Souhan: If the Twins are close, the Pohlads need to go all in

The Minnesota Vikings are quite promising, again. They offer a thrilling game-day experience, have built a powerhouse roster and are coming off a 14-win season. Optimism abounds.

The Minnesota Wild are quite promising. Kirill Kaprizov remains the best player in franchise history and Zeev Buium could add dynamic offense to a deep, quality group of defensemen. Optimism persists.

As of a week ago, the Twins were failing to fulfill their promise. Injuries, bullpen failures and a team-wide hitting slump had made them all but irrelevant in a sports market featuring the Vikings, Wild, playoff-tested Timberwolves, almost-champion Lynx and defending champion Frost.

Pessimism abounded, and it was justifiable in the moment, but when it comes to the Twins, fan pessimism is almost always overdone.

A reminder: The Twins have won a playoff more recently than the Vikings or Wild. You can look it up.

You can also argue, every day, that the Twins should spend more money on payroll, and who would argue?

But payroll size wasn’t the reason the Twins failed last summer — quality young players choking was.

And payroll size wasn’t the reason the Twins were terrible in April this year — their best and highest-paid hitters slumping was.

Now the Twins have won eight consecutive games to re-enter what will be a long, unpredictable playoff race, and we can amend Billy Beane’s famous chronology.

When Beane became a celebrity by making the Oakland A’s competitive on a small budget, then became the subject of a book and movie entitled “Moneyball,” he revealed his philosophy about the breakdown of a big-league season:

You spend the first two months figuring out what you have, the second two months adjusting your roster, and the last two months trying to surge into the playoffs.

The Twins have figured out what they have — a quality team that could be strengthened when Matt Wallner, their best power hitter, and Luke Keaschall, potentially the best hitter in the organization, return from injuries.

They may not need to adjust their roster.

When relatively healthy, this isn’t a powerhouse team like the Dodgers, but it is a team that, despite its paltry payroll, has few obvious flaws.

The rotation is more than good enough to support a winner, and they have Zebby Matthews and David Festa, two excellent starting pitching prospects, at Triple A.

The bullpen is more than good enough and deep enough to support a winner. Jhoan Duran is dominating at a time when many star closers are struggling, and Louie Varland’s recovery from his poor start has given Rocco Baldelli plenty of late-game options. The only real concern here is Griffin Jax’s struggles, a year after his breakout season.

The hitting is hardly exceptional, but that could change.

Imagine this lineup: CF Byron Buxton; 2B Willi Castro; 3B Royce Lewis; RF Matt Wallner; SS Carlos Correa; LF Trevor Larnach; DH Luke Keaschall; C Ryan Jeffers; 1B Ty France.

That’s with Brooks Lee in reserve, and top hitting prospects Walker Jenkins and Emmanuel Rodriguez on the horizon.

France has done his job. He also could easily be replaced if Keaschall, Jenkins, Rodriguez or even José Miranda forced their way into the lineup.

The only major flaw on this roster, when it’s relatively healthy, is the lack of a sure-thing veteran middle-of-the-order thumper, like Nelson Cruz circa 2019-2020.

That’s the one piece the Twins could trade for this summer, and they have the organizational depth to make such a deal.

Ownership should let President of Baseball Operations Derek Falvey go for it, if the right deal is on the table.

The Pohlads made a mistake by cutting payroll the year after their team won a playoff series, and they would be making a mistake if they limited this team’s chances of winning.

Look at it from the perspective of a prospective buyer: Would you rather purchase a winning team drawing massive crowds, or a losing team that is irrelevant in its market?

I’ve been told there are plenty of suitors still interested in buying the franchise from the Pohlads, and that was before the Twins’ eight-game winning streak reinjected hope into what in April looked like a lost season.