When the season began, nobody expected the Minnesota Twins to have fans checking the standings in July. A team that was stripped down at last year’s trade deadline, the Twins sit one game out of the final Wild Card spot in the American League entering Tuesday and have earned the right to have a conversation about buying at the deadline.
Of course, like many things associated with the Twins, ownership is casting a cloud over that decision. The Pohlad Family has created plenty of scars during their time in charge of the team and while current chairman Tom Pohlad has talked a big game, the investment he’s promised hasn’t come as the deadline approaches.
To some, adding a player or two would be an olive branch to the clubhouse and jaded fans who abandoned the team over the past three years. But it’s not the olive branch it seems and shouldn’t be the main driver of a decision to buy at the deadline.
Twins ownership’s history will remain no matter what they do at the deadline
If the Twins buy at the deadline, the decision will look great on paper. While they are a flawed team, adding a pair of relievers and perhaps a starting pitcher would be supporting one of the best lineups in the AL. It could also get them over the hump in a playoff race where every team is spinning its wheels outside of the Tampa Bay Rays (62-43) and the New York Yankees (60-46).
But looking at the bigger picture, the Twins’ best choice may be to sell. The Twins made a choice last year when they traded 11 players off the 40-man roster ahead of the trade deadline. While fans had grown attached to a core that included Jhoan Duran and Griffin Jax, they also were furious that a team in the playoff race waved the white flag and salary-dumped Carlos Correa to the Houston Astros.
Some of the deals at the deadline actually wound up helping the Twins. But it wasn’t a coincidence when the Pohlads, who were trying to sell the franchise, decided to pull the team off the market a few weeks later.
A lot has changed since then. The architect of that deadline, Derek Falvey, is no longer with the team after mutually parting ways last spring. Joe Pohlad is no longer the chairman after Tom Pohlad replaced him last winter. Much of the haul the Twins received in last year’s fire sale has yet to reach the major leagues and Pohlad has spent much of his time making promises that have yet to be fulfilled.
There’s also a long history between the Pohlads and Twins fans. Carl Pohlad tried to move the team to North Carolina when he couldn’t reach a deal on a new stadium in the late 90s. In 2002, Carl offered the team for contraction before a local judge issued an injunction.
When Target Field was built, the Pohlads told taxpayers and state legislators that the revenue streams would be put back into fielding a competitive team. While the payroll rose through the 2010s and the early half of the 2020s, the Twins slashed payroll significantly after winning their first playoff series since 2002 and their first playoff game since 2004.
To some Twins fans, the Pohlads owe them a sign that they are more focused on winning a championship than “right-sizing their business,” and that’s where buying comes into play. But for fans expecting this to be the decision that rights all wrongs, they could be left disappointed.
The Twins should only buy for baseball reasons at the trade deadline
Buzz has grown that the Twins could buy at the deadline and it makes sense considering the American League playoff race. But if the Twins buy, it’s unlikely to be a seismic move as opposed to a reliever to help a leaky bullpen.
Getting back to the overall direction of the team, it may benefit them more to move Ryan Jeffers, who is entering his final year of team control and could walk for nothing. It may also benefit them to move Joe Ryan, who is under team control through 2027 but could bring a bigger return to the team now as opposed to a trade this winter or at next year’s trade deadline.
These moves would trigger the group of Twins fans who are mad at ownership. But there’s also a chance they would be mad anyway because they went so far down that road a year ago. To pull a 180 may not hurt the team long-term but it’s highly unlikely that a fan still upset about the payroll slash changes course and becomes grateful that the latest Pohlad gave a green light to get a reliever with a sub-4.00 ERA.
In the end, whatever decision the Twins make needs to be made for baseball reasons. The current playoff picture falls into that category. But if a trade or two is used to improve Pohlad’s reputation, it’s a sign that they should have gone in the other direction.
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