On Sept. 25, the Minnesota Twins came home from their 2-5 road trip with a 50/50 shot at making the playoffs. They had gone from 70-53 on Aug. 17 to 81-75 and one game out of the wild card spot. Still, they felt they had time to write their own narrative in their final six-game homestand.
“A lot of the conversations we’ve had over the last few weeks,” said Rocco Baldelli before Minnesota’s final homestand, “a lot of those have to go away. We have to create our own conversation at this point.”
However, the Twins never got to write their own story this season.
On Nov. 7, Twins ownership announced that they would cut payroll. Four months after winning their first playoff game since 2004 and series since 2002, ownership said they’d reduce payroll from $154 million to between $125 and $140 million. Minnesota’s final number was $126 million, dropping them to a bottom-third payroll despite being in the 15th largest TV market.
That’s where the story of Minnesota’s season begins and ends.
The front office may have missed on most of their pitching acquisitions, but they also dealt with a tight budget. Derek Falvey and Co. probably bring in a less risky veteran than Anthony DeSclafani to round out the rotation. Given more money to work with, they likely add higher caliber relievers than Jay Jackson, Steven Okert, and Justin Topa.
Minnesota needed to add more than Trevor Richards at the deadline. However, it was difficult to do that when they needed to make dollar-for-dollar trades. Baldelli is partially culpable for Minnesota’s collapse. Still, he managed without Carlos Correa, Byron Buxton, and Joe Ryan for most of the second half. Royce Lewis slumped after he said he didn’t slump, Jose Miranda stopped hitting, and the Twins had three rookie pitchers in the rotation.
If it feels like 2022 again, it’s because they’re reliving it. Two years ago, the Twins were 62-55 on Aug. 19. They finished 16-29, for MLB’s fourth-worst record. By September, they had Nick Gordon hitting cleanup and Dylan Bundy and Chris Archer starting meaningful games.
In response, the front office went all-out on depth last year. They added Donovan Solano in spring training even though they had ample infield depth. Bailey Ober had to start the year in Triple-A. They sent Matt Wallner to St. Paul after he hit .636/.714/1.000 in August because of a roster crunch.
The Twins had to make tough decisions last year, but it paid off. They had enough depth to survive an 87-win season and take a series from the Toronto Blue Jays in the playoffs. However, by cutting payroll this year, they repeated their mistakes from 2022 instead of capitalizing on their success last year.
Minnesota went 12-25 from Jorge Alcala’s Aug. 18 meltdown in Arlington until the Baltimore Orioles eliminated them on Friday night.
Ownership’s payroll cuts clouded everything they did this season. Nobody will talk about Brooks Lee and Minnesota’s trio of rookie pitchers reaching the majors this year. Few will remember Miranda, Trevor Larnach, and Willi Castro reviving their careers. Even the Rally Sausage will be lost to history.
Because of Diamond Sports’ dispute with Comcast, Twins games came off television for most people in the metro right as Jeffers introduced the infamous sausage. Minnesota was 60-48 when Bally Sports returned to Comcast on Aug. 1. However, they have gone 22-32 since. Xfinity is the dominant carrier in the metro, meaning most people saw the Twins start 7-13 and collapse and missed everything in between.
Ownership can justify cutting payroll because Diamond Sports’ bankruptcy impacts one of their largest revenue sources. However, season ticket holders are the other largest source, and it’s hard to build a strong season ticket base when the team rarely wins back-to-back years. Since winning the division in 2019 and 2020, the Twins have failed to make the playoffs in three of the past four years.
Due to their penny-wise, pound-foolish approach to payroll, the Twins failed to build upon their playoff success this year. They were on a 12-game winning streak when Xfinity stopped hosting their games, their first since 1980. However, nobody remembers the 1980 season because Minnesota won 77 games, Gene Mauch left the team before the season ended, and Doug Corbett was its best player.
History doesn’t repeat itself, but it rhymes. Careful observers knew this was coming early in the season. Unfortunately, a year after breaking through in the playoffs, the Twins played a season that will get lost to time. The book has closed on a story they never got to write.
