Well, shoot. It's tough times in Twins Territory. The Pohlads aren't going anywhere, which stinks, because the 2025 Twins are also not going anywhere. There are concerns over the 2026 version as well. Fans are pointing blame in all sorts of areas, and I would assert that the Pohlads have deserved most of it. I think failing to come out of the All Star Break with any juice should spell the end of the line for Rocco Baldelli as well. I'm less on board with the bloodlust for Derek Falvey's job, however.
I think there is a bit of a sense of entitlement in Minnesota. Perhaps it is universal, but it seems locally, there is a demand for results, without an appreciation for progress. Minnesota isn't ever, like it or not, going to attract top talent in the middle of the country in the coldest market in most leagues, including baseball. People that live here love it. People that don't live here think it sounds awful.
With that frame of reference, I am approaching the hire of Derek Falvey - a neophyte to running an entire organization when he was hired - and his development in the role through the lens of making the organization better. Not necessarily making it perfect, but making it better. In that regard, you have to be fairly bullheaded to argue that the Twins aren't a stronger organization than they were when he started.
When Falvey was hired, he was advertised as having a strong ability at pitcher development. The team was coming out of the "total system failure" years, so generating some internal pitching candidates was imperative. At the time of Falvey's hire, the prior rotation included Ervin Santana, who was a nearing the end of his useful ability, Hector Santiago, who was most importantly not Ricky Nolasco (even though he was worse than Nolasco) and Tyler Duffey. Kyle Gibson and Jose Berrios were there, mediocre or bad, respectively, so Falvey doesn't get credit for their continued development.
What I will note, however, is the number of pitchers in the year end ranks of the Twins system after 2016. Jose Berrios worked out, and the next pitchers were Tyler Jay, Stephen Gonsalves, Kohl Stewart, JT Chargois, Alex Meyer, Lewis Thorpe, Taylor Rogers, Jake Reed, Fernando Romero, Mason Melotakis, Felix Jorge, Alex Robinson and Lachlan Wells (the late Yorman Landa was also on the list). Chargois and Rogers build real careers in the bullpen, but the rest of the list. Yeesh.
By 2022, through a pandemic, and mostly stocking a farm system with their own players, the organization featured Jhoan Duran, Joe Ryan, Josh Winder, Ronny Henriquez, Louis Varland, Cole Sands and Cade Povich, who already have started their MLB careers, including a couple of all stars, and some other bullpen aces. Not all with the Twins, but certainly a reflection of an improved ability to recognize and add pitching talent.
Previous iterations of the team couldn't muster decent arms for a bullpen, and the Twins, obviously, have done a good job with that. Just as importantly, they were able to acquire top starters when they weren't able to graduate starting prospects. They were willing and able to go get Sonny Gray, Pablo Lopez, Jake Odorizzi and Kenta Maeda over the years. That's a far cry from Kevin Correia and Ricky Noelasco.
The best season the Twins have had since 2002 occurred when the Pohlads loosened the pocketbooks, and the team added big league depth, more than anything. When the safety net was gone, the Twins had no wiggle room and have fallen on hard times. It wasn't Falvey's choice to slash the payroll. And through it all, the pitching staff has kept the team relevant.
A major issue with the Twins' dark times in the 90s and 2010s was that they ended abruptly, with injuries and contract expiration. Terry Ryan was never a big trader (the Twins made more trades in the final week of July than TR did in his first few years in charge of the Twins), but he didn't have much to unload either as those dynasties came undone. While seeing the squad get blown up was a cloud, the silver lining is that the Twins' real tradable assets in the bullpen will shorten the this downturn. Having tradeable assets is a reflection of the Twins ability to acquire talent.
Falvey's regime has had its warts, to be certain. They can't develop hitters at all. The best right handed hitter to come up under the Falvey era is... Ryan Jeffers? Matt Wallner may eventually be the lefthanded hitter, but it's not a great track record. A little money to spread on veteran bats would go a long way. And money isn't up to Derek Falvey.
Derek Falvey has performed as asked, and is a victim of goalposts being moved by both his bosses and the fanbase. There may be changes this offseason, but we shouldn't be so bothered when Falvey remains in his role.