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Otto von Ballpark

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Everything posted by Otto von Ballpark

  1. Otto von Ballpark
    Don't jinx it!
  2. Otto von Ballpark
    We're definitely in the weeds now. But don't you also have a choice to give feedback? Why is that choice pointless to you, but telling someone to find an alternative activity, or even move or shop away from Hennepin County, is valid? Especially when the choice to give feedback is not mutually exclusive from choosing not to buy either. Businesses get customer feedback all the time. And that feedback is not necessarily invalid simply because the service is "nonessential" or the feedback suggests a price lower than the current price. Heck, that feedback could actually be considered part of the equation for determining the market price -- I imagine setting optimal prices for concessions and tickets is rather complex. "Voting with your wallet" is important, but often unclear if it could be caused by a multitude of factors (concession prices, ticket prices, team quality, accessibility, weather, etc.). Especially for a business with a *direct* public subsidy (not just tax breaks), I think it's also fair to expect they'd consider public feedback, even if it runs contrary to maximizing profits. At some point, I'd agree with you -- asking for free Amazon Prime is definitely pointless. But is it pointless to ask for $2 hot dogs or sodas during events at a publicly owned facility? It's possible that feedback was even a factor in this new concessions pricing too. (Although I suspect the larger factor was testing this new kiosk ordering system.)
  3. Otto von Ballpark
    That might explain this play from the 2003 Vikings season:
  4. Otto von Ballpark
    Well, Hennepin County residents don't have a choice in subsidizing the Twins. Obviously we can choose not to watch -- and many do, particularly non-baseball fans. But for those of us who are fans, it would be nice to get some benefit to our subsidy beyond the Twins mere presence.
  5. Otto von Ballpark
    When the joint announcement includes clear benefits for the players (an extra roster spot), I think it has meaning. I don't think there is any evidence that the MLBPA was strong-armed into accepting the 3 batter minimum now, or that they plan to fight it at a later date. The MLBPA apparently flexed their muscle to fight the pitch clock, which has been tabled indefinitely. I suspect that, even if they didn't like the 3 batter minimum, they didn't oppose it that strongly, and/or they were willing to trade it for other benefits like the extra roster spot.
  6. Otto von Ballpark
    I'd rather see the 20 second pitch clock than any of these other moves, really. But we'll probably never see it (in MLB, anyway).
  7. Otto von Ballpark
    Bump! Phil Miller, Star Tribune: "Twins ace Jose Berrios says he turned down contract offer, waiting for bigger payday" http://www.startribune.com/twins-ace-jose-berrios-says-he-turned-down-contract-offer-waiting-for-bigger-payday/507121362/ (Open Strib links in a new private/incognito tab/window to get around the paywall) Here's MLBTR's summary too: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2019/03/jose-berrios-declined-extension-offer-twins.html Of course, no figures were mentioned.
  8. Otto von Ballpark
    Link to the new special pricing: https://www.mlb.com/twins/news/target-field-family-friendly-concessions-pricing The best "values" from that list are probably the peanuts/popcorn ($3, down from $5 normally), and the 16 oz. soda for $2 (normal price $6.50 for 24 oz.). Those two items could come in handy, if you don't have a chance to bring your own snacks or get the free soda coupon with the "designated driver" pledge.
  9. Otto von Ballpark
    Yup. The "value" priced offering this year is a plain Schweigert hot dog. $5 normally, but $4 at a couple select stands.
  10. Otto von Ballpark
    If you encounter that here, please point it out. But note that this particular tangent started not with someone using WAR as a "conversation stopper", but rather someone taking a generic swipe at "defensive metrics fans". Let's challenge misuse of any stat -- be it WAR, or defensive metrics, or batting average or ERA -- but challenge it *when we see it*, and not simply make broad characterizations about stats and the people that may use them.
  11. Otto von Ballpark
    Agreed, to an extent. I have some sympathy for concession price complaints because of the ballpark funding. I think the public gets a bit of a raw deal when we partially subsidize the activity, yet the team is allowed to set full "market price" for everything -- tickets, concessions, even TV broadcasts. Also, the combination of high concession prices plus longer games puts families at a bit of a disadvantage, compared to the average fan. The average fan can deal with those factors by bringing in a sandwich and a bag of peanuts pretty easily. A family has to either bring in a ton of snacks, pay the high concession prices, and/or leave the game early. (On top of paying full freight for kid's tickets too -- the Twins have pretty well ended the longstanding practice of kids ticket discounts over the last couple years.) So I don't mind a little grumbling about concession prices, although I usually focus my energy on spreading the gospel of outside food. If they ever try to ban outside food, though, I'll lead the revolt.
  12. Otto von Ballpark
    For some context, here are B-Ref's "Opposition Quality" ratings for these players this spring. I like it both as an estimate of opponent quality, but also quantifying how many "first team" reps each guy is getting. "Opposition quality refers to opponents level of play last year: 10 - faced all MLBers, 8 - avg of AAA, 7 - avg of AA, 5 - High A, 4 - Low A and 1.5 to 3 short-season players. Players who did not appear in a major or minor league last year do not affect opposition quality (Lackey in 2012 or Darvish in 2011)." https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/MIN/2019.shtml Rosales 7.6 Duda 8.4 Wade 6.7 Gordon 6.3 Navaretto 6.6 Kerrigan 6.8 Harper 7.0 Eades 6.5 Guilmet 7.1 Morin 7.3 Nicolino 8.0 Reed (Jake) 6.5 Collins 6.2 Although at this point in the spring, even our projected regulars seem to be in the 7.5-8.5 zone.
  13. Otto von Ballpark
    I said there is "a class of prospect" for whom service time doesn't really matter. Obviously service time manipulation happens to some guys. I just doubt it applies to every player equally. Teams have incredible incentives to hold back guys like Bryant and Vlad Jr., and maybe even Buxton last year. 25 year old Lamonte Wade? Not so much.
  14. Otto von Ballpark
    Those quotes are referring to the past. We all know his swing has been tinkered with, in the past. And we all know it's not being tinkered with, in the present. There's no evidence that he has refused efforts to tinker with his swing, against the team's wishes. Thus, no evidence of defiance. I'm bowing out of this thread permanently now, as I am not really interested in this hyper-micro-parsing of athlete quotes. So if you reply to this post, don't expect a response.
  15. Otto von Ballpark
    I don't think those examples are analogous to Buxton right now. Just because he said he doesn't want anyone to mess with his swing at the moment doesn't imply that any defiance has taken place. It seems quite likely that Byron and the team/coaches have come to an amicable agreement not to tinker with his swing right now, in large part because the constant tinkering the last few years wasn't proving effective.
  16. Otto von Ballpark
    Pretty sure Wade is in a class of prospect where teams don't really worry about service time with them.
  17. Otto von Ballpark
    Frances Marte of the Astros gets a PED suspension, conveniently while he is rehabbing from Tommy John surgery anyway! https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2019/03/astros-francis-martes-suspended-80-games-peds.html
  18. Otto von Ballpark
    "Let's go over the ground rules.You can't leave first until you chug a beer. Any man scoring has to chug a beer. Chug a beer at the top of all odd-numbered innings. And the fourth inning is the beer inning."
  19. Otto von Ballpark
    Obligatory: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOxex3gcoQo
  20. Otto von Ballpark
    Days prior to opening day don't count toward the 60-day requirement. So you can put a guy on the 60 day DL now to free up the roster spot, but that player would be ineligible to return before June 1st or so.
  21. Otto von Ballpark
    Every single method of baseball player evaluation since the dawn of time has been subjective. That's not unique to "new stats".
  22. Otto von Ballpark
    Collins signed a minor league contract. But he's got an April 1st opt-out (if he's not added to the MLB roster by then) according to this: http://www.startribune.com/twins-tim-collins-is-trying-to-climb-back-two-tommy-john-surgeries-later/506581342/
  23. Otto von Ballpark
    We could chair-itably judge you to be un-couch-able.
  24. Otto von Ballpark
    Pretty much anything but coolers: "Coolers and bags of any size with hard sides are not allowed in the ballpark. Soft-sided containers and bags 16" by 16" by 8" or smaller are permitted into Target Field." https://www.mlb.com/twins/ballpark/information/guide I've brought my backpack or a reusable cloth grocery bag. Also note that while you can bring in any food you want, the same is not true of beverages: "Sealed, bottled water 32 oz. or less, and soft sided single juice or milk containers for children are the only outside beverages permitted into Target Field." I bring an empty bottle to fill up at a drinking fountain once I am inside the ballpark. Also, if you pledge to be a "designated driver" at the booths behind LF (lower deck) or in the 3B/LF foul corner (upper deck), you get a free soda coupon. (And don't worry, it's just a pledge, you don't actually have to drive anyone )
  25. Otto von Ballpark
    The tricky part is that other teams are doing these kinds of things now too -- maybe not every team is doing the exact same things, but most are trying things in these areas. Not that it's bad that we're doing them, of course -- just that it's not as easy to gain a competitive advantage from doing them now, as it would have been, say, 10 years ago.
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