Twins owner Jim Pohlad said that he is 100 percent behind Derek Falvey and Thad Levine, whom the team brought in to revamp the organization following the 2016 season.
Pohlad knows fans might have questioned the moves Falvey, Twins chief baseball officer, and Levine, general manager, made at the July 31 nonwaiver trade deadline, as the Twins dealt away five players from the major league roster. But more important to Pohlad than what happens on the field is what is happening behind the scenes.
"So much of [bringing in Falvey and Levine] was about building out the organization under them," Pohlad said. "Obviously the team is part of that responsibility, too, but so much of their job was to really build a great front office that could provide the data and all of the other systems that we felt we needed to improve in."
Does Pohlad feel like the technological part of the front office has vastly improved? "I'm not some young tech person," he said. "But I think it was definitely necessary and it has been useful and used."
When asked if he understands fans being upset about a playoff team from last season selling at the trade deadline, Pohlad said sometimes you have to give up players to get prospects.
"If you want to go out and get something, you have to give something up. The days of trying to outsmart another general manager, they don't exist anymore," Pohlad said. "There's two valuable players, there's no question, mainly [Brian] Dozier and [Eduardo] Escobar. The other two players we had just gotten this year [Lance Lynn and Zach Duke], so it's hard to say how valuable [they are]. But we know how valuable Escobar and Dozier have been to this team over the years."
Now one of the big questions for the Twins front office will be whether to bring back Joe Mauer next season on a new contract.
Pohlad believes a big part of that decision depends on what Mauer wants. "I think we would all agree that that decision is up to the Mauer family, first," he said. "They have to make whatever decision they're going to make. We're willing to work with them in whatever they decide."