Reusse: A look at Timberwolves’ front office moves should make Twins GM Derek Falvey nervous

The World Series was taking place in the early 2000s, and back then the general managers meetings would be held at a high-priced resort in the Phoenix area. Twins General Manager Terry Ryan and his assistant, Bill Smith, were there to watch prospects in the Arizona Fall League.

The top baseball brains from other teams were also there, and most had moved into the plush resort before the start of the meetings. Ryan and Smith were sharing a room at the La Quinta Inn, which could be seen from the scouts’ seats behind home plate at Peoria Stadium.

“It was a year when our wives came to Arizona for a few days, so we did move over to the resort then,” Smith said Tuesday. “But, yes, we did stay at a reasonably priced hotel for a week watching our fall leaguers.”

This confirmation was sought as a nod to the appreciation for a fistful of dollars that could be found with a midmarket baseball club as recently as a quarter-century ago.

No doubt, Ryan and Smith were special cases; the joke among press box occupants was that Terry and Billy spent money on the road like it was their own, not the Pohlads’.

Carl Pohlad’s sons and other ancestors publicly stated in October that the team was for sale after four decades of family ownership. Justin Ishbia was the first multibillionaire identified as a potential buyer.

Ishbia changed his interest to buying a piece of the White Sox. A much-repeated rumor is that when Ishbia suggested $1.5 billion as a price for the Twins, he was told, “Not close enough.’’

He wasn’t a media myth, by the way. Commissioner Rob Manfred declared at the All-Star Game that a Twins sale has been somewhat delayed by the “leader in the clubhouse” going away.

We do know this: When the sale takes place, the future leaders of the Twins’ baseball operation won’t be doubling up in a lower-priced hotel on a scouting mission.

And when this person with access to billions leads the investment group, I’m thinking that Derek Falvey, now president for business and baseball, and others in vital positions should have their résumés updated.

A mere glance across the plaza toward Target Center will reinforce the idea that new owners of franchises in the major sports usually want their own people leading things, not executives they inherited.

Ethan Casson, the CEO, and Ryan Tanke, the chief operating officer, announced to Timberwolves employees on June 20 that they were leaving the organization. Four days later, NBA owners approved Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez as the Wolves owners. They also get the Lynx, making the $1.5 billion price going to Glen Taylor and his limited partners a wondrous bargain for A-Rod and Lore.

Lore and A-Rod were involved in recruiting Tim Connelly to run the basketball operation. No change there for the new owners, but clearly no effort was made to retain Casson and Tanke. It’s also clear the rest of the NBA was impressed by these two 51-year-old executives.

Tanke is now in Houston as the Rockets’ COO, with him running the business and Gretchen Sheirr stepping up to lead the team’s effort to undertake a $635 million redo of the 23-year-old Toyota Center.

On Tuesday, Casson was in Dallas to meet with Mavericks employees as the team’s first-ever president. Meantime, CEO Rick Welts will spend all his time trying to get the Mavs a new arena – one of those places surrounded by a “mini-city,” the same hope that Lore already has expressed as the goal in getting a new arena for his Woofies.

The Twins already have a choice ballyard in Target Field. They were pushing to get the 0.15% sales tax in Hennepin County renewed, with a portion continuing to be used to keep the ballpark up to date. The divided Legislature did not get around to this.

The current problem for Falvey and a possible new owner is the actual ballclub. The Twins will miss the playoffs for the fourth time in the past five seasons. The position players are the eighth-oldest group in the majors, the payroll is out of whack with $35 million going to Carlos Correa, and a previously highly rated minor league system has proved to be a charade.

“The job is to evaluate what comes our way and navigate in any direction possible. … I’ve never considered a label on what we do here. And that’s going to be our deadline every year. Quite frankly, I’ve never pivoted from that.”

Stick to that gobbledygook with a new owner, Mr. Falvey, and there figures to be someone else handling the 2026 trading deadline.