Opinion: Twins TV Hits a Grand Slam with All Analyst Broadcast

The beauty of the baseball season is that it is a long season, that it is a marathon and not a sprint. After 162 games, the best teams separate themselves from the others. 

The difficulty of the baseball season for players and for fans is that it is a long season. Players have to figure out a routine and that could certainly get monotonous. It's the same for most fans, even die-hard fans. The routine of watching most of the 162 games can get a little stale, especially if you are a fan of a team that isn't very good. It can also be true of great team. 

So sometimes teams and players need to mix up. Days off, completely away from the field are important. Taking batting practice in the batting cage instead of on the field. Taking the second bus from the hotel instead of the first bus to the ballpark. Maybe something as simple as wearing your pants to your knees. 

Likewise, for fans, we need to find different ways of watching. Maybe on your big living room TV. Maybe on a laptop grilling or sitting near a campfire. Maybe it's listening on the radio on a Saturday afternoon with a fishing pole in your hand on the pontoon. 

Maybe it's as simple as hearing different voices. Twins fans are really lucky. Dick Bremer and his iconic voice was welcomed into our homes calling Twins fans for 40 seasons. This coming weekend, he will be welcomed with open arms as one of the most deserving members of the Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame. 

Cory Provus was the radio voice for the Twins for a dozen years. He has now been in the TV booth for a few seasons. Enjoying the All-Analyst Broadcast is not in any way a knock on Provus. I think most know just how good he is behind the microphone. He does probably 150 Twins games each year. He's fantastic calling college football and college basketball in the offseason. He also has a young family. I'm sure an extra series off here and there is a great thing. We all want a quality work-life balance, right?  

Early in his career, Bremer teamed with Tommy John, Jim Kaat and Harmon Killebrew. For a long time, Bremer worked mostly with Bert Blyleven. That was fun early on and when the "Circle Me Bert" became a thing. If we're being honest, the Blyleven experience is why many of us started watching the game on mute. Sure, you occasionally missed Blyleven expanding the English dictionary, even getting himself suspended. What we learned from that is that on TV you can see what's happening. You don't need to have the play detailed to the same level as is needed on the radio. 

When Blyleven retired from the booth, the Twins decided to go with analyst-by-committee. Remember how much we enjoyed Tom Kelly's takes and stories the first time that he was in the booth. Roy Smalley had been around for a while. Justin Morneau came on board in 2019. The Twins tried out the likes of Torii Hunter (which made us all a bit nervous to hear what he might say). Glen Perkins got more and more time. LaTroy Hawkins was on for a few years before joining the coaching staff this year. Trevor Plouffe and Denard Span have been added in the last couple of years. 

I always thought that mixing up his in-booth partners brought out the best in Bremer. He seemed rejuvenated by the opportunity to work with more players. Few know the game of baseball and the history of the Minnesota Twins than Bremer, but he let his analyst be the "star" of the broadcast. He set them up for success. He asked questions that he likely knew the answers to, but he knew that the audience wanted to hear the opinions of the former players. 

Last year, the Twins tried something new. Because of the popularity of the former players involved in the broadcasts, they put together an All-Analyst broadcast. Instead of the traditional play-by-play announcer and an analyst. the broadcast was solely called by the analysts.   

In 2025, Morneau, Perkins and Plouffe were in the booth. Pablo Lopez joined the broadcast and impressed us all. The three former players were teammates with the Twins from 2010-2013

The Twins and Twins.tv brought back the All-Analyst broadcast. This year's class added another former teammate, Denard Span. It is clear that the four players have strong and lasting relationships. Those teams weren't always good, but the players were close and remain close. 

It is completely entertaining to hear them share stories about their playing years, but it's also fun to hear them analyze the game from their experiences. 

Luke Keaschall made his first start in center field on Wednesday night. He had played some center field in Cedar Rapids in 2013 before his Tommy John surgery. Just recently, he has moved from second base to the outfield. Denard Span talked about how he played center field only in the minor leagues, but when he was called up, he had to play right field. He discussed the differences between the three outfield spots. 

They also discussed Span's "walk off grand slam!" 

Trevor Plouffe discussed the challenges he had coming up as a shortstop, getting some time at second and third base, and then being thrown into the corner outfield spots. He talked about the difficulty and differences between the infield and the outfield.  On Tuesday, the highlighted a trip he made to the A's bullpen and got a good laugh about it. 

Pablo Lopez spent an inning with the broadcasters on Tuesday night. They talked about his "success" as a hitter in the National League earlier in his career. They also talked about him taking 14 Twins players with less than one year of service time to a tailor who made custom suits for each. He talked about Martin Prado being the guy who paid it forward to him. 

Wednesday night's game began with Morneau and Perkins in the booth while Trevor Plouffe sat by the foul pole in left field, and Denard Span sat by the foul pole in right field. In the first inning, Span reached toward a ball that Kody Clemens knocked off the top of the wall, maybe 10 feet from him. Later, he "jumped" for a long foul ball over his head. His broadcast teammates laughed and mocked him in the way only teammates can.   

Meanwhile in left field, Trevor Plouffe told the TV audience that he had his wallet, and it had a few $20 bills in it. He said that he would give a $20 to those that came up to him and mentioned it to him. It didn't take long for a line to come up to him, get a $20 and take a picture and shake his hand. In fact, at one point he ran out of money.   

Soon after, Twins owner Tom Pohlad and Dustin Morse showed up in left field. Pohlad handed Plouffe some more $20s and they made fans of several more people.

Then they went over to see Denard Span in right field, and Pohlad gave him some money to hand out to fans as well. 

I think that the experience "humanized" Tom Pohlad to some Twins fans who, to this point, have only read quotes or heard negative things about the family. Pohlad appeared to be having a great time talking to the broadcasters, chatting with the fans, and being present. It is exactly the kind of thing that he needs to do to simply start the process of gaining fan confidence. (Yes, proving it by spending more and pushing payroll back to the 2023 and 2024 levels would also have a huge impact.)   

Asked if they wanted to hand out some money from the broadcast booth, Morneau and Perkins both said that they'd rather have a hot dog. The next half-inning, there was Tom Pohlad, placing a huge hot dog in front of them. That's when Span and Plouffe rejoined Perkins and Morneau in the booth. 

Of course, it's always fun when we get to see the Twins win, especially against an AL Central foe. But both games have been really good baseball games. The Twins won 3-1 on Tuesday night. And Alan Roden played hero in the Twins walk-off win on Wednesday night. 

The Twins and Guardians will play one more game this series. We get to enjoy one more game with the four analysts working together. What topics will they cover today? What stories will they share? Will there be any surprises, such as additional former players joining them, or unique angles, or stories we haven't heard before? And could we be so bold as to ask for another Twins win?

What are your thoughts on the All-Analyst Broadcast? Is it something you would like to see more of? Is it brilliant, or is it crazy? Is it perfect as is, one series each season, to help us all with the long season? Share your thoughts below. I'm sure the Twins would love to hear what you think? The people behind Twins TV would love to hear it as well. Whether you love it or hate it, let them know. 

Another question for discussion? Are there other former Twins players that you would like to see in the TV booth?