As baseball's regular season wraps up on Sunday, the Twins will return to Minneapolis having missed the playoffs four of the past five years.

Why it matters: This year's team will finish with its worst record since 2016. Things could get even worse this winter.

Here's what we're watching:

🧢 Manager Rocco Baldelli: He led the team in 2023 to its first postseason series win in 21 years, but last year's late-season collapse and this year's malaise don't inspire confidence and he could be in the hot seat.

• Yes, but: Could they find someone better to replace him, considering the state of the roster and a dwindling payroll?
• And would the Pohlads, in cost-cutting mode, be willing to pay Baldelli's guaranteed salary in addition to a new manager's?

💸 The Pohlads' purse: In 2023 the Twins owners spent $156 million on payroll. This year they spent $129 million.

• With few big salaries on the books for next year, a sub-$100 million payroll is very possible, which would put the team among the six or seven lowest spenders in MLB.

⚾️ Pablo López and Joe Ryan: These two frontline starting pitchers are excellent, but with López set to make $21.2 million and Ryan projected to get more than $6 million, they could be on the trade block as the team continues with a rebuild.

🦌 Byron Buxton: The star centerfielder is wrapping up his best year as a pro and has said he has no interest in waiving his no-trade clause because he loves it here.

• Yes, but: Will he love it if the front office continues to gut the roster? Buxton is 31 and could spend the last of his prime years on a team that doesn't appear close to competing for the playoffs.

🦄 Walker Jenkins: If one thing could reengage fans, it's the rise of Jenkins, the team's best prospect in many years. He is likely to be called up to the big leagues next year.

The bottom line: Rock bottom might not be here yet.

The Twins drew 1,768,728 fans this season — the worst home attendance total of the Target Field era, COVID years aside.

• Home crowds haven't been this small since 2000, when the Metrodome-bound Twins drew barely 1 million fans.

What we're watching: How much more attendance could fall in 2026, since ticket sales are often a reflection of the previous year's performance.

Minnesota Wild owner Craig Leipold dismissed moving his team into a new, privately financed arena the Timberwolves and Lynx's owners have floated.

What he said: "We are going to stay in St. Paul and they're going to stay in Minneapolis. Pretty hard to negotiate from that point," Leipold told reporters Thursday night.

Why it matters: The comments show Leipold's commitment to downtown St. Paul even as the Wild's pitch for publicly funded upgrades to the recently renamed Grand Casino Arena has failed to gain traction.

Catch up quick: For two years, the team and St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter have argued the 25-year-old, city-owned arena needs major upgrades to remain relevant.

• In March, they asked state lawmakers to pick up half of a $769 million upgrade to the arena and neighboring Roy Wilkins Auditorium.
• They later asked for less state money ($50 million) for an arena-only project.

Reality check: Requests for state bonding money require bipartisan support, and stadium projects have become a tough sell in both legislative caucuses.

What the Wolves have said

✨ Target is getting another Taylor Swift exclusive: A limited-run vinyl edition of "The Life of a Showgirl: The Crowd Is Your King," which drops next Friday. (Variety)

• The shimmery pink-and-gold record, which comes with a poster and other extras, costs $34.99. Close to a dozen Minnesota stores will stay open for the midnight release.

⚖️ The U.S. Department of Justice sued Minnesota over Secretary of State Steve Simon's refusal to turn over voter rolls. (MPR News)

🍎 Sprout Organics expanded its recall of some fruit and veggie pouches sold in Minnesota. (WCCO)

☕️ At least three Minneapolis Starbucks locations — Canadian Pacific Plaza, City Center and Eat Street — are expected to close as part of a national restructuring. (Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal/Background via Axios)

Minneapolis mayoral candidate Omar Fateh said his campaign office was vandalized with an Islamophobic threat. (KSTP)

📚 A Robbinsdale Area School District advisory committee recommended condensing its two high schools into one new campus amid enrollment declines and fiscal challenges. (CCX)

🏈 Carleton quarterback Jack Curtis is balancing game days with chemotherapy after being diagnosed with late-stage 2 Hodgkin lymphoma this summer. (Sports Take)

• Curtis, who threw for 478 yards and six touchdowns on Saturday before returning to treatment, called the diagnosis "the most heartbreaking news of my life."

🗓️ Mark your calendar with our Event Board.

MinnPost Festival at Westminster Presbyterian Church tomorrow: A day of insightful conversations with thought leaders including Gov. Tim Walz, Kara Swisher, Sen. Tina Smith, Speaker Lisa Demuth, Dr. Michael Osterholm and more. Axios readers get 40% off tickets with code AXIOS.

Hosting an event? Email [email protected].

University of Minnesota researchers are using 3D printers to produce "realistic human tissue" for use in medical training.

Why it matters: Practicing surgical techniques and other procedures on (close to) the real thing could help med students and doctors up their skills —potentially improving patient outcomes.

👩‍🔬 How they did it: The researchers used the printers to create tiny fluid-filled capsules meant to imitate blood.

• The result: Lifelike parts that can "mimic the complex directional strength, softness and stretchiness" of the human body.

🦾 What we're watching: The researchers hope the technology could be used to develop bionic organs.

See it in the flesh

A new exhibit opening soon at the Minnesota History Center may leave you craving cassoulet.

Driving the news: "Julia Child: A Recipe for Life," which opens Saturday, showcases the life of the culinary icon known for her popular television shows and French cookbooks.

• It includes an interactive replica of "The French Chef" studio, where visitors can try cooking on camera.

🎟️ Tickets are $15 for adults, $8 for ages 5-17. Children 4 and under free.

🧈 Share with someone who loves cooking with butter