Minnesota Twins finish 2024 season in disappointing fashion

The 2024 season has come to a disappointing close for the Minnesota Twins. A team that was destined for the playoffs the whole season will now be sitting on the sidelines in October.

While many blame Twins owner Joe Pohlad for a big payroll cut and not spending enough money this past offseason on key additions, the Twins players simply didn’t perform as needed.

Looking at the offseason bullpen additions, Steven Okert, Jay Jackson and Josh Staumont all didn’t end the season on the major league roster. That’s all that has to be said there. Not to mention that the only trade deadline acquisition, Trevor Richards, also wasn’t on the major league roster to finish the season.

Another reliever, Justin Topa, pitched in just three games at the end of the season. Topa was supposed to be one of the best arms in the Twins bullpen, but he barely played due to patellar tendinitis and a partial tear of the patellar tendon in his left knee.

Anthony DeSclafani, who was acquired with Topa from the Mariners, didn’t even throw a pitch after he underwent forearm surgery before the season even started. The list of injuries only continues to get longer.

Brock Stewart only pitched in 16 games after being one of the most important arms in the Twins bullpen in 2023.

Joe Ryan went down with an arm injury and didn’t pitch for the last two months. Ryan’s injury along with the injury to Chris Paddack put a lot of pressure on the Twins rookie starting pitching.

David Festa, Simeon Woods-Richardson and Zebby Mathews were tasked with holding down the Twins rotation late in the season, and that’s a tough ask for three rookies.

Unfortunately for the Twins, Woods-Richardson ran out of gas to end the season, and that is something that is expected for a young pitcher who isn’t used to taking the mound so often.

David Festa and Zebby Mathews both had their moments, but they just weren’t able to perform as well as the Twins needed them too.

Twin’s starters Pablo Lopez and Bailey Ober both had solid seasons, but a team needs a complete starting rotation to be successful.

I can go on and on about the things that didn’t go right for the Twins this season, especially after going 12-27 in their last 39 games, but I am going to pivot to the positives heading into the 2025 season.

Minnesota will have a very solid top of the rotation next season. Lopez, Ober, and the return of Ryan to the rotation is a very solid group.

Griffin Jax, who is under team control until 2027, had a phenomenal 2024 season. He pitched to a 2.03 ERA and 0.87 WHIP in 71 innings pitched. Jax is a game-changing arm to have back in the bullpen for this team in the coming years.

Byron Buxton played over 100 games for the first time since 2017. This is a big step forward for Buxton as he also hit .279. This is his best mark in his career other than 2021 where he hit .306 in only 61 games.

The Carlos Santana free- agent signing was a big pickup for the Twins. Santana, who should win a Gold Glove this season, led the Twins in both home runs and runs batted in. The Twins need to bring Santana back in 2025.

The Twins also received solid seasons from Jose Miranda, Matt Wallner, Trevor Larnach, Ryan Jeffers and Willi Castro. Additionally, although Carlos Correa missed an extended amount of time with plantar fasciitis, he was also very good this season, hitting .310. Minnesota will need these players, along with Royce Lewis, Edouard Julien, Brooks Lee and others to produce next season to get back into the playoffs.

Stay optimistic, Twins fans. This team has the pieces to be good again next season, but we’ll have to wait and see what the team does in the offseason to have a better idea of how good this team can be in 2025.

This is the opinion of Nick St. Peter, SJU junior.