The Twins have operated with a payroll of $97-113M in five of their seasons since moving to Target Field in '10, and the team does not "expect that to change, at least not right away" under a new front office, according to Phil Miller of the Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE. Twins Senior VP & GM Thad Levine, referring to Owner Jim Pohlad's spending philosophy, said, "It's less of a hard-and-fast (maximum) figure, and more of, 'Here are some guidelines -- if (an exception) makes a meaning long-term impact on our chance of winning, I'm listening.'" However, Pohlad has "authorized a much bigger payroll in one area." Levine said that Pohlad is "convinced by his new employees that additional brainpower in the team's analytics department, in examining medical issues and expanding usage of baseball's new metrics being measured on the field, is worth a far greater investment than the Twins have made in the past" (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 11/13). Twins manager Paul Molitor said that he has "no concern about his lineup being directed solely by analytics." Molitor: "I've heard of extreme cases where a manager posts a lineup and he gets a call from upstairs within 30 seconds and (is asked), 'Why is this guy playing and blah, blah, blah.' Believe it or not, our analytics department probably needs to be expanded. [Twins Dir of Baseball Research] Jack Goin, I trust a lot. We have conversations throughout the year and I always joke, 'What does the computer have today?'" He added, "You have to be open to looking at information outside of maybe what your gut tells you. Like [Exec VP & Chief Baseball Officer Derek Falvey] and Levine talk about, it's a combination. I'm still going to trust my eyes, but I'll have to be open-minded that there's some information out there that's good to get" (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 11/13).
