After a terrible collapse in the second half of the season, the Minnesota Twins look to get things right in the offseason. The Twins might have an interested owner who might spend more money in the future. Roki Sasaki may surprise all of Major League Baseball and sign with the Twins.
It should be an exciting time for the Twins. Well, not according to Patrick Reusse of the Minnesota Star Tribune, who listed the Twins as the least popular Minnesota sports franchise.
Minnesota Twins have fallen behind the other Twin Cities sports franchises
Reusse argues that the Twins need to catch up in popularity due to the recent success of the Timberwolves, Vikings, and Wild. That's a fair criticism. The Timberwolves just came off a trip to the NBA's Western Conference Finals. The Vikings are the leaders of the NFC North, and the Wild are fighting for the top spot in the NHL's Western Conference.
Outside of making a call of Sasaki's representatives and Justin Ishbia's interest in purchasing the Twins, the team is not doing themselves any favors with a largely inactive MLB Winter Meetings showing, strengthening apathy among fans.
Yet, when we read Reusse's article, no polls or surveys among Minnesota sports fans prove this, so it is all perspective. Given the article's timing, December 13th, most Minnesotans are probably not thinking about baseball this time.
How can the Minnesota Twins fix their perspective in 2025?
Make no mistake about it: The Twins are coming into the 2025 season hoping to wipe the egg off their face that was the 12-27 collapse after August 17th. The success of the other three Twin Cities sports teams has put the Twins in the rearview mirror in some aspects of the Minnesota fans' view. There was also the Bally Sports North fiasco, but that saga ended in October.
So what can the Twins do about this?
The obvious answer is to win, but it is more than just winning on the field. The Twins have earned the scorn of the fanbase with their cheap spending last season, so opening the pocketbooks to lure top free agents to Minnesota is a start. The Twins are not spending money like the Dodgers or the Mets, but expanding the payroll is a step in the right direction to reinvigorate interest in the franchise.