If you are trying to write a book on how NOT to operate a professional sports franchise, look no further than the Pohlad family, and their top ranking front office executive at 1 Twins Way.

After cutting tens of millions in payroll following their 2023 playoff run, the Minnesota Twins have been horrendous on the field the past two seasons, resulting in desks and lockers being cleared out throughout the organization the two-plus offseasons since.

Players have been traded, executives and coaches fired. The latest fall guy victim was manager Rocco Baldelli, who was canned at the start of this week.

The Twins fired Rocco Baldelli after their 70-92 season.

Derek Falvey: “This game is ultimately measured by results, and over the past two seasons we did not reach the goals we set.”

— Bobby Nightengale (@nightengalejr) September 29, 2025

All of this has been going on amid a 10-month waffling by Pohlad ownership on whether or not to sell the MLB franchise they have owned for more than 40 years, before they ultimately chose to retain control. The craziest part of the past couple years of Twins existence, however, has been the crowning of Derek Falvey.

Somehow, through this slow-motion train crash, the organization’s head decisionmaker has found a way to — not only keep his job — but receive a massive promotion, going from president of baseball operations, to president of both baseball and business ops, a dual title that makes him one of the most powerful executives in all of baseball.

Minnesota Twins media growing sick and tired of Derek Falvey

But during his annual season-ending press conference with reporters, Mr. Almighty Twins President was a man of VERY few answers. And that left a frustrated Aaron Gleeman (The Athletic) and his media colleagues without any sense of direction on the team’s offseason.

Like a lot of things happening with the MN Twins recently, his group sit-down with Falvey did not sit well with Gleeman, a longtime Twins fan-turned team media member (The Athletic).

So on Wednesday’s subscriber-only Patreon episode of Gleeman and the Geek (a podcast he co-hosts with John Bonnes of Twins Daily) Gleeman voiced his Falvey displeasure for about 1.5 hours of the nearly 2-hour show. And it was like music to the ears of a depressed Minnesota Twins fan.

If you are an angry Twins fan looking for a cheap therapist, I recommend @AaronGleeman. Rants like this will bring you peace.

"[Derek Falvey] couldn't even answer a question about what traits they are looking for in a manager, which is the easiest tee'd up question a person… pic.twitter.com/8rtmTDyJFG

— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) October 3, 2025

“[Derek Falvey] couldn’t even answer a question about what traits they are looking for in a manager, which is the easiest tee’d up question a person could ever get! What do you say? ‘We want someone who’s a good leader, we want someone who is going to shake things up. We want someone who is going to lean on fundamentals and aggressiveness and situational hitting.

I’ve never hired a manager and I could give you a 20-minute speech that would satiate that question and come across well. And instead, they were like, ‘yeah I’m not comfortable even saying the traits we’re looking for. What do you mean you’re not [comfortable]?… A stork did not drop this situation on the Twins’ doorstep yesterday morning.”

Aaron Gleeman – Gleeman and the Geek Podcast

Normally, you’d expect one of the highest-ranking league executives in baseball — and one who is supposedly running the entire Twins show — to have answers about standard offseason questions for a team very much in flux.

Topics that include who will be the team’s next manager; what the plan for payroll is next season and beyond; or what the future might look like in general, given everything that has happened in recent months. But instead, the got long-winded wordy answers that took up tons of time but revealed absolutely nothing… a Falvey specialty.

Is Falvey bluffing or is he really in the dark like us?

Clearly, even reporters at this point are left to wonder if the Minnesota Twins’ president really is playing dumb or if he actually has no idea what the plan is for an organization he supposedly is in charge of? Because lately, Falvey sounds more like a confused messenger boy than he does a decision-maker.

No matter whether his ignorance is a bluff, or Derek Falvey really is in the dark, neither is a good look for someone who supposedly has as much power as he does. But to the local media’s credit, they are growing just as tired of his 500-1000 bullshit answers.

Gleeman, specifically, might lose his mind if forced to take in one more pile of bullshit from the Minnesota Twins’ Propaganda President.

Posting a couple more minutes worth of this week's @GleemanAndGeek Patreon just so I can embed more of Gleeman's rant in an article and share it with those who might need it.

"You're just leaving everyone in the dark. And guess what? When you come off back-to-back seasons and… https://t.co/A76zkva4Ix pic.twitter.com/i7TgLJOi5H

— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) October 3, 2025

Gleeman: “You won’t even say you’re going to be competitive, or you won’t even say the payroll is going to be similar or it’s going to drop. You’re just leaving everyone in the dark. And guess what? When you come off back-to-back seasons like this, and you’ve been owned by the Pohlads for four decades, when you leave people in the dark, they go to a dark place in the dark.”

“It’s just jarring to ask straightforward question after straightforward question, and to have someone either say ‘I don’t know’, when they know. What do you mean you don’t know? I’d rather they just said, ‘no comment’.”

“One time, I would like a real answer from someone [inside the Twins organization]. Maybe [this] is the case with all teams. I don’t know all teams. I don’t care about all teams. I don’t deal with all teams. I deal with the Minnesota Twins.”

Bonnes: “Either you legitimately don’t know, in which case the question becomes, ‘what is going on above you that you have no idea what is going on?’. You’re in charge of this organization and you have no idea? To me that is the biggest takeaway from this. To me, it feels like there is something going on up there.

Gleeman and the Geek Podcast

There was an obvious vibe of increased frustration that consistently stems back to the MN Twins’ Propaganda President speaking in tongues for an ownership group that seemingly has no clue what it is doing or where its own organization is going.

The couple of minutes from this episode of Gleeman and the Geek that I clipped and posted on X is only a small fraction of the annoyance portrayed by these Minnesota Twins insiders. show that you can listen to in this article, via X.

That’s why, if you are a Twins fan looking for paid content that the Pohlads and their PR department would absolutely NOT approve of, Gleeman and the Geek’s Patreon is a great spot to find it.

FWIW: I’ve never spoken with either man in my life so this is not an ad for their paid podcast. I’m just here to bring good content to MN sports fans.

More importantly, Twins fans will get what they’ve been waiting 30 years for. New owners, likely ones who care more about winning, than making a small amount of NET revenue, year-over-year. But we should not let them go quietly. No farewell parties, no video commemorations.

This ownership group let fans down for three decades, after the hottest start in Minnesota pro sports history (two World Series in the first 7 years. Then, they sold out for the next 33. While other mainstream sportswriters are writing odes to the Pohlads and ‘be careful what you wish for’ pieces.

Aaron Gleeman holds Minnesota Twins owners accountable

The Athletic’s Aaron Gleeman has been the one consistent source of ownership criticism in Twins media circles. While others make excuses for the Pohlads, he holds them accountable. The latest Pohlad to run this organization is Joe Pohlad, who took over as the face of the family in 2022.

Rather than allow those comments to go untouched, The Athletic’s Aaron Gleeman called this ownership group out for what it has been, including their final attempt to “gaslight” the fans with their phony ‘we loved you, you loved us’ statement, after news broke that they were selling.

It was hard not to read it as one final gaslighting of a fan base by a family who had 40 years to show who they really were and by a third-generation billionaire whose actions unfortunately spoke much louder than his words. Whether it was Carl or Jim or Joe, the Pohlads never ceased running their luxury item purely as a business, and claimed that business lost money…

For too long, the Pohlads acted as if they had been sentenced to owning the Twins and were crossing days off the calendar until being freed, seemingly defeating the purpose of using their unfathomable wealth to own a team to which thousands of people have an emotional attachment. They could have been beloved and rich. Instead, they chose to be loathed and slightly richer.

Aaron Gleeman on the Pohlad family (The Athletic)

After getting off to a hot start, signing Carlos Correa to the biggest contract in franchise history, Joe made a decision to “right-size the business”, saying “I have a business to run, and it comes with tough decisions and that’s what I had to do.”

It’s possible that the next group to own the Minnesota Twins won’t be better than the current situation. It’s also impractical to not be positive about the opportunity to find out. Gleeman astutely points out that we have seen this charade for far too long.

Related: 3 Rich People Who Make Sense as New Minnesota Twins Owners

Joe Pohlad said in a statement to the Star Tribune, “It’s our objective to find an ownership group who all of us can be proud of and who will take care of the Minnesota Twins.” Unfortunately, that is everything his family has failed to do.

No more Pohlad pocket protectors

It’s because of a column like this, that the fans have a voice. While it would be disingenuous to think that social media backlash is the sole driver for the decision to sell, it unquestionably has played a part. Fans decided against showing up, and the pocketbooks of ownership took that hit as well.

This market will absolutely support a winning, well-funded team. And for the next owner, the beauty of replacing four decades of Pohlads is that the bar is essentially on the floor. All they have to do is spend a slightly larger amount of their immense wealth and behave as if they actually want the team to be successful rather than just not lose money.

Aaron Gleeman on new Twins owners (The Athletic)

Journalism produces different results depending on how much you pander to the source…

Case in point…@TheAthletic x @StarTribune pic.twitter.com/c0lWTR2d26

— Ted (@tlschwerz) October 14, 2024

Gleeman rose the ranks from blogging at places like Rotoworld, Hardball Talk, and Baseball Prospectus to now being on the ground with The Athletic. His voice has never changed, and that’s not something you can say about everyone.

No fan believes it is necessary for the Twins to spend at the level of either New York team or the Los Angeles Dodgers. It’s pretty unintelligent to kill momentum and depreciate your product intentionally though. Don’t worry, Minnesota Twins fans. The grass may not always be greener, but we can all be pretty sure it will be this time.

Remember what happened this time last year? That was when president of baseball operations Derek Falvey announced to the entire world that significant payroll cuts were going to be made. This, just days after the deepest Twins playoff run in two decades.

So we can lay blame on Rocco Baldelli, who got a vote of confidence from Falvey yesterday… who then got his own vote of confidence from the face of ownership, Joe Pohlad… who will get a vote of confidence from nobody, certainly not Minnesota Twins fans.

Not Aaron Gleeman (The Athletic) either. No other credentialed Twins media member has been more outspoken about the 2023 payroll cuts, than Gleeman. Outside of Ted and myself, here at Minnesota Sports Fan, there may not be a more Pohlad critical writer on the internet than Aaron.

Aaron Gleeman puts Joe Pohlad’s feet to the journalistic fire

On Sunday, Gleeman proved his journalistic integrity yet again, during an absolutely epic back-and-forth with the Twins’ executive chair, himself. And boy, by the end of their exchange, Joe Pohlad was not a happy camper. Gleeman tweeted out the entire thing, word for word. It’s difficult to read, so I have transcribed it below the tweet.

But first, let’s set the scene. Pohlad has just told reporters that he cut payroll last year, because (paraphrasing) he’s the boss and bosses have to make difficult business decisions sometimes. Of course, that shouldn’t sit well with Minnesota Twins fans, and it didn’t sit well for Aaron Gleeman, either.

I asked #MNTwins owner Joe Pohlad about payroll and why the team is treated as just another typical business.

Here's a full transcript of my question, his response, and two follow-up questions that I asked after hearing it. pic.twitter.com/wqHH7Hfxcx

— Aaron Gleeman (@AaronGleeman) September 29, 2024

GLEEMAN: “You said you have to make business decisions. But does a sports franchise necessarily need to be treated as a typical business? Or can it be treated as part of a bigger community and you’re the stewards of something that involves thousands of people? As you look forward, is this going to continue to be treated as just ‘revenue went down, payroll goes down’? Or is there a different view of a sports franchise? You own a lot of businesses. Is this just one of them or is this potentially viewed differently.”

POHLAD: “No. I view my job as running our business on behalf of this team and our fans. And I’m trying to manage our business so that we can put out a winning team, both in the short term and in the long term. And sometimes things come up. Whether they are a number of different things. I’m not going to get into them. And then decisions need to be made. I’m not going to get into those types of decisions, but it is both long term and short term in terms of how you were describing it, Aaron. So, yeah, the goal is always to have a winning product on the field, where fans can come and get excited about their team.”

Aaron Gleeman + Joe Pohlad (Sunday, September 29, 2024)

At this point of the conversation, I would not have blamed Aaron Gleeman for giving up. That answer made it pretty obvious Joe wasn’t going to get into details or show remorse for cutting the legs out from underneath his baseball team, this time last year.

Related: Minnesota Twins Claim They’re Done Cutting Payroll

But the determined journalist/Twins fan was not going calling it a season until he asked the new face of Minnesota Twins ownership all of the “business decision” questions that have been eating at him over the past 9 months.

Frustrated Minnesota Twins owner forced to end conversation

So, Aaron went back for more.. and more again. Finally, Joe Pohlad ended the conversation. For those in the Minnesota Twins fanbase who have pent up anger for the Pohlad family, and how they operate their “business”, reading this will make you feel better.

GLEEMAN: “Because of the performance on the field, but also the fan morale coming into the season, I’m sure whatever your internal projections were for revenue fell at least somewhat short. Does that almost become a cycle, in that if you lower payroll, fan morale and the performance on field goes down. And then at the end of a season, you say, ‘Well, revenue went down, so we need to lower payroll again.’ And it just repeats itself?”

POHLAD: “If we have a winning product, regardless of what our payroll is, I think fans will come out.”

GLEEMAN: “Sure, but there is some relationship between revenue and record. And when you miss the playoffs by a few games, it’s fairly straightforward to say, ‘Would x number of million have helped that?’ So, as you look forward to next season, is it going to be similar, in terms of resources given to the front office?”

POHLAD: “I’m not going to get into payroll right now, but we will have a better product on the field next year.”

Gleeman is a smart guy. He knows that any forward-thinking sports owner prioritizes winning and how it leads to FUTURE growth and builds organizational value, long-term. When you own a sports franchise, the profit side of the business comes when you sell the investment.

Sound “business decisions” aren’t the same across all industries

In the meantime, NBA, MLB and NFL owners use their franchises show off how rich they are to friends, and bulk up their NET worth. If covering for short-term revenue losses and turning a profit year-over-year is more important to you, then find another investment.

Nobody cares how much TV revenue a billionaire family lost because they continue to make poor choices in their broadcasting partnerships. Worried about future TV revenue? FIX YOUR TV BROADCASTING ISSUES FOR REAL, ONE TIME! Don’t point your finger at Diamond Sports Group, then sign on with them AGAIN.

Related: Minnesota Twins Fan Kicked Out and Banned from Target Field for Anti-Pohlad Sign

Fans are not stupid (at least most of them). I bet eating that revenue loss would fix these TV issues very quickly. Instead, they continue to fester, even years after they realized that partnering with Bally Sports North was not operable into the future.

Luckily, Minnesota Twins fans can sleep soundly tonight, knowing someone who has a voice to the ear of Joe Pohlad and direct access to decision makers is willing and motivated to hold ownership accountable. Hell, a few more back and forth like this, even Joe might think twice before making his next dumb “business decision”.

The story hasn’t quite been the same for the Twins’ pitching staff, which no long has Sonny Gray and has struggled with injury issues in the first half of the season. Simeon Woods Richardson has had a breakout year (thank god), but there is no Brooks Lee or Royce Lewis coming up to save the pitching staff, which could certainly use some help.

But now that the Twins have one of the most powerful offenses in baseball, they are sure to go get that help before the MLB trade deadline, right? That’s what you do when on the verge of competing for the World Series, after all. Not so fast.

Aaron Gleeman has little faith in Minnesota Twins at trade deadline

Yes, it would make sense for Derek Falvey to go out and secure more pitching help, and it’s very possible they do something between now and the July 31 deadline. But the Twins need a top 3 starter, not a bottom-rotation throw in for the 2nd half.

Problem is, those types of pitchers do not come cheap. And if you expect the Pohlads to lift their 2024 spending cap just because they have a good team, then you haven’t been paying attention. But Aaron Gleeman (The Athletic) has, and he has very little faith.

The “front-line” part of front-line starter is key, because [the Twins] not lacking in decent options.

Upgrading the playoff rotation would require adding someone better than Bailey Ober. And even upgrading the regular-season rotation would require adding someone better than Paddack or Woods Richardson, as well as in-house backup arms like Festa, Varland and ascending Double-A prospect Zebby Matthews.

That’s a much higher bar than simply needing a competent starter, and the cost to clear it would be substantial in terms of prospect capital, especially if Twins ownership isn’t willing to take on much salary.

Aaron Gleeman on the likelihood that the Twins splash at MLB Trade Deadline (The Athletic)

The Twins’ farm system has enjoyed a breakout season. But unless they are willing to move Brooks Lee, Matt Wallner or Walker Jenkins, they won’t be able to compete with offers on the types of pitchers they need. That’s especially true since ownership, as Gleeman notes, wouldn’t be willing to take on salary in a deal, even at a prorated cost.

So, we should probably just buckle in for what could be an interesting 2nd half, where we’ll find out how good the Minnesota Twins’ current set of starters are, by throwing them into the fire of an AL pennant race. That seems risky for a team that (supposedly) has World Series aspirations… but here we are.

How does the MN Twins starting rotation look right now…?

Pablo Lopez hasn’t been nearly the same guy we saw last season. His 3.66 ERA from 2023 has ballooned to 5.11, after Wednesday’s outing. Joe Ryan, on the other hand, has been one of the best pitchers in the American League, even if he hasn’t gotten an All-Star invite. Ryan has a 3.29 ERA, 123 ERA+ and a WHIP below 1.

Joe Ryan's 2Ks in the 1st. pic.twitter.com/Oo7KpmgCU8

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) July 6, 2024

23-year-old Simeon Woods Richardson is the only other starter on the Twins’ staff with an ERA+ above 100, which is considered average. Bailey Ober has been a lot better of late, and finished Wednesday’s outing with an ERA that is now down to 4.12.

Related: Former Minnesota Twins Slugger is Back on the Open Market

After Ober, the Twins have dead-arm (no more) Chris Paddack. If he struggles again, or injuries surface, Minnesota will turn to David Festa and Louie Varland. Neither guy has been good this season in the majors. Festa has been dominant at Triple-A, while Varland seems to be struggling with his identity as a pitcher.

Minnesota Twins individual starting pitching statistics (as of July 11, 2024)

Pete Maki’s pitching staff lost projected fifth-starter Anthony DeSclafani to season-ending arm surgery before he even took the mound for his Twins debut. He was part of the disaster Jorge Polanco trade.

Meanwhile the bullpen also lost two key contributors in Brock Stewart and Justin Topa, due to injuries. Stewart’s return is anticipated soon, but there won’t be a comeback story for DeSclafani this season. Topa’s return is still up in the air.

They’ve been attached to big name slugger, Pete Alonso, multiple times, and they could really use a front end starter, if they really want to be considered anything near World Series contenders.

Minnesota Twins should buy at the MLB trade deadline… but that costs money

Will they make any season altering moves before the end of July, when the deadline hits? It’s possible… but there’s one big problem facing such a plausible reality. Money. The Pohlads made a point to slim the roster by $30 million during the offseason in order to “reset the books”, a move that doesn’t appear to be a one-year thing.

If we assume they are still being money conscious (pretty safe assumption), then they could be very limited in what kind of deals they are willing to make over the next month-plus. Most teams are either looking to add at the deadline, or sell. Any need for a trade partner to eat or take back a bunch of salary could really limit their options, according to Aaron Gleeman (The Athletic).

Contending teams should be looking to address weaknesses and add talent at the deadline, but that usually requires having owners willing to increase payroll, and the Pohlads have earned every ounce of doubt on that front. If ownership wasn’t willing to spend this offseason and their revenue outlook has worsened since, it’s hardly safe to assume they’ll spend more now. If the Twins’ self-imposed payroll restrictions remain in place, it could limit trade options in several ways.

Aaron Gleeman – The Athletic

Gleeman doesn’t rule out a major trade deadline move for the Twins, or at least something that will shake things up in a positive way. But as he notes, there’s nothing that has taken place since the end of last season that should lead us to believe they’re willing to spend anything to get better.

Related: Ranking the Minnesota Twins 2024 Uniforms

On the bright side, players should only cost about 1/3 of their full-season salary, once the trade deadline comes around. That would put the Twins on the hook for approximately $7 million of Pete Alonso’s 2024 salary.

Sort of pathetic Minnesota Twins ownership

We’ll see if that’s something the Twins have built into their pre-set roster spending budget, but there’s no guarantees that is the case. As Gleeman so aptly puts it, the fact that we are even talking about this is “frankly sort of pathetic”.

It’s unfortunate, and frankly sort of pathetic, that increasing payroll at the deadline is even a question for a contending team that should be looking to build off its first playoff success in two decades. But until proven otherwise, that’s the skepticism created by cost-cutting owners, and the added degree of difficulty the Twins front office may face between now and July 30.

Aaron Gleeman – The Athletic

We have a love/hate relationships with our sports owners in this town, but there is no doubt that the Pohlad family is openly the only “cheap” owners in the market.

Related: Is Carlos Correa Overrated? Other MLB Players Seem to Think So…

And, after about five years of trying to ditch that moniker, they’ve not only accepted that’s what they are… but possibly even embraced it. Hopefully, they prove us wrong before the upcoming MLB Trade Deadline. But I’m just as skeptical as Gleeman.

Sitting in fourth place of what was previously believed to be a poor Central division is never ideal. But seeing and knowing how the Twins got here, it feels even worse.

Vibes are bad around the Minnesota Twins right now

Fans were worried about the pitching, but instead, it’s a Twins offense that has scored the third-fewest runs in baseball that has crippled Rocco Baldelli’s team. Now, as longtime Twins writer Aaron Gleeman highlights, the “morale” surrounding the Twins is one of the worst he’s ever seen.

.@AaronGleeman says he's never seen a team's morale sink from higher to lower in a shorter time period than the 2024 Twins.

▶️ https://t.co/yfV13ladKi pic.twitter.com/X7IFyPWCdE

— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) April 24, 2024

“The morale is bad. It was bad all offseason once people realized that payroll was going down 20%. They weren’t really going to make any moves. But people kept going okay, all around it was probably their most successful overall season in 20 years. The vibes were good. I remember walking out of there in October at Target Field and it was like euphoria, we finally got the curse broken. Then you spend 3-4 months of the offseason realizing they’re not actually gonna do anything, and they’re kinda gonna shed talent.”

“The thing that I think was keeping morale from going through the floor was, well maybe they just win. Maybe they just play well and win this division fairly easily like they did last season. Now that’s out the window. You’re looking at a fourth-place team that can’t hit, has had a bunch of injuries. All the guys they’ve added on the margins are looking cooked basically, a lot of the veteran guys. There’s no real help. It’s not as if they can go sign anybody else. It’s not even probable as if they can go add high-priced guys at the trade deadline. Right now the biggest problem is they gotta stay relevant until the trade deadline.”

The Athletic’s Aaron Gleeman on Minnesota Twins’ morale

Of course, former Twins catcher A.J. Pierzynski acted all aloof when Gleeman mentioned ‘a curse’. Yet, Pierzynski was well aware of the ‘Twins Curse’ that he himself was involved in.

Related: Even Rocco Baldelli is Losing Patience with Twins

Back in 2002, Pierzynski hit a two-run home run in the top of the ninth inning to help defeat the Oakland Athletics. Pierzynski’s home run helped clinch the Twins’ last playoff series win before fans experienced a painful 21-year drought before the 2023 ALDS series win over the Houston Astros.

How do Twins bounce back… can they?

As Gleeman noted, today’s Twins are in a tough spot. Even if they wanted to suddenly start adding talent, not only is there a shortage of talent available in free agency, but at this point, why would Twins president Derek Falvey start spending now?

“It’s rare you see morale, not only is it low right now, but I’ve never experienced a Twins team or probably any team where it’s sunk from higher to lower in a shorter time period. They’ve played 22 games since they won a playoff series and the morale has gone from A+ to D- and I don’t know how you really bounce back from that other than get back on track and you really start winning. It’s decades of skepticism from fans about how much this ownership group wants to spend and how interested they are in putting a winning team on the field consistently, and it was all confirmed to them this offseason.

The Athletic’s Aaron Gleeman on Minnesota Twins’ morale

This team is already facing a large deficit. While climbing back into the AL playoff picture won’t be impossible, the biggest boost the clubhouse will receive will be internal when cornerstones Royce Lewis and Jhoan Duran return.

Related: Brooks Lee Injury Worse Than Originally Diagnosed by Twins Doctors

Ultimately, the Twins dug themselves into this hole, but the players already on the team are also the only ones capable of helping climb back out. There’s just no guarantee it happens.

The business plan, back then, was clear and extremely effective. Overpay the best local beat writers in sports to do the same job they were already doing for their previous employer, but with more freedom and without word limits. Then, pair those local writers with one or two of the biggest national news breakers from each sport (Shams -NBA, Rosenthal – MLB, Pierre LeBrun – NHL, etc).

Then, offer subscriptions for one low cost and give readers access to every story on The Athletic website/app. The monthly cost, depending on which promotion was running at the time, could get as low as $1 per month. That could be 300% less than that of a local newspaper subscription. Here’s a real-life example: I chose the yearly subscription for The Athletic and it costs $39.99. The Minneapolis Star Tribune charges me $62.27 every three months ($249.08 per year).

Every time my Star Tribune subscription hits I am reminded of why the newspaper business is dying.

— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) June 7, 2023

The Athletic bleeding money…

But while the emergence of The Athletic — which was sold to the New York Times last year for $550 million — successfully changed the landscape of sports reporting forever and scared the shit out of legacy mainstream media outlets, it’s business plan has struggled to produce revenue. That’s why, earlier this week, they announced company-wide layoffs to their beat writer army.

According to an internal memo obtained by the Washington Post, The Athletic told employees that 20 writers would be laid off and 20 others would be re-assigned to a different beat. Soon after, In all, the company still plans to employ over 100 beat writers.

That strategy marks a departure from the outlet’s onetime mission, which was to cover every team from every major league across the country with a dedicated reporter. The Athletic has been successful editorially, with millions of subscribers, but that coverage — and the travel and staffing associated with it — is expensive.

“The Athletic has generally viewed every league in a similar manner, with similar beats and offerings. But our growing body of research and our own understanding of the sports we cover compel a more nuanced approach,” the note said. “There is no perfect formula for determining which teams to cover, but we are committing dedicated beat reporters to the ones that most consistently produce stories that appeal to both large and news-hungry fan bases, as well as leaguewide audiences.”

The Washington Post

The Athletic takes over Minnesota sports scene

The Minnesota sports scene was one of the first to be majorly affected by The Athletic’s initial takeover. That’s because they immediately targeted and brought aboard the Star Tribune’s longtime Wild beat writer, Michael Russo, one of the best and most respected media voices in all of hockey.

From there, they snagged Jon Krawczynski, who covered the Timberwolves for Associate Press. They weren’t done, though. Popular podcast host and trusted Twins writer, Aaron Gleeman, soon joined the crew, too. All three have huge local followings and are regulars on the only mainstream FM radio outlet in town, 100.3 KFAN, which only amplified The Athletic’s reach locally.

And just like that, The Athletic became one of (if not THE) most trusted sports news outlet in Minnesota. Since, they’ve cycled through Vikings and Gophers writers and the Twins paired Dan Hayes with Gleeman, to cover the Twins. Joe Smith was recently added to their Wild coverage, too.

What happens to their local sports coverage now?

So what do these beat writer layoffs mean for all the Minnesota sports fans who rely on The Athletic for their mainstream sports coverage throughout the year? Senior writer and The Athletic original, Michael Russo, told MinnesotaSportsFan.com on Thursday that The Athletic (New York Times) has no plans to eliminate local beat writer positions in the Minnesota market.

Why? Because according to Russo, sports fans in Minnesota buy up The Athletic subscriptions and read its stories at a much higher rate than that of other markets.

“Minnesota shouldn’t be affected at all because the market has been so successful thanks to the thousands of subscribers that support us. We’re still all here and covering the local teams here like a blanket.”

Michael Russo via email response to questions regarding The Athletic’s layoffs possibly hitting Minnesota sports coverage

While this may be the case for now, I’ll be interested to see if that’s remains the plan going forward. Sure, this local market might read The Athletic more often than others. But will that matter, if more cuts eventually come?

And if you’re Jonny K or Aaron Gleeman, are you passing up other job opportunities should they present themselves? Probably not. And losing any of Russo, Krawczynski or Gleeman would take a huge chunk out of that readership.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

The trade deadline for the NBA is about to expire and the Timberwolves will likely set their franchise back a couple more seasons by doing absolutely nothing to trade its expiring pieces to position better for the future. I’m so over that team that it’s almost comical at this point.

PECOTA Day

But that’s not even the best part of today. It’s PECOTA day. I love me some PECOTA day.

ITS FUCKING PECOTA DAY PEOPLE! https://t.co/YBoycoODUk

— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) February 7, 2019

Why do I love PECOTA day so much? Because it’s a computer-generated season projection… who doesn’t like that? And they can be pretty accurate too. At least they were last season. PECOTA predicted 81 wins and 81 losses for 2018 for the Twins and they finished 78-84. I tried for a bit to go back farther but it was more difficult than it should have been, so that’s all of the history that you get.

Minnesota Twins

The projections for the Twins in 2019 don’t change when it comes to win loss. It calls for the twins to again finish 81-81 and 2nd in the AL Central. I’m ok with that. But I was surprised at the specific numbers PECOTA has both the Twins and the Indians putting up. I was a little shocked at the runaway train Cleveland will apparently become, winning the division by 15 games.

But, that still wasn’t the most shocking statistic given… Apparently, The Tribe will outscore us by 41 runs and they will do it in an unexpected manner. The Indians have one of the best pitching staffs in the MLB and still will if they trade Corey Kluber like many around the league expect them to.  However, pitching isn’t the only place they will get it done. Apparently, our division rivals will also outscore us in an interesting way…

Joe Mauer Baseball

By getting on base…………….. Joe Mauer – style? The Twins are expected to outhit Cleveland in all major hitting categories except for one… ON-BASE PERCENTAGE.

Cleveland gonna Joe Mauer the #mntwins to 41 more runs scored and 15 more W’s in 2019… bold strategy @baseballpro pic.twitter.com/L2KtIdLGiG

— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) February 7, 2019

SLUGGING PERCENTAGE: TWINS

BATTING AVERAGE: TWINS

DRC+: TWINS

 DRC+ is the Deserved Runs Created for a batter, scaled to a 100-based index. It tells us how valuable a player’s offensive contribution is by assigning appropriate credit to plate appearance outcomes and applying contextual factors like park effects and opponent quality.

I get it. I’m not smart enough to know how this works. I will have all sorts of baseball nerds @ing me about how silly this is. But, I know I watched Joe Mauer play a lot of baseball and hit for REALLY high on-base percentages….. which led to a whole lot of losses and questioning of his Hall of Fame credentials…

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan