SAN ANTONIO – As Derek Falvey, the Twins’ president of baseball operations, and five more front-office staffers arrived at Major League Baseball’s annual General Managers Meetings on Monday, the primary objectives for the week haven’t changed despite the Pohlad family exploring a sale of the team.
As Pohlad family explores sale, it’s ‘business as usual’ for Twins front office
‘My job is to continue to try to build the team the best we can,’ Derek Falvey, the Twins’ president of baseball operations, said as baseball’s GM Meetings opened in Texas.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
November 5, 2024 at 1:55AM
“It is pretty much business as usual for me,” Falvey said. “My job is to continue to try to build the team the best we can, make decisions that are hopefully in both the short-term and long-term interests of the team. Ultimately, if we have to make decisions that are more long-term, I bring those to Joe [Pohlad] just like I would have before.”
The Twins are expected to maintain their payroll at a similar level as last season, a source told the Minnesota Star Tribune. Their player payroll sat at about $130 million during 2024, about a $35 million cut from the previous season. The Twins, after losing six players to free agency, enter this offseason with an estimated payroll of $130 million because more than a dozen players are due raises through salary arbitration and contract extensions.
The limited financial flexibility at the current payroll means the Twins are likelier to look for trades than plugging the roster through free agency.
“While we’re aware of [the sale], certainly, and there will be a process to this, as it stands right now, my job is still to run it the way I always have,” said Falvey, who didn’t have any further updates on the sale. “There is so much work before the sale process happens in terms of legal documents, due diligence on [legal] contracts.”
Sports ownership sales typically last more than six months, so it’s unlikely the Twins have a new owner before the start of the 2025 season.
“I think it’s a loss for the game,” MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said on SiriusXM’s Mad Dog Sports Radio channel last week. “The Pohlad family have been great stewards in Minnesota. They put a competitive product on the field, and they got a great new stadium. They really have been an important part of the game for a really long time.
“I do think generationally passing baseball teams down is harder today than it used to be, just because of the value of the assets. I think the family came to a decision that it was best for them. They’ll be missed.”
The Twins are the only MLB team exploring a sale, Manfred said in the interview last week. Manfred didn’t think Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf was planning to sell his team, and Reinsdorf has not begun any of the processes for an active sale.
No GM updates
The Twins are one of the few teams at the GM Meetings without a GM. The team parted with Thad Levine at the end of the season. His contract was set to expire.
There are no active plans to make an external GM hire. The Twins have two assistant GMs, Daniel Adler and Jeremy Zoll, and amateur scouting director Sean Johnson, at this week’s GM Meetings, where teams meet with other front offices and agents.
“I’ve been in this role for a long time,” Falvey said. “I feel really good about the group that we have.”
Could the Twins promote someone internally to take the GM title?
“I don’t want to go down that path yet today because I think we have to go through different processes,” Falvey said. “I wouldn’t rule out that we might have some other changes within our group just to realign some oversights and responsibilities. But certainly not this week.”
Alcala’s option picked up
The Twins exercised a $1.5 million club option in reliever Jorge Alcala’s contract Monday. Alcala posted a 3.24 ERA across 54 appearances this season.
Even if the Twins declined the club option, Alcala could have remained in the organization because he is eligible for arbitration, but the Twins would have paid him an additional $55,000 buyout. Alcala was projected to command a salary in arbitration around the same $1.5 million figure.
Alcala, 29, is under team control through the 2026 season.
Twins move five players off roster
The Twins cleared five spots on their 40-man roster Monday. Relievers Scott Blewett, Randy Dobnak, Daniel Duarte and Josh Winder, along with first baseman Yunior Severino, were outrighted off the roster, and they cleared waivers.
The Twins currently have 35 players on their 40-man roster.
The eight Twins headed for arbitration are Royce Lewis, Joe Ryan, Jhoan Duran, Bailey Ober, Ryan Jeffers, Willi Castro, Griffin Jax and Trevor Larnach.
