Twins Payroll Really is Resource Allocation

Simple stats, but the Twins are actually very close to the median payroll of $108 million. What we have here is the teams that will be in the playoffs again,Red Sox, Yankees, Dodgers and Cubs spending almost twice as much as the rest of the league. So median is what to look at. The Twins are right in the middle so they can expect to compete for that 2nd wild card if things break right and have a 1 game playoff season.

This is not how it works. The budget is like the government. Use it or lose it. Any profit goes to buy Pohlad another yacht.

Do you know this or are you just saying this?

And yeah, actually it is how these things should work, at least. Most companies work to generate a profit, and that profit goes into cash, which can be used to either pay investors through some form of a dividend or to reinvest back into the company. 

Theoretically, the Twins should use this $30 million in savings to reinvest back into the team in future years. 

You ask a fair question, and a quick bit of web-searching didn't turn up the particular interview I was thinking of. Such articles are sometimes hard to find if you don't remember the exact phrase that would identify it. I was hoping someone else might have spoken up with a link they found, but so far, no luck. Russia, if you are listening, I hope you're able to find the links I am thinking of. Until such a link is found, please amend my previous statement with "I believe" - since I still do.

I have repeatedly seen the 50% number but I have not seen anything that says anything to the contrary of what I wrote. I do not know whether they would do that or not. But I'm going to keep some faith in the current regime until I see evidence otherwise.

The problem the past few years is that the Twins have not been competitive enough where it would have been a good idea to invest in free agents, which has pulled down their payroll figure. They spent 50% of their revenue last year on payroll and the team stunk. 

I'm not terribly excited about it. I'll admit I'd rather see them sign someone like Manny Machado. But I understand the move given the big question marks surrounding players like Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano.

Way too many people harsh on the Twins to spend for spending's sake. But I would much rather see this team make intelligent decisions, which means holding back during uncertain years and then going after it when the team is close to contention. As I said in the original post, if they fail to make moves when the time is right (in other words, no holding back when you get the chance to trade for Alfonso Soriano or signing a top pitcher) then I will be at Target Field with a pitchfork, in the front row. 

They've said they don't do that, not in terms of salary. No, I don't have a link handy.

I have listened to and read an awful lot of Twins pieces and nothing has given me that indication. So my comment stands until I see otherwise.

Not one person has been able to produce a link to back up their assumption that excess profits from keeping salaries low are not reinvested back into the team. 

Judy from Big Lake is my hero http://twinsdaily.com/topic/31775-article-rundown-judy-from-big-lake-baldelli-buxton-meeting-and-more/?fromsearch=1

https://www.twincities.com/2018/11/17/charley-walters-vikings-need-back-to-back-north-conquests/

Quote

Mauer’s retirement leaves the Twins without a $23 million salary commitment for next season. But that doesn’t necessarily mean an extra $23 million for free agency, club owner Jim Pohlad said.

“It’s not like ‘OK, we’ve got this money now, and we didn’t have it before, so we can do so much more,’ ” Pohlad said. “I don’t feel that way.”

End Quote

I’m still pissed

Thank you for providing a link.

You're inferring an awful lot from a single, one-sentence quote. 

that's the one I could remember/find - Pohlad and Ryan have said as much a few times times over the last 5-6 years or so

Look, I'm just reserving my criticisms for now. I'm just OK with years like this if, when the team really is ready to contend, they spend more than that 50% number on payroll. If they don't, then that's a problem. 

I think free agency is a crapshoot. I'd rather they use it when they are legitimately in contention and that they spend to keep existing players. Given the sheer uncertainty of the roster, I have no problem holding off. But if they DON'T spend, or make bold moves, when there is less uncertainty then I will start screaming.

And despite the debates I'm having with people on this topic, I'll say this: Fans have every reason to criticize this team about spending. From 2001 to 2010 this team had a core to contend for a championship but repeatedly failed to get the one guy who could have made a real difference. This, after that whole contraction nonsense. And then we gave them a stadium. And then their team has sucked for most of the past eight years. So they deserve this, IMO. 

My point in this is 2019 could be 2002 all over again, where a couple of well placed pitching improvements could be the difference between winning/losing a wild card game and winning the division maybe making a playoff push. 

And if it is then they have the flexibility to go out and get a costly starter or reliever at the trade deadline -- something the previous regime almost never did.

Simple fact is this: The Twins in 2019 are going nowhere if the current core doesn't put it together, and that's a big question mark. To me, it's a defensible strategy to hold off on major expenditures given those question marks. 

Spending for spending’s sake might eventually encourage better free agents to give the Twins a look. It might shed the organization of their “always doing it on the cheap” reputation.