The 2024 Minnesota Twins are a story of self-inflicted wounds

The Twins made their own bed and now they have to sleep in it.

Sep 9, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Twins designated hitter Royce Lewis (23) reacts after striking out against the Los Angeles Angels in the sixth inning at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images / Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images

The Minnesota Twins are still in position to make the playoffs, but barring a deep run in October, the 2024 season is going to be remembered as a disaster.

There have been reasons for optimism — like the rise of rookies Brooks Lee, David Festa and Zebby Matthews, and breakout performances by Willi Castro and Matt Wallner — but those bright spots are covered in darkness by a series of storms, some unexpected and others self-inflicted.

The first red flags came well before the Twins arrived in Fort Myers, Fla. for spring training. Right off the bat, management slashed payroll by $30 million and they let Sonny Gray walk as a free agent after an All-Star season in 2023. The business decision to reduce payroll appeared to be directly related to the lost revenue from the 2023 television debacle involving the Twins and bankrupt Bally Sports operator Diamond Sports Group.

Still, the Twins, who are owned by the Pohlad family (13th-richest owner in MLB), made the decision to cut costs rather than bolster a talented roster that showed signs of being able to compete with the best teams in the American League after finally ending a two-decade post-season win drought in the 2023 playoffs.

Instead, the Twins are 11-24 against teams currently in position to make the AL playoffs, including a dreadful 2-16 against the Yankees, Orioles and Guardians.

Outside of Carlos Santana, Minnesota's limited number of offseason acquisitions were failures. The Twins signed Anthony Desclafani and Jay Jackson, made a trade with Seattle to get right-hander Justin Topa, traded Nick Gordon to the Marlins for lefty Steven Okert, and claimed right-hander Daniel Duarte off waivers from the Rangers.

Desclafani had season-ending forearm surgery at the end of March; Topa hasn't appeared in a game for the Twins; Okert produced a 5.09 ERA in 44 appearances before getting demoted to Triple-A; Duarte has been on the injured list since early April and pitched in only two games for the Twins; Jackson had a 7.52 ERA in 20 relief appearances and is no longer with the organization.

It's hard to blame the Twins for the bevy of injuries they've faced all season, but they also made the choice to go to war with three players who haven't been able to stay healthy at any point in their respective careers. Carlos Correa is only in Minnesota because of medical concerns the Giants and Mets had about him. He missed a big chunk of time last season with plantar fasciitis in his right foot and he hasn't played since the All-Star break this season due to plantar fasciitis in his left foot. Byron Buxton had had multiple stints on the injured list and is in danger of failing to reach 100 games for the ninth time in his 10-year career. And Royce Lewis tearing his quad muscle on Opening Day knocked him out for two months and he's played in only 65 games.

Despite it all, the Twins have found themselves in playoff contention. Though, if a tree falls in the woods and nobody is around to hear it, does it make a sound? Through 70 home games, the Twins are averaging 24,270 fans at Target Field. That ranks 23rd in the majors, which is slightly less than last season and serves as a significant disappointment considering the success Minnesota had in 2023 and the high hopes they had — and still have — this season.

Why the drop in attendance? It might have something to do with fans who lost interest when the Twins weren't available to watch for Comcast customers for all of May, June and July thanks to the never-ending contract disputes between Diamond Sports Group and television providers.

And if all of that wasn't bad enough, the Twins decided to do almost nothing before the July 31 MLB trade deadline. They were literally the last team in the big leagues to make a trade and the one they made brought Trevor Richards to Minnesota from Toronto.

Where is Richards now? He's on the inactive list with the Triple-A St. Paul Saints, where he was demoted after struggling to throw strikes in 10 appearances with the Twins. It was a low-risk, high-reward move that did more bad for the Twins than good.

The end result is a team that has lost 15 of 21 games and is dangerously close to falling out of the wild-card picture. But who knows, maybe Correa and Buxton will come back in the near future and Lewis will bust out of a slump to lead the Twins on an exciting journey through October. If they don't, the Twins have no one to blame but themselves.