The Great Hambino

Weird that Smoltz felt the need to dip into his child abuse material in a one run game He is not my favorite. If I wanted to hear incessant whining about modern baseball, I'd have someone narrate the game threads to me

Okay, I definitely don't have "Wallner scores from second on a ball that didn't leave the infield" on my Twingo card

I don't understand that. If they want the Pohlads to hear it, why are they doing it at Target Field?

Can't believe no one wanted Funderburk during The Great Bullpen Purge of 2025

MLB: "Hey players, how do you want to show off your individual personalities on Players Weekend?" Players: "Weird NASCAR numbers on the side of our hats"

Looked like Buxton was expecting Wallner to get there

Maximizing development opportunities. Smart

You were wondering how it carried so far...

That metal ring in the sweet spot of Lees bat has got to be illegal

Good, I could use a drink

Kody "Big Cat" Clemens

I guess the Gasper DH pitchforks have to be put down for the night - or at least replaced with the Larnach leading off pitchforks

Not to mention Gray's ERA has been a full run higher with the Cardinals (3.94) than with the Twins (2.90). Doesn't look like those deeper starts have paid off too well for the Cardinals For all the complaints about Rocco, this really isn't a valid one

Hey, I want them to win just as much as you do! I'm on the other end of the spectrum, where I was too young to really be able to enjoy 1991 - even though I was the only one in my kindergarten class to sit and watch the victory parade on the TV our teacher wheeled into the classroom. So at least you got to fully experience a couple of championships! I just don't see a realistic chance of them competing next year. It would be a longshot even if they brought the payroll back to 2024-25 levels. So I'd rather see them angle for more realistic contention a couple years down the road. Maybe by then the new CBA reshuffles the deck and they hit 2028 ready to truly roll. That's my hope, anyway, for all Twins fans

Uhhh .... they've just started the cost cutting thing. They've been trying to spend relative to their market up until this deadline. If the debt has truly been accumulated solely through baseball operations (highly dubious), then that's all the more reason (in their cynical eyes) to cut costs and make their profit the way the Pirates have.

The problem is that a good portion of their revenue is guaranteed regardless of their performance (national media deals) and portions of revenue that aren't will be partially offset through receiving a bigger piece of the revenue sharing pie. Since what they make is determined by revenue minus costs (you keep ignoring that part), it's pretty easy to see that a cynical bunch like the Pohlads sees cutting costs as a much easier and reliable path to profitability as compared to hoping increased spending will generate that much more revenue. They have to be a legitimate contender to generate that type of revenue. They are not the retention of Lopez/Ryan and the reinvestment of Correa's savings away from legitimate contention.

We're currently in the middle of one

Here's the problem: the shortest path to maximizing ROI for a team in the Twins' position isn't increasing revenues and fan support. It's cutting costs. In most businesses, you have to spend money to make money. But where the Twins sit currently, they do not. If they take measures that decrease their revenue, that decrease will be at least partially offset by increased revenue sharing, which ultimately improves their bottom-line return. Teams like the As and Pirates are proof that this is a path to profitability. I know there was a grievance against the A's, but they ran a dead-last payroll for three years before that became a thing. And none of this affects the real ROI that the limited partners get, which is the appreciation of value that MLB owners get regardless of how dysfunctionally their club is managed. The best we can hope for is silver lining #3: the Pohlads are able to sell at the number they want after the new CBA is in place. Until then? Budgetball

Ohl vs Old

Even if Joe truly has the best intentions of running the team as best he can, the fact that the Astros owner went over his head to Jim to make the Correa deal happen tells us who's really running this team. Even if he wants the Twins to win, he wants even more to prove to his uncles that he's a big boy

I can appreciate the optimism from those that think the Twins are both willing and able to compete in 2026, but there isn't a single action that they've taken since the trade deadline - really, since the end of the playoff run - that suggests an intention to be competitive next season. Duran, Jax, Stewart, and Varland all could've been key contributors in a push to be competitive in 2026. But they were all moved for returns that aren't likely to be helpful in 2026 (assuming you're keeping all of Ryan, Lopez, and Ober for this 2026 push). Abel and Bradley: They're not cracking the rotation with everyone healthy and retained, so their best bet at a 2026 contribution is making an effective transition to the bullpen immediately. Outside shot of providing 2026 value in this scenario at best. If they're in next year's rotation entering the season, it's because some or all of the vets have been traded. Tait and Rojas: not contributing to 2026 (especially Tait) Roden: Redundant at best for 2026 (he might be better than Larnach eventually, but certainly isn't right now). Most likely a reserve with younger, better prospects (ERod, Jenkins) nipping at his heels Outman: LOL These are (mostly) moves with a fair to good chance of improving the future, but not right away. Expecting them to try to compete next year is not realistic in my view. The passage from the stupid letter that says the new limited parnters align with "Pohlad family values" should be the final nail in the coffin of the idea of meaningful reinvestment in 2026

That seems to get glossed over whenever people discuss extensions. Twins can't just unilaterally impose extensions on whomever they please. It has to make sense for the player as well. They would need a good reason to pull themselves out of the free agent market, which for vets close to free agency means one thing: a significant overpay. For the Twins to agree to make that overpay would be incredibly bizarre given all their other actions ever since the right-sizing. This all applies to the calls to extend Bader as well. I could see why the Twins would've wanted one, but why in the world would Bader? The Jackson Chourio-style extension for a young player that gets the player money faster while providing cost certainty and some extra years of control to the team? That I could see the Twins doing for someone like Jenkins, maybe Keaschall. But I think we can assume vet extensions are off the table until their actions prove otherwise

O Canada!

This is supposed to be a silver lining?

MLB is committed to expansion, so that removes two potential relocation sites. Plus the Rays appear to be back in play from relocation, so there goes another potential relocation site. That means there could need to be four markets more attractive than the Twin Cities for there to be a feasible move. Even if you remove the Rays and A's and their temporary parks, there are 24 teams with a stadium older than Target Field. For sure, some in that group have since extended leases or are otherwise not a relocation threat. But that still leaves plenty of teams with expiring leases between now and 2040. So there could be even more potential relocation sites off the table by the time it's even a remote possibility. Someone really itching to put a team in Nashville, for instance, isn't going to wait on the Twins when the White Sox or Pirates or Reds or any number of other teams might be in play well before then. Concerns about a move are unfounded