What once seemed to be a promising season for the Twins is coming to a devastating end, as the club was officially eliminated from postseason contention last night after a free fall in the standings spurred on by their brutal 9-16 record so far this September. While Minnesota entered the month with a 91.7% chance to make the postseason according to Fangraphs, they’ll sit on the sidelines this October just one year after breaking a 20-year drought without a victory in the postseason.
With that being said, Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic suggested in a report today that both president of baseball operations Derek Falvey and manager Rocco Baldelli (as well as team president Dave St. Peter, who handles business operations for the club) appear unlikely to be let go by the club as things stand. Falvey took the helm of baseball operations for the Twins prior to the 2017 season, and the team has generally been successful during his tenure with four postseason appearances and five seasons with an above .500 record during his eight years with the club’s front office. Meanwhile, Baldelli joined the club prior to the 2019 season and has led the club to three postseason appearances and four over .500 records in his six years in the Minnesota dugout.
That’s not to say no change is coming to the organization, however. According to Gleeman, it’s “expected” that changes will be made this winter that could impact high-ranking members of both the front office and coaching staff. Of note, Gleeman did not report on the status of GM Thad Levine. Levine has served as the #2 to Falvey throughout his tenure with the Twins and seemingly entered the year without a contract for the 2025 season. Speculatively speaking, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Levine depart the club if the Twins were to shake up their front office, particularly given the fact that Levine was a finalist for the top job in Boston last winter before the Red Sox ultimately hired Craig Breslow and could once again look to pursue a top job elsewhere this offseason.
Disappointing as the 2024 season was for Twins fans, it’s fair to point out that the club’s struggles can’t be blamed entirely on the front office or coaching staff. After all, club ownership slashed payroll by $30MM coming off the club’s successful 2023 season, not only forcing the club to enter 2024 without replacing 2023 AL Cy Young finalist Sonny Gray but also leaving them unable to make moves of significance to improve the roster beyond adding veteran first baseman Carlos Santana, a move that needed to be paired with a deal to ship out longtime infielder Jorge Polanco.
Unfortunately for fans in Minnesota, Gleeman suggests there’s little reason to believe payroll will increase headed into 2025. Instead, he notes that the club’s revenue has landed below expectations this year and could prompt even more cuts. That could leave the club needing to trade away veterans on guaranteed contracts over the winter in order to improve other areas of the roster, and Gleeman suggests that right-hander Chris Paddack and catcher Christian Vazquez could be the club’s most expendable pieces if such a situation were to come to pass.
Paddack, 28, returned to the club after Tommy John surgery wiped out nearly all of his 2023 season. He made 17 starts for the Twins this year but struggled with lackluster results, posting a 4.99 ERA despite a solid enough 4.18 FIP. It’s easy to see how Paddack could be an attractive trade piece for pitching-hungry clubs this winter, particularly those with budget constraints of their own. After all, he’s set to make just $7.5MM in 2025. Even back-of-the-rotation arms have typically garnered guarantees north of $10MM on the open market in recent years, so $7.5MM for Paddack could be viewed as a bargain even in spite of injury concerns thanks to the tantalizing upside he flashed during his time with the Padres.
Vazquez, on the other hand, appears unlikely to bring back much outside of salary relief for Minnesota. The 34-year-old veteran entered free agency following the 2022 season with a strong defensive reputation and a solid 95 wRC+ in four years since taking over as the primary catcher in Boston. Unfortunately, things haven’t worked out well since he signed with the Twins on a three-year deal prior to the 2023 season. In Minnesota, Vazquez has hit just .224/.267/.324 (64 wRC+) over the past two years while ceding the regular duties behind the plate to breakout youngster Ryan Jeffers. He still remains a stalwart defender behind the plate, but his lackluster offense and hefty $10MM salary for next year would make him unattractive as a trade candidate unless the Twins were to sweeten the deal with either cash or additional talent.
Samuel
Well…..
They weren’t the ’64 Phillies, so all the people in charge can stay.
Samuel
“Disappointing as the 2024 season was for Twins fans, it’s fair to point out that the club’s struggles can’t be blamed entirely on the front office or coaching staff. After all, club ownership slashed payroll by $30MM coming off the club’s successful 2023 season, not only forcing the club to enter 2024 without replacing 2023 AL Cy Young finalist Sonny Gray but also leaving them unable to make moves of significance to improve the roster beyond adding veteran first baseman Carlos Santana, a move that needed to be paired with a deal to ship out longtime infielder Jorge Polanco.”
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Stop it already.
Here’s a wild theory….
How about the FO has back-up plans and has young players they developed in the high minors that can come up and play? The answer to everything in MLBTR is for teams to spend, spend, and spend on FA’s. MLB doesn’t work like that. It’s not rotisserie league.
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“Falvey took the helm of baseball operations for the Twins prior to the 2017 season…”
Isn’t overseeing the farm system part of his domain? This is his 8th season with the franchise.
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They weren’t the only MLB team affected by the Bally situation. It’s hard for me to believe that there wasn’t some scuttlebutt going around about their financial situation. Heck, I’m a fan and I heard it might be a possibility long before it was announced.
Cleveland lost revenue too. How come they got better in 2024?
Samuel
….and the Guardians lost ace pitcher Shane Bieber for the season due to injury in early April.
Cry me a river.
Slage8
….and if the guardians make a run this postseason and ownership cuts $30M (or whatever relative figure that would be for the club) heading into next season, you’ll cry too. You’re acting like the Twins haven’t developed any of their core and have spent FA dollars like drunken sailors.
8======D (Carl Winslow)
“How about the FO has back-up plans and has young players they developed in the high minors that can come up and play?”
The reason MLBTR focuses on spending is because it fixes immediate holes. You talk like a competent team should have a second MLB ready team in AAA, which isn’t even remotely feasible. Yes, we all hope we have a ridiculously stacked team that is prepared for any eventuality.
mlb fan
“Young players they developed…MLB doesn’t work like that..8th season with the franchise”…You raise many valid, interesting points.
Unless teams draft and develop well, spending big in free agency will generally yield few results and in many cases actually pushes teams backwards with bad contracts.
You do have to wonder why Cleveland(and most years Tampa)can always figure it out and make it work, but the Minnesota Twins seemingly cannot.
sad tormented neglected mariners fan
Slashing even more payroll? I feel so bad for twins fans right now
Owners being cheap again and I don’t even know if they are honest if the team is actually taking a loss or not
Big whiffa
Reds need to go get Rocco !
SweetBabyRayKingsThickThighs
Develop better pitchers and don’t draft toolsy players with major flaws in their swing.
Moneyballer
Baldelli did not perform well in my opinion. Predictable managing. Relied way too much on righty lefty matchup building. Never started a left handed hitter against a lefty starter, cost them many games. Practically no one on the team had a fulltime role. I hope he learns his lesson.
Butter Biscuits
They shoud trade buxton for pitching
Slappy Dappy Doo
Yeah he will get a MLB reliever and a Class A Catcher in return. He has all the potential in the world. But it doesn’t matter when he manages to play 75 games a year. Yes he is aggressive in the field. But if you can’t stay healthy then so what.
LOUIS LOUIS
Buxton has a full no-trade clause.
DodgerOK
Sounds like they’ll be dumpster diving.