chpettit19

I'd watch a multi-episode documentary on the inner working of the Minnesota Twins from October 2023 until late January 2026. It'd be absolutely fascinating. The episode on the 2025 season into the 2025/2026 offseason would be interesting to track the narratives. Because there were plenty of rumors about Ryan, Lopez, and Buxton in the early offseason, right? There were plenty of discussions around here about Buxton possibly changing his mind on his no trade. Is that evidence of Joe still being in charge and Tom not being in the building yet? Falvey and Joe still looking to move Ryan and Lopez at that point, as the reports are suggesting now? In charge, but not in charge enough to actually make big moves? Dan Hayes wrote about Buxton (possibly?) being open to waiving his no trade on November 12th. There were rumors flying around everywhere in the baseball world about Lopez and Ryan being on the block. Discussions were happening daily on Twins Daily about what people would want in return for those guys and whether or not we should trade Buxton, Lewis, Jeffers, etc. as well. Blowing it all up was all we were talking about at that point. Falvey was telling everybody he couldn't even get a payroll number from ownership so he didn't really know what direction the team was going. (In hindsight, we should've been making a very big deal out of this) Then, on December 5th, Ken Rosenthal reported that the Twins were "keeping their stars." They weren't trading Lopez or Ryan or Buxton. They were "building around them." December 7 Hayes and Gleeman write an article reporting the same thing. December 9 Hayes writes a separate article analyzing the decision and stating they're going to "build." We've seen what "building" looks like. Josh Bell, Victor Caratini, Taylor Rogers, and some waiver claims I can't even name off the top of my head. I don't think it'd be the most unreasonable stance we've had on this site to say Tom entered the building in early December. And I'd guess it was family drama with Falvey in the middle of it for months leading up to that which lead to a freeze on any real baseball moves at the beginning of the offseason. Ownership wouldn't be signing off on the trades of their most prized possessions while they're fighting over which nepo-baby is in charge.

Well "management" (Falvey), according to every report out there, believed the 2026 team is going to be bad and wanted to do a rebuild. "Ownership" is what thinks its going to be good. And HAS to be good. How many nickels would you have for the Pohlads being right about things?

It was pretty widely reported that the front office wasn't even given payroll numbers or directions until Tom Pohlad took over. It was all framed around the minority ownership stuff. It's now being pretty widely reported that Joe Pohlad and Falvey had 1 plan and Tom Pohlad has a different one and Falvey and Tom didn't see eye to eye on things.

FYI, Tom is the new Pohlad in charge, Joe was the little brother he replaced. But your overall point is well taken and agreed to. I was fully on board with the "Falvey must go, he's lost his mind and switching from rebuild at the deadline to half-assed trying to compete in the offseason is total incompetence." Don't get me wrong, I'm still on board with Falvey going. It's been 9 years and you don't get a shot at a rebuild after 9 years when you never showed top end team building skills. That isn't my fight here. But Tom Pohlad appears to be completely out of touch with reality and setting us up for even further damage to be done to this organization. My biggest fear is that even if (when) this team struggles in the first half he still doesn't dive back into the rebuild. He holds Lopez and Ryan. Maybe even the expiring Jeffers contract. It's hard to imagine things getting worse at the top. I thought Tom actually came in sounding like an upgrade. He at least wasn't saying completely ridiculous things and being a PR nightmare right from the jump. Made it 3 press conferences in before he appears to have said "hold my beer..."

The Rockies are the comp I've been using, but the Angels fit as well. Owners who know nothing about baseball who are too involved and think their rosters are more talented than they are and stop rebuilds from happening when they should. If Joe and Falvey were planning to continue the rebuild and Tom stopped it out of some misguided idea that they'll make more money this year by "going for it," this organization is in even worse shape than it already was. And it was in pretty darn rough shape.

It sounds like the decision was actually made a number of weeks ago, but they decided to wait until after Twinsfest as to not overshadow all the excitement that they've been drumming up with their various overwhelming moves... (That is not a joke, that is legitimately what the reports are. I just added some extra zest and sarcasm because there's nothing at all exciting about this offseason)

I don't see too many people complaining that Falvey is gone. The vast majority of comments are praising that particular "lane change." But, yes, complaints will continue as long as every signal coming out of 1 Twins Way is that their current plan has every indication it is leading our favorite team straight to disaster. I'm not sure why it's confusing that fans are complaining that the new executive chair is claiming that the 2026 MN Twins roster is setup for success and the future of the MN Twins depends on the 2026 MN Twins roster being successful. Jumping from 1 dumpster that's on fire into the dumpster next to it that is also on fire doesn't automatically earn praise simply because we moved to a different dumpster.

Tom signed off on the Caratini and Rogers deals. What are you talking about? Tom is the one pushing for them to "go big" and "be competitive in 2026." I'd go read some articles about Tom from the last 24 hours before you get too excited about him. He thinks this team is good. Like legitimately. As in "playing meaningful September baseball" were 4 words that came out of his mouth in that exact order just yesterday. By every report out there, Falvey was happy to go because Tom is/was forcing him to make those sorts of moves to be competitive in 2026 and Falvey knew there was no way that was actually going to work and he was just going to get canned during or after the season anyway. Tom Pohlad wants us to judge the 2026 season on wins and losses because he thinks this team is good. That is the Pohlad in charge right now. That is the type of baseball knowledge we have running the show. Falvey had run his course. It was time for a shakeup. But we didn't get new blood. They aren't searching for an outside replacement. We just got the guy Falvey trained and we have a Pohlad who expects this collection of players to be playing "meaningful September baseball" leading him. Yesterday's news didn't help the Minnesota Twins in any way.

Joe Pohlad decided to tear it down while big brother Tom apparently decided to "go big" with Bell and Caratini. Or at least those are the reports coming out over the last 20ish hours. Classic Pohlad family brilliance.

I am nervous that they won't trade those guys. Tom keeps talking about being competitive. Keeps saying that building a business that can support a competitive team requires the 2026 Twins to be competitive. I am nervous that we will get to the deadline and he'll tell Zoll that he can't trade anyone and that Zoll just needs to figure out how to be competitive with the pieces he has because he's yet another in the long line of 3rd generation Pohlads who have absolutely no idea what they're doing in running a professional sports team. The new minority owners don't seem to be helping guide this ship in a better direction in the early goings.

I don't think there's any contradiction in my stance since the deadline. I said then that I didn't think they were doing a full rebuild but instead were going to try to play both sides of the fence and rebuild while being competitive. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe Joe and Falvey were planning on doing the full rebuild that I (and many others) hoped for. But I have that same stance today. And I think many others agree with it now. Whether they did before or not. Tom has changed lanes, making me undeniably correct now, and upsetting people. The team didn't respond. At least not in the way you seem to be implying. The team didn't fire Falvey, according to Gleeman, Bonnes, this article, etc. It truly was Falvey and Tom not agreeing on the strategy moving forward and Falvey was happy to get out of the way as Tom Pohlad was against a full rebuild and is truly thinking the 2026 Minnesota Twins will and should be competitive. That is not the team picking a direction in a responsible way in the big picture. That is Joe having picked a direction and Tom changing the direction but not actually giving the resources to meaningfully go in that direction. Well, unless you'd like the FO to trade away their entire farm system in some last-ditch effort to win in 2026. I don't think you'd find a single other poster on this site to back you up on that idea. Tom Pohlad expects the Twins to compete this year. Joe Pohlad had not been expecting the Twins to compete this year. Tom Pohlad took over as executive chair on December 17th. It was made clear to us fans up until that point that nobody could/would even give Falvey a 2026 payroll number until that point. Suggesting this is an example of successful leadership from ownership that should be making us all happy as fans is an interesting stance. Edit to add: This is not a defense of Falvey. I think it was time for all parties to move on. I think the timing was awful and the Pohlads have handled things from the deadline to now about as terribly as you could (well from October 2023 til now, really), but Falvey has had 9 years, and it was time for a shakeup. This is just me saying the Pohlads haven't smoothly picked a direction. Handing the guy trained by Falvey the job 2 weeks before spring training with no plans to search for a replacement is not some significant change in direction and this has been far from a smooth transition of power between Pohlad brothers.

Really? Almost every quote I see from Tom is him talking about them being competitive in 2026. He's giving very Monfort (Rockies owners) vibes of being so out of touch with the talent on the roster he refuses to trade his players because he constantly thinks they can win when they have 3 good players and a bunch of replacement level, or worse, players. From Gleeman's article on The Athletic today: “Yes, our payroll is down from last year,” Tom Pohlad said. “I think there are still some investments to be made between now and Opening Day. I’d also say, at some point, I’d love to get off this payroll thing for a second. Let’s judge the success of this year on wins and losses, and on whether we’re playing meaningful baseball in September.” “We have to have a good season in 2026,” Pohlad said last week. “Just because I say we’re trying to build a team that can play a string of October seasons, that doesn’t mean we’re not all in on 2026. Frankly, for us to be able to build a team and build a business that can invest in a team, we have to have a strong 2026.” I think you have it backwards and Tom is the one pushing for them to try to compete this season because he falsely believes its going to drive revenue. That first quote, about judging the season on wins and losses and meaningful September baseball, is from his press conference today. Tom Pohlad expects the Minnesota Twins to be competitive on the field in 2026. Right now. Today. That is his expectation.

Gleeman and Bonnes are reporting pretty significantly different things than that. They say pretty strongly that their sources around the league feel Falvey could have another top or 2nd in command job next year if he wants it, and that he appeared to be pretty darn comfortable with being out from under the weight of the Pohlad regime today and Tom was the one who was on edge with the situation. And I don't think Falvey is struggling for cash. Dude has been been making 7 figures for going on a decade.

You're a stronger person than me to put up with them for 275. The job is yours!

I've been emailing the Pohlad's asking to replace them for years...Oh, Falvey's position? Less interested in working for that family, but if they still have any money left, I guess I'll take a million of it.

Well then, they either better extend Lopez and Ryan or the window for winning better be literally right now. Better hope the FO is right this go around, because they were wrong about the window being open when they had Carlos Correa, Jhoan Duran, Griffin Jax, and Louis Varland on the team. Along with Keaschall and Lewis.

"I understand why the Phillies traded him, and why the Twins wanted him: if he stays at catcher and makes even a little progress on the swing decisions, he’s a 20-homer regular at the hardest position to fill. And if he doesn’t stay at catcher, he still has a path to be an above-average regular if he improves the plate discipline further." Definitely seems to question his ability to receive but loves his arm and bat if he can figure out his plate discipline.

Where can I place my bet on a Twins O/U of 82 wins? I can absolutely understand the point of view that they have talent in the starting rotation they wanted to try to build around. But it's January 27th and I don't see any meaningful building being done. 82 wins seems like a pretty unrealistic projection to me. Hope to be wrong, but this bullpen has 72 wins, not 82 wins, written all over it. Going to need some awfully impressive rookie seasons.

Because I did the entire 40-man roster. I said in that post that 75% of the roster is either a AAAA player or prospect. Then said the other poster could decide if that was better or worse than the original idea of 50% being AAAA.

That's not what I said. I said AAAA (or worse). They're not even AAAA players yet, they're AAA players. I listed the prospects with the AAAA players as a group of players that can't at all be considered true major leaguers going into this season.

1. Of course not, but let's be honest and realistic right now. Do you think they're sitting on some massive move that is going to drastically change anything with this roster in the next month or 2? It's not November 1st, it's the end of January. 2. Yes, they have Rogers or Orze types, but they aren't the top of the food chain. And, no, we don't know that, it's why I said you could pick whoever you think the 2 best relievers in the pen are. Sands? Topa? Funderburk? Ohl? None of them deserve to be an 8th or 9th inning arm going into the season. But 2 of them will be. 3. We agree here. 4. What is this based on? The last 2 offseasons have had Gleeman writing articles about how the Twins are expected to be the best bullpen in baseball. Not a good bullpen, the BEST bullpen. I don't know where you're coming up with this narrative from. And the bullpen before the deadline last year was full of absolute studs who were doing incredibly well. It's why they were able to be traded. And the team was still below .500 with a better roster. Now they have a worse offense and worse defense than the first half of last year to go along with a pen full of nobodies and you're arguing they've got a good chance to win more games. That doesn't add up to me. But that's why they play the games.

Find me a team expecting to compete that is relying on a Taylor Rogers and Eric Orze style leverage tandem. Or whoever you think are the 2 best relievers on this squad. 1 team. Any team you think compares to that level of 8th/9th inning pen strength that is unquestionably trying to win this year. If your argument is "well one of the kids will step into those roles," then find a team trying to compete by relying on rookies or newly converted starters to be their most important pen arms going into the season. Then see if they're also relying on 3+ position player prospects being immediate impacts to their team on top of that. Then see if they're also relying on a 110 OPS+ DH and a 101 OPS+ backup C/1B/DH and an 86 OPS+ 1B/DH as the most important bats added to a bottom 8 scoring team from last year. Find me that team and I will absolutely admit I'm wrong right here and now and start talking up the Twins chances to win this year.

Yeah, sorry, but "still considered MLB" for the prospects doesn't impress me. I'm glad you're excited and are expecting the Twins to hit on an incredibly high number of prospects this season. I hope you're right. But they don't get credit for being "considered MLB" from me simply because they haven't failed yet. Some will succeed, but going into a season where you claim to be trying to compete with so much of your season relying on guys who haven't succeeded in the majors suddenly succeeding in the majors is a bad strategy. The Twins were bad last year. Before the deadline. The roster is worse now than it was before the deadline. They will need about half a dozen prospects to hit on their 80th percentile outcome to be successful next year. Is it possible? Of course. Is it probable? Not at all. I mean, you're counting Orze as a reliable major leaguer despite him being a 28-year-old with one reasonably successful season under his belt. And he's a vital part of this pen. That's all I need to know.

It's not a "big big difference." Unless you expect the Twins to roll out the same 26 guys all year. 24 different players stepped into the batters box for the MN Twins in 2025. And that isn't because of the trades, because in 2024 the number was 21. 21 in 2023. 25 in 2022. 29 guys in 2021. Pitchers? 26 last year. 27 in 2024. 26 in 2023. You get the idea. The 26 man roster is not at all "the team." And, yes, I do have a problem with AAAA on the 40-man in AAA. I'd much rather have prospects in AAA than guys who've proven they can't play in the majors like Ryan freaking Kreidler. It's why teams get 3 option years. I accounted for prospects. That's why I said 75% of the team is AAAA players or prospects. And I very clearly said that being on the list now doesn't mean they can't get off the list. But I'm not going to just assume they're suddenly going to be players they've never been before. 1 WAR wasn't my qualification. But the other poster's qualification was "it would be reasonable to call any position player or starter who might be expected to generate under 1.0 WAR (depending on the version you like) in a full season." If you want to make a bet on Kody Clemens hitting 1 WAR this year, I'll be your huckleberry. That's what team building is about. It's doing your best to predict the future. The thing I responded to was you saying you'd start asking for names as if people wouldn't want to do it. I have no problem doing it. My opinion on the state of the current 40-man roster of the Minnesota Twins is that 75% are either AAAA players or prospects. I feel confident the Twins have 10 major leaguers. So, even if you want to just do the 26-man, my opinion is the Twins are at below 50% of their roster being guys I'd be comfortable calling sure thing major leaguers going into 2026. 38.5% if you want to be a little more precise.

I'll happily name them. Guys on the 40-man who are AAAA (or worse) players until proven otherwise: Mick Abel Travis Adams Taj Bradley Kody Funderburk John Klein Andrew Morris Pierson Ohl Marco Raya Kendry Rojas Alex Jackson Jhonny Pereda Kody Clemens Tristan Gray Edouard Julien Brooks Lee Eric Wagaman Gabriel Gonzalez Ryan Kreidler Hendry Mendez James Outman Alan Roden Emmanuel Rodriguez I have 22. Now that doesn't mean that none of these 22 can't break out of the AAAA (or worse) category, but it's what they are now. Teams don't generally try to build their team around expecting that many guys to "break out." And this doesn't include Austin Martin, Royce Lewis, Luke Keaschall, Cole Sands, Eric Orze, Zebby Matthews, or David Festa who haven't exactly solidified themselves as legit big leaguers yet. Let alone any sort of above average players. I didn't count them because I think they've all shown enough to realistically expect them to be major league quality when you're building your team during the offseason. But now I've listed 29 out of 40 players. I don't think having 11 guys you're fully confident are major leaguers is a great starting spot for a contending club. There's nothing about being a moderator that says we have to praise the Twins or sugar coat our opinions on the current state of the team. We're allowed to speak our thoughts on what we feel is a realistic look at the roster just like the rest of you. You mean players like Mick Abel Travis Adams Taj Bradley Kody Funderburk Pierson Ohl Alex Jackson Jhonny Pereda Kody Clemens Tristan Gray Edouard Julien Brooks Lee Eric Wagaman Ryan Kreidler James Outman Alan Roden That's 15 guys. You're not going to want to count the prospects, which is fine, but you also don't get to count them as any sort of sure bet. The team is filled with 75% AAAA players or prospects. You can decide if you think that's better or worse than the 50% AAAA player idea. But I think most of us are happy to name the guys. And the players hear far worse than "you're a AAAA player" from fans. I can promise you that.