dime store dave

As Twins fans, we have an unfortunate reputation for being ungrateful and being a group that says, “well, it’s Minnesota sports. What do you expect?”. We should expect that for the next six years, the Twins will push the payroll and the trade market to put a championship-caliber ballclub on the field for this window.
What does this mean for the fan base? As a fan base, we owe this front office an apology and patience leading up to spring training. Carlos Correa is no doubt a significant domino that has fallen. Our emotions over the last 20 years with our playoff misfortune are justified, but it has to stop here.
As a former player, I can tell you a fanbase’s attitude bleeds into a clubhouse. Players hear you, players are human, and our attitude as losers needs to be adjusted. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. 
A great example of our impact is the Vikings kicking situation. Imagine being a 22-year-old kicker for the Vikings; everyone tells you that you are supposed to stink and miss the big kick because you are a Viking. 
Let’s think about it on the micro level as well. Everyone has a friend or family member who blames everything on their ‘bad luck.’ Those people are exhausting to be around, and for lack of a better term, “they end up living in a van down by the river” - Matt Foley. 
You put that unfortunate attitude into a large group of people, and it can have power over a group of athletes no matter how confident they are. It’s human nature. There needs to be a shift in the attitude of the Minnesota sports fan that contributes to the success rather than them having success despite us.
If our journey as Twins fans was a romantic comedy, we would be the girl with the glasses who gets overlooked by everyone. The Correa signing was Minnesota taking off the glasses, and the world has realized we are pretty desirable. We landed arguably the best shortstop in baseball, and it doesn’t matter how. He is a Twin, and the narrative must shift that we are a mid-market team at worst.
We may not be the belle of the ball, but Minnesota has announced its commitment to championship-level baseball for the next six years. It’s a wonderful time to be a Twins fan, and we should celebrate, but now the creativity of this front office needs to show its power and acquire the remaining pieces to compete for a World Series.
I implore you to fight every instinct to bring up injuries and playoff failures this year. In the immortal words of George Costanza, “My life is the complete opposite of everything I want it to be. Every instinct I have in every aspect of life, be it something to wear, something to eat… It’s often wrong.” 
Costanza then announces how he will change, “Yes, I will do the opposite. I used to sit here and do nothing and regret it for the rest of the day, so now I will do the opposite, and I will do something!” 
We have the same opportunity as Twins fans. We love being miserable, and our instinct is to be a bummer. The Correa signing goes against all those preconceived notions. It’s time to enjoy arguably the most talented duo in baseball besides Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani (Byron Buxton/Correa) and the creativity of a front office that will not be done with just the Correa signing. 
It’s time to support a team rather than being the thing the team has to conquer. We are the Minnesota Twins, and we are a good baseball team, and it’s time to show up at Target field in 2023.
 

Rocco Baldelli is a good manager and has proven it during his early tenure with the Twins. While he has been criticized for removing arms early, he has often been given pitchers that struggle to go deep in games. He has managed the 26-man roster provided to him, and there is little reason to believe that won’t be the case again this season.
If Minnesota wants to extract more from what they put out in the year ahead, there are a few key areas they can control.
Baserunning
You don’t need analytics to dissect this as a Twins fan. Last season Minnesota was among the worst team on the bases across the entirety of the league. You saw it from an eye test, and you saw it from an individual standpoint. Multiple players ran into outs, and third base coach Tommy Watkins had several players thrown out at home. By Fangraphs base running metric, only the Washington Nationals were worse than the Twins, and their BsR of -20.7 was truly terrible. 
Infield Defense
At the beginning of the Derek Falvey and Thad Levine Era, there was an assumed level of production expected from the defense. When trying to support the team as a whole, playing solid defense was a legitimate way to prop up other lackluster areas. In recent seasons, the Twins' infield defense has become an area of concern, and it’s not one that has been quelled solely through the addition of Carlos Correa. Jose Miranda moving to the hot corner isn't likely to help, but Alex Kirilloff being healthy makes a difference at first base. Still, needing to be better on the dirt is something that remains imperative.
Coin Flips
Last year, manager Rocco Baldelli could be excused through a handful of things boiled down to bad luck. He often played the infield in or went with the numbers and wound up asking “what if.” The hope would be that there is room for normalization in 2023, and understanding that analytics genuinely bear fruit across a larger sample size. We have yet to see what a healthy version of this roster can do, but that should be the focal point in the year ahead.
There is no denying that the Minnesota Twins will point to injury when it comes to ineptitude faced during the 2022 season. Assuming a roster with better health, there should be plenty of improvement. Beyond wanting luck to better benefit them, there will also be opportunities for Minnesota to create its own growth. Forcing that this season will be a must, and it could represent the difference between taking a step forward or another step backward.

It’s easy to say that Carlos Correa fell onto the Twins’ laps, not once, but twice. But it’s worth examining the many roster developments that led to the club being able to have an opening on their lap to begin with. From dealing with a revolving door of stopgap shortstops, to injuries that dimmed the long-term outlook of the position and the creation of financial flexibility through trades and early extensions -- that long road led to this franchise-altering move.
It’s the butterfly effect. If things had gone differently to the slightest degree, who knows if Correa and his family wind up in the Twin Cities on Wednesday, where the star shortstop signed a mega deal that will keep him in the fold for at least six more years. 
Each of the six seasons that led to Correa’s newly-signed contract followed a similar pattern with minor variations throughout. Finally, the front office’s efforts to create that financial flexibility aligned with the club’s needs and the availability of a star player. 
Let’s take a look at all the action (or inaction) that led to the Twins landing another franchise cornerstone. 
2017
While Derek Falvey and Thad Levine officially took over as the heads of the Twins’ baseball operations department in the fall of 2016, this season was almost like a barometer for them. Instead of starting their tenures with a bang in free agency or via trade, they decided to mostly stand pat with minor or mostly-inconsequential moves.
They also remained relatively quiet at the trade deadline. Maybe that’s due to a lack of confidence that an over-achieving team could make a serious run in the postseason, or maybe they genuinely didn’t like any of the offers they were getting for players like Brian Dozier, Byron Buxton , etc.
The team miraculously made the playoffs but was taken down by the mighty New York Yankees yet again in a one-game play-in wild card game. While discouraged by how the season ended, spirits remained high and fans clamored for free agent reinforcements heading into the off-season. 
2018
Again, the Twins’ front office decided to wait out the free agent market, signing Lance Lynn and Logan Morrison to cheaper, low-commitment deals. Then, in spring training, Jorge Polanco tested positive for a banned substance and was suspended for the first half of the season. It’s a big blow to the team, as Polanco’s numbers in the second half of 2017 throttled the team to contention (.870 OPS, 130 wRC+).
Falvey and Levine decided to hold back. They didn’t overreact by acquiring a long-term replacement, despite the fan outcry. Instead, the team rolled with a combination of Ehire Adrianza and Gregorio Petit (remember him?) until Polanco could return in July. Sadly, the team took a major step back from a record standpoint.
Falvey and Levine finally got to see some action at the trade deadline, but not in the way many Twins’ fans would have hoped for. They traded away popular players such as Eduardo Escobar and Ryan Pressly in an effort to acquire current-day contributors such as Jhoan Duran, Jorge Alcala and Gilberto Celestino . 
2019
Once again, the Twins waited out the free agent market, establishing a pattern that they follow to this day. Instead, they focused their attention on locking up their young talent to team-friendly extensions. This included Polanco, Max Kepler and Miguel Sano , who each landed multi-year deals that included team options at the end of the contracts.
When the calendar flipped to 2019, they signed veteran power hitter Nelson Cruz to a modest one-year contract with a club option for the 2020 season. Besides that, they once again mostly took a back seat in free agency.
Polanco provided excellent value at shortstop and even made his first All Star game appearance as the starter for the American League. However, he started leaking oil from a defensive standpoint in the second half of the season. Perhaps it was due to lingering injuries in his surgically-repaired ankle, but this was when it started to become clear that he probably was not going to be a long-term option at shortstop. 
2020
This off-season was defined by one move that they made, and a few notable ones that they held off on. Sure, their noted interest in Zach Wheeler fell short when he signed a five-year, $118 million deal with the Philadelphia Phillies. The club would certainly have had to pay far more to get him in a Twins uniform, but still, that contract looks rather enticing at the moment.
Falvey and Levine also chose to hold back on a pursuit of Dallas Keuchel and Craig Kimbrel, who were popular names on Twins’ Twitter due to their availability as well as the club’s need for established arms. That decision to focus elsewhere proved to be wise, as Keuchel hit a wall in the second year of his eventual contract, and Kimbrel has been inconsistent.
The Twins chose to instead wait and sign third baseman Josh Donaldson when his market didn’t develop as well as he hoped. The team went on to win the division but were once again swept from postseason play. The dagger ends up being a defensive error by Polanco at short, leading the team to fully transition him out of the shortstop position. 
2021
The club made it clear that a new starting shortstop is the first item on their off-season shopping list. At one point, it looked like a three-horse race between free agents Andrelton Simmons, Marcus Semien and Didi Gregorius . They chose a one-year deal for Simmons, as not to block the heir apparent, Royce Lewis . Their top prospect, however, tore his ACL and had to sit out for the whole 2021 season, dimming the long-term outlook at the position. Simmons had a terrible season, and his tenure as a Twin is over after one year, just as planned. 
2022
The Twins shipped Donaldson to the Yankees in an effort to unload a now-undesirable contract. Meanwhile, Correa remained unsigned coming out of the MLB lockout and the Twins still had an opening at short. In a move that took everyone by surprise, the Twins landed him on essentially a one-year deal with protections in case he gets injured. Once again, they waited out the market and this time the Twins got their biggest prize yet.
Later on, Lewis re-tears his ACL in May, and Austin Martin starts getting more time at other positions due to doubts he can handle the shortstop position. The long-term outlook of the position is once again doubtful.
At the culmination of the 2022 campaign, Correa opted out of his contract as expected. The Twins are left with a hole at shortstop, but now they have something they’ve worked to create for the better part of six years – financial flexibility. They are not bogged down by the contracts of yesteryear, and their team consists of young talent and older veterans that signed early extensions.
Yet again, they wait out the market instead of springing for high-end players such as Dansby Swanson and Xander Bogaerts . When Correa’s deals with the San Francisco Giants and New York Mets fell through, that flexibility and patience led them to this tenure-defining transaction.