Monday Morning Minnesota: The "Out With a Whimper" Edition

09/30/2024 12:40 PM

Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

The Twins crawl to the finish line of the 2024 season

The Past Week on Twinkie Town:

Well, that's all folks. The Twins barely finished above .500, with a 82-80 record, and this is the fifth season in the Wild Card era where the team finished with a winning record and didn't make the playoffs. The Twins fell apart in the last six weeks of the season, finishing with a 12-27 record.
Thank you for reading our Game Threads and Game Recaps throughout the season. We'll have plenty of offseason content as well for the next few months!
Test your knowledge of the Twins 2024 season with a fun quiz from Matt Monitto.
John Foley tries to figure out what went wrong for the Twins.

Elsewhere in Twins Territory:

After a dismal final week with the Twins choking away their playoff spot, John and Ben discuss the symptoms behind the collapse and how they can improve heading into 2025. Plus, they break down the news of Derek Falvey and Rocco Baldelli's returns and Joe Pohlad's comments on the Twins' potential 2025 payroll.

Aaron Gleeman at The Athletic looks at the Twins' "Total System Failure" for 2024 ($).
Theo Tollefson at Zone Coverage reminds us that baseball is more than just wins and losses, with a feel-good story about two college teammates reconnecting again with the St. Paul Saints this season.
As reported by many of the Twins' beat writers, including Do-Hyoung Park at MLB.com, Derek Falvey and Rocco Baldelli will return to their roles in the 2025 season.

In the World of Baseball:

The playoff picture is almost set, with the Mets and Braves facing off in a doubleheader today. If either team sweeps, the winning team and the Diamondbacks will make the playoffs, while if both teams split the series, the Diamondbacks will be the odd team out.
The Yankees, Guardians, Dodgers, and Phillies all will get a first-round bye in the playoffs.
The Chicago White Sox officially became the worst team in the modern history (post-1900) of the MLB, finishing with 121 losses. Jeff Passan at ESPN tried to find a light amidst the darkness of this season. Hilariously, owner Jerry Reinsdorf, who has previously threatened to move the team and has been considered one of the worst owners in baseball (as profiled by Brittany Ghiroli and Ken Rosenthal at The Athletic, $), apologized for the effort and claimed responsibility for the on-field performance.