For the majority of the 21st century, the Minnesota Twins were known for a playoff losing streak—0-18—that became the longest in North American professional sports history. Though finally breaking that curse in 2023, the Twins are likely now associated with a different sort of collapse—the kind that happens in the dog days of summer (August/September).
A landslide, if you will.
2022
On August 1, the Twins were a respectable 54-48 and a game up on the Cleveland Guardians for the AL Central lead. Two months
later they were 78-84 (a 25-36 Aug/Sept) and out of the playoffs entirely. A 1-7 record against the Guardians down the stretch was the main culprit.
2024
The landslide started later in ’24 but was even more pronounced. On September 1, the Twins had a strong 74-62 record—just 3.5 GB Cleveland and solidly in control of a Wild Card berth. Famously, MN’s playoff odds on Sept 5 were 95.4%–which was about when they pulled a Han Solo. A 9-18 September—including one series win and a 2-9 final two weeks—dropped the final tally to 82-80 and again the postseason was a pipe dream.
2025
Though considerably less dramatic from a competitive mindset—the Twins limped into August 51-58—the ’25 tumble was perhaps even more dramatic organizationally. After literally trading away every high-leverage bullpen arm at the deadline, a somewhat-predictable 19-35 Aug/Sept was the result.
2026
After four months of ’26 baseball, MIN was even-steven: 56-56. They sat about three games behind division-leading CLE/CWS and a similar 3 GB the final WC berth any given day. Even after acquiring bullpen arms—their biggest need—at the trade deadline, a 10-17 August and 11-13 September immediately followed (with most of the Sept wins coming in garbage time after realistic elimination).
If one possessed a 20-game season ticket plan the last few years, a wise deployment decision would be to follow my lead: load up on games in the early goings, as you don’t know how things will shake out late. Far more often than not, I’ve been trudging to Target Field in September out of habit and “I’m gonna miss this when it’s gone” motivations than anything competitive.
How to shake this reputation for rapid free-fall? A look to 2023 provides at least a few answers. That ownership/front-office…
-Cultivated a deep cadre of SP (and did get “good injury luck”, admittedly)
-Made a legitimate $$$ splash on a cornerstone player (no, it didn’t work in the long term, but without C-4 the ’23 squad doesn’t break a curse)
-Built in redundancies/depth at key positions, like Michael A. Taylor in CF for Byron Buxton & Willi Castro turning into a super-utility player extraordinaire
In short: ‘23 was the singular year that Joe Pohlad truly invested in a roster built to withstand injuries and the 162-game grind—with a playoff berth & series win the result. Will Tom Pohlad’s promises of payroll proliferation pay off similarly in 2027?
