Are the Minnesota Twins the Least Relevant Team in Baseball?

[weitz41]

Well might as well disagree with the rest of the common posters...I respect your point terry. But if that were true. Maybe less people would have watched the Vikings game last night? Not 28.5 million. Being a good or great team trumps (yikes) location

[weitz41]

11 minutes ago, terrydactyls said:

You listed ten teams as clearly more relevant than the Twins.  Seven of the teams are East Coast or West Coast teams.  I think this is a major part of the irrelevance.   The Twins are in the middle of the country and in the northern half.  What media is going to give a damn about anything that happens in Minnesota (with the exception of a school shooting or a George Floyd incident).  Not enough viewers i.e. advertising revenues.  There's an old saying that money talks while the middle of the country isn't worth finishing this saying. 

 

9 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

Yes, it is. Being realistic doesn't mean I take things too seriously or however you want to describe what you're suggesting. If I'm going to have a discussion about something, though, I'm going to put thought into it and come to the best, most honest conclusion I can. You're investing the same amount of time and energy into this conversation as I am, but because you have the optimistic view that ignores the reality of where the Twins stand in the national hierarchy your time and effort don't count?

It doesn't take me any extra effort to be honest about their position in MLB. I'm home now and will feed and walk my dog before making myself some dinner and enjoying some Master Class and a book. Won't think about this convo again. I don't have to ignore reality and just be blindly positive to keep things in perspective. 

Best of luck to you with that.

[Permanent Twins Fan]

Are the Minnesota Twins the Least Relevant Team in Baseball?

Yes

[Craig Arko]

So, if true, would that make Twins Daily the least relevant fan site in baseball?

[Blyleven2011]

The team could be close to the least relevant team of the 30 teams as of now but there still in the conversations about the deadline purge .

We have a relevant history that most true fans know around the country  , I travel alot and strike up baseball conversations if I notice someone wearing baseball apparel , they know our great players that put on a twins uniform ...

[ashbury]

17 minutes ago, Craig Arko said:

So, if true, would that make Twins Daily the least relevant fan site in baseball?

I don't even want to think about your and my respective numerous contributions here, then.  😀

[Craig Arko]

12 minutes ago, ashbury said:

I don't even want to think about your and my respective numerous contributions here, then.  😀

Relevance is overrated. 

[tarheeltwinsfan]

"Well it's been a quiet week in Lake Wobegon, Minnesota, my hometown, out there on the edge of the prairie."  "Sumus quot sumus" is the motto for Lake Wobegon. It means "We are what we are."

[mikelink45]

The question I would pose is not national relevance.  We have always been in the second tier there, but rather are they relevant to Minnesotans?

Would you take them over the Wild, Vikings, Loons, Lynx, Timberwolves?

Has the anger at the Pohlads completely poisoned the well of Minnesota baseball?  Are the Saints more interesting than the Twins?

I continue to come on this site daily, but it is my love of baseball not this team that draws me.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

2 hours ago, weitz41 said:

Well might as well disagree with the rest of the common posters...I respect your point terry. But if that were true. Maybe less people would have watched the Vikings game last night? Not 28.5 million. Being a good or great team trumps (yikes) location

Good point. Look at the Green Bay Packers' history.

[purplesoldier4u]

4 hours ago, LastOnePicked said:

I'm not sure if they're the least relevant, but I can say this: they are a nothing organization right now. There's absolutely nothing to them. They have no identity. They don't excel at anything. Fan energy is anemic. I've loved baseball all my life, but even friends and family members who used to love the Twins never - and I mean never - talk about them when we get together these days,

 

 

This!

[David HK]

Yes.  Since July 31.

[old nurse]

2 hours ago, Craig Arko said:

So, if true, would that make Twins Daily the least relevant fan site in baseball?

Yes, that they have to discus relevancy based on nothing but opinions would aptly describe irrelevant 

[Greggory Masterson]

6 hours ago, Aggies7 said:

I’ve never met a marlins fan in my life. They’ve finished last in attendance in the NL all but two years (one during Covid) since 2006. Two non losing seasons since 2010 (one again during Covid). Even when they won the WS, they followed with sell offs. If their own fans don’t care, how could they be relevant to the league as a whole?

I can’t believe you haven’t had the privilege of meeting Marlins Man

[David HK]

7 hours ago, Craig Arko said:

So, if true, would that make Twins Daily the least relevant fan site in baseball?

omg... 😬

[twinstalker]

From a talent standpoint, the Twins may in fact be the least relevant team.  Maybe Rockies, Pirates, but they're exceptions proving the rule.

[whosafraidofluigirussolo]

I don’t dispute much of what you’re saying, but one counterpoint: the Diamondbacks have by far the ugliest uniforms in the sport, and that is and has been consistently the case through any alt jerseys, design identity updates, etc. Not sure anyone’s choice to sport that cap or jersey really confers more iconicity or relevance on the team. 

[Loosey]

I agree with your assessment.  I’ll take it a step further and say they are the most irrelevant professional sports team in Minnesota.  The Vikings are always going to be #1 mainly because the NFL is a machine and knows how to market their league and teams.  The Timberwolves recent success and superstar Ant has moved them past the Twins in the past few years as #2.  The Wild I would put as #3.  Even in the 4th most popular pro sport in the country in Minnesota hockey is always relevant and the team is always a playoff contender with a star and better marketing.  I also think the Lynx popularity and relevance today is greater than the Twins. They win, they have a devoted fan base and have perhaps the best player in the league.  So that leaves the Twins at 5th not far ahead of the Loons.  The Twins should be #2 or #3 even when bad, but their issues stem much deeper than the team on the field.  When you have an ownership group that doesn’t care, eventually that will trickle down the casual fan base.  The Twins and MLB’s marketing is awful. Byron Buxton should be a superstar.  But the team hasn’t embraced him as that nor shown the national baseball audience how good he really is. I’m not a marketing guy, but the team needs to find a better way to market the team starting locally. The other teams appear to be involved and out in the community much more often, maybe the Twins are, but they do a bad job of showing it if that’s the case. They have done the opposite instead. It’s hard to watch them on TV, and most people literally had no idea how to watch them early in the year, largely because the team didn’t do anything to help the fan base with that.  We had to figure it out ourselves and many gave up trying after their poor start.  Unfortunately for the Twins the only way they will become relevant in our own market, let alone nationally will be to put an exciting, successful team on the field but that doesn’t seem like it’s going to happen for a long time after recent events.  So, if they can’t stay relevant in Minnesota, how do they stay relevant nationally. This is all an internal issue that needs to be fixed but likely will not anytime soon.

[OvertheHill]

Appreciate all the thoughtful comments. We could debate what metrics determine “relevance “ all day.
 

I would add that, growing up in the Twin Cities in the 1960’s and 70’s my family and my cohort would have some connection to the team all season. We knew who was starting that day, who was hitting, who wasn’t, etc. WCCO would be on someone’s radio in the background and the games were part of the ambiance. Fast forward 50 years and I can’t imagine (most) Twins “fans” attempting to stay connected on that level. Someone comps them tickets, they buy some merchandise to fit in, they get a glimpse, then they return to the million other things competing for their attention. It was a thing they “did” then moved on. Likely the same dynamic in most markets. But what makes the Twins irrelevant IMO is the sheer apathy of this market and its media outlets. The Twins are irrelevant largely because they’re expected to be. We have an ownership group and business model that seems to do its best to alienate baseball fans. Mission accomplished. 

[DJL44]

14 hours ago, mikelink45 said:

The question I would pose is not national relevance.  We have always been in the second tier there, but rather are they relevant to Minnesotans?

Would you take them over the Wild, Vikings, Loons, Lynx, Timberwolves?

The Loons are never going to get me into that stadium as long as they keep playing Wonderwall.

[The Great Hambino]

17 hours ago, Aggies7 said:

I’ve never met a marlins fan in my life. They’ve finished last in attendance in the NL all but two years (one during Covid) since 2006. Two non losing seasons since 2010 (one again during Covid). Even when they won the WS, they followed with sell offs. If their own fans don’t care, how could they be relevant to the league as a whole?

It will never not be weird that they have two World Series titles and zero division titles.

But to the question at hand:  I think the Marlins have the best case for the title of most irrelevant franchise right now, mainly because they've been solidifying their irrelevancy for years; their kind of fan apathy (AA attendance at one of MLB's newest stadiums in what any other sports league would consider a prime market) isn't cultivated overnight.  Other potential claimants to the crown have had something newsworthy recently (Skenes in Pittsburgh, relocation in Oakland, the Rangers/Diamondbacks World Series that will stump a lot of people at trivia night decades from now) to separate themselves from the Marlins.  The Bomba Squad alone pushes the Twins past the Marlins for relevancy, and that was one team that won zero playoff games six years ago.  Achieving lower relevance than the Marlins is a mighty high bar to clear

The Marlins should be a cautionary tale for what long-term neglect from ownership can do to a fanbase.  They're the Ghost of Christmas Future for miserly baseball owners

[Teflon]

An objective way to measure this would be to count social media mentions.  

[theBOMisthebomb]

On 9/9/2025 at 6:20 PM, Craig Arko said:

So, if true, would that make Twins Daily the least relevant fan site in baseball?

May I introduce you to twinkietown.com?

[Charleo]

Did we just get rid of our entire scouting department??  I understand scouting isn't what it used to be, but this appears to be another cost-cutting move.   That playoff series win of 2023 feels like a different decade.   I'm not sure how they are expecting to keep fans?   How loyal can a person be?  It's one thing to suffer through some losing years, never get a big free agent (I guess outside of Correa), etc.  It's another thing completely when the owners go out of their way to make the fan experience worse in every possible way to save what amounts to pennies to them.   I have watched the Twins for 40 years and never have I been less interested or more discouraged.  And this counts the contraction days.   With the stadium they were given, the Pohlad's have no excuses other than they ran this team into the ground.    Again.    Living in Madison, watching the Brewers thrive with less, is both infuriating and enticing.