The Twins' Road to Nowhere

[Matt Braun]

The Twins continue to follow a path leading to nothing. 

Image courtesy of Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

 

One-year deals are an admission of fault. Either the market lacked quality, all trade routes fell through, or the internal options were so hideous that the team felt it necessary to promise a player pay for just a single year of their time. 

For the athlete, a one-year-deal represents one of two things: an opportunity to bounce back from a dreadful season, perhaps re-inflating one’s value before hitting the free market with a prettier sheen, or an acceptance of age, an understanding that father time’s inevitable march will render your talents useless. No team wants to lose out in a nebulous contract musical chairs, so the player Nelson Cruz’s it and agrees to one-year pacts before slithering away into retirement. Or he’ll sign with Pittsburgh.

Teams love diving into these waters. If the contract busts, they don’t have to be the poor souls legally stuck to an albatross, and their job security only takes the slightest hit. It was a good bet, after all. If the deal works, they look like genius, clairvoyant decision-makers who can reap the benefits of a productive player while raking in compliments. In a land where Xander Bogaerts signs for 11 years, that’s a reasonable pool to visit. 

There’s an emptiness to these deals, though. While professional sports is a business, we like to create connections with players, perhaps fooling ourselves into ignoring the massive amounts of money that exchange hands to allow their athletic ability to shine. When Max Kepler mans right field for the millionth time in a Twins uniform, our shared experience builds a connection, one that draws people closer to their romantic idea of a hometown sports team. What relationship will we have with Joey Gallo? How can we fully love a player destined to leave?

The player’s intentions become evident in this scenario. While Carlos Correa may become hands-on—which may not reflect well on him given the 2022 Twins’ record—other athletes may embody their hitman spirit, poisoning the clubhouse spirit with a selfish demeanor. 

The Twins, oddly, acknowledged this issue. Following the disappointing 2018 season, Derek Falvey admitted that their clubhouse grew a funky stink stemming from grouchy veterans on short-term deals. Logan Morrison and Lance Lynn were whiny and bad—that was what he wanted to say. 

In response to their problem, the Twins turned around and acted like they didn’t hear their own words. Nelson Cruz, Jonathan Schoop, and Martín Pérez signed up for a ride on the 2019 Twins bus—a booming home run tour of the United States—but that season appears fluky. A hyper-juiced ball? Two full seasons of below .500 play afterward? The only thing right about that year was the Yankees immediately spanking them the second October entered the equation.

Once COVID neutered the 2020 season, the Twins hopped back onto the ball, signing a litany of average talent to one-year deals, setting themselves up for a disastrous season the team is still reeling from. J.A. Happ almost threw 100 innings for the team. He made Dylan Bundy sound like a good idea.

The ultimate question is this: what’s the end goal? One-year contracts are supposed to plug holes, not dominate the team's structure; imagine a dam constructed out of duct tape. The guess is that the team is saving for some future move, but few long-term deals of that nature have come to fruition, and the only significant splash players—Josh Donaldson and Carlos Correa—are no longer Twins. Ehire Adrianza entered the batter’s box donning a Minnesota jersey more times than either of those players. 

They were able to nail down a Byron Buxton contract, although they seemed disappointed that they couldn’t trade him to Philadelphia for scraps beforehand. The Twins deserve credit for that signing, but his deal pays him $15 million a season—far less than the market rate for superstar talent. If anything, the agreement should fuel a spending spree: they have their star locked down for relatively little, add as many great players as you can.

Even with little tied down in their books, the Twins remained hesitant to drop enough money to coax Correa back home. There’s no purpose to their choices. They’re saving money for a future in which they save more money. Maybe they’re looking even further forward, but there’s no guarantee that free agents down the road—enjoy all that money, Rafael Devers—actually become available. 

Until that big, non-opt-outable deal occurs, they’ll remain in this loop, always saving for a someday that never comes.

 

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[EGFTShaw]

Nice opine...but my opinion is it is not that black and white.

While there is larger context to the fact the Twins will not be considered a market for the upper echelon FAs to sign until after they splurge BIG on someone.  I was hoping they would go through with a deal for C4.  But $285/10yr was never going to get it done.  Oddly it may now given the concerns over his ankle.  Different thread tho.

Nelson Cruz was a good signing.

Lance Lynn was not.

Due diligence on not only the player's performance and health, but also on the player's character and professionalism.  Even longer than 1-year deals can sour as shown by the JD historic signing and later dump to NYY.

C$, given what everyone in the club house has said, would be a good person to make that splurge.  Not sure if XB or DS would have been.  TT and the Slide Machine would have been, but he was East Bound and Done, Loaded Up and Trucking to the east coast.

I am not sure that Rodon would have been the good signing, but I do like me a lefty top the order pitcher.

[Fire Dan Gladden]

I am so tired of commenting on articles and stories like this.  The Twins didn't sign anybody, so they have no focus, no direction, the FO sucks, torch the owner...

1) Stop assuming efforts aren't made.
2) Stop assuming the Twins aren't willing to spend money on a particular player.
3) Stop assuming they should be in on every FA on the market
4) Stop assuming every FA wants to come to MN

The Twins have a boatload of talent coming off of injuries, they upgraded at catcher, got a placeholder replacement for Correa, made the decision to go with MIranda at 3B, and picked up another viable piece in the OF.

Stop saying there is no plan. Stop saying everyone is dumb or cheap.

Just say you don't agree with the plan currently being taken.

[Baumer67]

It would be nice for the Twins to surprise us by dipping into the free agency pool when a player is still in his prime.  I feel that would help support our team better over the long haul than for them always trading away some of their better prospects for players with a sketchy medical history.

[Mike Sixel]

2 minutes ago, Baumer67 said:

It would be nice for the Twins to surprise us by dipping into the free agency pool when a player is still in his prime.  I feel that would help support our team better over the long haul than for them always trading away some of their better prospects for players with a sketchy medical history.

Those players are pretty rare and expensive. Free agency is a lot about paying guys past their prime due to the rules of the league. 

[mikelink45]

This made me laugh - a good rant - I hope you feel better now.  Of course you did not mention Shoemaker or Bailey or Pagan or CRON!!

[IA Bean Counter]

Just wait,  if we sign Correa many of these same people will have a new argument against the Twins front office :).   What is the writers stance if they sign Correa at what is considered a reasonable contract?  Suddenly the Twins Front office is brilliant,  waited it out and got one of the best players to potentially one of the best contracts this year?  Things move quickly in baseball,  including Correa potentially getting hurt and essentially be done with baseball in a couple years.  That is the risk assessment the front office needs to take.  I'll sit back and see if the Twins get 2nd opportunity at the Correa apple.  

[Trov]

One of my main comments it he claim the Twins did not fork over enough money for Correa, well so far no one has.  He accepted one deal, only to have the team back out.  Then he quickly agree to a significantly less offer for Mets.  Those who are saying we were not close at 10 years 285, I would say is not far off the 12 years 315, that is maybe on the table for the Mets.  When you look at things like taxes and cost of living, he actually is giving up a ton of money by choosing Mets offer over Twins.  If it was just about overall money in his pocket, he chose wrong, so that is not the only thing making his decision.  That deal has been on the table now for weeks and yet to be signed.  Will the Twins swoop in and go with original off and will CC take it, maybe.  

I am also getting sick of the articles, we have not signed guys to mega deals, but then at same time attack FO for signing players to long term deals that have not worked either, like Donaldson.  I would agree continuing doing 1 year deals to fill team is not best way to go, but you also need to have flexibility of some guys on shorter term controls or for cheaper.  If you just sign every guy for multi years and they are not working out, you are locked into a bad team, with having to play bad players, or paying guys for not playing.  The Angels have been doing that for years, signing guys to bad deals and being a bad team because they are locked in on old guys not playing well, and not building a farm system that develops.  How many big long term deals have they signed in past 15 years?  How many playoffs have they made?  

[Matt Braun]

12 minutes ago, IA Bean Counter said:

Just wait,  if we sign Correa many of these same people will have a new argument against the Twins front office :).   What is the writers stance if they sign Correa at what is considered a reasonable contract?  Suddenly the Twins Front office is brilliant,  waited it out and got one of the best players to potentially one of the best contracts this year?  Things move quickly in baseball,  including Correa potentially getting hurt and essentially be done with baseball in a couple years.  That is the risk assessment the front office needs to take.  I'll sit back and see if the Twins get 2nd opportunity at the Correa apple.  

My stance would be that they got historically fortunate that two teams failed to cross the finish line with him despite both deals reaching the formality stage. 

[dberthia]

The whole key is to be SMART about 1 year vs multi-year deals, something I've not seen much of with the current front office.

[Matt Braun]

38 minutes ago, Fire Dan Gladden said:

I am so tired of commenting on articles and stories like this.  The Twins didn't sign anybody, so they have no focus, no direction, the FO sucks, torch the owner...

1) Stop assuming efforts aren't made.
2) Stop assuming the Twins aren't willing to spend money on a particular player.
3) Stop assuming they should be in on every FA on the market
4) Stop assuming every FA wants to come to MN

The Twins have a boatload of talent coming off of injuries, they upgraded at catcher, got a placeholder replacement for Correa, made the decision to go with MIranda at 3B, and picked up another viable piece in the OF.

Stop saying there is no plan. Stop saying everyone is dumb or cheap.

Just say you don't agree with the plan currently being taken.

I don't believe I made any of those assumptions or said any of those things 

[PDX Twin]

Quote

The Twins continue to follow a path leading to nothing.

This is simply wrong. Perhaps it would be better to say that "The Twins continue to follow a path I don't like." Or maybe "The Twins continue to follow a path that doesn't involve throwing silly money at every shiny free agent." 

The Twins' path will lead to a decent team on the field that, if luck goes right, will be competitive in their division. The Twins' path will lead to a team that doesn't lose tens of millions of dollars for their owners, who are not in this for charity. The Twins' team will have some good players, some interesting players, and some players that don't perform up to the standard we would like.

This is what we sign up for when we become Twins fans. I'll be watching and cheering with interest this summer as long as the players are putting in the effort and as long as there are some players I find interesting to watch. (I don't find strikeout kings like Joey Gallo interesting to watch, so to that part of the path has disappointed me.) 

Too many writers on this site seem to think that the Twins are something that they are not, and that there are no constraints (monetary, willing trading partners, or player interest in joining) that might stand in the way of signing everyone on the all-star team. They are one of 30 teams all trying to get better. They are not one of the richest (or poorest). They are probably not the best-run, but not the worst-run. They have successes in player development and recruitment, and they have failures. 

My season will be full of cheering, always hoping, sometimes regretting, and sometimes celebrating, but very little criticizing. It's better that way!

[Fire Dan Gladden]

The entirety of your article dances around these statements.

Why aren't the Twins spending more money and only signing one-year deals.  When they do sign long term deals, the look to trade them right away.  They are penny pinching on Correa.

You cherry pick contracts that did not work, many of which were fliers that everyone knew were lottery tickets, or make good deals that came very late in the signing season and use that as a basis to describe the entire Twins ethos.

Outside of a very few, players sign short term deals and move from team to team.  The days of collusion and players staying with one team their entire career are basically over.

As an overarching statement, this article is yet another in what has become a reoccurring theme over the last few months:  Focus on everything bad that is the Minnesota Twins.  No new information, just regurgitation of the same opinions.

[JDubs]

1 hour ago, IA Bean Counter said:

Just wait,  if we sign Correa many of these same people will have a new argument against the Twins front office

I'm pretty certain a lot of the people currently screaming about how the dumb Twins wouldn't pony up the dough to get a top-shelf player like Correa will suddenly be shouting that the dumb Twins paid way too much for an obviously-broken bum like Correa. It'll be a lot like how for years Berrios was at best a number 2 starter who couldn't be counted on to be at the top of a rotation, and then when he was traded he was suddenly an ace the Twins were foolish to lose.

[terrydactyls]

1 hour ago, Fire Dan Gladden said:

I am so tired of commenting on articles and stories like this.  The Twins didn't sign anybody, so they have no focus, no direction, the FO sucks, torch the owner...

1) Stop assuming efforts aren't made.
2) Stop assuming the Twins aren't willing to spend money on a particular player.
3) Stop assuming they should be in on every FA on the market
4) Stop assuming every FA wants to come to MN

The Twins have a boatload of talent coming off of injuries, they upgraded at catcher, got a placeholder replacement for Correa, made the decision to go with MIranda at 3B, and picked up another viable piece in the OF.

Stop saying there is no plan. Stop saying everyone is dumb or cheap.

Just say you don't agree with the plan currently being taken.

Along these same lines, bringing back Correa essentially means the 2023 Twins will be the 2022 Twins plus one different catcher and a redundant LH outfielder.  The Twins need career years and good health from a lot of players in order to be a .500 team.  I'm starting to wonder if the desire to sign Correa shown by many on this site is fueled more by the "glory" of signing a big free agent than the hope for playoff success?  The team has a lot of weaknesses at the moment and Correa doesn't solve most of them, and leaves the Twins with very little money and a mediocre farm system as tools for filling the holes.

[Original_JB]

I was looking back on my life,

And all the things I've done to me; 

I'm still looking for the answers,

I'm still searching for the key

[weitz41]

2 hours ago, Fire Dan Gladden said:

I am so tired of commenting on articles and stories like this.  The Twins didn't sign anybody, so they have no focus, no direction, the FO sucks, torch the owner...

1) Stop assuming efforts aren't made.
2) Stop assuming the Twins aren't willing to spend money on a particular player.
3) Stop assuming they should be in on every FA on the market
4) Stop assuming every FA wants to come to MN

The Twins have a boatload of talent coming off of injuries, they upgraded at catcher, got a placeholder replacement for Correa, made the decision to go with MIranda at 3B, and picked up another viable piece in the OF.

Stop saying there is no plan. Stop saying everyone is dumb or cheap.

Just say you don't agree with the plan currently being taken.

I don't agree with the plan currently being taken. That being said, I agree with most what FDG has to say here.

I actually like 1 year deals. 1 year of unhappy Lynn, JA Happ or Logan Morrison was enough. I'm expect 1 year of Gallo will be more then enough. Imagine the complaining if we still have Donaldson on the team for the final year of his contract. I'll invest my hopes in the young guys who will be around longer.

[Kal Lis]

2 hours ago, Fire Dan Gladden said:

Just say you don't agree with the plan currently being taken.

I don't agree with the plan currently being taken.

[IA Bean Counter]

13 minutes ago, terrydactyls said:

Along these same lines, bringing back Correa essentially means the 2023 Twins will be the 2022 Twins plus one different catcher and a redundant LH outfielder.  The Twins need career years and good health from a lot of players in order to be a .500 team.  I'm starting to wonder if the desire to sign Correa shown by many on this site is fueled more by the "glory" of signing a big free agent than the hope for playoff success?  The team has a lot of weaknesses at the moment and Correa doesn't solve most of them, and leaves the Twins with very little money and a mediocre farm system as tools for filling the holes.

They will have a full year of Maeda, Mahle and Lopez.  Miranda will be older.   We have 2-3 young hitters that we will see if they can finally be healthy.  You have Ober and Winder,  who we won't need to put as much innings demands on them to try to keep them healthy.  We may be able to trade Kepler.   This team has much much more quality and experienced pitching depth than at this time last year.  You also have Paddack that may be able to help on the backside.  What will be interesting is what version of Pagan do we get, late August Sept, or the rest of the year or is he also a trade chip.   This will be a better team, especially if they can sign Correa, not necessarily that they will be able to make the playoffs,  but I am good with solid ball and finding key cogs we can build around in the future.  

[Mike Sixel]

31 minutes ago, terrydactyls said:

Along these same lines, bringing back Correa essentially means the 2023 Twins will be the 2022 Twins plus one different catcher and a redundant LH outfielder.  The Twins need career years and good health from a lot of players in order to be a .500 team.  I'm starting to wonder if the desire to sign Correa shown by many on this site is fueled more by the "glory" of signing a big free agent than the hope for playoff success?  The team has a lot of weaknesses at the moment and Correa doesn't solve most of them, and leaves the Twins with very little money and a mediocre farm system as tools for filling the holes.

I really don't understand your argument.....they shouldn't sign an elite player because everyone else was hurt last year and they didn't win? Like, then, don't sign any FA? What is your argument? How else would you like them so spend the money this year, given NO ONE is left in FA? What are you arguing?

[Craig Arko]

 

[Major League Ready]

They are on the road leading from a previous core that just was not nearly good enough.  They jettisoned most of them and are basically left with Buxton and Polanco.  The entire rest of the team are guys with less than 2 years of service time.

That road might go nowhere.  It might also lead to a solid rotation of Ryan / Varland / SWR and Ober all inexpensive and under teams control for several years.  That scenario leaves lots of money to add another top of the rotation SP through free agency.  Prielipp and Festa might just provide incredible depth.  

The position players might all bust.  It might also lead to Kirilloff and Miranda being well above average and maybe even some all-star years between them.  Lewis and Lee might bust but probably not. Those two have higher upsides than Kirilloff and Miranda.

Gordon and Martin might be mediocre but they could very well be an outstand duo as super utility players.  Larnach and Wallner might bust or be 40 HR guys and Rodriquez might just be a superstar.

They on the same road Chicago was on not so long ago which is the same road every team travels with the exception of ultra-high revenue teams.  This road could lead to nowhere, but I like the odds of it leading somewhere pretty good and this time the trip has a good chance of remaining somewhere good for quite a few years.

[TwinkieFan4life]

3 hours ago, Fire Dan Gladden said:

Stop saying there is no plan. Stop saying everyone is dumb or cheap.

Just say you don't agree with the plan currently being taken.

The article says the Twins are on a "Road to nowhere". The road represents the plan to sure up the roster through short-term contracts.  I don't know how one could read the article and believe the author is saying the Twins have "no plan", as it takes the time to articulate the nature of the plan.  The author is doing exactly as you requested, describing the plan as they see it, and explaining why it won't yield a productive result, instead leading us "nowhere".

You also ask the author to stop assuming that no attempt has been made to sign players to long-term deals.  Again, if you are able to read and comprehend the article, no such claim is made.  In fact, the author states his belief that the plan has likely been to save to make the big splash sign.  The author simply points out that has rarely worked out, which is a reasonable observation.  They also acknowledge and give credit for some long-term signs that have come to fruition.  They clearly did not assert what you insinuate they did.

Also, "cherry picking bad contracts"?  He mentions Nelson Cruz, acknowledged the successful short-term deals during the Bomba squad years.  

I appreciate the content on the site.  I enjoyed this work, as I always enjoy the free content on TD, whether I disagree with an author or not.  I probably wouldn't attack an author as you did.  If I were going to, I would definitely make sure to read it and comprehend it well first.

[mikelink45]

4 hours ago, IA Bean Counter said:

Just wait,  if we sign Correa many of these same people will have a new argument against the Twins front office :).   What is the writers stance if they sign Correa at what is considered a reasonable contract?  Suddenly the Twins Front office is brilliant,  waited it out and got one of the best players to potentially one of the best contracts this year?  Things move quickly in baseball,  including Correa potentially getting hurt and essentially be done with baseball in a couple years.  That is the risk assessment the front office needs to take.  I'll sit back and see if the Twins get 2nd opportunity at the Correa apple.  

No.  I know what your are attempting to say and the brush you are using to cover everyone will still leave the Twins at 500 unless the pitching is fixed.

[Major League Ready]

They signed a grand total of (1) one-year contract.  In other words, they may have been on this path in the past but they certainly are not remotely in the same place as when they signed all the players listed.   Seems more like a complaint about the past without recognition of being better positioned today.

[Bob Twins Fan Since 61]

Anyone watch the MLB channel?  There is a couple former MLB GM who are regulars.  They frequently say, "There is no such thing as a bad 1-year contract".    However, there have been hell lot of long-term contracts that teams have regretted over the years.  Just saying while I drink my cold beverage.

[theBOMisthebomb]

I'm not surprised since this franchise hasn't been relevant in the playoffs for 20+ years and has only sniffed the World Series once in 30+ years. The 2019 Twins taught me that the championship hopes of this Twins franchise are on par with the Vikings franchise - highly unlikely and don't ever get your hopes inflated. I've learned to stay detached from the results and just enjoy the process, the atmosphere, and the games. 

[Riverbrian]

4 hours ago, Original_JB said:

I was looking back on my life,

And all the things I've done to me; 

I'm still looking for the answers,

I'm still searching for the key

That was Ozzy in 1991.

Here he is 1980: "Don't look to me for answers, Don't Ask Me... I Don't Know"

Back in 1970: "Can you Help Me... Occupy my Brain"

When I face decisions in my personal life.. I often ask... What would Ozzy do? ?

[KirbyDome89]

5 hours ago, Fire Dan Gladden said:

The entirety of your article dances around these statements.

Why aren't the Twins spending more money and only signing one-year deals.  When they do sign long term deals, the look to trade them right away.  They are penny pinching on Correa.

You cherry pick contracts that did not work, many of which were fliers that everyone knew were lottery tickets, or make good deals that came very late in the signing season and use that as a basis to describe the entire Twins ethos.

Outside of a very few, players sign short term deals and move from team to team.  The days of collusion and players staying with one team their entire career are basically over.

As an overarching statement, this article is yet another in what has become a reoccurring theme over the last few months:  Focus on everything bad that is the Minnesota Twins.  No new information, just regurgitation of the same opinions.

The entire point of the article is that relying on "fliers everyone knew were lotto tix or make good deals," year over year hasn't worked out. Do you have an actual counterpoint, or are you just upset that people are talking about the issue?

[theBOMisthebomb]

29 minutes ago, Riverbrian said:

That was Ozzy in 1991.

Here he is 1980: "Don't look to me for answers, Don't Ask Me... I Don't Know"

Back in 1970: "Can you Help Me... Occupy my Brain"

When I face decisions in my personal life.. I often ask... What would Ozzy do? ?

Bark at the moon and you will feel better.