously competitive. You don't pay $7m for a replacement level player. You play a replacement level player you already have on your payroll. If the Twins truly want to compete, they have to find about 25 wins from the team they ended 2025 with. Spending maybe half of your free agent budget to buy 0 wins on a 1 year rental is a really, really poor decision. Reason #12,523 why the 2026 Twins will not compete for anything other than 4th place in the Central.

Bad news, April counts as much as September.

At what point does "incredibly lengthy slump" just become "he is who he is?" At this point it seems more likely, unfortunately, that the incredible start to his career was the anomaly, not the slump.

Let me guess...trade all of our bad players for some really good players?

Oh for sure I'm not saying my opinion is right, who the heck knows who is right? I'm just saying there seems to be an assumption with these articles that trying to contend is obviously the best approach. This piece takes that for granted and doesn't even ask the question "should we be active in free agency at all?"

I don't know, I'd say a 57 win team would indicate a "broken" team.... This is an odd piece. I think most fans understand that the Twins don't shop in the top tier. I guess my issue with the piece is basically condescending to fans that the Pohalds are doing the only viable strategy for this team and we must understand that we cannot have nice things, it is and shall always be. Um, no? The Pohlads choose to act this way. It's bad for the Twins and bad for the Pohlads' bottom line. I refuse to buy into this fatalism that MN sports fans have drilled into them. No. It doesn't have to be this way. Adding $30 mil to the payroll "out of the Pohlads' own pocket" is the equivalent to $500 for the median American net worth. I bet the majority of TDers (with the means) would chip this in to help the team compete. Stop making excuses for the Pohlads! There is no one way to run a team; they do what they do by choice, and they are bad at it. It's quite simple. A lot of TD writers have settled on "build on the core" as the one true right thing to do. Many of us do not agree with that, because this team simply doesn't have enough talent. I don't want them to sign any pricey free agents at all. I do not want them to pretend to compete. Play the kids. Build toward something better. For the love of pete do something different. The Twins have done this "same old offseason" thing the past 2 years and both seasons ended in abject failure. Doing the same thing again and expecting different results with this talent-deficient roster is lunacy.

For sure, player development could tack on a couple more wins. But your post is sort of my point - the ceiling for this roster required not only significantly more talent and payroll, but a lot of stars aligning and things working out. You didn't mention the fact that the rest of the Central was the worst division in the history of baseball that year. Sure, everything could click, the guys who had career years last year might repeat them, the guys who had bad years will have career years, the team will be as healthy as they were in 25, the young guys will come up and be stars...sure, it could happen. And the team might win 80 games.

Here's the equation that needs to be solved if the Twins are to compete. 57 win roster (2025) + ???? = 82-87 win competitor (2026) All I've heard so far for filling in the ???? is: bullpen (without mentioning how to build a bullpen from scratch with little payroll); Lopez will be healthier (1-2 additional wins); and, my favorite, "I don't think it's a 57 win roster" (choosing to ignore facts you don't like will get you more wins somehow?). I also keep banging this drum, but the peak year for this roster was 2023 and 87 wins. To get to 87 that year, take this current roster, add an ace starter, an HOF shortstop, two all star relievers and a decent pen, and an extra $40 mil in payroll for complimentary pieces. Delusional.

Good news, we don't have to speculate, the Twins have tried this approach the last 2 offseasons. If we call the 2025 core Buxton, Lopez, Ryan, Jeffers, and Lewis?, then... 2023: 2025 core + ace starter, HOF shortstop, 2 all star relievers, Polanco and others = 87 wins 2024: 2025 core + ace starter, HOF shortstop, 2 all star relievers, $30mil payroll cut = 82 wins 2025 pre dealine: 2025 core + HOF shortstop, 2 all star relievers, $0 additional investment = 75 win pace 2025 post deadline; 2025 core, $30 mil payroll cut = 57 win pace This roster has spent 2+ years screaming at us that it's not good enough. I wish the FO and fans would listen.

Ok, now do Brooks Lee, who the Twins drafted and developed as a shortstop, played him at the minors at SS, called him up as a SS, played him in the majors as a SS. It's becoming clear that he's not a major league SS. What now? Keep throwing him out there and hope for different results? He's been trained as an SS after all... I don't think it's a sin for the Twins to say, "hey Brooks, we think it would be better for the team, and better for your career, if you slide over to 2B." Maybe people here disagree and are mad at the Twins for asking this of Lewis. And that's fine - opinions and all.

An independent financial audit would clear up a lot of things. Here's the money paragraph from Chief's link. Yeah, sure, the Twins lose money when the Pirates are profitable on gate alone. (It also looks like Pittsburgh is home to actual journalists who don't just take billionaires at their word.) the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that in most years since 2007, the Pirates have been able to cover their payroll with their gate revenue (ie. ticket sales, concessions, stadium merchandise sales, and parking) alone. This does not include any revenue from national or local television, or, most importantly, revenue sharing.

I get your point but if a guy isn't good enough to stick at his "preferred" position then it would be equally stupid continuing to play him there to the detriment of the team wouldn't it? I guess I'm saying there must be a compromise somewhere between "Player X must be able to hit and play anywhere" and "Player X must never be moved off his favorite position". 2026 is going to be make or break for Lee at SS, so if it doesn't go great he might be well served to start developing some other skills, such as versatility, that would allow him to continue his careers at the MLB level. If he insists on playing shortstop then he might soon find himself doing that in the minors.

Hey, this was a nice piece! Gotta respect an undrafted guy who slogs it out in an independent league and makes it all the way to the bigs. Dude must truly love the game.

For sure. To be clear I want them to play the young guys and I expect many of them to struggle initially. I just have no expectation that they compete and would rather the young guys go through growing pains in rebuilding years so by the time we have built the roster back up they are leaders.

That makes sense, you are a brilliant baseball mind so I wondered if I missed something on Abrams. This is the reason you will never see me propose trades, because what the heck do I know? The trades you see/hear on a fan blog or sports radio never consider the other team, it's always "let's trade our bad players for their good players". I'm definitely guilty of incivility from time to time, and need to get better at that - thanks for keeping me honest.

Bad news for those who think the young guns are going to come up and rake right away, helping magically turn a 57-win team into a playoff team.

Those trade proposals would gain my attention, holy crow. You think the Twins would give all that up for a slightly better version of Royce Lewis?

Good points and you are right, it's likely a number of different factors. I do hope they are learning lessons and get their books in order to facilitate a sale.

Why would Washington want to do this?

Pretty sure that guy is playing town ball now.

Frankly the last thing Lewis needs is more people telling him he's a superstar. Mr "I Don't Do Slumps" has yet to master the mental aspects of being a professional athlete. 2026 might be his last chance to prove he's not only part of the Twins core but an MLB starter period. He needs to focus not on being a superstar but being a consistent, reliable, above average MLB starter.

Again, if the Pohlads were losing money every year a "rational businessperson" would have sold the club. "Here's a billion dollars, can I take a losing business off your hands?" There is in only one rational response to that. Fans truly do not need to play the Pohlad's game of crying poverty. The only "evidence" we have is the Pohlads whining about losing money, and they have proved time and again that nothing they say can be trusted. Your numbers seem reasonable but their books are closed. It's a best guess. You don't know any better than I do. What I do know is the Pohlads could have sold the team for more than a billion dollars and decided not to. That is a fact we do know. You are saying they are just being rational by holding on to a losing business. Wouldn't the simpler, more "rational" explanation being they are holding on because it makes money? Or do you truly believe that the Twins are the 1 professional sports franchise that loses money? Do you honestly believe two private equity firms would invest in an operation that is losing millions? Who is being "rational" here?

Great challenge considering we will never know unless the Twins open their books. I know you desperately want to prove that your heroes are selflessly pouring cash into to the team because they are so kind and generous, but until they open the books that won't be possible. But I'll provide you undeniable proof that the Twins are not "deficit spending": If they were losing money year over year the Pohlads would have sold the team for $1.5 billion dollars, or even $1 billion dollars - anything to get out of a losing operation. So which is more likely: the Twins, like every professional sports team, make money? Or are the Pohlads the stupidest people on earth for not taking a billion and a half dollars to bail them out of a business losing them $50 million every year?