It's been an interesting couple of days that seem mildly positive, from a certain point of view. The Twins, who by now you know are a constant disppointment, have signalled that they will not be selling their star players, are looking to add to their roster. Also, there is some inklings that the new partial owners will be named in the next few days, adding a bit of stability in what has been an extremely unstable time.
We aren't likely looking at the halcyon days of 2019-2023, but this does give the team a little bit of wiggle room, and speaks to the faith that the team not only has in the three players referenced as the core of the roster, but also the young players still developing and ready to emerge. Royce Lewis, Brooks Lee, Matt Wallner, Luke Keaschall and a slew of high minors arms that are ready to claim spots in the rotation and bullpen.
There is cautious optimism from many fans and writers about the team. Cautious because they don't expect the payroll to balloon, but now it seems as though the payroll won't crater, either. Basically, the Twins are in the same spot they have been since Carl Pohlad was in charge. In the AL Central that could be a winning hand.
But then, there is La Velle Neal, the venerable Star Tribune columnist who immediately took to the news and said he "isn't buying it" (I'm not linking to Twitter, btw), and further expanded that he expected Joe Ryan to be traded by spring training. To my knowledge, this is the only readable content anywhere from Neal on the subject. That isn't insight, but it does ring true with a lot of long suffering fans, and many that are shorter suffering in the past 6 months or so.
I've thought this since the deadline sell off, and everything Derek Falvey has said since then has echoed my thoughts. They went into the deadline saying they wanted a certain price for Jhoan Duran or Griffin Jax, and didn't expect teams to try to match it. Then the Phillies did. The rental players also left, and they got offers they couldn't turn down on an oft injured Brock Stewart and Louis Varland (you don't make that deal unless you REALLY like Kendry Rojas and Alan Roden). Eventually Griffin Jax asked for a trade, and Carlos Correa more or less asked for a deal too. Even then, the Twins tried to get Christian Walker from the Astros as part of a Correa deal. That would have turned the whole deadline narrative around a bit.
The Twins got a bunch of high minors talent to go along with some high end talent at the lower levels. It was a hopeful reposition for 2026, and now it sounds like Falvey and Jeremy Zoll were able to convince the Pohlads and whomever else is an interested party that this is a group to continue building around. The rotation will be a strength in 2026. The offense is a work in progress. The bullpen has time to develop, because if the other two phases of the game aren't clicking, an elite bullpen is irrelevent. That's where the Twins were at last year.
Now, could a situation like July 31st arrive again this offseason? Maybe. This is the only way I'm agreeing with La Velle, that the Twins could end up trading Joe Ryan: Someone meets their astronomical price tage while at the same time allowing the Twins to remain in contention in 2026. That's a very tall order, but not impossible. It isn't something that would happen over the winter, either. They will need to see something out of multiple arms already in the organization, not just one Joe Ryan replacement.
Neal reflexive call out of disbelief, however, and how that echoes a fan base that was stung last summer is indicatvie of the reason why I think Falvey was able to convince ownership not to force a further payroll trim. The fans stopped showing up last year, and they are disinclined to trust the front office. More payroll trimming will mean even fewer fans and another low revenue season. This isn't what new investors are looking for.
The new ownership group and structure is expected to be revealed later this week. I wouldn't be surprised to see Joe Ryan at the press conference.
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