As the Hot Stove begins to heat up, there's a dollar sign shaped cloud looming over any excitement Minnesota Twins fans might have. Last offseason ownership slashed $30 million out of the payroll, tossing cold water on the growing excitement that the team was headed in the right direction.
Unsurprisingly, that move came back to bite the Twins.
A lot went into the historic collapse the team suffered over the last month of the season, but not having proper resources invested didn't help. It's a trap door the team seems destined to fall through again this winter, or at least that's the fear throughout Twins Territory.
Twins president of baseball operations Derek Falvey is the one tasked with trying to figure out how to make the team better on a budget, and he's being pretty honest about what needs to happen.
Derek Falvey gets brutally honest about Twins offseason plans
At the general managers meeting this week, Falvey addressed the possibility of the Twins making additions to the roster this winter and confirmed what every fan is already thinking. While he didn't outright blame the reduced payroll, he hinted at it by saying the team needs to 'be creative' with its offseason strategy.
“We’re going to have to be creative if we want to make a lot of tweaks to the group,” Falvey said, via Dan Hayes at The Athletic. “We feel like it’s a good group to build off. We’re going to just have to see where the rest of the offseason shakes out from a trade standpoint.”
What Hayes elluded to in his piece is the idea that the Twins might have to make a tough decision and part ways with another fan favorite this offseason to make the money work. It's hard to overstate just how disheartening that would be, especially after hearing last offseason trading Jorge Polanco was being used as a way to improve the team.
That simply wasn't the case, as Polanco was essentially salary dumped in a trade that has now completely busted for both Minnesota and Seattle. Fans having to go through another player getting moved just to save money to make additions on the edges of the roster would be a tough pill to swallow.
It might be the only way the Twins are able to make an addition, though. Minnesota is already projected to be right at it's expected $130 million payroll before making any moves, which backs up Falvey's assertion that the team will need to get creative.
We don't know what the offseason will hold, but it sounds like it's going to be another bumpy ride for Twins fans.
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