Thread: AAA Affiliation

I've been thinking of this for awhile, so when I saw the thread, I thought I would get my 2 cents in. The Northwoods league that is in MN & WI is doing well. So I was thinking, what about Madison. I know Mallards averaged 6278 in attendance 2011, while Beloit averaged 1030. It's also about 45 min closer to mpls. And the stadium is better. As a fan, I would rather follow an affiliated team from April thru early Sept, than a Northwoods team from June 1st until early August.
Also, it rochester was a problem at AAA, could Madison be an option there too?

The Twins have no shot at bringing ANY Minor League team to Minnesota. To relocate a team it takes an average of 2-4 years (Portland to Tucscon). Getting rid of Rochester for a team in the PCL makes no Sense at wall whatsoever, there would be an imbalance of teams in the PCL. There will not be a MWL team in Minnesota either, so don't get your hopes up. There is simply no team in lower Minnesota that would be able to meet all the requirements needed to get a MWL team. They would first have to have a stadium that seats 7500 people. They would also need to have a town of 30,000. The 3rd reason Minnesota won't get a MILB team at all is because of the location. The MWL is perfect as of now, so why screw it up and put a team in another state? Cedar Rapids is the northern most team in Iowa. The MWL is based off of pairings of cities close to one another for Interleague play, as well as scheduling purposes. for example
Beloit,Appleton
Clinton,Kane County
Cedar Rapids,Quad Cities
Burlingont,Peroia
Traveling distances would also be a bit extreme to get to Minnesota (any part of the state) and it would be out of the way for EVERY team in the MWL.
There is just no room for a team in Minnesota and the MWL

Originally Posted by thrylos98

That figure listed for the ABE (Allentown Bethlehem Easton/ Lehigh Valley) area is way lower than the population of the Metro in the last census survey (close to 850K)

Arbitron's list is marked as age 12+ for population. Perhaps that explains the difference.

Originally Posted by thrylos98

For Scranton to be listed that high, you probably need to include everything south of Erie PA. Scranton and Wilkes-Barre are close to 100K people combined

100K? OK, if you don't like Arbitron's approach, there is the Wikipedia page for this area, which states that "The Scranton–Wilkes-Barre Metropolitan Statistical Area covers Lackawanna, Luzerne and Wyoming counties.^[1] It had a combined population of 563,936 in 2011...". Those three counties don't extend very far. South of Erie? Do you know where Scranton is?

Anyway, 1) there is at least one AAA city smaller than your guess, and 2) no MN (or nearby) city comes even close to this minimal threshold. I'm moving on, hope you will too.

Why not make the St. Paul Saints the Twins AAA team? Or create a new team locally? Minneapolis Millers? If you think it's too close, the Seattle Mariners AAA team is in Tacoma. Just a thought.

it takes 2 years to relocate an enitre franchise, prolly around 5 to create one in a new city that has never had a team before

I like the Rochester MN idea, but I doubt it's a great idea financially. Keeping the team in Rochester NY is probably the best for the team. If any of the minor leagues teams have to move, I hope it's New Britain.

The one thing we need to remember is if a new AAA team is created, it either has to be moved from another city, or another team has to leave AAA.

Why did he Twins go to Rochester? First class operation, and Rochester wanted to be part of a winning team when the Orioles moved on. The Twins were winners.....

The Twins have long fared well in areas outside the state: Iowa, the Dakotas, parts of Wisconsin, up into Canada, as far as Montana and Wyoming had Minnesota Twins fans. Some dated back t the days when the Twins were the only team really in the upper northwest. Seattle made some inroads. Colorado was considered a threat, but ahd trouble wooing longtime Twins fans (even when both teams were losing).

The Twins have taken their radio network and such in-house and did expand their take of the pie, but still surprised that the Twins, because of their far reach, aren't a national baseball telecast/radiocast powerhouse. They have major fan bases in seven (lbleit small population) states.

I always like the idea of a minor league team close by, but seriously, how many Twin fans go to Quad Cities or Beloit? More make the trek to Kansas City or Milwaukee...but unless it was in our virtual backyard (Burnsville), I doubt the out-of-town traffic would ake significant ticket sales for the team. t's a nice thought, but if the Beloit team was the St. Paul Saints, would the general baseball going populus really care about who is who and who owns hhet eam?

Originally Posted by CDog

Why are we still talking about this? CDog wants Las Vegas!!!!!!

CDog may be getting a little loopy today. Tough times in Twins Territory.

CDog doesn't think he likes using the third person. CDog will stop that now.

CDog, if the Twins get the AAA affiliate in Vegas, I will take you to a game. They have a great stadium, and living art galleries nearby.

AAA teams can average 5,000 to 10,000 attendance a game. Plus the beer and pretzels and hot dogs. Corporate sponsorships is also a nice source of AAA income.

I don't believe Fargo and Sioux Falls can reach that attendance number. Any owner willing to put a AAA team in one of those cities would be immediately looking for a larger population base to draw from and bigger markets with more larger corporations.

From the Twins perspective... Rochester and Las Vegas... It doesn't matter other than the Twins may have a decent relationship with Red Wings owners.

They wont care cuz The Twins pay the Rochester salaries and they will pay the same at Vegas.

Ticket revenue, concessions and corporate sponsorship money goes to the AAA owner.

Des Moines is the AAA market the Twins should align with if the door ever opened. Until the Cubs depart. LV would be just fine.

Interesting article about the Twins/Red Wings

Link

Originally Posted by Rosterman

The rumor is that Las Vegas doesn't consistently draw that well, unless the team is winning, because of so many otehr distractions. Plus, it is a hot place to play and can be expensive for housing and such for players. Plus, a distraction for players. It's a favorite place to play for visiting teams. I can see Gardy pushing for Oklahoma. I hope the relationship will continue with Rochester. But the Twins also might be kicked out of New Britain, and heaer rumbles of departing Beloit (which is a nice roadtrip).

After living here for the last 17 years, let me tell you about Cashman Field and AAA baseball in Las Vegas. Cashman Field is the most dismal venue in pro baseball. The stadium is ugly and unwelcoming. It stands in a dangerously high crime area north if downtown, known affectionately by locals as "the Hood". Parking and traffic are miserable. One half to two thirds of the seating is bleachers, not fixed seats. The temperature at first pitch is routinely 100+ degrees. Players actually take BP and infield drills in shorts, to combat the heat. A small percentage of seats are located under a misting system, but sitting there puts fans under an overhang, sending the majority of fly balls out of view. There are no workout or treatment facilities at the stadium. Home team players are given passes to a local gym. I don't know where they get treatment. A dedicated Twins Fan, living in Las Vegas, I still don't wish this situation on the Twins. Please find a better place for your prospects.

Originally Posted by silverslugger

Some of the Northwoods League cities used to have teams in the Midwest League. I don't see either Fargo or Sioux Falls as AAA cities and don't think the Twins would want their AAA affiliate so close as it could negatively affect the Twins gate. Of course, an argument could be made the other way that it would drum up more interest since the AAA affiliate would be geographically located within "Twins Territory". Prior to Rochester, the Twins affiliate was Salt Lake City. Why did the Twins leave SLC for Rochester? I do know that Rochester has had an excellent AAA history/reputation.

They didn't. They left Salt Lake City for Edmonton. They were there a few years and realized the weather made it impossible to play there in April, then left for Rochester.