MN Twins Need MLB Rule Change to Save Them

The Minnesota Twins have had an interesting offseason for all of the wrong reasons. The Pohlads cancelled a sale of the team and instead brought on minority investors to help handle their debt. Derek Falvey suggested that Pablo Lopez and Joe Ryan won’t move, but next to nothing has been done around them.

While it would be disingenuous to think no more additions are coming, it’s highly unlikely the Twins see a payroll north of $110 million. That’s $16 million less than the New York Mets just threw at Bo Bichette on a three year deal done out of emotion.

Major League Baseball is broken, and the sport will need to fix itself, and soon.

Minnesota Twins operating in the doldrums

On Thursday night the two-time defending World Series Champion Los Angeles Dodgers handed Kyle Tucker a four-year deal worth $240 million. With the New York Mets left scorned about the latest free agent misstep, Steve Cohen handed Bo Bichette $126 million over three years to play a position he has never done before.

The Los Angeles Dodgers are set to pay more in luxury tax penalties ($162 million) this year, than the Twins have ever paid in total payroll.

There is no denying that a payroll anywhere near $100 million from the Pohlads (or any team for that matter) is reprehensible. These are billionaire owners not interested in competing when stopping short of even spending half of their revenues.

That said, it’s also clear that baseball has absolutely jumped the shark. The Dodgers don’t need Tucker, but they also print money with well-versed business people running an asset that generates cash flow faster than Shohei Ohtani can throw a pitch.

Payroll is not the end-all-be-all in a sport where series generate parity. However, the postseason is littered with top spenders, and it’s an anomaly when one of the little guys jumps up and overtakes one of the big fish.

Salary cap must come to save the MN Twins

A salary cap in any sport is not friendly to the talent. Billionaires employing the lifeblood of their league are afforded a pathway to stymie free-market value. However, the parity created by parameters put in place to create a relatively level playing field has to be considered.

Not only are the biggest earners taking the greatest slice of the pie, but the same organizations are gaming the system. When the Dodgers signed Shohei Ohtani for $700 million, they deferred $680 million of his salary. That gives them not only the best player on the planet, but drastically impacts their ability to continue spending while putting everyone else behind.

The players will never agree to a salary floor without a cap, but the vocal majority of the union should see how they are not being taken care of. The best is getting theirs while everyone else is fighting over scraps. Free agency has become a bore fest, and too many teams have zero chance right from Opening Day.

Baseball is beautiful because the 162-game regular season provides reason for investment and intrigue. That’s gone when there is no path to competitiveness, and the development cycle doesn’t produce instant gratification (see: tanking) either.

This is the final year of the current CBA. Commissioner Rob Manfred has a mess on his hands, and he has to fix it. If not, momentum and the 2027 season are both going to be out of the window.