The union defeated the owners in the 1994-95 baseball players strike and salary inflation quickly skied to incomprehensible levels. The Twins already were in retreat with lost manpower and the second half of that decade seemed as disastrous competitively as things could get.
The Twins had eight consecutive losing seasons, from 1993 to 2000, and there was a threat they were going to join Montreal in being put out of business.
This gloom was followed by a successful decade and the arrival of an exceptional new ballyard in Target Field in 2010. There was one great summer there and now a collapse that's destined to replace 1993-2000 as the worst on-field disaster in franchise history.
The Twins had the blip in 2015, with an 83-79 record and big hopes that rookie Miguel Sano and other young players would carry them to something better in 2016. I bought in last spring and mark that down as idiocy for the ages.
Weaknesses in all areas — pitching, hitting, fielding, baserunning — were on display, to the point watching the Twins became the Medusa's Head of summer entertainment.
A minor league employee told me a year ago the Twins system below Class AAA was nearly devoid of position players with a chance to be standouts: "Nick Gordon and a bunch of very young kids … that's it. We're in trouble.''
There have been alarming failures in the draft, and even more so in development.
How was Byron Buxton, a young man of such athletic skills, allowed to progress through the system with the bat behind his head, triggering an extra-long swing … with no awareness that outside pitches were crying to be hit for triples?
Derek Falvey took over as baseball boss in November and is being patient with his changes. It's quite a task he faces, because the Twins are as bad down below as they are at the top.
It took eight years to turn it around in the '90s. This time, we're in Year 7, and any true turnaround is going to be 10-plus.
Read Patrick Reusse's blog at startribune.com/patrick. E-mail him at preusse@startribune.com.
PATRICK'S PLUS THREE
Recent Twins prospects of note:
• Pitcher Alex Meyer was acquired for Denard Span before 2013. Great arm; Twins couldn't fix him, traded him, called up for Angels' start on Friday night.
• Outfielder Alex Kirilloff was first-rounder in 2016. Twins are so thin he was rated their No. 3 prospect by Baseball America, before needing Tommy John surgery this spring.
• Pitcher Kohl Stewart, the fourth overall choice in the t2013 draft is 0-3 with a 5.11 ERA in Class AA.
