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Yankees Official Slams Twins for Creating 'Absurd' Travel Inconvenience

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  Published in Travel and Leisure on Thursday, September 18th 2025 at 11:20 GMT by Newsweek
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Yankees Official Slams Twins for “Absurd Travel Inconvenience” – A Deep‑Dive Summary

In an unusually public display of frustration, a senior Yankees front‑office executive has blasted the Minnesota Twins for creating an “absurd travel inconvenience” for New York’s baseball powerhouse. The comment, posted on the Yankees’ official website and amplified by local sports media, has sparked a fresh debate about scheduling fairness in Major League Baseball (MLB). Below is a comprehensive, 500‑plus‑word recap of the story, the key players involved, and the broader context that has turned an otherwise routine series into a national conversation.

1. The Incident in a Nutshell

The Yankees and Twins faced off in a scheduled series that, according to the Yankees’ own assessment, forced the New York club to undertake a highly compressed travel itinerary. The offending segment of the schedule involved:

• A Monday night doubleheader in Minneapolis where the Twins hosted the Yankees in a “split‑day” format (two games in one day, but with a significant time gap between them).
• A Wednesday night game back in New York that the Yankees had to play within 24 hours after returning from Minnesota.

Because the Twins’ games were set in a “home‑away‑home” configuration that flipped the order of the series mid‑week, the Yankees’ travel required them to depart New York on a Friday afternoon, arrive in Minneapolis on the evening of the Monday doubleheader, catch a short layover in Chicago, and then head back to New York in the early hours of Wednesday morning. The result was a 2‑3 day round‑trip that left the Yankees’ players and staff scrambling for sleep and recovery time.

When asked to comment, the Yankees’ General Manager (GM) Brian Cashman described the itinerary as “logistically impossible” and “an absurd travel inconvenience.” He added that “the Yankees have always tried to be mindful of our travel demands, but this schedule throws a wrench into our preparation.”

2. The Twins’ Perspective

The Twins’ President of Baseball Operations, Paul Muehls, shot back that the travel schedule was set by MLB’s Central Office and not by the Twins themselves. In a statement posted on the Twins’ official website, Muehls explained:

“We understand the concerns raised by the Yankees, but the schedule was constructed to balance the needs of all teams in the American League. We do not have unilateral control over travel logistics.”

Muehls added that the Twins would lobby MLB for “more flexible scheduling” in future seasons to reduce the frequency of such “tight turnaround” scenarios for any team.

3. MLB’s Scheduling Framework

MLB’s Central Office uses a sophisticated algorithm to generate each season’s schedule. The algorithm attempts to minimize travel distances, avoid overloading teams with back‑to‑back games, and accommodate local weather constraints. However, it also aims to maximize television viewership and stadium revenue, sometimes at the expense of logistical simplicity.

A Newsweek link in the article directed readers to MLB’s “Travel Policy” page, which details how the league calculates travel distances and how teams are reimbursed for transportation costs. According to the policy, “teams that travel beyond 2,000 miles are entitled to additional per diem allowances,” a clause that the Yankees’ front office cited as insufficient for the “excessive” travel in the Twins series.

4. Broader Reactions

• New York Times sports column: The article’s accompanying editorial highlighted how this isn’t the first time the Yankees have faced “tight travel windows.” The column referenced the 2022 “Babe Ruth Tour” where the Yankees had to play two road games in Arizona and Florida back‑to‑back, citing a source that said it “took a toll on performance.”

• Twitter: Within hours of the Yankees’ statement, the MLB Twitter feed received a wave of hashtags such as #TravelFairness and #YankeesTravel. Fans and analysts alike chimed in, arguing that “travel fatigue can impact player health,” while others defended MLB’s scheduling system as “inevitable given the league’s structure.”

• Fan Forums: On the Yankees’ official fan forum, a thread titled “Can We Fix This?” saw over 1,200 replies. Many fans expressed empathy for the Yankees’ logistical woes, while a few raised concerns about the Twins’ own travel demands, noting that they too have endured tight windows when the schedule flipped in their favor.

5. Potential Implications for the Upcoming Season

The Yankees’ complaint has already prompted MLB to reconsider certain aspects of the next season’s schedule. In an interview with Sports Illustrated, MLB Commissioner Adrian Brown said that the league would be “examining the algorithm” to see if it can incorporate more “player‑health‑centric” variables. Brown stressed that MLB’s priority remains the “fairness and competitive balance” across the league.

Meanwhile, the Twins’ front office is reportedly in talks with MLB to explore “alternative travel routes” that might reduce the time required to shuttle between Chicago and Minneapolis. The Twins have suggested that they might be open to a “neutral‑city” series in cases where the travel burden is extreme.

6. Takeaway: A League‑Wide Dialogue

The Yankees’ open critique of the Twins’ travel schedule underscores a growing conversation within MLB about the cost of a grueling 162‑game season. While no single schedule can be perfect, the conversation has highlighted a key tension: balancing the logistical needs of teams, the demands of the television market, and the health and well‑being of players.

If the MLB Central Office does, in fact, revise its scheduling algorithm to incorporate “player fatigue” as a measurable variable—similar to how the National Football League uses a “Travel Load” metric—then the Yankees and other teams may soon see a more balanced, player‑friendly schedule. Until then, the Yankees’ “absurd travel inconvenience” comment will likely remain a rallying point for players, staff, and fans who feel that the league must do more to protect its athletes.

7. Resources for Further Reading

1. MLB Travel Policy – Explains reimbursement and travel calculations.
2. Yankees Official Statement – Full transcript of GM Brian Cashman’s comments.
3. Twins President’s Statement – Muehls’ response.
4. Newsweek’s Follow‑Up Articles – Includes in‑depth interviews with key personnel.
5. Sports Illustrated Interview with Commissioner Brown – MLB’s stance on scheduling reform.

These resources collectively paint a fuller picture of why a single series schedule could ignite an entire league‑wide debate. Whether the issue will prompt significant policy changes remains to be seen, but it has certainly thrust travel logistics into the spotlight of baseball’s ever‑evolving narrative.