Lots of Twins Minor League Transactions

[jtrinaldi]

Are the Twins dumping Beloit??

Thats the word on the street

[Thrylos]

Thats the word on the street

I've heard that the Twins are moving into Cedar Rapids (currenty the Angels' ML affiliate). If so, Twins' fans who live in MN and are interested in the minors will rejoice, not only because it is less than 4 hrs from the Cities by car, but because there are several direct flights from MSP to Cedar Rapids daily...

[nicksaviking]

The Twins and Rochester have been on shakey ground for awhile now. I was hoping the AAA team would have eventually made their way into Iowa. The Twins affiliates in Beloit AND Cedar Rapids could help expand their regional influence into the Brewers/Cubs/Cardinals domain.

[Thrylos]

The Twins and Rochester have been on shakey ground for awhile now. I was hoping the AAA team would have eventually made their way into Iowa. The Twins affiliates in Beloit AND Cedar Rapids could help expand their regional influence into the Brewers/Cubs/Cardinals domain.

Not only Rochester but New Britain is up for grabs the coming off-season. I am willing to bet that the Twins will have 3 new MiLB affiliates for 2013 (other than the Miracle - and BTW the Lee County Board today approved the improvements for the Twins' ST complex and Hammond Stadium - a total of $60M - which will likely keep the Twins there until 2050...)

 

To get a AAA team in IA/WI/MN, the Twins will either need to out the Cubs from Des Moines (tough) or have one of the other 15 PCL teams move (probably easier, but where? need to have a place to sustain a team). There is no way the PCL is expanding because it has 4 divisions of 4 teams each and is geographically too diverse. I do not see the IL moving that much West, but you never know...

[Mr. Ed]

I've heard that the Twins are moving into Cedar Rapids (currenty the Angels' ML affiliate). If so, Twins' fans who live in MN and are interested in the minors will rejoice, not only because it is less than 4 hrs from the Cities by car, but because there are several direct flights from MSP to Cedar Rapids daily...

Some may make it in under 4 hrs. I was checking that for future reference, maps I checked say 4hrs/36 minutes minimum.

But would be nice to move there. I remember them being in the quad cities when they got flooded.

[Mr. Ed]

I also cannot see them getting a AAA franchise in MN/IA/WI

 

too tough to draw crowds, unless they somehow unseat the Iowa Cubs. I would doubt that.

 

Probably wind up in Syracuse or Buffalo. Bleh.

[jtrinaldi]

The Twins and Rochester have been on shakey ground for awhile now. I was hoping the AAA team would have eventually made their way into Iowa. The Twins affiliates in Beloit AND Cedar Rapids could help expand their regional influence into the Brewers/Cubs/Cardinals domain.

The thing about the Brewers,Cubs,Cardinals that is different than the Twins and their Low A affiliate is that they make it feel like you entering a part of their organization in each of their stadiums. Wisconsin's contract with the Brewers does not expire after this year so they are not a factor. It just seems that the Twins are the least involved team with their class A affiliate (Beloit) which may have to do with the new stadium deal not being done yet. These are the teams that expire after this year in All of A baseball. I honnestly wouldn't be surprised to see the Twins A affiliate next year be in the Sally league. If the Twins were so worried about location like you suggest, then why haven't they moved their AAA team to the International league or their AA team to the Southern league? The longest tenure that a Twins Class A affiliate has held before Beloit was QC for 6 years.Overall I think the Twins would like to move to the Sally league to try and get more attendance (they draw extremely high numbers) as well as having a closer base to where the head of their Minor League department is located (Fort Myers). Overall moving to the Sally is ultimately what I think the Twins do. Having any distance to Minnesota does not seem like it is a priority for the Twins, which is why I see the Twins looking to get closer to the head of their Minor League operations.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/affiliate.cgi?id=MIN

 

Here is a list of which team's contracts are up after this year.

Beloit Snappers - Minnesota (signed through 2012)

Bowling Green Hot Rods - Tampa Bay (signed through 2012)

Burlington Bees - Oakland (signed through 2012)

Cedar Rapids Kernels - Anaheim (signed through 2012)

Clinton Lumber Kings - Seattle (signed through 2012)

Dayton Dragons - Cincinnati (signed through 2012) Lock to extend

Fort Wayne TinCaps - San Diego (signed through 2012) Lock to extend

Kane County Cougars - Kansas City (signed through 2012)

Lansing Lugnuts - Toronto (signed through 2012)

Peoria Chiefs - Chicago (NL) (signed through 2012) Lock to extend

Quad Cities River Bandits - St. Louis (signed through 2012) Lock to extend

Asheville Tourists - Colorado (signed through 2012)

Augusta GreenJackets - San Francisco (signed through 2012)

Greensboro Grasshoppers - Miami (signed through 2012)

Hagerstown Suns - Washington (signed through 2012)

Hickory Crawdads - Texas (signed through 2012)

Lakewood Blue Claws - Philadelphia (signed through 2012)

Lexington Legends - Houston (signed through 2012)

Savannah Sand Gnats - New York (NL) (signed through 2012)

[James]

I also cannot see them getting a AAA franchise in MN/IA/WI

 

too tough to draw crowds, unless they somehow unseat the Iowa Cubs. I would doubt that.

 

Probably wind up in Syracuse or Buffalo. Bleh.

Unless they can somehow convince a AAA Club to move some place like Madison. And there should be enough college students there to support a team during the summer months... maybe? Tough to say. Just a random thought. It might be a tough thing to do though. There is a team called the Madison Mallards that play in the Northwoods League, which apparently is a college league. I'd have to look into it more to find out all the facts, but that would nice to have another Twins minor league team that close.

[Mr. Ed]

Unless they can somehow convince a AAA Club to move some place like Madison. And there should be enough college students there to support a team during the summer months... maybe? Tough to say. Just a random thought. It might be a tough thing to do though. There is a team called the Madison Mallards that play in the Northwoods League, which apparently is a college league. I'd have to look into it more to find out all the facts, but that would nice to have another Twins minor league team that close.

This is correct. Northwoods is a wood-bat league for guys in college, that extends into Central Minnesota.

 

 

http://www.northwoodsleague.com/

[MWLFan]

jtrindaldi- I pray it doesn't happen that the Twins move out of the MWL as my baseball viewing will become non-existent. I could do Cedar Rapids or Clinton, but for my family it will be the death knell of live baseball I am afraid. But that is life.

[jtrinaldi]

jtrindaldi- I pray it doesn't happen that the Twins move out of the MWL as my baseball viewing will become non-existent. I could do Cedar Rapids or Clinton, but for my family it will be the death knell of live baseball I am afraid. But that is life.

I see where you are coming from, but as dumb as it sounds I would actually welcome a different team to Beloit. It would be nice to see a team come to Beloit that would be able to finish up the new Stadium that has been sitting on the table for the last 4 years. I know a lot about that situation and it seems like the Parent club may be to blame about the deal not being finalized. I think it would be best for Beloit and the Twins to part ways, but that is just me.

[Thrylos]

I think that maybe a new dedicated transaction place might make sense

Wilken Ramirez after a game at Fort Myers (was in the Rochester DL) moved to New Britain... I think that he and Mastroianni officially switched spots.

[tcarlic]

I also cannot see them getting a AAA franchise in MN/IA/WI

 

too tough to draw crowds, unless they somehow unseat the Iowa Cubs. I would doubt that.

 

Probably wind up in Syracuse or Buffalo. Bleh.

 

Being from Syracuse, I take offense to that Why wouldn't they just sign back with Rochester? If those three are the options, the Red Wings have a wayyyyy nicer stadium. Guess I'm going to have to start my Twins franchise hat collection over :/ eh... I guess more hats right?

[greengoblinrulz]

Just stay out of the PCL is all I care. You cant judge a player/pitcher out there with some of the parks/air/etc. Look at some of the numbers from the Edmonton teams.