During the past two offseasons, Twins decision makers made it very clear that balancing the yearly budget had become the organization’s No. 1 priority, even over winning. That was until earlier this week, when the front office signed OF Harrison Bader and RP Danny Coulombe, adding about $10 million of additional salary for 2025.

Shortly after those signings were announced — with player payroll now $11 million over budget ($141 million) — reports surfaced that Twins president Derek Falvey had to go directly to representing owner Joe Pohlad with a request to increase the team’s 2025 player budget, so they could sign Bader and Coulombe.

Minnesota Twins still have more moves planned?

Not only did Falvey get the green light on budget increases that have already taken place. But according to what the new team president told Dan Hayes (The Athletic) this weekend, the MN Twins still have more moves they want to make before spring training starts next week.

Even though the Twins’ $141.6 million payroll is much more than it was believed they had to spend, potentially there could be more wiggle room if the fit is right. Falvey suggested Pohlad has been open-minded to adding payroll even though his family put the team up for sale in October…

Dan Hayes – The Athletic

We do not know why this sudden influx of available cash is coming from for the Minnesota Twins. One more signing and they will be nearing the total payroll pre 2024, before it was announced last offseason that they were cutting the budget by $20-$30 million.

Related: Twins Make Trade to Open Roster Space

Why is this happening? Why are the Twins suddenly willing to throw $10-$20 million around all of a sudden? That’s a great question, and there’s no way to know for sure. But it’s impossible to ignore the previously reported timeline for this sale.

“We knew that early on in the offseason, maybe some of those (opportunities) weren’t going to present as well in terms of the fit financially and on the roster. We knew we might have to just be patient. … I’ve had active conversations with Joe the last couple of weeks and he greenlighted the ability to add a little bit.”

Derek Falvey – via The Athletic

Remember, we were told last month that, while this deal is unlikely to be finalized by Opening Day, it’s expected that a handshake deal is in place by then. So… could this recent influx of cash be at the request of this new owner, whose identity is yet to be revealed to the public? It certainly seems plausible.

What are the Twins shopping for?

Per Hayes (and multiple other reports), the Minnesota Twins are still on the hunt for improvements at two different positions. They want to add a veteran presence at first base, with a focus on defense, and a better backup option for Carlos Correa at shortstop.

The Twins ideally prefer a steadier glove at shortstop than utilityman Willi Castro, whom they like to move around the diamond, in the case of a long-term absence for Correa. Earlier this week, multiple league sources confirmed the Twins inquired about backup shortstop options Luis Urías and Paul DeJong after previously reaching out to infielder Jon Berti before he signed with the Chicago Cubs.

Dan Hayes – The Athletic

Related: Royce Lewis Ultimately Destined to Play… First Base?

No matter what happens over the next five weeks, as we wait for the MN Twins 2025 regular season to start, there are sure to be plenty of fireworks coming out of the Twins PR department. Between late offseason roster additions and new ownership announcements… maybe some fun will come back to Target Field this summer.

Between a two-year, $13 million deal with outfielder Hunter Renfroe that @Feinsand reported earlier today and the Wacha deal that @ByRobertMurray was on top of, the Royals now have committed $105 million in free agent dollars to Renfroe, Wacha, Lugo, Stratton, Smith and Hampson.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 15, 2023

Kansas City Royals Offseason Spending Spree

After being outspent by the Minnesota Twins by around $60 million in 2023, the Royals are now projected to spend within about $20 million of the Twins in 2024. And that’s before Minnesota makes many of their cost-saving roster changes.

Remember, Derek Falvey announced that the Twins are hoping to make payroll cuts this offseason and, outside of losing Sonny Gray and Kenta Maeda to free agency, those have yet to happen. Max Kepler ($10 million), Jorge Polanco ($10.5 million), Christian Vazquez ($10 million) and Kyle Farmer (est. $6.2 million) are all still on the roster.

Related: Twins Aren’t the Only MLB Team Cutting Payroll and Blaming TV Revenue

MLB Insider Jon Heyman says Kansas City is probably done in free agency, for the most part, but still plan to be active in the trade market, etc. In other words, they may not be done. So it’s possible they finish very close to what the Twins are spending in 2024.

Does that guarantee the Royals will win more games? Absolutely not, and the projections still say they probably won’t. But what it does indicate is this. Other teams in the AL Central see Minnesota’s cost-saving proclamation as an opportunity to jump up and try to steal a weak division.

Why are the Minnesota Twins cutting payroll then?

Which, as I’ve written about before, invites questions about why Derek Falvey and Twins decision-makers made their payroll cutting plans public knowledge in the first place. But as the offseason plays out… I see their reasoning unfolding right before our eyes.

The Pohlads realized, early on this offseason, that the American League Central’s biggest annual spenders, the Chicago White Sox, were going into rebuild mode for this offseason and into next summer.

Related: TV Blackouts Will Not Exist in Minnesota Twins New Broadcasting Age

The White Sox had $175 million in player salaries on their books in 2023 (ended up being $162 million after selling some assets at the trade deadline). As of Friday afternoon, they are currently projected by Spotrac.com to spend just $118 million in player payroll in 2024. That’s a $57 million difference.

Pohlads aren’t interested in being AL Central big spenders

Well, the Pohlads saw an opportunity in their division rival ramping things down. But unlike the opening you and I might have seen — step on the gas and fully consume one of the weakest divisions in baseball — they saw it as a chance for the Twins to remain competitive, probably make the playoffs AND still save a bunch of money.

They’re probably right too, because they are heavy favorites to win the AL Central, projected to win the division by five or more games, according to FanGraphs.

As of now, it almost makes you wonder if AL Central owners are colluding to keep costs down. If the Twins can clear $25-$30 million in salary like they are hoping, then all five teams in the division will have dangerously similar payroll balance sheets for 2024. If I had to guess, I’d say they all end up right around $125-$130 million each.

Reckless Speculation: Is it possible that Jerry Reinsdorf, who also owns the Chicago Bulls, is sick of spending $10’s of millions more than the Twins, just to lose more division crowns than he wins?

Maybe he finally went to the Pohlads and offered a truce to keep payroll down, in order to help competitive balance and stop what was starting to be an AL Central arms race? Who knows… I’m not an insider.

Read all of our offseason Minnesota Twins blogs