Otto von Ballpark

Last summer, the commissioner said the Padres had 40,000 subscribers to their streaming package, and that was the highest of the MLB-broadcast teams at that time (San Diego, Arizona, and Colorado). Even assuming those are all full-season subscribers: 40,000 * $100 = $4 million The team likely earned a bit from their cable and satellite partners too, but -- that's not much money in the pro sports world! By comparison, the Twins earned $53 million from Bally in 2023, and reportedly around 80% of that (~$42 mil) in 2024. Edit to add: good analysis from a few months back: https://twinsdaily.com/news-rumors/minnesota-twins/will-twinstv-save-the-twins-a-look-at-the-financial-future-r17197/

I too am not optimistic about subscriber numbers, but I don't think the $20 monthly price will be much of a factor. By now, most consumers see sports as a different product -- they know that Netflix/Hulu/Amazon don't really have sports (many even deliberately choose them to avoid paying for sports). I just don't know how many subscribers are reachable in this market right now, regardless of pricing. It's not a big market to begin with. Many have already cut the cord and become accustomed to life without the Twins on their TV. Many just aren't excited about the current product on the field, and/or the disinvestment by ownership. And many casuals likely can't be reached by anything but bundling (which is why Twins.TV placement on cable/satellite is still important).

The issue is that the T-Mobile redemption period doesn't start until the opening week of the season. Although last season's MLBTV subscriptions (including the T-Mobile ones) are usually active until March 1st, so you can sometimes catch a few early spring games. And there is usually a "free game of the day" available to anyone with a MLB.com account regardless of subscription status. And last year, they had a "free preview" from March 22-26 where every game was marked as a free game. And of course, blackouts aren't typically enforced during spring training. You could also just subscribe to MLBTV for a month (~$30?) to get those other spring games. If you are local and if Twins.TV is available by then, maybe you can do that for $20 for the month of March, or perhaps March will be included in the $100 season price.

Any device -- it's just like a regular MLBTV subscription. The only difference is that the T-Mobile promotion terms technically say you shouldn't use it over a non-T-Mobile wireless carrier, although I don't know if they have enforced that recently. But home/wifi use is fine.

In addition to casting, another easy solution is adding a streaming stick to your TV. That will let you install the MLB app, just like you would on a supported smart TV. I've used the Amazon Fire Stick 4K, if you can find it on sale. I've heard good things about the Onn 4K Streaming Box for ~$20 from Walmart.

If that is currently the case, I suspect it will not change. YES Network, for example, doesn't own the rights to broadcast Twins games in the Twins media market, even if they are playing the Yankees.

The regular MLBTV package (the free T-Mobile one) will still have local blackouts, both home and away games. You will need the new Twins.TV package to stream the local Twins broadcasts if you are located in MN, SD, ND, IA (not sure if all?), and western WI. You won't actually need the regular MLBTV package unless you want to watch non-Twins games, or you want to stream the Twins while you are traveling beyond MN, SD, ND, IA, and WI. But of course, if it's free from T-Mobile, you might as well get it! You can combine both the MLBTV and Twins.TV packages on the same MLB.com account.

According to Fangraphs, Gasper’s 18 career at-bats without a hit is the most in Boston franchise history. https://blogs.fangraphs.com/sunday-notes-for-detroits-justyn-henry-malloy-change-is-a-scary-place/

Gasper had great hitting numbers in his AAA debut in 2024 — at age 28. Primarily a first baseman, but has played some catcher in the minors and a few games at second base too. Went 0-for-18 in a cup of coffee for Boston. Gasper immediately joins the Twins 40-man roster. (Moran had been removed in 2023.)

”We’ve been trying to reach you about your shortstop’s extended warranty…”

For local OTA partners, 5.2 (45TV), 9.2 (FOX9+), and 23.1 (The CW) would be the logical targets. They don't have any (important) network content to pre-empt. Minnesota United FC (Loons) soccer began with OTA on channel 9.2 in 2017, then moved to Bally in 2018, then added some Bally simulcasts on 23.1 in 2021, before going to streaming exclusively in 2023. On a rare occasion a few years ago, with the Twins, Wolves, and Wild all active on the same night, Bally did a simulcast of one of them on 23.1. 41.1 (ION) added some WNBA games the past two seasons, but that channel is barely OTA in the Twin Cities -- it's broadcast from an entirely different location than all the major networks, and with suspect power. It's primarily a cable/streaming channel here.

I'm a big proponent of OTA, but I'm not sure if the team will (or should?) give it much priority. I found some Nielsen data from late 2023, and if I'm reading it correctly, this is a household TV viewership breakdown of the Minneapolis "Designated Market Area" (DMA): Primarily watch cable/satellite: 49% Primarily watch OTA: 23% No OTA or cable/satellite: 29% Subscribes to a streaming TV provider (like YouTube TV, Fubo, etc.): 18% (It appears the Nielsen "Designated Market Area" for Minneapolis is ~4.2 million people, so a little beyond the MSP metro area?) And while cable/satellite is obviously declining, I don't think that's translating to big gains for OTA. Judging by that, the top priority for the team is still getting carriage on cable/satellite. That's not necessarily mutually exclusive with OTA carriage, but it may also be a lot simpler to get carriage on cable/satellite and even streaming, because those providers can simply create a new channel for you out of thin air. You can't do that OTA, where frequencies are limited and already claimed -- the Twins/MLB would need to find a specific local broadcaster who is willing to deal. The recently launched ATSC 3.0 standard makes things even more complicated, because a bunch of OTA networks are duplicated across two frequencies right now, meaning even less flexibility than the last time the Twins were available OTA.

Thanks for sharing that image. It looks like MLB will be adjusting the Twins blackout market boundaries. As others have said, if you are outside this red area, you should now be able to stream the Twins with the regular ol' out-of-market MLBTV All Teams package. Below is a map of the previous boundaries -- it appears the Twins traded western SD and most of IA to claim more of western Wisconsin. I was surprised to see the Brewers had some blackout territory in Minnesota -- will be interesting to see if they keep that territory with their new Brewers.TV streaming package.

Not quite. The existing "all teams" out-of-market MLBTV package is staying the same, meaning it would still black out the Twins locally. If you want to stream all MLB games (with the exception of national broadcasts, of course), you'll need both the new Twins.TV package and the existing all teams MLBTV package. You can subscribe to both using the same MLB.com account. I think the Padres and others offered them as a combo for ~$200 last year, or better yet, you can pick up the MLBTV package cheap/free during the T-Mobile promotion the first week of the season. Then the only notable cost would be the ~$100 Twins.TV subscription.

It's actually worse than that -- Correa was 10th among AL shortstops, not even all of MLB, in the first all-star vote update. Cleveland's Rocchio had more than double Correa's vote total. I wonder if this is impacted by Comcast/Midco dropping Bally Sports, limiting the Twins get-out-the-vote power. (It doesn't look like Comcast operates much in Cleveland?) Pre-hot streak, 10th in MLB might have been about right. Through June 5th, Correa's 111 wRC+ ranked 12th among "primary" MLB shortstops with 170+ PA per Fangraphs.

Friday June 9 is the next deadline -- the judge issued an order yesterday that Bally/Diamond has 5 business days to pay the Twins (and Guardians and Rangers). But, don't get your hopes up for an immediate outcome here like Padres. The reason that Bally/Diamond declined to pay the Padres was because Bally/Diamond was losing money on that deal -- the Padres contract called for a higher rights payment. With a lower payment due to the Twins, it's likely that Bally/Diamond makes this payment before the June 9 deadline and kicks this can down the road a little further.

I suspect that "eligible out of market games" -- in the context of the single-team Padres package -- just means that those subscribers can still watch Padres games even if they live/travel outside the Padres market, as long as it's not a national exclusive. (That was the original behavior of the single team packages -- the new Padres arrangement just adds in-market streaming on top of that.)

Checking Gallo’s leverage splits, he has a 77 tOPS+ in high leverage (meaning his OPS in high leverage is 23% worse than his overall stats). It is normal for a player’s performance to be worse in higher leverage, but that seems a bit worse than expected. Kepler is only 3% worse in high leverage, Sano 8%.

Pete Rose gets the first base hit in the Metrodome, but the Twins secure the first victory, a 5-0 win over Philadelphia in an exhibition game. The baggie is noticeably absent in KSTP's footage as rookie Kent Hrbek homers twice to tie Harmon Killebrew's spring training club record of 9. Hrbek and fellow Twins players Gary Gaetti, Butch Wynegar, and Dave Engle comment on the stadium. View full video

The weary Twins stumbled across the finish line, as did their equally weary fans in the TD forums. What's next for the team and for us? Image courtesy of Twins Daily Target Field is getting winterized; TC Bear is ready to hibernate; the Twins Daily community is reviewing 2022, previewing 2023, and looking for sources of non-Twins baseball discussion to fill the void. @wsnydes asks, How did your preseason win prediction go? Were you one of the "lucky" folks who predicted 78 wins? If so, are you satisfied with yourself now? Next season, please try to use your prognostication powers for good, not evil mediocrity! Don't care to look back? You're not alone. @Danchat is ready to look ahead at 40 Man Roster Management For 2023. Woods Richardson was already the "big name" addition, in more ways than one, but there are likely to be more. Also looking ahead, @mikelink45 shares My questions for next season. Do you have any answers? The Twins front office may randomly select one answer to try. If your answer is selected, you could win a Drew Maggi MLB game-used bat! In the minor league forum, @DJL44 shares the story of Doug Deeds, a former Twins farmhand reflecting on the difficult decision of When to hang it up. If only Deeds could have once played in an injury-ravaged organization like the 2022 Twins, he may have made a MLB appearance. Finally, for those Twins fans not ready to hang it up for 2022, you can discuss all of the playoff action with fellow bitter, jaded fans in The 2022 MLB Postseason Thread from @cHawk. What storyline are you following in the postseason, or in the Twins hot stove offseason? Share it in the forums! View full article

The Twins Daily forums received an unwelcome math lesson this week, on the topic of elimination numbers rather than magic numbers. Image courtesy of Twins Daily As the season winds down, the community is looking beyond math, at storylines around the league, gearing up for the hot stove and 2023, and creating and sharing art inspired by happier times for the Twins. Last week, this humble correspondent invoked the phrase "it's over" (or "it's Ober") to describe the 2022 Twins playoff chances, but that wasn't technically true: as late as Wednesday this week, we were Still not eliminated from postseason contention yet according to resident mathematician @kydoty. Alas, even that faint glimpse of possibility is gone now too: it is finally, and officially, Ober. If you are wondering how the Twins can improve next year, @Nine of twelve brings good news: "Rebranding" underway: New scoreboards and new uniforms. There's nothing wrong with the 2022 Twins that a new coat of paint can't fix! Speaking of paint, @Snarkier Than Reusse objects to whitewashing in What I Wish the Twin’s Front Office Would Say About 2022 (Part 1) (as well as Part 2). Would you like to see them handling the Twins P.R.? If you want to take a break from the Twins, head over to the Other Baseball forum to follow some other teams and players for a change. @mikelink45 has some recommendations in Keep watching - baseball keeps going. What will you be watching during the last week of the season and into the playoffs? @Trov tries to take their mind off the Twins by asking, Do we want parity in baseball? If so, how do we get it? Although a side benefit of parity is that the Twins don't need to get any better if all of the good teams just get worse. Finally, baseball inspires art as our very own @alexlegge has a gift for any Twins fans who are also fans of drum-and-bass, jungle, or electronica music genres... (isn't that all of us?). Be sure to see them perform at the (Jake) Cavern Club before they get famous! Do you have a fave Twins song right now? Share your jam or dirge in the forums. View full article

A week ago, TD member @CRF said "It ain't Ober...till it's Ober." Well, now it's Ober, and the only pun left is Sugar Ray's breakup song. Image courtesy of Twins Daily Re-live the last moments of optimism from a week ago, lovingly preserved in Hanging by a thread. @Number3 captured a moment in time when it was still possible for the Twins to get back in the race, just before Cleveland cut our last thread of hope. But they can never cut our forum threads! Like how @PopRiveter wants to witness the battle of Arraez vs Evil -my last remaining reason to care. The whole world is watching Aaron Judge but can our own La Regadera ("The Sprinker") spoil his triple crown? The Twins and Yankees not only share batting title competitors, they also share starting pitcher trade deadline disasters, as chronicled by @Brandon in Montas or Mahle, Which pitcher helped his new team the least? Unfortunately, that may be where the Twins and Yankees similarities end, as New York has been preparing for the postseason, while the well-seasoned Twins have been cooking on a post over a Cuyahoga River fire. If you don't care to look backward or suffer the present, look to the future with @cHawk at the 2023 Rotation. There are plenty of arms to consider -- two arms per pitcher, in fact. Over in the Other Baseball forum, @Vanimal46 is still thinking about baseball while watching football in Take Notes, MLB. What would you like to see MLB adopt from NFL broadcasts? If you said "illegal formation penalties," I've got good news for you! Finally, the ballclub may be struggling, but the Minnesota Twins have finally become masters of their own domain. @Rosterman reports how a pair of real-life twins are likely celebrating a financial windfall as Twins.com finds a new home. Would you have sold Twins.com? Or would you have dedicated it to Taylor and Tyler Rogers? Share your ideas in the forums. View full article