There is a nuanced way to explain the differences between what the Twins and Vikings have done in the past few weeks, but a lot of sports can be reduced to simpler binary truths like this:
The Twins, with a chance to accelerate toward a playoff spot, did next to nothing at the trade deadline even with a starting rotation that was thin (and ended up getting even thinner with an injury to Joe Ryan).
The Vikings, with a marginal chance to make the playoffs as they enter the rebuild part of their competitive rebuild (14.1% to reach the postseason, more specifically, if you check ESPN’s projections), spent at least $7 million and as much as $10 million to add veteran corner Stephon Gilmore over the weekend — a move Patrick Reusse and I talked about on Monday’s “Daily Delivery” podcast.
The nuance (I promise it’s coming) sits next to this nagging feeling, even if it isn’t entirely realistic: I wish the Twins spent money like the Vikings.
I think it even though I know the Twins are 11-6 in August, including some impressive performances in key spots by the young pitchers who are being given chances instead of hypothetical veteran additions.
I say it even though I agreed with Twins boss Derek Falvey when he said recently, “We weren’t going to be able to replace a Joe Ryan-type pitcher at the deadline for sure.”
I believe it even though the Vikings are still probably the fourth-best team in the NFC North and likely headed for another 7-10 type season even with the addition of Gilmore.
And I certainly know the even larger context is that comparing the spending of the two teams has to take into account league financial structures (salary cap vs. no salary cap) and that envying any NFL vs. MLB spending is basically saying, “It sure would be nice if baseball had the sort of TV/media deals that spread money evenly and allow teams to print money, like football teams do.”
