Should Old Acquaintance Be Forgot?

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.

The vibes are bad

 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.

Softening the blow

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.

Making the most of it.

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. 

Confidence!

 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. 

Might as well look ahead to the future, I guess.

Well, it's September now. Suffice to say, the baseball season hasn't quite gone as Minnesota fans would have hoped. It's been a trend since the halcyon days of 2023. We don't deserve hope or nice things, and it's all gone south. It's not all the Pohlads, either. There has been a lack of development among offensive prospects and unfortunate injuries, with the most impactful usually afflicting the pitching staff. 

Where do the Twins go from here? I am personally of the opinion that the pitching on this team, if the starters can stay healthy, will be a strength for the next couple of years. The Twins haven't been able to lead their rotation with someone as good and cost controlled ass Joe Ryan since Johan Santana. They haven't had two at the top like Lopez and Ryan since Santana and Radke. The Twins have been in the pitching wilderness for a very long time.

But alas, the offense stinks, and owners still want a salary cap, which means the 2027 season is in a dire situation. The AL Central is always a winnable proposition, but with the Tigers and Royals ascendant, even if the Twins have the arms, the bats aren't likely to come around soon enough. If you are planning for 2026, you might as well also look ahead to 2027, and the concern that it may not even happen.

Hey, sidebar for a minute. The funny thing to me is that the Pohlads are absolutely going to push among the hardest for a salary cap, but the only way it would ever get done is if the Major League cap ends up around the luxury cap line. Cap or no cap, the Twins aren't going to come close to spending that much, so who cares?

Back on track.

If you are thinking about next year, with a real belief that 2027 isn't going to happen, then the window to make a decision on Ryan and Lopez is fast approaching. Either go for it in 2026, or punt. The Pohlads are still interested in selling the team, by the sounds of it, which probably means the Twins are punting. 

It seems like the Red Sox are going to be the most interested in Joe Ryan, as they have been all along. The Twins have a lot of prospects waiting to break through, so I think the Twins will be inclined to add Major League talent in any trades. Given the Twins' difficulty in adding players that can actually hit, I imagine the Twins would build a trade around a position player. I think Wilyer Abreu is probably a major component of a likely return for Ryan, primarily because he has more time under team control than Jarren Duran.

The return Lopez would commend is going to be dampened by having a larger contract, as well as the injuries that have followed him the past couple of years. I think the Twins may be more inclined to find a trade partner willing to offer prospects in a Pablo Lopez deal. Baltimore still has a young core, and should be looking to return to contention, but this time with veteran leadership in the bullpen. Organizing a deal around Colby Mayo would give the Twins an option at first base, which has somehow become a nettlesome issue over the years. 

Trevor Larnach is probably pushed out in this scenario. He's on the Joe Ryan/Pablo Lopez timeline as well, though, so it's probably for the best for all parties involved if he is perhaps included with one of the other deals. Bailey Ober is stuck in the middle as well, but may benefit from a change in scenery. Ryan Jeffers gets to play out his contract, as the Twins value veteran catchers, and the other options out there are anemic.

The Twins wouldn't likely be much good next year, but they would be full of young players trying to prove themselves, looking to get better. The bounceback into contention would be shorter than it would be with the attrition and hope model exercised by past Twins teams on the downslide. A guy can be optimistic.

Here is what the starting rotation would look like.
Simeon Woods-Richardson
Zebby Matthews
David Festa
Taj Bradley
Mick Abel

The bullpen would carry some assorted veteran free agents and starting pitching prospects that aren't working out, as well as Cole Sands, Kody Funderburk and Justin Topa.

The lineup would include
C Ryan Jeffers
1b Colby Mayo
2b Luke Keaschall
SS Brooks Lee
3b Royce Lewis
RF Matt Wallner
CF Byron Buxton
LF Wilyer Abreu
DH I don't know, Alan Roden?

Bench
Mickey Gasper
Kody Clemens
James Outman
Austin Martin

I've only included players currently on the 40 man aide from trade acquisition. Obviously, Walker Jenkins, Kaelen Culpepper and Emmannual Rodriguez will be considerations early in the season. 

Thoughts in a difficult time.

 I was bringing my kids to a summer camp on Wednesday morning when my wife messaged about the volume of emergency vehicles driving below her Minneapolis office. That was the first indication that there was something terribly wrong. Fortunately, the kids were out of the car when she followed up about word of an active shooter at a school in South Minneapolis.

I spent the next two hours at a Dunn Brothers table refreshing the Star Tribune live updates for news, sad for the Annunciation community, and thankful that it wasn't worse than it was. It struck close to home for a variety of reasons. As I said, I have school age children, I live in Minnesota and in fact drove by the church just on Monday, and I went to a K-8 Catholic school that had mass on Wednesday mornings. Eventually, I went to a Catholic high school as well, and through those old connections, have a loose connection with at least one of the victims.

It's been a tough time for anyone with a heart, here or anywhere, and it's enflamed passions, as the death of children should. It's long past time that we do something. After the call for thoughts and prayers, the most impotent turn of phrase is that we need to do something. Do what, exactly? If 30 years of shootings, followed by 30 years of pleas to do something have yielded nothing, then maybe it is time to reflect and do something on ourselves.

Mass shootings exploded across the country when an assault weapons ban was repealed, allowing more automatic weapons in the streets and in the hands of anyone with the wherewithal to get them. Naturally, it seems fairly obvious that an assault weapons ban is the easy answer, but if it hasn't been brought back yet, I am not hopeful for the future. 

Mental health is an obvious factor in these incidents. Those who have lobbied to keep the assault weapons ban in place have also decried the poor state of mental health, but again, this is an area that we as a country are backsliding. We are losing access to traditional health care, I'm not confident resources for mental health are coming either.

Passions are high, and blame is never far behind. Maybe that's where we, you and I, can make a difference. We decry racism, xenophobia, misogyny, homophobia, as well we should, and are still susceptible to bundling whole groups into stereotypes. Villainizing entire group that are held dear by a lot of people - religions, political parties, law enforcement - especially when those that start to conflate with personal identity.

When we villainize groups, it's easier for them to villainize right back. The spiral continues, and hate grows, in both directions. Too often with the innocent falling as victims. So how do we change? My ask is this: Instead of looking at the worst in everyone who disagrees with us, look for the best. When we insult people who believe they are in the right, it eliminates any opportunity to communicate our beliefs to receptive ears. Find common ground.

The various phobias are less pernicious when the various groups have a chance to work and live together. There are fewer people out there to target us if we can welcome anyone. There are always going to be those who lead with hate or fear, always going to be those who see any hierarchy and want to corrupt it, but with those headwinds, we don't need to keep making enemies of one another. 

Thoughts, prayers and begging politicians to do something hasn't worked. Let's do what we can, even if it might not feel like much. Lead with kindness and openness, in a way that hasn't felt natural in 30 years, at least .

"I forgot how good he was" - Michael Cuddyer

 

There have been some ups and downs during the past 40 or so years as a Twins fan, and save for a few players that will always stand out, either for skill or ineptitude, my memory of those players kind of smooths out over time, and I don't remember the peaks or how important they were to the team in their halcyon days. 

Given that the Twins are a frustrating mess right now, I think it's OK to go back and look fondly on some players that perhaps I didn't appreciate as much at the time, and certainly don't appreciate enough now. So let's make this a regular series until I run out of gas.

Michael Cuddyer started poking around at the Major League level in 2001, often spelling Corey Koskie (who, if he hadn't just been inducted into the Twins Hall of Fame, would have a spot in this series as well), and was otherwise fairly positionless. The jack of all trades, master of none. He wasn't really a regular until 2005, and he wasn't a good regular until 2006. Perhaps that long runway is why I don't really appreciate his contributions? First impressions go a long way, especially for baseball fans.

But then Cuddyer took off. 2007 was his best year by WAR, thanks to finally settling into a position (Right Field). The fact that his best position was right field may in part reflect on his not being a great third baseman? Nevertheless, his bat had come around as well. In 2006, his OPS was .867, the highest it would be in a Twins uniform.

His 2009 season, with highlights in the video above, was a season to remember. He hit 32 home runs, and got votes for AL MVP. Perhaps this is a sign of why we don't appreciate Cuddyer as much as he deserves: his best season was also the year that Joe Mauer won the AL MVP.

Michael Cuddyer was always overshadowed - by Mauer, Justin Morneau, Torii Hunter -- and impressions of him were initially not positive thanks to a slow ramp up in his career. But you know what? Michael Cuddyer was pretty good. 

Derek Falvey is not the scapegoat you're looking for

 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. 

A common thread.

I've always loved baseball. I think I can pinpoint a conversation with my Little League assistant coach, when coaches were still standing in the field with us, as I was playing second base. "Baseball is a thinking man's game, Ryan. You have to think before every pitch, where are you going to throw the ball if it gets hit to you? Do you need to tag up if you are on base? You always have to be thinking." As a kid who possessed no apparent athletic talent, but wore a thick pair of glasses before he could walk, "thinking" sounded just great to me. 

It probably resonated a bit more because the coach was my dad.

Around this time, my active imagination was already world building for sports teams. A distinct memory I had was taking a 64 count box of crayons, pulling out two at random, and inventing a team, location and nickname, to go along with the random combination of colors. I asked my brother which one he liked best, and he picked one that featured two shades of green, and I had named the "Miami Palms". From then on, he and I created a tabletop game, and kept track of the Palms and their statistics. After thinking, "statistics" were the natural track for baseball fascination.

I kept evolving that game, my brother grew disinterested as he actually developed some athletic ability and real human friendships. I didn't stop loving baseball, but by this point, the local team was pretty depressing. The Palms offered an outlet to my baseball enjoyment, the thinking, the statistics, and they sure were better than the Twins. The game was a game of chance, too, with not much decision input from me, it was also an outlet for fandom.

From that initial conversation with my dad, through the development of the Palms, and on to now, one thing has remained true; the Pohlad family has owned the Twins. I've been a Twins fan since I can remember, despite my feelings about the Pohlads. The news that the Twins were going to remain under Pohlad control was a punch to the gut, and definitely ruined the week for me.

But the Pohlads have always been there. I've never been a fan of the Pohlads. I've always been a fan of the Twins. I like the players, the people I see on the field. The game experience is great, and I always root for the front office, and for their decisions to work out. The owners are a condition they are doing their best to work around. The employees of the team are who I imagine my money goes to when I buy tickets or hats or whatever.

The news sucks, because it appeared that a change was coming. There was no guarantee a change would be better, but we all craved a change. Nobody expects things to turn around for the organization now, and if anything, there is a strong belief that things are going to get even worse this offseason. I have to hope Joe Ryan and Pablo Lopez won't be sent away, like Kevin Tapani and Scott Erickson before them. But I'll still pull for the guys here to win.

It might be dark times in Target Field in 2026. It could be dark for a long, long time. But I'll still love baseball, and unfortunately, I'll still love the Twins. I'll let you in on a little secret. To get me through the bleaker times, I still mess around with my old game, and my old made up team. I have a feeling I will be spending more time with that team in the near future. Let me know if you want to learn how to play too.

It's not as bad as it seems.

 We were all shocked, gutted, in some cases, by the deadline teardown of the Minnesota Twins. As I stated before, none of the trades really struck me as awful, but in conjunction with one another, they were a gut punch. I've seen multiple pieces talking about the Twins' deadline, and all of them have a different move (or lack of a move, in Joe Ryan's case) marked as the biggest surprise. I don't like it, but I'm coming to accept it, using a principal that I've had to embrace with the world in general. Find out more information, rather than the worst negative headlines, and maybe it won't seem so bad.

The first part is admitting that it was bad. There was the true salary dump of Carlos Correa, which will raise questions about the Twins willingness to honor long term contracts going forward. The trade of Louis Varland just hurt, because he was a hometown kid that didn't truly need to be traded for financial reasons.

Looking at the chronology of the last few days before the deadline, and the assets that were left by August 1st, I feel better about where the team is heading, however, even with those particularly painful moves.

The team needed to come out swinging after the All Star Break in order to remain in contention, and perhaps even get the team to add to the roster rather than strip it down for parts. This was a failure of culture, as much as it was an insufficient roster. Not being able to compete with the Rockies and Nationals out of the break is not a good look for Rocco Baldelli, as everyone on Twins Daily will tell you. But it also shows that Carlos Correa's veteran leadership may have lost some of it's sway.

Jhoan Duran netted two top 100 prospects, and, they were off to the races. The next several trades involved pending free agents, which made sense. After Duran was traded, the known price for bullpen arms was high, and Brock Stewart was dealt for a Major League outfielder. After this, Correa, who had been in extensive discussions with Derek Falvey about the direction of the team, signed off on a trade back to the Astros.

Correa had a conversation with Griffin Jax, who, upon learning of the sell off and the pending departure of Correa himself, requested a trade that doesn't sound like it would have come otherwise. By that point, the only trade left was the one for Ty France and Louis Varland, which is only made if the Twins really like the return. Allen Roden is not far removed from being a top prospect, and Kendry Rojas is now a top 10 prospect in the Twins system, and the top left handed starter in the system.

In the wake of everything, then, ask yourself this. How much worse are the Twins in 2026 than they were on July 29th? The bullpen is obviously less than it was. The lineup has one major subtraction, in Carlos Correa at short, but it has been otherwise unchanged. The rotation subtracts Chris Paddack (who was walking after this year anyways) but returns the top three arms of Joe Ryan, Pablo Lopez and Bailey Ober. They can now select from Simeon Woods-Richardson, David Festa, Zebby Matthews, Mick Abel and Taj Bradley at the back of the rotation. I would venture to say that the rotation, as of right now, looks better for next season than it would have otherwise. Abel and Bradley, don't forget, were added when relievers (albeit good ones) were traded away.

The obvious flaw with the team this year was the offense. In that regard, it shouldn't be a surprise that the Twins added major league ready outfielders that are highlighted for their hitting ability. Roden is already here, and James Outman is a former Rookie of the Year candidate. It wouldn't be much of a stretch to anticipate Brooks Lee replacing Carlos Correa (at least this year's version of Correa) and suddenly, the offense isn't terribly handicapped either, compared to the 2025 version. It might even be deeper.

There is obvious, well founded consternation about the team's intent for the offseason. There have been reports out there that in the Correa trade, the Twins had asked about Christian Walker, who would have vastly improved the first base prospects. Any discussions for Joe Ryan included the Twins asking for Jarren Duran or Wilyer Abreu, who would have become one of the best hitters in the Twins lineup. They were looking to sell, they did sell, but they weren't looking to tear it down completely.

Headed into 2026, the team is going to be looking ahead with a new ownership group. I don't necessarily think the Twins are suddenly going to have an enormous payroll, but the new group will have more room to work with. Heck, the Pohlads will have room to work with. Bullpen arms come cheap on the free agency market, and former starting prospects make good relievers too (see: Glenn Perkins, Trevor May, LaTroy Hawkins, Jhoan Duran, Griffin Jax and Louis Varland). The Twins have built bullpens before, and will do so again. 

And maybe they will trade a starter, if they get the right price. I imagine that price will involve a young, controllable hitter to buoy the lineup. I believe that this front office believes these Twins can compete in 2026, and their sell off didn't seriously impinge on that, and in some ways, it helped. 

It sure sucked getting there, though. 

The end of an era

 The Twins were falling rapidly out of contention, and we knew the rental players were going to be on the market. There was talk about Joe Ryan that was swiftly shut down, and the controllable pieces at the back end of the bullpen, which the Twins made clear would take quite a haul to make them available. Chatter grew louder, and ultimately a day begore the deadline, Jhoan Duran was traded to the Phillies. 

And then it got worse. 

On deadline day, the Twins traded almost the entirety of the rest of their bullpen, and certainly all of the best parts of their bullpen. Not only that, every position player that was on an expiring deal, save for Christian Vasquez, was traded away. 

And then, Carlos Correa was given away, and the Twins window of contention was abruptly and rudely was slammed shut. I was under the belief that as long as the team had Byron Buxton and Correa under contract, still only 30 with at least a couple of years under contract, the window was open. It's closed now. Who knows when it will be reopened.

It sounds like, from various sources, that the Astros asked about Correa's availability, and when Derek Falvey, to his credit, was honest with Correa, he waived his no trade clause and a off to Houston. The only thing the Twins got was salary relief and bad vibes. 

I can't talk about all the trades that happened, because there were so many. The crazy part is that, through the day, through the week, I can kind of get the individual trades. The rental players, obviously, make sense. Trading Jhoan Duran at peak value makes some sense, even if it doesn't feel good. And that could have been where it ended.

But then trading away Correa made sense, at that point, from a business standpoint. And then when he was gone, they could have been done. The best return on the day, from my standpoint, came on the last two trades, Griffin Jax and Louis Varland being sent to Tampa and Toronto, respectively. At that point, it felt like piling on, though, to most Twins fans.

I can argue for all of the moves that were made. None of them are particularly egregious, but taken in concert they are like a punch to the gut. I think it was someone on ESPN.com that stated that selling is one thing, but trading 10 players from the active roster tells you that the team wasn't actually that bad. That hurts too. The team was underwater on 1 run games, and it's parts were very good. Instead of getting real help for the last two years, the payroll was slashed and the team became driftless.

The lack of funds from ownership is something that we all hope changes when the Pohlads sell the team, but I am frankly not optimistic. The debt issue is very real, and the cash flow doesn't automatically improve with new owners. The sell off probably doesn't happen if the Twins can get up for important series against, of all teams, the Rockies and Nationals, but even that didn't happen, and will likely be the last straw for Rocco Baldelli, contract extension or not.

Carlos Correa is gone. This window is closed. Soon, ownership and probably the manager are going to be out the door. A new era for the Twins is coming, and it has to be better than this one was.

Cash for your consideration

 As seems to always be the case, the Twins are in a complicated and uncomfortable situation. Again, as always seems to be the case with the Twins, there are ownership complications that affect any realistic strategy that the front office can employ. Instead of simply reducing the payroll allowances, the issues are magnified both by the high pressure of the deadline and the potential sale of the team. 

The front office right now is not building for a future that the Pohlads are in charge of. In fact, they may not be building for a future that Derek Falvey or Jeremy Zoll are a part of. How forward thinking should the Twins be? When looking at the future, do they plan for a Pohlad level payroll, or towards a payroll that will likely go up with less frugal owners? Do you know? I don't. 

If this was only strategic on a baseball development side, I would note the clear strength of the team - the bullpen - is a volatile component and may not offer the same benefits next year. A good bullpen is also fully unnecessary on a team that is no longer in contention. With that in mind, I would trade the rental players best as I could, as well as a couple of relievers with team control. Brock Stewart is 33 and has an injury history. Griffin Jax and Jhoan Duran are nearly the same in terms of mound talent, if not results. Duran is more popular locally. I would move Jax, leaving Duran and Louis Varland to backstop the pen next year.

The offense has been problematic all season. The seeming bumper crop of young offensive talent has not come through in a meaningful way. The top offensive player drafted and developed by the current regime is, I don't know, Ryan Jeffers? So the team could stand to add some forward looking offensive depth at the deadline, and moving a player like Jax in particular could bring a usable player to Minnesota immediately. 

There is a lot of talk about the availability of Joe Ryan, but that doesn't really offer a fair assessment of where the Twins are as a franchise. Their two biggest contracts right now are in the middle of those players' peaks. From a baseball perspective, it makes a lot more sense to keep him than trade him, because next year, Ryan would need to be immediately replaced. From the sale of the team's perspective, Ryan is a great selling point, and likely something prospective buyers don't want to see gone.

But the Pohlad's are in charge and still in debt. That might be the most important factor in the deadline. If the Twins aren't actually on the cusp of a sale, continued paring of the payroll is important, and any arbitration eligible Twins could be on the block. If a new owner with a willingness to spend is coming and the front office knows it, none of the arb eligible players are going to go.

It seems that the best way to assess the deadline is this. The Twins FO has potentially little stake in the future, but there are players already to be free agents. It would be malpractice not to see them shipped out for something. But then, there is the debt. The Pohlads have always been cost conscious, and this has to be grating. I assume this is why the team is even on the market. 

The deadline is going to be active for the Twins, and given all the factors illustrated above, I am inclined to believe that a lot of those deals are going to involve cash coming back to Minnesota. Appreciate the prospects the team does get back.

Mid-season break, and I'm not ready to give up yet.

 

The buzzards are circling the Minnesota Twins*. I've had wildly changing opinions about the team, from delight to grief, but the fact of the matter is that the team isn't in as bad a position as you perhaps feel. It's too bad they dropped their final game against the Pirates to send the team into the break off of a sweep, relishing Byron Buxton's cycle from Saturday, and being a .500 team, just 3 games out of the Wild Card hunt. 

The Twins are going to come out of the break and bring back Zebby Matthews and secret wild card Luke Keaschall. Many are awaiting Matthews return, but the pitching of late has stabilized. As demonstrated by their rough offensive outing on Sunday, the spark Keaschall may bring is really needed. Of course, the biggest kick in the pants will be playing the Rockies right out of the gate. A sweep there, if it were to happen, brings the Twins to maybe 2 games out of the Wild Card.

Certainly not a team looking to tear things down. 

Everything with the Twins needs to be looked at through the lens of a potential team sale, which to me blunts any forward thinking maneuvers at the deadline. Derek Falvey might not be building towards anything, and the Twins may not want to be left holding the bag with any big swings on controllable contracts. With that said, there are certainly baseball reasons not to expect a big July with the transactions.

First, more optimistically, the Twins aren't that far out of it. Fangraphs has them as somewhere between 1/4 and 1/5 chance of making the playoffs. A good series in Colorado (followed by taking at least one in LA against the Dodgers) should see that number rise. That's not a team that typically subtracts pieces, nor would one recommend they make big acquisitions. But this team would be adding near the deadline, as Pablo Lopez is on track to return in early August.

Even if the team takes a turn for the worse, which obviously this is Minnesota, it doesn't make sense to destroy the core right now. Buxton and Carlos Correa are in the middle of contracts, team friendly in Buxton's case. A powerful 1-2 at the top of the rotation remains in place, and Matthews, David Festa and Simeon Woods-Richardson are coming along nicely (to say nothing of Bailey Ober, if he shakes whatever is bothering him.) 

There may be some calculated moves regardless of the situation. The Twins obviously need offensive help, and Keaschall isn't going to bring all of it. Bullpen arms are always in demand at the deadline, and the Twins are well positioned there, and always willing to transition strong arms to later innings, if it fits. The Twins want to surely keep every member of their bullpen, but if a major league player with more team control goes, I wouldn't be surprised if they were part of that unit, regardless of where the Twins stand on July 31st. 

The first half is done, and this was supposed to be forward thinking. It doesn't help that the trade deadline is only a couple of weeks after the All Star Break. The point is, it isn't all doom and gloom, even if Jim Bowden thinks the Twins would be smart to trade all of their best players. They wouldn't be, and they won't. In a season of rises and falls, the Twins are amidst a good stretch that will continue next weekend. They will be in contention longer than current headlines would lead you to believe. 

*I didn't realize until well after I wrote this that Dan Hayes used this exact turn of phrase last week. Derek Falvey showed up in an image search for buzzards because of this.

Joe Ryan is going to the All Star Game, not anywhere else.

 

Joe Ryan is a good pitcher. I think at this point, we all agree on that, right? Even the national pundits were perplexed as to how Ryan was left off the initial All Star roster, though he was added as a replacement when Hunter Brown's turn in the rotation ended up putting him too close to the Game. This is another in a consistent run from Ryan, who will ultimately emerge from the Derek Falvey reign as his best pick up.

Truly, Ryan is exactly what Twins fans have been asking for since Johan Santana was dealt to the Mets. He is a high strikeout pitcher that stabilizes the rotation, and is doing so at the beginning of his career, rather than as a high priced free agent. Heck, he even came to Minnesota as a flyer from a Florida based team. Th wit correlation between Santana and Pablo Lopez exists because of a mutual admiration and shared heritage, but Ryan and Santana have similar meaning to the Twins organization.

Santana got going at a younger age than Ryan did. In fact, Ryan's current age profile puts him at about the same age as Santana was during his first couple of seasons with the Mets. Because he started in the majors at an older age, years 1-3 for Ryan don't align really at all with Santana's, but his current numbers, the strikeouts, the rate statistics, align nicely with Johan at the same age.

Johan, obviously, is a lefty and had a longer track record than Ryan did to this age, but after age 29, the outlook for Ryan look much better than it did for Santana. Not only did he get started sooner, but he worked a ton of innings, well over 200 in his last 4 seasons with the Twins, followed by two heavy inning workloads with the Mets essentially spelled the end of his career.

Barring something unforeseen, Joe Ryan has many more years ahead of him to really leave a mark as a Twins legend. By the time he reaches the open market, he will be 33 when he is a free agent. They will have him through what should be his peak years at a manageable salary. He has runway to start accumulating stats to go with the rate stats while in a Twins uniform.

There is a remarkable amount of talk about the Twins and their potential trade assets. The first targets should be the players on expiring deals, of course, particularly Willi Castro and Chris Paddack, who may even attract a usable return. Talk of Byron Buxton being moved are ludicrous because of his no trade clause and good contract. If any controllable players are traded, I could see a reliever change team for a hefty premium. To make that point hit home, former Twins Emilio Pagan and Ronny Henriquez are closing for their teams now, and Trevor Megill is an all star, closing for the Brewers. You can never really tell with relievers, so get comfortable with trading and replacing them.

But Joe Ryan shouldn't be a realistic part of the discussions. His time under contract aligns with the window provided by Buxton and Carlos Correa, as well as Pablo Lopez at the top of the rotation. The window is now, and rebuilding through trading important cogs isn't a currently feasible strategy. Joe Ryan is too important, and will remain so for a few more seasons.

Ownership change needed.

One thing I always note about the Twins is that, regardless of how bad things might seem, it isn't as bad as it could get. The Twins are playing poorly, they have suffered injuries, and they have an ownership group with cash flow issues and a reluctance to spend money. But it isn't as bad as it could be! No, that title belongs to the Pirates.

Pittsburgh is a fantastic sports town, willing to support their teams with fans in stands and money for stadiums. They play in a central division that is every bit as wide open as the American League is, at least for the past few years. They develop talented players, draft fairly well, and get rid of all that talent as soon as they start making any money. 

The Pirates have one of the lowest payrolls in baseball, higher only than the Rays and A's, currently playing in Minor League stadiums, the White Sox, who are undergoing a massive overhaul and rebuild and the Marlins who, frankly, are similar to the Pirates, but different. Miami isn't as big a sports town because, well, beaches, but Pittsburgh is. The Pirates stand out like a sore, underfunded thumb. 

And some might complain about market size for Pittsburgh as it relates to the rest of baseball, and yes, Pittsburgh is a down on it's luck town that is on the smaller end of baseball cities, however the city itself s larger than Milwaukee, Cleveland and Kansas City, none of the teams that were listed as having payroll problems above. I'm not saying that the Pirates should be at the top of the payroll tables, but I am saying that they should at least be in line with other teams, and sustain payroll when they start to get better, right?

For as much grousing as Minnesota has rightfully had about the Pohlads over the year, there is no question that Bob Nutting, owner of the Pirates is worse. Instead of a rising team looking to build around Paul Skenes, who is now in his second year, people are already beginning speculate on the Pirates trading him before he reaches even into arbitration. They have talent incoming, a depressed payroll, and instead of augmenting the roster, they are looking to cut costs even further.

 The Twins are frustrating because of their inability to seize opportunities. The Pirates under Nutter are indifferent to whether the opportunities come. The Pohlads have proven to have bad luck in their last two TV deals (before the RSN model really exploded, and then immediately after it popped) and have debt and cash flow issues as a result. Nutting made a business decision to not fund his team. 

The Pohlads are getting out, sooner or later. I hope Nutting does soon too.

Despair

 

Just a week ago, the Twins were in the hunt for a Wild Card spot. Sure, they had some issues against the teams from Texas, but the losses were tough luck losses, and a reason to be frustrated, but not discouraged. They were close. They were still fighting. And then they played the Reds and Brewers, over the last week, going 1-5 and not looking particularly competitive. Whatever instinct there was not to panic is gone now. Actually, panic is already in the past. It just feels hopeless. 

The Twins are getting regularly blown out now. The offense that was an issue most of the season is 8/9ths dead. Byron Buxton is playing out of his mind, to no avail. The starting pitching is struggling, and the bullpen is worse. They aren't doing anything right, at the moment. If you want the team to be buyers at the deadline, then what do you address? How? Everything needs work. 

At the beginning of the season, there was so much optimism about the development of the young core. Injuries are one thing, but in retrospect, a more troubling sign is that the Twins were looking for a left handed outfield hitter if they were going to be buyers. You know, like Trevor Larnach or Matt Wallner. Both players have been part of the roster for a while now, but neither has had the breakout anyone anticipated. Had the Twins been in on that secret even sooner than the rest of us? 

The Twins are buoyed by their 13 game winning streak. Had they merely played .500 during that stretch, they would, at this point, only be better than the White Sox in the American League. Are the Twins and our fans too prone to leaning into these long streaks? Are the Twins a legitimately bad team, or do you want to pin the blame on the disruption to the pitching staff? A devastating injury or disruption to the staff almost always seems to precede a Twins collapse.

But never mind that. The diagnosis is grim, but what about the prognosis? The prescription? Frankly, with as clustered as baseball is in the standings, there aren't many sellers, and the prices are going to be high. In a normal year, I would be awaiting some windfalls for trades of players like Willi Castro and Chris Paddack. Heck, if the Twins really think that the left handed hitting needs improvement, Larnach or Wallner could go, for all I care. A full reset with a Byron Buxton trade would potentially leave the system flush with talent.

This is not a normal year, however. The Twins are up for sale, and despite Rocco Baldelli apparently having his contract picked up for next year, the entire front office is fighting for their jobs. A tactical reset, a full rebuild, whatever you call it, Derek Falvey and Jeremy Zoll are giving up on this iteration of the team. That is not how you prove your worth to a new owner.

It may not be the best for the future of the team, or make much logical sense, but for Falvey and Zoll, it is best for them to double down on this team. Pablo Lopez WILL come back. Zebby Matthews WILL come back. Maybe Connor Gillaspie will stabilize the bullpen. Rely on the definite, but make things happen.

The Rockies and Marlins are the best bets to be sellers, and the best potential partners for the Twins. Take a swing and grab the best players -- again, it doesn't matter their position, really -- on both teams. RP Jake Bird and corner infielder Ryan McMahon would both help the Twins from the Rockies. Marlins 2b Otto Lopez and OF Dane Meyers have been better than Jonah Bride, at least.

Do something. Standing pat as the team slides further isn't fun for fans or players, obviously, but also doesn't play well for your next employer. Shake up the team ASAP and try to pull out of this funk.

Deadline news is already filling timelines.

Nationally, the baseball world is talking about the Rafael Devers trade, and fans are beginning to settle into trade deadline season. Locally,the Twins are struggling, perhaps in need of a jolt, all while playing the Cincinnati Reds. Taken all together, the elements of this weeks baseball headlines can belong in their own boxcars in the same train of thought. 

There are many articles already out there, depending on the sports outlet of your choosing, suggesting which players might be on the market, who the buyers might want to buy and the price it might take to buy them. The national writers are telling us about the players the Twins could go after to bolster the at times anemic offense. The local writers are telling us not to hold our breath.

The last couple of years have been uninspiring, and trades have been few and far between. The money has been an issue, and if he debt is as reported, monetary investment at the deadline is unlikely. The pitching staff seems to be getting picked off man by man, but prices for starting pitchers have been extremely expensive from a prospect standpoint. It's easy to see why the local writers don't seem to think Minnesota will do anything.

Lets consider the more optimistic version, though. You know, the one of people that haven't spent their best years trying to find a reason for hope in Minnesota men's sports. The Twins need bats, which are generally less expensive in both prospects or monetary expenditure. A solid hitter would likely play in the corners, somewhere, alleviating someone like Trevor Larnach against lefties, or simply providing depth so Willi Castro doesn't have to do everything. And played correctly, will address the team's greatest weakness all season, run production.

A look at the Reds is a good lesson for the Twins, regardless of how they choose to proceed. The trade that Twins fans still look back on with derision was the one that sent multiple prospects to the Reds for Tyler Mahle. Mahle struggled with injury for his entire time in Minnesota, while Spencer Steer and Christian Encarnacion-Strand have played on the Major League Roster. 

While the execution wasn't great. the damage was also not that great. Mahle has been good with the Rangers now that he has his health, showing that the Twins probably sought the right guy. Meanwhile, Steer and Encarnacion-Strand haven't been all that revolutionary. Steer has been better, even as this year has been down, and it seems unlikely he would have been able to leapfrog Royce Lewis at third. Corner Outfielders have starters, and simpy need someone to augment those spots, and Steer isn't that kind of player. What I am saying is that neither would have really changed the Twins roster had they stayed in Minnesota. Not for the better (or the worse), anyways. 

But Mahle would have helped in 2023, with health. Sure, money might not be there, but the Twins are fighting in a sloppy AL Central once again, and the front office, even with the headwinds against them, should try to be bold.

And Minnesotans should probably prepare to be disappointed. 

Twins send Jorge Alcala to the Red Sox

Jorge Alcala has really good stuff, and has previously been a well regarded lynchpin in the back end of the Twins bull pen. Also, every major collapse in recent memory seems to have one thing in common: Alcala. It was probably time to move on.

It wasn't just a "vibes" thing either. Alcala has the highest ERA of pitchers with as many innings as he has pitched, and he has been used quite frequently. The Twins picked up Joey Wentz off the waiver wire today, and looking at the roster, particularly the bullpen, the writing was on the wall for Alcala.

For me, the writing was a little blurry, however. I assumed Alcala would be designated for assignment and placed on waivers. There is enough ability that I thought he may get claimed, but he owned a contract that was more than what Ty France is making, so it also seemed possible he would simply be shown the door. Instead, the Red Sox jumped the line and gave up a prospect for Alcala, and will take on his contract. 

The Twins received a low level prospect known more for an impressive bat flip than for anything he has done on the field. He lay outside of the top 30 prospects for the Red Sox, and isn't expected to get to the top of the Twins charts either. Nevertheless, this trade is probably a winner for the Twins, who now have the tiniest bit of wiggle room in their payroll.

The Twins needed to do something in the wake of two injuries on the rotation and a disaster of a game on Tuesday night. They have had disruptions to the pitching staff lead directly to collapses before. This year, it was imperative that the organization not stand pat. Even though Alcala was at the fringe of the roster, and this is a bit of addition by subtraction, I think it counts as a first step. Alcala came to the Twins with Gilberto Celestino in the Ryan Pressley trade -- he's been with the team for a while. Letting a veteran go is a wake up call for everyone. Patience isn't unlimited, and players can be moved if it makes the team better.

Or put more powerfully, players WILL be moved if it makes the team better. The Twins got lucky to get a return for Alcala. The next steps will need to be more substantive. 

The importance of a good outlook.

 

It's hard not to spiral these days. A huge part of that is the algorithmic basis that so many of us get our news. We click on something, and it just feeds us more of the same. The initial click is usually some provocative headline, leading us down a rabbit hole that leads us towards more headlines, more short videos, more clips about whatever scares us the most, telling us that this thing is an even greater threat than we thought and we need to DO something about it. It's the cable news of the 2010s, but now on steroids (and ketamine). 

One of my coping methods to this world we live in is to seek sources that aren't prone to releasing click bait headlines, people that can break things down without declaring something being the end of the world, making my day even darker. I'm under no misconception about bad things being out there, but there is no value in viewing them as even worse than they actually are. 

Clickbait headlines are certainly a pervasive feature of sports media coverage, and anyone who follows the Twins is surely well aware of the "worst case scenario brand of coverage of the team, particularly when it comes to the coverage of the ownership and their decision making processes. There are Twins news sites that thrive on this type of coverage and forums exist just to break down the coverage.

This is where I refer back to my other coping methods. It's not as grim as most fans would have you believe, despite problems. A reason that there has been little outlay for free agents has something to do with the bumper crop of prospects that the team is confident will emerge in the next few years. The Twins are competitive in the AL Central, even without spending all that money. 

There have been a bunch of headlines out there about the Twins ownership situation. There were seemingly conflicting reports, that some reports stated that local investors were turned off by the price and cash flow, while others from the organization have claimed that potential buyers have been doing their diligence at Target Field, and a sale was expected to be completed. Those caught in the negative whirl wind suggest that the Twins are fabricating these stories. A perfectly reasonable explanation is that the potential buyers are not local investors. The Ishbias weren't, why would other candidates be?

An important part of coping with the negative headlines is not sticking your head in the sand and recognizing that "not as bad" doesn't mean "good". The Twins have had generally good seasons for the last few years, however what sticks in most of our memories are the collapses. They collapsed in 2022, after Wes Johnson left mid-season to return to college. They collapsed last year when Joe Ryan went down with an injury.

Ryan had the same injury that Pablo Lopez has now suffered. The Twins are comfortable with dealing with injuries to their position players. As is often noted, Byron Buxton and Carlos Correa are always hurt. Disruptions to the rotation are significantly more impactful. It's important to avoid getting lost in worst case scenarios and doom spiraling, but this exact scenario has played out before. 

The Twins do have more experienced depth in the rotation this year, and are more likely to be able to withstand Lopez's absence over the next couple of months, and they also have the ability to make changes to the roster before the trade deadline. They don't have to add another ace to the rotation, because there are easier moves to advance the offense. The team needs to do something now before the hypothetical spiral turns into an on field spiral. 

There may be bad news on the way, but there is a way through. That's the other way out of the reinforcing negative news cycle: make sure you are aware of the potential solutions to the various problems. The Twins have one. I hope they find it.

Twins welcome return of superstar

 Yeah, sure, Byron Buxton returned to the Twins roster today for the first time since he suffered a concussion, and his 10th inning hit and runs were huge factors in helping the Twins win. 

But that headline was referring to Carlos Correa. The real Carlos Correa is back! Since he returned from the concussion, he has an OPS of 1.081, his glove has been good, and his defense against the Mariners was a factor in the victory. Also a big factor was his go ahead homer in the 10th inning. 

He's back! Carlos Correa is back! And Buxton too, I guess. 

The Twins have a long way to the bottom

Conflicting reports came out in the last couple of days about the ongoing process of selling the Twins. Dan Hayes of the Athletic reported that the process has stalled, with potential buyers balking at the Pohlad's lofty price, the collapsed TV revenue and the debt that remains on the books. Alternately, Phil Miller from the Star Tribune refutes that report, with sources saying there have been potential buyers doing diligence, taking tours of Target Field, and that the process is now closer to the end than the beginning.

Whichever of these reports you put the most wait in is probably a good measuring stick for your approach to the team, to the media and perhaps even life in general. Cynical, probably younger and more online people not only have grown to appreciate Hayes' sense of humor and social media prowess, and a general disproval of the Pohlads seems to run through the veins of this group. Then there are those who still rely on legacy media and remember that the Pohlads brought Minnesota our most recent men's championship (Thank you ladies, for actually being able to win stuff in multiple sports), and generally can't believe how much money athletes make these days. Pessimism and optimism. The duality of Man. And Twins Fans.

I'm guessing it's somewhere between the two. The original slate of potential buyers probably has tucked tail and ran away, not unlike the Ishbia brothers, but there are also likely to be some potential investors who see an opportunity. The Pohlads, given the the team situation as well as the way sales have been going lately, probably are asking for too much money, but if they are really interested in selling, they will find a way. That family is as resilient as a cockroach.

All of this tumult, and the on field product is out there earning their debt inducing paychecks. The Twins are back up into second place in the AL Central, in position for a wild card spot, and trailing only the league's best Detroit Tigers for control of the division. This is all without much investment in the team over the last couple of years. One thing that unifies readers of Dan Hayes or Phil Miller is a readiness to point to all of the flaws in the organization, but with the noise around ownership and limited resources, the Twins must have something going for them, because it could be so much worse.

This week is probably the perfect week to have information about a potential sale come out, because it gets people like me to write posts like this. They are currently playing in Tampa, where the Rays are playing in the Yankee's spring training facility after their own stadium, Tropicana Field, was ravaged by Hurricane Helene last fall. They will fly to Seattle (thanks for that, MLB) for a weekend series, and then go to Sacramento, where the A's are also playing in a AAA facility because their owner was so desperate to leave Oakland, he didn't wait for their new facility in Las Vegas to open. 

Regardless of what happens with the sale, the Twins will continue to play home games at a beautiful outdoor facility, where the only natural disaster the Twins have to worry about is the penchant for exploding UCLs in this market. The Twins aren't moving, and there isn't a stadium issue to extort the team over. In this regard, the Twins are sitting pretty. 

They aren't paying for free agents, and looking at the Yankees, Mets, Phillies and Dodgers, you would be justified in thinking that spending into contention is the only way to win. Perhaps it is, but maybe not on player salary. The next highest payrolls belong to the Blue Jays, Rangers, Astros, Braves, Red Sox, Padres and Angels. Only the Astros and Padres are above .500, but only the Padres have a better record than the Twins. 

The Twins invested heavily in scouting under the Terry Ryan and Andy MacPhail eras, while the shift has been to analytics with Derek Falvey. The team has mostly drafted well, and has mostly traded well. The investments in the leadership and analytics (both through scouting and statistics), as well as training on the farm have led to a sustained ability to contend. This is why the Twins are the Twins and other teams in similar environments, like, say, the Pirates, well, they are the Pirates. 

It's certainly not perfect here in Minnesota, but a road trip like this one, and an assessment of the ownership situation are all decent reminders that things could always be worse. 

Actions have Consequences

 We are in the midst of some pretty heady times here in Minnesota. The Timberwolves are on the Western Conference Finals after convincingly defeating the Golden State Warriors, and the Twins just finished a 13 game winning streak.

But remember, as the Wild and Vikings did with their playoff flameouts, that Minnesota men's sports are cursed. The highest nail is the one that gets the hammer. This was the result of our own hubris. 

Yes, Derick Falvey has produced pitching

Back when Derek Falvey was hired, it was with the promise that he had come from the Cleveland pitching development program, and he would bring that ability and ethos to a Minnesota system that was coming off a year where Tyler Duffey had the third most starts of the season, and the second best pitcher, Kyle Gibson, had an ERA that would slot in behind every starter the Twins have thrown out there this year.

The bullpen, too, was regarded as a strength during season outlooks. That shine was taken off by some rough outings, notably by Griffin Jax and Jorge Alcala, at the beginning of the year, and those two ae still suffering for it with ERAs over 5 and 8 respectively going into today's games. 

All told, the Twins have the 3rd best pitching WAR in baseball, the 5th best ERA and looking at the pen, are #1 in the league in WAR, even with the early scuffles. The pitching staff for the Twins is a strength for the team, and everyone but Jax has been added either via trade, signing or draft since Falvey took the helm of baseball operations. 

There has been more pitching added via trade or signing than Cleveland ever had, and there has been some criticism of the lack of internal development. Bailey Ober, Joe Ryan and Simeon Woods-Richardson, all members of the rotation did make their major league debuts with the Twins, and the organization has leveraged their prospects, like Chase Petty, to acquire former Twins Sonny Gray. 

But if that isn't enough, the Twins also have Zebby Matthews and David Festa waiting to join the team, and now have Dasan Hill in Baseball-America's Top 100 prospects. Hill was drafted just last year. 

There is pitching here, and there is more on the way. This was the promise of Derek Falvey brought with him, and it is being delivered. Despite all of the headwinds the Twins have faced, this, at least, has remained an area that Falvey and his team have continued to be able to advance.

Fertile ground

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 For those that were curious, Following the Compass is still a thing. I still pick teams and follow them through the year, and if the situation allows, I'll watch a randomly selected game off their calendar. Having a wife and children makes actually going to the games a bit tougher, but this year, back in February, I went to Kansas City to watch North Dakota (my selection for the year) square off against Missouri-Kansas City. 

The game was on Saturday night of Super Bowl weekend, surely not the most top of mind event in KC that weekend, but it was still a weekend contest that was inexpensive and in town. The Roos have a loud and loyal following unlike those I have seen in many of my other adventures, so it was a good atmosphere in the fairly tiny Swinney Center, which has been in use for 84 years. The age gave the game a bit more gravitas.

The building is unassuming, and is housed within the Student Recreation Center, so I had a difficult time figuring out A) where it was and B) where I needed to go to park. I finally found a lot, got distracted, missed a turn, got yelled at by a campus police officer and made it to the game. While neither team had a terrific year, they each had a terrific player. Jamar Brown for the Roos and Treysen Eaglestaff for the Fighting Hawks were the stars. Eaglestaff was a prolific scorer, and Brown was scrappier and more well rounded, but both stood out. UMKC ended up winning 80-69.

Somehow, and against all odds, the Summit League has become an important power player in college basketball. Brown ended the season with UMKC and will be joining UCLA next season. Similar letters, completely different program. Eaglestaff  was going to South Carolina, but changed his mind and is now at West Virginia next season. Regardless of what happened, he needed to end up at a state with a direction in the name. As a point of curiosity, Eaglestaff's brother Teysean is not going anywhere, and is staying... at UMKC.

But the two stars of the game I went to aren't the only Summit League stars making big moves this summer. The Gophers added former Fighting Hawk BJ Omot (via California), while Wisconsin collected Andrew Rohde, formerly a Tommie from St. Thomas. Perhaps most famous was Grant Nelson, who had played for North Dakota State before becoming a vital cog for Alabama the last couple of years. And don't forget the key players from Oral Roberts' Sweet 16 run, Kevin Obanor (Texas Tech) and Max Abmas (Texas).

More lax transfer rules are talked about often, and about how teams need the money for NIL deals, ensuring the best players come to their school, but it doesn't address the fact that the way it works now, the top schools are indeed getting the best players. Instead of churning through blue chip freshmen, college blue bloods can let a player like Jamar Brown mature at a smaller school before coming to UCLA and the bright lights.

A skinny kid from Mankato isn't a likely candidate to get playing time right out of high school, but now here is Omot, in his second power conference. A member of the Cheyenne Sioux Nation doesn't see too many recruiters at his games, but now Eaglestaff is going to play in the Big 12. NIL, and transfer rules have taken the onus of big schools from finding the player that fall through the cracks, or worrying about developmental years and only having to claim nearly finished products, be they players from rural environments, unrefined players who only started because they were tall exchange students, or players that needed to develop a bit more physically.

There is no consistency at schools anymore, but now we can be sure that the best players are going to be playing on the biggest stages.