Bomba Blog | A Minnesota Twins Site

If you thought the current state of the Minnesota Twins organization as a whole couldn’t get any messier, it just did. Just under two weeks before pitchers and catchers report to spring training, the Twins announced that they had agreed to “mutually part ways” with President of Baseball Operations Derek Falvey.

Falvey joined the Twins alongside Thad Levine before the 2017 season, and while his tenure with the organization has certainly had its ups and downs, he built a team in 2023 that won the division and its first playoff game in nearly two decades, a curse that began before many Twins fans (myself included) had even been born. While Falvey deserves a ton of credit for his role in that team, his ability to build a legitimate contender stemmed largely from the $165 million payroll he was provided.

After seeing life jolted back into Twins Territory in a way it hadn’t since the early 2000s, one would think the Pohlads would increase their investment in the team’s future, or at the very least, maintain it. Instead, they slashed payroll by roughly $30 million in 2024 and then again in 2025. The Twins missed the playoffs in both seasons, and the second year saw the major league roster ripped apart almost entirely, along with the firing of manager Rocco Baldelli.

Following a change at the helm (from Joe Pohlad to his brother Tom), ownership took responsibility for the team’s recent struggles and their role in them, insisting they were fully committed to investing in the future and putting a competitive product on the field in 2026. This left many Twins fans cautiously hopeful, but that optimism now feels more like it was fueled by a band-aid statement aimed at boosting morale, all while payroll was cut for a third straight year.

The Twins signed free-agent catcher Victor Caratini to a two-year deal to effectively replace Christian Vázquez, brought in Josh Bell to fill the void at first base, and addressed the need for a left-handed reliever by reuniting with Taylor Rogers on a one-year deal. These moves filled needs, no doubt, but they aren’t the kinds of moves that inspire optimism, nor are they the moves of a team that just claimed to be aiming for a playoff run in 2026. They’re the moves of a front office operating with one hand tied behind its back, limited by ownership and lacking the resources to pursue anything more significant.

All of this is to paint a picture of what Derek Falvey has had to deal with over the past nine years. I am no enthusiast of Falvey — I’ve had personal gripes with plenty of his decisions, and many of his moves haven’t panned out. But it feels unfair to judge his tenure in a vacuum, knowing how financially constrained he’s been. To his credit, when given the resources, he made a legitimate run in October of 2023.

So was this departure truly “mutual,” as the club claims? I think the answer is yes and no. On one hand, I’m sure Falvey feels some relief — the weight of years of frustration and anger from the fanbase is finally off his shoulders, and he’ll likely welcome the chance to do the same job elsewhere, potentially with more resources. I’m not saying he outright quit; I find it hard to believe he would make legitimate offseason signings only to walk away two weeks before spring training. But I do think there’s a sense of relief on his end — the handcuffs are finally off.

From the team’s perspective, you’ve fired the manager, forced out the day-to-day face of baseball operations, and torn down the roster at a historic level. If you’re cleaning house, why not clean house completely? I’m not convinced the organization had nothing to do with this decision. Who approached whom? I have no idea. But one thing is clear: an organizational change of this magnitude this close to the season does not scream “business as usual,” no matter how desperately the Pohlads want fans to believe everything is under control.

Personally, I don’t care much about the full reasoning behind Falvey’s departure. I’m far more focused on what comes next. With Jeremy Zoll now acting as general manager and a search underway for a new President of Baseball Operations, Tom Pohlad has stated that he remains confident the Twins will be successful, not just long-term, but in 2026. Yet he couldn’t commit to increasing payroll this season, though he did hint at more spending in future years.

For a front office that has repeatedly disappointed fans through ignorance, incompetence, or some combination of the two, this is just another perplexing move. It leaves fans wondering why we should trust them when they insist this team will be competitive. And if competitiveness is truly the goal for 2026, why not show it by opening up the pocketbook and putting a more convincing product on the field?

With two weeks to go before spring training, the bullpen consists of two or three arms I can somewhat trust, followed by a sea of question marks. While it’s not too late to make a signing or swing a trade to address the most glaring holes, news like this doesn’t inspire confidence, even among the most optimistic Twins fans, that help is coming anytime soon.

I hope I’m wrong.