Reusse: Pressure will be on Twins to spend money, but they should rebuild instead

The glorious first season in the Twins’ new outdoor ballpark came with 94 wins and a record-beating paid attendance of 3,223,640 in 2010.

The Twins were then 93 games under .500 over the next three seasons and what was anticipated to be long-term Target Field magic at the gate was diving like a boulder. Lousy pitching was the No. 1 culprit in this three-season ineptitude.

The panic was such with ownership and the sales department that General Manager Terry Ryan felt the need to dive into the free-agent market. The Twins signed starter Ricky Nolasco, 31, a 13-game winner in the National League the previous season, to a four-year, $48 million contract.

This didn’t work out too well for the Twins, although it did put Ricky in position not to have to worry about expenses when he took off on those off-season vacations near the Mediterranean with his friend Giancarlo Stanton.

Nolasco was 15-22 with a 5.44 ERA in 2½ seasons for the Twins. He was traded to the Angels on Aug. 1, 2016, with the Twins picking up a hunk of what remained on his contract.

This is the tale of caution that came to mind Friday as current Twins’ baseball boss Derek Falvey held a news conference under the brightest lights of any clubhouse on the North American continent.

The main announcement was that Thad Levine, the general manager since Falvey took over the baseball operation in November 2016, was leaving the organization.

Many words were expended in rapid fashion by Falvey to explain Levine’s departure, although the bottom line is not uncommon in business:

Thad’s contract was expiring and the Twins were not renewing it.

The “Falvine” days that the public continued to embrace had been long over. The analyses of others in the baseball department have carried more weight with Falvey for some time. Levine’s departure was foreordained, whether the 2024 Twins finished in the playoffs or in a state of collapse.

The fact it was the latter led to national reporting that Levine was taking the fall for the 12-27 finish, or local angle with the fans, that Levine was being made a “scapegoat” for the non-action of ownership, aka, #cheapPohlads.

Certainly, this season was damaged with the preseason payroll cut that prevented replacing Sonny Gray in the starting rotation — and even more so, with the failure to take action at the trading deadline,

That’s when the Twins were playing over-their-heads and seemed to have a virtual lock on a wild-card spot in the American League.

Which means, a decade after a reaction to a disillusioned public led to Nolasco, ownership is once again getting whacked from all directions. And to now add to the disillusionment keeping the public away from Target Field in 2025 would be this: Cost.

Tickets. Concessions in general. Beer ($14-15) in particular. T-shirts, etc. Parking.

Yes, everyone’s doing the same gouge. Vikings, Wild, Timberwolves, Lynx … even the Loonies at Allianz Field. But this is baseball, 81 home dates a year.

You need the masses, and you need ‘em a few times a summer. At these prices, coming off a 12-27 finish, with ownership-bashing now a sport?

No chance.

It will be tempting this winter, with more ticket cancellations, with more “no thanks” from previous or potential customers, for Falvey to hear a plea to do something in the free-agent market.

As someone who was at the Twins’ first-ever home game at Met Stadium as a 15-year-old kid, and now six decades later as Old No. 5 on the seniority list for the Baseball Writers Association of America, I’ve been dwelling on this for days and have reached a conclusion:

The Pohlads should just take the hit. This is a team that needs a re-do, not panicked signings of a Ricky Nolasco or two.

Watching the Royals, watching the Tigers, seeing the Guardians put together an amazing season … the Twins are a solid No. 4 in the division, and the 121-loss White Sox might have better pitching.

So start the rebuild.

Carlos Correa and Byron Buxton play when they’re able, of course. When not, play Brooks Lee at shortstop and rookie Emmanuel Rodriguez in center.

Carlos Santana … you did fine, thanks for the memory. Put Edouard Julien at first base and tell the new hitting coaches to fix him, or use Jose Miranda there. Lee, Austin Martin and Luke Keaschall in the infield with Correa and Royce Lewis.

Matt Wallner, Trevor Larnach, Rodriguez and find a young righthanded hitter for the corners. Jair Camargo as a catcher, and give Ryan Jeffers one more chance. Willi Castro can hang around if he doesn’t get too pricey in arbitration.

Pablo López, Bailey Ober, Joe Ryan, David Festa, Simeon Woods-Richardson and maybe Griffin Jax (why not?) as the starters; put some younger arms (including lefty phenom-to-be Connor Prielipp) in the bullpen.

Stay off Twitter/X, take the hit and rebuild it.

Or, to put it another way: No Nolascos.