3 cost-cutting questions the Pohlad's will probably be asking themselves this winter

Has Max Kepler played his final game with the Twins?

Max Kepler is a fan favorite in Minnesota and has been with the organization for a long time. His contract is up at the end of the season, and the Twins will likely let him go.

Kepler will receive a decent amount of interest as a free agent, and the Twins shouldn’t try to match this. Despite his respectable play this year, the 31-year-old will not be worth a new contract with the Twins especially with the resurgence of Matt Wallner and other solid outfielders in the minors.

Would trading Pablo López make the team better over the long haul?

Pablo López was brought in and completely changed the Twins rotation for the better. The club was finally able to win a playoff series, and he was instrumental in their success. He came on late towards the end of this season, but it wasn’t enough to keep the team afloat.

López instantly became a fan favorite. In 2023, he became a first-time All-Star with the Twins and helped bring postseason success. However, López is set to make over $21 million in 2025and the team can probably get similar production cheaper while getting some value for him via trade.

Despite his All-Star season last year and solid season this year, the Twins could try to move on, trusting the rotation to the young arms of Joe Ryan, Simeon Woods Richardson, Zebby Matthews, David Festa, and see what you have in Andrew Morris in Triple-A.

This might seem like an overreaction to the Twins horrible finish, and to a certain extent it is, but we're trying to filter things through Pohlad Vision which is skewed from what fans might be feeling. The one common thread throughout the Pohlad's ownership has been relying on young players to offset the need to spend in free agency or make trades to improve the roster.

Therefore, if that's truly the vision the team wants to have, give the keys to the kids, allocate some saved resources to veterans looking to prove they still deserve a big contract, and see what you have.

If you’re going to be bad, be really bad, and maybe that will finally spark some change from the ownership. 

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