Image courtesy of © Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images
For months, the idea lingered quietly in the background. It showed up in subtle ways through roster decisions that felt restrained rather than ambitious and through an organizational structure that seemed increasingly muddled. On Friday, it became official when the Minnesota Twins announced that Derek Falvey and the organization were mutually parting ways. While the timing may have surprised some with spring training just around the corner, the reality is that this relationship has been drifting toward a breakup for quite some time.
When the Twins finally won their first playoff series in decades during the 2023 season, the organization looked like a franchise that had turned a meaningful corner. Payroll sat around $160 million, and ownership had committed to building around cornerstone players. Carlos Correa was locked into a long-term deal. Pablo Lopez was acquired and extended to anchor the rotation. The message was clear. The Twins were done treading water and intended to push their competitive window well into the next decade.
That momentum never carried forward. Payroll has steadily dropped since that high point and now sits just over $100 million projected for the 2026 season. The drop has been stark not only in numbers but in perception. Instead of supplementing a playoff core, the front office was forced into cost-cutting moves that chipped away at depth and flexibility. Two disappointing finishes in 2024 and 2025 followed, and the sense of progress evaporated. At times, the Twins looked less like a team building on success and more like one trying to stay afloat.
Nothing symbolized the disconnect more clearly than the Carlos Correa situation. The Twins are paying him $10 million per season to play for the Houston Astros for the next three years, an outcome that would have been unthinkable when the deal was signed. That decision reflected a franchise that had lost its direction and a front office operating within tighter constraints than ever before.
The strange handling of Falvey’s role only added to the confusion. His promotion from President of Baseball Operations to President of Business and Baseball Operations was framed as a massive vote of confidence, especially following a disappointing season. Across Major League Baseball, only a handful of executives hold that level of power, overseeing both sides of the organization. Yet it never truly felt like Falvey was running the business side. Dave St. Peter shifted into an advisor role roughly a year ago but remained highly visible around the team throughout last season. While St. Peter was expected to focus on facilitating the sale of the franchise, the process dragged on, and Falvey never appeared to fully take control of the broader operation.
Instead of clarity, the Twins operated in a gray area where authority felt shared, but accountability did not. That kind of structure rarely lasts, especially when on-field results are slipping, and financial commitment is shrinking.
Ownership change only accelerated the inevitable. Tom Pohlad officially took over the ownership role from Joe Pohlad earlier this winter, and Falvey’s departure may be the first major domino tied to that transition. Tom brings a strong business background from running other family enterprises, and it seems increasingly clear that his vision did not align with Falvey’s. Whether it was philosophy, spending priorities, or long-term strategy, the two sides were no longer moving in the same direction.
From Falvey’s perspective, the calculus is understandable. There are only so many top front office jobs across Major League Baseball, but what incentive did he really have to stay? Early in his tenure, payroll growth made it easier to envision sustained competitiveness in the AL Central. Lately, the opposite has been true. The current ownership group appears more likely to hold the club until a new CBA is approved before exploring a sale at a price they find acceptable. That limbo offers little appeal to a baseball executive tasked with building a winner.
Leaving now is far from ideal with spring training on the horizon, but staying was starting to make even less sense. The reasons that once made Minnesota an attractive long-term project were steadily disappearing. By this winter, the writing was no longer subtle. The breakup had been coming, and this offseason finally brought it to a head.
What are your thoughts on Falvey leaving? Has this been coming for some time? Leave a comment and start the discussion.