Twins tantrum

 

Reader, beware—this is a Twins’ tantrum.

I’ve been watching the Twins for my entire life. I’m a fan—a passionate fan. This is the most upset I’ve ever been with them. What the catastrophe of the last 24 hours of trades reveals is that the Twins’ owners don’t care about the fans. That is the story of the gutting of “our” franchise.

And it is "our" franchise—the fans’ franchise. A professional sports team exists for the fans.

As a fan why should I care about the Twins when the owners don’t care? Sure, I love to watch baseball, and I love going to Target Field. But I get most excited when the Twins win. And the current ownership group does not care about winning.

I went to the first Twins/Blue Jays playoff game in September 2023. It was a marvelous day—the first playoff win after eighteen playoff losses. Royce Lewis was magnificent. He played like a true superstar—two homeruns and the sense that he knew that he could do anything he wanted. They won that series and eventually lost to the Astros. But as a fan I had the sense that something special could happen.

And then the Pohlads mandated that the payroll be reduced. What??? When I first saw that story, I actually thought it was a joke. Why would the Twins reduce payroll when they had a chance to win? Unfortunately the answer is the owners don’t want to win. An ownership group that wanted to win would have added quality players after the 2023 season.

I remember being a fan when Calvin Griffith was an owner. As fans we always knew that he didn’t have the money to compete successfully. But at least we believed he wanted to win. The Twins were a small-market team in a baseball system that didn’t reward small-markets.

When the Twins went to Target Field one of the promises was that we were no longer a small-market team. Sure—not like the Yankees. But a mid-level market team who wouldn’t use payroll as an excuse for not winning. I don’t expect the Twins to win every year. But it’s not unrealistic to think that the Twins could give the fans hope once—like every ten years?—that they could win the World Series.

The best thing that could happen to the Twins is if the team is sold. The--sooner--the--better.  

Since the All-Star break it became apparent that this current collection of players would probably not make the playoffs even though many thought they would win the division at the start of the season. So being sellers at the trade deadline was not out of the question. Reasonable. But gutting the team is different than being sellers. What has happened in the last 24 hours is not reasonable.

I still think Derek Falvey is a decent General Manager. But I would have the most respect for him if he had resigned—refused to accept the edict from the ownership to gut the payroll.

I don’t think Rocco Baldelli is that talented of a manager. But I would respect him if he resigned. For even if you love to be a manager, why would you manage for an organization that doesn’t want to win?

So I’ll check out for now on the Twins—until we have new owners. I will not go back to Target Field in 2025. And—please God—by the start of 2026 may the Twins have new owners. When that happens perhaps I can recapture the hope that this fan once had.

I can’t even say that I hope that today is the worst that it will be for the Twins. Because the Twins should never have landed in this place.