Minnesota Twins Fire Scout After 29 Years To Save A Few Bucks [OPINION INCOMING]

By most accounts, the Twins had a very successful 2023 season that included a Central Division title and a series win in the Wild Card round. For their efforts, the Twins front office has announced that they will be slashing payroll for the upcoming season.

Oof.

Per Bobby Nightengale of Star Tribune:

“We’ve pushed our payroll to heights that we had never pushed it before with the support, certainly, of ownership,” Falvey said Tuesday. “We know there is some natural ebb and flow to that. Will it be where it was last year? I don’t expect that. I expect it less than that.”

However, when you look at the Twins' payroll history, the 'payroll heights' bit is a little misleading.

In 2023, the Twins had a $141 million payroll, which is the highest it has ever been in team history. However, the payroll ranked just 17th of 30 MLB teams. In 2022, they ranked #17, in 2021 #16, 2020 #18, etc.

While the Twins may have spent more money than they have in years past, they were only keeping up with the rest of the (bottom half) of the league.

Now, word has come out that the Twins have parted ways with scout Billy Milos, who has been with the team since 1994, just to save some money.

Bob Nightengale/ USA Today:

The Minnesota Twins, who are without a TV contract, have begun implementing budget cuts, costing prized pro scout Billy Milos his job. Milos, 55, who has been with the Twins for 29 years, is widely considered perhaps the best scout to find unheralded talent, particularly among the independent leagues.

The Twins used nine independent ball players this past season. Milos was the one who recommended the Twins select future Cy Young award winner Johan Santana in the Rule 5 Draft. He also signed All-Star pitcher Pat Neshek, and signed Nick Anderson, Randy Dobnak and Buddy Boshers from the independent leagues.

Teams should be scurrying to find a spot for him in their scouting ranks.

I've said it many times before and I will say it again. The Pohlads need to sell the team to someone who is actually interested in owning a winning baseball team.

Carl Pohlad bought the Twins for $32 million dollars in 1984. According to Forbes, the team is now worth $1.4 billion dollars. The Twins could 'lose' $50 million dollars a year for 20 straight years and the Pohlads would still make a nearly half-billion dollar profit from the sale of the team. Instead, we get penny-pinching and budget cuts to make sure they can finish every season with a healthy profit.

Why bother with the Twins at this point? There is no serious attempt to be a championship team put forth by the ownership.