One of the big stories this post season has been Seattle's arrival, and the clutch hitting of Jorge Polanco. Yeah, that Jorge Polanco.
Polanco had, if anything, a reputation for steadiness in Minnesota. The Twins won a playoff series with Polanco on the roster, and he was an All Star in 2019, but he didn't really stand out as a clutch guy. Now, in the blink of an eye, he is a postseason assassin. He had the game winning hit in the final game of their series with the Tigers, and now, he has started with a .444 average, a home run an 5 runs batted in (matching his total in his Twins career) in a couple of games.
Jorge Polanco had a long and devoted career as a Minnesota Twin, but it seems pretty likely that when most baseball fans look back at Polanco's career when all is said and done, people are going to think of his exploits as a Mariner.
This sure has been a down stretch at the Rhino and Compass. The Twins are bad, and posts have been non stop about how bad the Twins are. So let's talk about the Colts, who have been one of the hits of the 2025 NFL season, and Daniel Jones is having his career resurgence in Indianapolis rather than with Kevin O'Connell. How the heck did that happen?
In this area, I have no choice but to agree with Saquan Barkley. Last summer, he told Diana Rossini "You give him an offensive line, and I’m telling you, he’s a top quarterback. ... He has it.” A good offensive line can give a young quarterback more time to develop and figure it out, and allows a mediocre quarterback to be good, and a good one to be great. When the Rams went on their run with Kurt Warner, it was after drafting Orlando Pace first overall, not a QB or a weapon.
The Vikings are a perfect example of this. They've given special attention to their offensive line, and as a result, have been able to develop Kirk Cousins into something better than he otherwise would have been, and managed with Sam Darnold after that. The Colts have bounced from quarterback to quarterback in the last several years as well, with varying success. They weren't ever really bad but never particularly good, either. Philip Rivers was still effective, but Matt Ryan was over the hill.
They used draft picks to develop an offensive line that is now one of the better ones in the league, supporting Daniel Jones as he turns himself into an Indianapolis legend. And that line, the incredible part of all of it is that two long term starters left the team this offseason (to go to Minnesota of all places) which means that there is an argument that it could have been even better last year, and certainly two years prior when Gardner Minshew went to the Pro Bowl. That Anthony Richardson struggled so mightily with a line that is protecting Jones' renaissance is probably a factor in their being zero trade interest in the former #4 overall pick.
In retrospect, drafting Richardson was a colossal misstep. At the position the Colts were, it made sense to draft a QB, however Richardson wasn't ready for the NFL, and certainly wasn't ready to be a high first rounder. Given the choice, I think Indy would have rather taken Deon Witherspoon, the corner the Steelers grabbed a pick later. They still would have scuffled to an about .500 record, and would have needed a QB again now.
I could see Richardson having a career like Geno Smith, where he takes a back seat for several years and reemerges somewhere in 7 years, taking all that time to learn the position, all while keeping his body healthy. Richardson famously didn't start playing football until late in his high school career, and bviously needed time to develop his understanding of the game, even if he had raw physical ability.
And I think Richardson knew this too. He's not arrogant, and has taken this benching in stride, as a learning opportunity. That's such a rare quality in today's world, and the sign of a future leader.
The Twins had their fire sale, then they fired the manager. Rocco Baldelli is already being discussed as a replacement in one of the open roles across the country. Furthermore, Thad Levine, the former GM who left last season of his own volition, is being mentioned as as a candidate to take over the President of Baseball Operations role in Colorado. Clearly, the Twins have had the pieces over the years, which is a credit to the hiring practices. The problem is that they haven't been given the resources to buy the glue to hold it all together.
Even if this isn't the case on Twins fan sites, Derek Falvey has a reputation of a person with a good eye for talent. As the Twins start their search for a new captain of the ship, I think this is important, that Falvey doesn't really have a reason to feel unconfident in looking for the right person for the job, and despite what media and fans think, there probably is less imperative to find an Old Friend for the role.
Sure, there is probably some reason to consider James Rowson or Derek Shelton for the role, considering the existing relationship with Falvey. I haven't heard much momentum for Shelton after his turn with the Pirates, but a lot of outlets have their eye on Rowson, the former hitting coach for the Twins, and current hitting coach for the Yankees. I give Rowson all the credit for Trent Grisham.
I've said in the past that managers are as much about vibes as they are about anything else. I'm not sure Torii Hunter or Kurt Suzuki are the vibe the organization is looking for. Both most recently participated in losing Twins teams. Hunter has said controversial things about gay marriage and Hispanic players, while Suzuki's tenure with the Twins coincided with their most recent time in the baseball abyss, and was famously snuggly with the president when Suzuki's Nationals won the World Series.
I'm not saying that a person's politics should be disqualifying. The country is split, so I assume baseball is too. Hunter's past goes beyond politics, but the more pertinent point for Falvey and his managerial hunt is that everyone knows how they feel at all. That was one of Falvey's favorite things about Rocco Baldelli: The man was chronically coy, and all attention was to the product on the field.
Most importantly, Falvey doesn't have a connection with Suzuki or Hunter. There isn't necessarily the draw to them for him or Jeremy Zoll as there are Twins fans with memories. But let's also not get carried away with Rowson.
James Rowson left the Twins voluntarily to go to Miami and eventually would take the hitting coach role with the Yankees. For whatever good vibes Rowson had with the Bomba Squad, there is only one player left on the team from that team, and Byron Buxton wasn't really one of the big bombers at the time. Hell, most of the players on the team now were only drafted that year, if they were drafted at all. I'll have to check my notes, but I don't think Luke Keaschall was even born.
I don't need to see Hunter or Suzuki back in Minnesota, and I'm not sure the Twins are even looking at Derek Shelton. James Rowson is probably the most likely Old Friend to return to the role, but the hole point is this: Don't expect to the Twins' hunt to be as narrow as we've been led to believe.
I've stated so many times to anyone who will listen that managers barely manager. Player development comes mostly from coaching, and in game strategy is rarely as impactful as we fans like to make it out to be. Managers, though, often reflect the vibes of the team. My biggest criticism of Ron Gardenhire was the way the team played with both hands around their throats in the postseason. Now for the past two seasons with Rocco Baldelli in charge, the vibes were all bad.
The inability to compete in the face of bad news (Joe Ryan's injury) in 2024 was appalling. The fact that year over year the Twins fall flat on their face in clutch situations, such as late in games or with runners in scoring position is inexplicable. There should be rises and falls in those numbers, and they should at least approximate your numbers in other situations. The nail in the coffin was the team performance coming out of the break in 2025. They were in must win series and couldn't beat the Rockies and Nationals. Yuck.
I have no problems with Rocco Baldelli, and I think he will be back on his feet quickly, but it was time to shake up the coaching staff. This can all be true, and it can also be just as true that the rot goes further up than that. I'm not talking Jeremy Zoll or even Derek Falvey, of course. This is an issue with ownership. No secret there, right?
The Star Tribune soft pedaled the Pohlads in a recent article, painting them as baseball diehards who are just as passionate about the team as we are, and wanted to keep the team, but that darn debt made it hard to hang on to the team. Since they got a cash infusion, they were able to keep the team, and look out, here comes some investment! In the context of that article, Baldelli losing his job makes more sense. The real purpose of the article, however, was this paragraph that heretofore unremarkable Pohlad Tom was quoted in.
Tom Pohlad pointed to what he said is an unfavorable economic model for small- and middle-market MLB teams like the Twins. In such markets, revenues “don’t necessarily support” amenities like a first-class ballpark at Target Field or consistently putting a high-performing team together.
Ah yes. That old chestnut. The Twin Cities metro is home to over 4 million people, which makes it larger than San Diego, Cleveland, Milwaukee and Cincinnati (the last one by a wide margin!) and all of those teams are in the playoffs. Going into the offseason the Twins have less money locked into place than the Padres and Brewers, as well as the Rockies, Cardinals, Royals and Pirates. That's some fuzzy math, but it shows who the Twins are punching with, generally.
The CBA is coming up at the end of next year, and the Pohlads have proven time and again that they are willing to play the victim in negotiations with players. The Pohlads are in worse shape than other organizations with otherwise similar traits in part because of some misfortune on the TV side, but also a fundamental inability to run a baseball team like owners that actually like baseball. Their situation makes them a poster child for the owners' cause at the next bargaining table.
A lot of hot takes I have seen after Baldelli's dismissal have related to Falvey's record. Sure, some of the teams listed above have greater success with similar progress, but no other team has had a successful team suddenly mandated to cut 30 million dollars in payroll, shortly after their 20 year peak. I'm happy to reevaluate Falvey if this rebuild doesn't go well, but I'm also not going to forget that whatever happens to this woebegone organization, the real villains are the owners.
The vibes are never going to be great if you have to fight uphill against your own employers.
The Twins have stared into a similar abyss in the past. In the early 90s, not long after the 1991 World Series, the team started disassembling piecemeal. It didn't help that the 1994 strike showed up and drove Shane Mack to Japan and Kent Hrbek out of baseball. Kevin Tapani and Scott Erickson were never the same pitcher after 1991 (or before, really) and by 1995, the Twins had Chuck Knoblauch and memories.
From 2010 to 2012, the Twins fortunes were also turned on their head, thanks to a couple of, well, head injuries. The run of contention ended when Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau sustained long term concussion related injuries. Whatever reload the Twins might have thought they were prepared for fell through with their two stars injured, and their supporting cast then leaving in free agency.
Terry Ryan was many things, but he was not good at rebuilding quickly. The late 90s and the 2010s were dark, dark times. The Twins of 2024 and 2025 will now symbolize the end of an era. This was ushered in by tightening purse strings rather than injuries to major cogs of the team, though there were certainly injuries. Those differences weren't career enders, and nobody got away for nothing. Say what you will about Derek Falvey, but this time, the Twins saw the end of the line coming, and made sure to restock the minor league system.
For so long, I've heard many fans wish the Twins were more like the Rays. Well, you got your wish. The Twins have sold their talent at maximum value, trying to restock the talent on their team with young players. It's painful, but if the Twins are going to be a small payroll team now, they are going to have to be trading good players with team control to patch holes with young talent.
Or maybe, the Twins will be sold, and payroll will increase. Whatever the case may be, the Twins need internal talent in order to form the foundation of the next contending group of Twins. The deadline hurt, and the end of the season has sucked, but the bounceback shouldn't take as long as other Twins downturns.
With that hope, though, there must be an acknowledgement that this version of the Twins doesn't work. The strength of a contending team cannot be the bullpen. The Twins have tried to turn that into future rotation and lineup strength, on top of the existing prospect. One advantage of the bad teams of yore was their ability to allow prospects to develop. It's probably too late for Ryan Jeffers or Trevor Larnach to be a part of the next good Twins team. The same can't be said about Austin Martin or Brooks Lee.
The Twins were able to keep plugging Torii Hunter and Michael Cuddyer in to some bad lineups until it started to click for them. Royce Lewis isn't yet through his first full healthy season, like Martin and Lee. Martin seems to be figuring it out. Lewis or Lee could. So could Matt Wallner. And that's to say nothing of Walker Jenkins or Kaelen Culpepper, a couple of helium prospects in the systm.
The Twins are bad right now, and will probably struggle. There might be a work stoppage for 2027, but this is a team that the front office likely expects to be strong contenders within 3 years. Enjoy the ride on the way back up.
It's been a while since the Twins have been able to truly enjoy a season in which many of the players were auditioning for the next season. Generally, when things aren't going particularly well, that means not many of those auditions are going well either. Such is the case with the Twins, though not all of them are going poorly. There are a few players who have likely played themselves into a real role in 2026.
I'm not talking about guys like Byron Buxton, who is obviously the focus of the team, or Luke Keaschall. the only spark the team seams to have had when he's healthy. I'm talking about players who were not necessarily on the radar at all, or at least emerged as a candidate for a greater role than they were expected to have on July 31st.
In particular, the two top names I am thinking of make the trade with the Blue Jays a few seasons ago have been standing out the brightest. Now that the stadium is empty, Austin Martin and Simeon Woods-Richardson are really showing up.
Austin Martin, in particular, has been a welcome surprise. Martin didn't see Target Field until after the deadline, as he was in St. Paul up until that point. For the Saints, he was hitting over .300, and now with the Twins, he is hitting .296. For having almost no power, his OPS is nearly .800 in his time with the Twins, and as filling the role of utility player has accumulated .9 win above replacement. His walk rate and strike out rate are improved over his freshman campaign, and it looks like we are finding out the type of player he is going to be.
Essentially, Marin is being asked to replace Willi Castro. For comparison, Martin's WAR production exceeds Castro's for the full season (thanks to Castro being trash with the Cubs) but Martin has produced .9 wins in a month and a half against Castro's 1.1 in 3 months. Martin offers the positional flexibility Castro does, along with being a regular table setter for a team in dire need of one.
In the month of September, following a stint on the IL for a stomach ailment, Simeon Woods Richardson has been the anchor of the Twins rotation. Heck, he's been one of the best pitchers in baseball. Certainly, SWR has shown flashes before, but also some valleys (like August, while fighting the initial stages of his tummy bug) but he has the tuff to strike out 11 per 9, as he has done this month.
Woods-Richardson has proven to be effective when he is not giving up the long ball, which he hasn't been this month. This is a similar course to the one Brad Radke started his career with, though Radke didn't strikeout as many batters, which meant he worked deeper into games. But for now, a healthy Simeon Woods Richardson is a nice asset.
Taj Bradley, Cole Sands and Kody Clemens have also shown flashes of brilliance to go along with the established stars and these recently emergent players. The cupboard is not bare. The Twins will, as always, hinge on their health and depth. If nothing else, at least Austin Martin can play a few different positions.
I referee high school basketball during the winter, and it's generally not as bad as you might think, from a verbal abuse standpoint. One of my favorite parts of the game is listening to coaches talk to their players, hearing the relationships and development, and the personalities that go into generating a well rounded player and person.
I was at a game between a couple of smaller charter schools that weren't especially talented, but very spirited. Their coach was very encouraging, and very chatty with his players, and came to their defense often. One play that sticks out in my mind was early in the shot clock, their point guard launched what would have been a logo three pointer, had the court had a logo. Based on everything I had seen to this point, the shot was ill-advised.
The coach, instead of giving a tortured "NO!" where the average coach would, upon seeing the shot, just shouted "CONFIDENCE!"
I don't remember if the basket went in, honestly, but the proclamation has always lived in my brain, and whenever I see or hear the word, that is how it is uttered in my brain. What does that have to do with anything?
Confidence is the reason why the Twins are running out journeymen relievers and bench players. Despite what prospect watchers might have you believe, there isn't really a prospect banging down the door, demanding a call up. The top hitting prospect still with the Saints is Emmannual Rodriguez, whose OPS hasn't been able to surpass that of Mickey Gasper or Johnny Pareda in St. Paul. The numbers are good, but why burn through confidence in meaningless games, especially if the developmental profile might not quite be there yet.
The pitchers people want to see are almost all starters. I think in this case, the Twins just want to keep pitchers stretched out, rather than having them come up and pitch a few innings of relief. There is a good chance the Twins will need more young starter next year.
