Riverbrian

Lots of complication with this but... Ultimately... First and Foremost... You have to increase interest in Baseball. Nothing is solved or sustainable without increasing interest in baseball. Even if you haven't figured out how to monetize that interest. You still have to increase interest in baseball. Selling exclusivity is a self imposed handicap to increasing interest in the game of baseball. Selling exclusivity is the exact opposite of what baseball needs because it limits accessibility. No RSN is going to be able to sell advertising at a decent rate without significant audience to charge those prices and their audience sized will be lowered significantly if consumers can watch the product elsewhere. Exclusivity is part of the deal if you want that short term money meanwhile that exclusivity that you sold sets forth an inevitable downward spiral of waning interest because exclusivity limits accessibility. It is simply way past time to cut out the middle man and take control of your product. The regional sports networks have account managers who sell advertising. The Twins can also employ account managers who sell advertising and keep the profits that RSN's made for themselves which hopefully more than they paid for the rights. No middle man necessary. By handling it in-house... the Twins will be able to sell advertising across all platforms which is something the RSN's can't do. By combining your platforms, blackouts are no longer necessary, accessibility is a reality, the middle man profits are now yours, interest is increased and maybe you sell a few more Royce Lewis jerseys in Vermont. Yes... the downfall of the RSN is going to be a tough adjustment in the short term but it's fantastic news long term. This isn't as simple as we got 45 million dollars from the RSN, let them take the risk and do all the work. It isn't as simple as the Padres have 40,000 subscribers and as result made X amount from those subscribers. How quickly can the Twins can put this together. Let's find out. They failed in their swiftness last year.

It was sure nice of Michael Massey to say what he said. Not sure it's accurate. But it was nice of him to say it.

That is just a little bit more than I spent remodeling my bathroom. In hindsight... My wife probably didn't need that walk in shower with room for 20 people.

If the Twins win a playoff series next year. Then people will say that the Twins have only done it twice since 2002. The incredible losing playoff streak was yesterday. It no longer matters. Knocking off the Jays was Yesterday... It also no longer matters. Late March 2025... A new season will begin. What happened in 2002 won't matter.

The Tigers can't say that. They got rid of every single veteran. Only 3 players on the roster have reached arbitration. Casey Mize is the most seasoned guy with 3.111 years. Javier Baez making 23 million and Kenta Maeda making 14 million. Both of them are not on the playoff roster. After that 37 million... the rest of the team is probably around 10 million dollars. I don't know... I didn't do the math.

I knew what you meant. Chief knew what you meant. Chief knew what I meant by a million miles an hour. On August 17th... The Twins were 72-53. Just 2 games behind Cleveland. 2.5 games behind the Yankees. I believe you are right. It's not just about winning.

I suppose you also tell me that Wallner exit velo's are nowhere near a million miles an hour.

Exactly, Winning team for most of the year. Attendance didn't seem to reflect that. If your marketing team isn't pumping the second best record in July. People won't know that they had the 2nd best record in July. They won't know that something is happening in July. If it's not selling the Jose Miranda hit streak as it happens, you don't sell seats you could have sold on July 6th. If it's not selling the Royce Lewis Grand Slams after one occurs, the arrival of Brooks Lee and David Festa, Matt Wallner exit velocities over 1 million miles an hour. Your Marketing team isn't pumping out positives. If you don't pump out positives what is going to fill the void? Negatives will fill the void. The Pohlads are cheap, the Twins don't care about winning, Rocco Baldelli is a terrible manager becomes the narrative. If you don't market your team, sell your team... others will do it for you and the others... you clearly don't want them marketing your team. Because it'll start looking like a Twinsdaily game thread.

I listened to those ads and was thinking the same thing as you. They can't update their advertising package to fit the context of the day? Voiceover talent should be on the ready and production should be on retainer, distribution should be already in place so that new ad produced Friday Night after the July 5 game can be all over the ****ing place on Saturday Morning. The Ad should go something like this. It's rare to see something that only comes around every 70 years. Something that only comes around every 70 years is special. Today you can tell everybody that you were there to see it. Jose Miranda has 10 straight hits. That's hard to do. The All-Time baseball record of 12 was set back in 1952. Can Jose do it two more times... can he do it three more times... when will the Jose Miranda hit streak come to stop. Come see for yourself. Come to Target Field today at 1:10 and watch Jose Miranda go for history. Can't do that because they set it and forget it with ads produced back in March.

You are correct. All anyone has to do is look at the demographics of those still with cable. Mostly older folks. Cable isn't reaching younger demographics because they have already cut the cord... and surprise surprise... as a result... baseball demographics look a lot the cable audiences. Mostly older folks. Makes perfect sense that both demo's are similar since cable is the sole vehicle utilized to deliver their product to the masses. Hey lookie here... Cable and Baseball have the same demo's... how did that happen? Those who have a young family to bring to the game RIGHT NOW they have no idea what channel 623 is. Baseball marketing shouldn't be targeting the same folks the marketing teams for medication, hearing aids and bathroom grab bars are trying to reach if they want to have a decent sized audience in 15 years.

Margot 0 for 30 as a pinch hitter kinda shoots a hole in the value of the data alone approach.

Agreed. I don't have answers on how but I do I believe that... for the sake of overall interest in the sport, for the demographic health of the game and therefore the future of the game. In the end... sooner rather than later (It's already Later). The Twins need to be accessible beyond the regional demographics of cable. They need to be everywhere everybody is and then they need to figure out how to monetize it. Even if they have to figure out the money part afterwards. However... It's hard to point directly at something like the Padres model without knowing what kind of revenue it is currently producing or could produce going forward. With that said... Hindsight clearly says that the going back to Diamond/Bally was a big mistake because selling exclusive rights to a company that can't provide the product to YOUR consumers is BAD.

This one year deal with Diamond/Bally that they signed. There has been speculation that the number agreed to was in the upper 40 millions. To my knowledge the number was undisclosed. Absent that information I still have a question that I don't know the answer to. Did Diamond/Bally bid against themselves? What drove the price up to 48 million or whatever it was. If nobody is willing to give the Twins 35 Million for broadcast rights for example. Why would Diamond Pay 48 million or (insert correct number here)? In order for money to get to where it got. Something had to compete for it? I ask this question because ultimately... I am still pissed that I couldn't watch the Twins for a good chunk of the summer and didn't like being told that it couldn't be helped. And... on the subject of not being able to watch the Twins. I went for walks. I watched Netflix instead. I was a little less of a Twins fan as a result. I can see this having an effect on attendance. It's entertainment... if you force people to find other entertainment... they will. I was forced to.

Sounds like they have already appointed Buster Posey. Pulled Buster out of a board of directors chair... which is interesting because the board of directors are 6 individuals who have most likely made Farhan Zaidi squirm for the past 6 years. Now Posey can feel the heat he once provided. I'm going to guess that the Giants will go a completely different direction under Posey since the other direction required a change. If the job was still open and the search on going. Lavine replacing Zaidi would be like Mary Kate Olsen replacing Ashley. The Twins and Giants have been very similar in approach. The Giants having much more money available being the primary difference. Lavine would have to convince the Giants in the interview that it's a good thing that he did the same thing in Minnesota because it didn't work here either.

Which owners are part of the community? Which owners are bucking the trend?

I'm not going to spend any time worrying about this sort of thing. The team collapsed and now we have players in their 20's trying to explain, process, deal with it in the public eye. Some fingers got pointed which isn't surprising since both Correa and Lewis tend to speak a little more free than they probably should and the collapse was... well... enormous. Could you imagine being asked to explain what happened to the press... a collapse that was off the charts in size while the press is going to reduce whatever you say to a soundbite. I don't know for answer to the question won't suffice and a soundbite isn't going to cover it.

No worries here. The radio network would remain intact. The flagship station is what would change.

Thanks John, This projection is a great starting point when it comes to what the front office has to do to get ready for 2024. I don't really see middle ground here. The off-season looks to be either chaotic with lots of player movement or mundane with very little player movement. The first thing you have to do with your list is drop them into the proper buckets based on how the Twins have executed over the past two seasons. Assuming health of course... which should never be assumed. Starting Pitching: You have probably named the starting 5. Starting pitching needs to go beyond 5. We will have Festa, Zebby, Maya (Will need to be added to the 40 man) and Morris (could be our Festa next year) as additional depth. Along with Headrick and Canterino and whoever rises from the system that nobody is talking about right now... just like Zebby did. The Starting pitching may not have the top end guy we want... but there is depth here. Bullpen: Assuming that Topa has some skill. There are 7 arms in the bullpen that I like. Duran, Jax, Stewart, Varland, Sands, Alcala and Topa. One Problem... they are all right handed. This organization can't ignore the need for left hander pitchers vs left handed batters after placing so much focus on their left hander hitters facing left handed pitchers. So Funderburk is possibly one. Is Moran still a consideration? I think they need someone bigger and better here. Bullpen arms don't break the bank like a starting pitcher will. I'd love to see them grab Tanner Scott who is the top of the pile left hander in free agency next year in my opinion. If they can't land Tanner Scott... they need to look at the #2 portsider and so on. Shop top of the pile. With those 7... two lefties should take up the two bullpen roster spots which can crowd a talented Alcala down to AAA. Duran, Scott and Jax make a nice top three with Stewart, Varland, Sands, Alcala, Topa and Funderburk taking the other 6 out of the other 5 spots. This would be what I call bullpen serious and it could rival what Cleveland has right now. Alcala has options so he could start the year in AAA. Offense: This is where it gets tricky... you have to drop them all into the proper buckets to see it. I have no reason to believe that the Twins will stop with the extreme platoon splits. Start with 13 players Catcher Bucket: Jeffers and Vazquez 11 roster spots left Multi Position Guy Willi Castro - Led the team in AB"s this year. That's a problem. He needs to return to this role even though he will probably lead the team in AB"s again out of that role. He doesn't really fit into the platoon thing because his career splits are close to even and his 2024 splits suggest he is best against Right handers. 10 Roster spots left Left Handed hitters who won't face left handed pitching Wallner, Larnach and Julien 7 Roster spots left Right handed hitters who will face the left handed pitching because the left handed hitters won't. They may have to use Jeffers in this role in addition to his catching duties. So ou will need 2 of them to cover Wallner, Larnach and Julien. Two will have to play OF. Jeffers paired with Julien at DH. Martin paired with Larnach in LF ??? paired with Wallner in RF I don't like taking a young player like Martin and making him a short sider but if they are committed to protecting the left handers. They will have to and this really sucks for Martin. In addition they will find the Margot Replacement. If you are happy Margot is gone... rest assured... that another Margot will arrive on a cheapish 1 year deal. Someone like Refsnyder is what we are talking about. Pillar maybe for the CF utilization. Maybe a Merrifield to play multiple positions even though his splits don't work. Someone is replacing Margot. 5 Roster Spots left The Power 5 - The close to everyday guys... You can only really platoon 3 spots from each side for a total of 6... So 5 will have to play close to every day. They will be the power 5. Correa - SS Lewis - 3B Buxton - CF Lee - 2B Miranda - 1B In my opinion... this is where the problem lies. I believe the platooning they do is a problem but I don't think they will change. So these 5 is where the problem is going to rear it's head. I have no expectation that Correa, Lewis and Buxton will remain healthy for 162 games. We don't know what Lee will contribute. I like Miranda but, he faded hard at the end and I'm not sure he belongs in the power 5. When Correa, Buxton and Lewis get hurt. Someone has to rise up and replace them in the everyday 5. Castro will probably be the first power 5 replacement. After Castro... look at the choices and keep in mind that they won't use the left handed hitters for full time duty. that leaves you with Martin and the Margot replacement after Castro for full time duty when these guys get hurt or don't pan out. Our offensive hopes and dreams will be placed on the shoulders of the power 5. Meaning we need health from the typically unhealthy and we need solid numbers from a couple of players who haven't provided solid numbers yet.

I have my issues with the way the Twins handle some things. In-Game, Big Picture process stuff. I hear you but... there must have been some Rocco decisions that resulted in Wins. If Rocco would have made the move you or I wanted? Would the team have won the game? Still lost the game? Then the question that needs to be asked is. What about the other managers across the league. Have they made decisions that resulted in losses? Is Rocco making more bad decisions than the others? I don't know the answer to that? And the next question... if another manager was in the same situation... Would they have made a different decision than Rocco did whoever that manager is. Is there a Wins above replacement for manager? A plus/minus stat for Managers? How do we compare them to their peers? If you say that they Alcala was left in too long against the Rangers? OK... maybe but would another manager have handled it different in the same context? I don't know the answer to any of these questions.

I'm with ya. If people want to focus on how many he lost through manager decision? My first question... How do you know that the game was lost through manager decision. If you are able to confidently say that he lost games through manager decision? How many did he win through Manager decision. Must have been one or two? I don't know. How many did Quartaro Win through manager decision? How many did he lose? Same thing for Hinch? and the other 27 managers in the game. Anybody got a plus/minus on Rocco? or a plus/minus on the other 29 managers? I certainly don't.

Yes it was. I have tossed the previous disappointments aside and moved on with life. This wound hasn't healed yet. I'll be fine by the time spring training rolls around. Tomorrow is always a new day.

Jair Camargo was up for 10 games April 13 to April 22. He was called back up to the majors on July 12 and sent back down on July 25 for a total of 8 games. He was in a major league uniform for a total of 3 more games in September for a grand total of 21 games. 7 Plate Appearances total for Jair over 21 games. Someone or someone's in our evaluation system felt that Camargo could not do better than the numbers produced by Christian Vazquez. Someone felt he would hurt our chances of winning games if he played rather than Vazquez. .221/.248/.327. were the numbers produced by Christian Vazquez. .243/,312/.399 is major league average for 2024. Meanwhile, at the very same time. The same evaluators or a different evaluator in the same system has determined that Jair Camargo gets and keeps a 40 man roster spot. Camargo is protected in the off-season when the 40 man decisions are hard to make and keeps the roster spot over the course of the season surviving all the 40 man additions, with the help of 60 day I.L. maneuvering. He keeps his roster spot all season. Evaluations are hard. The Margins are tight. I doubt that the Twins had Julien evaluated at .615 OPS because they cleared space and made room for him at 2B. I doubt that the Twins or the Mariners had Polanco evaluated at .651 They probably missed by quite a bit on those two. Yet... very confidently... they can evaluate that Vazquez can't yield time and that Camargo can't see the field. Yet... can't take him off the 40 man. I'd also would have liked to have been a fly on the wall when the Twins and Reds were discussing the Mahle deal with their evaluations. Was Miranda part of the discussion? Did the Twins evaluators evaluate Miranda as untouchable but Steer not? Did the Reds evaluators determine that they wanted Steer or Strand over Miranda. Maybe Strand was the lead dog in the deal. What Reds evaluator determined that Steer or Strand wasn't enough so Strand or Steer had to be included. What Twins evaluator agreed that Steer or Strand wasn't enough. Through 1,000 AB's... Steer is leading Miranda and when I say that... don't get me wrong. I like Miranda. Glad he's a Twin.

Festa and Matthews are a little misleading. Matthews had two bad starts and one of those was real bad that inflated his number. So did Festa. Part of the problem was that Rocco would not allow those two to actually eat innings. He always had the quick hook for them... Which exposed the Bullpen depth. So Yeah... I agree with you but in the end... Naw... I'll go with the Rookies and get bullpen serious at the deadline.

Look for Italian Restaurants specifically. They must have an Olive Garden somewhere.

Quite possible.