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.