TWINS TRIVIA is hopefully a fun and informative site that will help you to better enjoy the Minnesota Twins and their wonderful history. “History never looks like history when you are living through it” – John Gardner, former Secretary of Health
The first three month of 2025 the Detroit Tigers got off to a 53-32 start but then in the back half of the season they played 34-43 baseball. From April 1 through September 27 they were in first place for all but two days, then they lost their final game of the season and finished in second place one game out of first behind the Cleveland Guardians. That isn’t going to happen again and the Tigers are going to be the American Leagues Central Division Champions with 91 wins.
The Kansas City Royals are going to get their starting pitching rolling again in 2026 and will give the Tigers a run for their money but in the end the Tigers with ace pitchers Tarik Skubal and Framber Valdez will prevail and the Royals will finish second with a 86-76 record.
The Twins Didn’t Just Lose Games — They Lost Their Fanbase Another 70–92 season. Another fourth place finish. Another October spent watching other teams play meaningful baseball. For a franchise that keeps insisting it’s “competitive,” the results say otherwise — loudly.
Derek Falvey
Someone had to take the fall, and it wasn’t Derek Falvey. He survived — somehow — but Rocco Baldelli didn’t. After seven seasons, he’s out, and the Twins replaced him with former bench coach Derek Shelton, a move that feels more like rearranging furniture than fixing the foundation. Seven of twelve coaches were swept out with him. A purge looks dramatic on paper, but fans have seen this movie before: new voices, same script.
On the roster side, the big splash so far… Josh Bell. A 33-year-old first baseman with a bat that comes and goes and a glove that never really arrived. Seven million dollars for a placeholder. The rest of the offseason has been bargain bin depth pieces. It’s hard to sell “we’re trying” when the front office shops like a team terrified of its own payroll.
Then came the ownership news — the part that was supposed to restore confidence. Instead, it poured gasoline on the frustration. The Twins introduced new minority owners, but the Pohlad family kept control after months of signaling the team was headed for a sale. Fans were told one thing, then handed another. And the surprise twist? Tom Pohlad quietly taking over as control person from his brother Joe, who reportedly didn’t agree with the move at first. If the goal was stability, the execution felt anything but.
Fans were told the team was for sale. Then the story changed.”
So yes, a few questions have been answered. But they’re not the answers fans were hoping for. And the questions that matter most — payroll, direction, accountability, transparency — remain untouched. Will Derek Shelton actually manage, or will the front office script every inning? Will the new minority owners have any real influence? Will Tom Pohlad be visible, engaged, and honest with the fanbase? Will Falvey continue running both the baseball and business sides with no checks and balances?
Meanwhile, the fans have spoken with their wallets. Season ticket renewals are dropping. TV subscriptions are being canceled. Many fans feel misled — told the team was for sale, only to watch the Pohlad’s reverse course and bring in minority partners instead. A growing segment of the fanbase believes the only way forward is for the Pohlad’s to sell entirely. Until then, they’re choosing not to show up.
The Twins enter 2026 not just at a crossroads, but on the edge of losing an entire generation of goodwill. The front office can talk about “process” and “sustainability” all it wants, but fans are tired of buzzwords. They want honesty. They want investment. They want a team that acts like winning matters.
Right now, the burden is on the Twins — not the fans — to prove they deserve their support.
The 2025 Twins Turkey of the Year is a runaway: Joe Pohlad and the Pohlad family. A year that began with the club being listed for sale, saw a mid-season bullpen purge that precipitated a 19–35 finish and attendance lows not seen since 2000, included the early-2025 retirement of longtime president Dave St. Peter, and ended with ownership disclosing roughly $500 million in debt and announcing two unnamed minority partners reportedly committing about $250 million each. The consequence: ownership credibility is shaken, the roster was hollowed out, and fans are demanding a clear plan: spend to compete or sell.
The case for the winner
Team listed for sale then taken off the market The Pohlad family listed the club in October 2024 and removed it from the market in August 2025. That reversal — with few public details — left supporters and local media scrambling for clarity.
A deadline purge that broke the bullpen and the season The front office traded most of the bullpen and roughly a third of the roster at the 2025 trade deadline. The aftermath was brutal: the club finished the last two months 19–35 and fan attendance dropped to historic lows going back to 2000.
Debt disclosure with scarce detail Ownership disclosed roughly $500 million in debt and announced two new minority investor groups would join the ownership structure; the groups remain unnamed and the terms undisclosed.
Leadership churn and power consolidation President Dave St. Peter retired early in 2025. Derek Falvey was given responsibility for both baseball and business operations, an increasingly rare and risky structure in MLB. The team fired manager Rocco Baldelli the day after the season ended and hired former Twins coach Derek Shelton, who had been passed over when Baldelli was originally hired.
Erosion of trust The sequence — team for sale, mass trades, delisting, large undisclosed debt, unnamed partners, and consolidated executive power — produced a credibility gap between ownership and the fanbase.
Fan sentiment — blunt and urgent
Fans aren’t asking for sympathy; they’re issuing an ultimatum: the Pohlad’s should either spend what it takes to field a competitive team or sell to someone who will. After the payroll purge, the late-season collapse, and attendance plunging to levels not seen since 2000, protests at games have become common and chants demanding a sale are no longer fringe behavior. That anger is grounded in consequences: fewer wins, emptier stands, and a long list of unanswered questions about who the new investors are and what they actually committed to do.
The present reality for the franchise
On-field: a depleted roster, competitive collapse down the stretch, and a new manager in Derek Shelton.
Front office: Derek Falvey now oversees both baseball and business operations.
Financial: roughly $500 million in disclosed debt, with two minority partners reportedly committing about $250 million each.
Fan engagement: attendance at historic lows and a fanbase sharply skeptical of ownership’s commitment to winning.
Communication: ownership has offered high-level statements but few specifics on partner identities, capital structure, or a time-bound plan.
Two realistic paths forward assuming the Pohlad’s remain majority owners
Payroll-first
Core idea: trade more top payroll pieces to rapidly reduce payroll and service debt.
Short term: faster debt relief and lower payroll obligations.
Medium term: deeper competitive decline, longer rebuild, worsening fan trust and attendance.
Competitive-rebuild (recommended hybrid)
Core idea: protect the best, controllable starters; add low-cost controllable talent; rebuild around prospects.
Short term: slower debt reduction, but gives fans hope and preserves on-field credibility.
Medium term: faster restoration of attendance and franchise value if progress is visible and steady.
Can Derek Falvey handle both baseball and business?
The challenge Combining baseball and business leadership concentrates authority but splits focus; MLB’s modern norm separates those roles because each demands distinct expertise.
Why it might work Falvey understands roster construction and can move quickly with unified authority in a crisis.
Why it could fail The dual role risks neglecting revenue generation or player development unless strong deputies are immediately hired.
Practical recommendation Falvey should remain strategic integrator but promptly appoint a seasoned business COO/CFO and a GM-level deputy for day-to-day baseball operations.
What the new minority partners could mean if they each invest ~$250M
Best case — real, unrestricted capital pays down debt, stabilizes the balance sheet, preserves payroll flexibility, and funds a hybrid rebuild that protects controllable starters while accelerating prospect development.
Worst case — conditioned capital, loans, or investor demands for cost cutting could accelerate another sell-off and prolong competitive decline.
Governance matters — names, ownership percentages, board seats, and governance terms will determine whether these investors are stabilizers or drivers of further austerity.
Recommended three-year plan the Pohlad’s should announce now
Disclose the minority partners’ identities, commitments, ownership percentages, and governance roles within 60 days.
Publish a three-year roadmap with payroll bands, prospect milestones, and a timeline for returning to a competitive window.
Protect the best controllable starters this winter; trade truly expendable, high-cost veterans for multiple controllable assets.
Increase budgeted investment in player development, international scouting, and analytics.
Hire a COO/CFO and a GM-level deputy to support Falvey and ensure operational focus.
Launch visible fan engagement initiatives to arrest attendance declines while on-field progress begins.
What fans should watch next
Who the unnamed minority partners are and the legal terms of their investments.
Whether Falvey appoints senior deputies for business and baseball operations.
Which players the front office markets publicly: are deals aimed at payroll relief or prospect acquisition?
Early hires and budget allocations for player development and scouting.
Any clear, date-driven milestones from ownership about payroll and competitive targets.
“We were promised stewardship; instead we got sale signals, a payroll purge—and answers that never came.”
The Twins Turkey of the Year in 2025 is Joe Pohlad. This is the first time we have had a Twins Turkey of the Year take home the honors two years in a row.
With the extraordinarily warm weather we are having in Minnesota where the grass is still green, the water in the lakes is still liquid and Thanksgiving is just around the corner it is hard to believe we are well into the fall/winter sports season. The Minnesota Vikings, Minnesota Wild and Minnesota Timberwolves all doing better than expected, pushing the Minnesota Twins off sports fans radar screens.
That is in spite of the fact that the Twins have announced that MLB will produce and distribute Twins games in 2025 but no specifics pertaining to cost were provided, the Pohlad family announced their intent to explore a sale of the Minnesota Twins, the team fired all three hitting coaches as well as its assistant bench coach, GM Thad Levine decided to pursue other interests and was replaced by Jeremy Zoll, Alex Kirilloff announced he was retiring at the age of 26, the team announced an executive leadership succession plan, to be implemented in the first quarter of 2025 whereas club President & CEO Dave St. Peter will transition to the role of Strategic Advisor; and President, Baseball Operations Derek Falvey will be elevated to President, Baseball & Business Operations. My favorite announcement so far though is the Twins also announcing in a very low-key manner a new (and I think complicated) ticket plan that includes the sale of MYTWINS Memberships and Reward Plans ranging from $600 to $7500. Just another method of of reaching into Twins fans pockets.
All of this with the Twins season ending less than a month ago and the MLB Winter Meetings (December 8-12) in Dallas still two weeks off. We have been very busy here at the home of Twinstrivia.com as we sold our home in Plymouth, MN in mid-October and are preparing to move to Corcoran, MN around Thanksgiving. When you live some place for 38+ years you tend to accumulate way too much stuff including in my case Twins memorabilia and other stuff. I first thought about skipping a Twins Turkey of the Year award this year but that just wouldn’t fair when the Minnesota Twins had an epic collapse that saw them drop from second place all the way to fourth. A 9-18 September had the Twins players calling their travel agents and making new travel plans that included more golf and no baseball. A season like the Twins just had in 2024 requires that a Twins Turkey of the Year winner be named yet again.
