The Twins enraged followers by slashing roughly $30MM of payroll after lastly breaking their postseason dropping streak final yr, solely to finally endure one of many worst collapses of any crew in current historical past. As followers reeled from seeing a membership that was a 95% playoff favourite late within the yr in some way miss the postseason fully, possession introduced its intent to discover a sale of the crew. It’ll be fairly the offseason in Minnesota.
Assured Contracts
Assured wage for the 2025 season: $93MM
Whole long-term assured cash: $274MM
Choice Choices
- Manuel Margot, OF: $12MM mutual choice with $2MM buyout (Rays chargeable for buyout)
- Kyle Farmer, INF: $6.25MM mutual choice with $250K buyout
- Jorge Alcala, RHP: $1.5MM membership choice with $55K buyout (would stay arb-eligible if declined)
Arbitration-Eligible Gamers (service time in parentheses; wage projections through MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz)
Free Brokers
It has been lower than two years because the Twins put in Joe Pohlad as their government chair and management particular person of the membership. The grandson of Carl Pohlad, who bought the membership in 1984, and nephew of his successor Jim Pohlad, Joe took over management of the membership not lengthy after turning 40 years outdated. His first offseason instilled hope of a altering tide in Minnesota. The Twins handed out a franchise-record $200MM contract to maintain Carlos Correa in Minnesota. By 2023, they trotted out a club-record payroll approaching $160MM and, for the primary time since 2002, gained a playoff sequence.
The great vibes did not final. As quickly as final offseason started, discuss of decreasing payroll amid uncertainty surrounding the crew’s tv deal emerged. The Twins had been certainly one of a number of groups impacted, however few golf equipment pulled again spending to the extent of Minnesota. Payroll was slashed by about $30MM — roughly 20% of the crew’s complete spending the yr prior — leaving the entrance workplace to function on the margins and usher in a sequence of budget-driven, short-term pickups to handle a sweeping slate of wants, most notably the departure of 2023 AL Cy Younger runner-up Sonny Grey.
Practically all the discount pickups the Twins put collectively fell quick. Carlos Santana proved a profitable transfer, hitting .238/.328/.420 with 23 homers and Gold Glove-caliber protection at first base. The others flopped.
Free agent relievers Jay Jackson and Josh Staumont struggled and had been launched midseason. Anthony DeSclafani, who’d missed most of ’23 with harm, had season-ending surgical procedure earlier than the season started. Justin Topa, acquired alongside DeSclafani within the commerce sending Jorge Polanco to the Mariners, missed virtually all season with a knee harm suffered in spring coaching. Steven Okert, acquired for Nick Gordon, was dropped from the 40-man roster in August. The Twins obtained a pair prospects of notice in that Polanco commerce (Gabriel Gonzalez, Darren Bowen), so possibly it’s going to pan out in the long term, however insofar because the 2024 marketing campaign is anxious, each addition fell quick.
Regardless of these offseason whiffs, the Twins had been in rivalry for a lot of the season. portion of that was spent chasing an upstart Guardians membership, however for a lot of the summer time the Twins got overwhelming odds to achieve the postseason. Even on Sept. 5, FanGraphs gave them a 95.4% probability of reaching the playoffs. The Twins faceplanted because the Tigers surged previous them. Joe Pohlad opened the offseason by sidestepping payroll questions however pledging to place a greater product on the sphere (X hyperlink through Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic).
Throughout the subsequent two weeks, main modifications had seized headlines in Minnesota. The Twins noticed common supervisor Thad Levine — No. 2 on their baseball operations hierarchy behind president Derek Falvey — step down and depart the membership. Days later, the Twins despatched a press launch saying the Pohlad household’s intent to discover a sale of the crew.
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