Western SD Fan

I was not around when the Griffith's owned the team. I will have to acquiesce and believe the commenters here that the Pohlad's are a better ownership family. Let us take a trip down memory lane of the Pohlad ownership of the Twins: 1984 - Purchased 52% of the Twins from the Griffith's. 1987 - Win WS: Traded and signed for the following players: Ron Gardenhire, Jeff Reardon, Al Newman, Joe Niekro, Steve Carlton, Don Baylor, and Bert Blyleven 1988 - First year Twins have 3 million fans in attendance, only beat by 2010 1991 - Win WS: Traded and signed the following players: Steve Bedrosian, Randy Bush, Mike Pagliarulo, and Jack Morris 1997 - After tearing down the team over the past few years, the Pohlads threaten to sell the team to a NC ownership group with intention on moving the team. Later takes this back as only a bargaining tool to get a new stadium, but who knows? 2001-2002 offseason: Serves his team up for contraction so MLB can buy the Pohlads out. Team is saved by the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission suing to honor their contract to play out the season and a MN federal judge agrees. The kids grow up and make their best playoff run to date in spite of ownership trying to contract them. 2006 - Ownership finally gets a deal with Hennepin County to help fund a stadium. Total is $522 million with Hennepin County footing $375 million of it by approving a county wide sales tax. Side note: Counties that do this typically sell municipal bonds to raise the funds for this type of project. So the cost is likely more than $375 million and likely that Hennepin County taxpayers are STILL paying for Target Field for the Pohlads.. 2010 - Target Field opens: Fans respond by largest attendance ever by the team (3.2 million). Team goes for it by acquiring Matt Capps for future Joe Mauer replacement Wilson Ramos Since Target Field has opened, the Pohlads have essentially played the hokey pokey with fans. They get a little in some years and other years are little (or a lot) out. They have spent a lot of off seasons and trade deadlines staying put rather than making a move that could have helped the team when they had a chance to win. I encourage anyone to dispute or add context to my timeline if they believe I am being unfair. When the Pohlads just purchased the team and had that nice pretty new team smell with something to prove to a fanbase, they went for it and were awarded with two WS titles in the first 10 years of ownership. After "they got theirs", they threaten to move AND contract the team in the next 10 years of ownership. After finally hooking Hennepin County into helping fund a new stadium, they promise to raise payroll and bring competitive baseball back to MN. We have had more losing seasons than winning seasons since Target Field has opened up, so I am still waiting on that competitive baseball spending. Let me respond to the commenters who ask what they should have done at the deadline. I agree that the prices in prospects were too high for many of the trades that were done. I have said that this angst has been nine months in the making by announcing they are slashing payroll within days after the team's most successful run since 2002. At the time, we didn't know how much but understood because the TV situation was in flux. After they sign the TV deal, we dream that they will open up a little more and get the players that could help us, like they did in 1987 and 1991. They didn't just like they didn't spend any of the TV reallocation money that was supposed to help generate trades. One last point. Younger fans follow stars of the sport, not necessarily a team anymore. If you want new fans, new merchandise spending, new ticket sales, you need to develop, trade for, sign, and market your stars. Younger fans are following Aaron Judge, Mookie Betts, Bobby Witt, Jr, Vladdy Jr. We have our start, Carlos Correa, Byron Buxton, Pablo Lopez and Royce Lewis. Unfortunately, they are a lot tougher to market and I don't think the team does a good job of marketing them nationally. IMHO, this ownership group got their WS titles early and are just willing to sit on their laurels and deposit dividends as they have the past 30 years. Sometimes they have one middle finger at the fans, sometimes two middle fingers, every once in a while, they poke the fans in the eye with that middle finger. Rarer still, they don't raise any fingers towards the fans and give us hope. As for worse ownership, it could be worse being a fan of the A's. Comparing to the Rays, we are the Rays with a better stadium and worse player development and coaching and a marginally higher payroll. I apologize for the lengthy post. I really wanted to push back at the commenters that jump at the 48-hour reaction of "What do you expect them to do?". This apathy by ownership is a company culture which is decades in the making, not just this year's deadline, not just this past off season. I believe politicians more than I believe in the Pohlads as an ownership group. Sadly enough, I don't think I'm the only fan posting on TD that believes that last statement.

Let's try and do some math. You're estimating that they need approximately 500,000 subscribers at $100 per year to replace the estimated Bally income. For reference, I live in an area where the Rockies are a blackout area as well and MLB's Rockies TV was offered for $100 per year AND is still on local basic cable. Whereas, Bally has cut off access to the local cable affiliates so the only options here are Direct TV or Fubo. If we combine the estimated households per US Census in the basic Twins Territory (MN, ND, and SD) gives me 3,021,871 households (cut off at 3,000,000 for calculations). Let's estimate that 15% of those households would either pay the $100 or allow it to be part of their basic cable package. That gets me 450,000 possible subscribers with the remaining 50,000 potentially coming from Iowa, Western WI, out of market subscriptions and business clients. My estimation may be too high, and I'll gladly be wrong if someone explains why. As for attendance, let's assume that the majority of the fans in attendance drive no more than two hours from the Twin Cities to attend more than 5 games in a season. Personally, I live on the very edge of Twins Territory and it is a small trek to get to a game. I end up spending at least $1,000 in tickets, merchandise, lodging, food, and various shopping plus the time away from work in order to make the trip. I can only afford one of those trips per year and I am one of the lucky ones. Should we just say eff the rest of the fan base because they live too far away to contribute enough to the ownership's pockets? I know that it's not ownership's job to negotiate tv contracts between Bally Sports and Comcast, Dish, Midco, Bluepeak, etc. But for them to not ask any questions and live in blissful ignorance to me is still negligence at best. All of this to say that I believe most of us understand that we will never spend like the Yankees, Dodgers, Red Sox, or Mets and are alright with that. But this has been a PR disaster nine months in the making. An excited fan base gets doused in ice water bath reminiscent of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge by announcing they are cutting payroll prior to even getting a chance to sell a new season ticket. Next, we find out that they are getting a one-year deal with Bally so there is hope that they will loosen the pocketbook a little somewhere during the season. Then Bally and cable providers get into a carriage standoff. While not the Twins fault, they signed the contract with Bally and now you have a fan base losing interest in the team that they can't watch. Apathy means no ticket or merchandise sales, which does affect the Twins bottom line. Finally, MLB announces that teams like the Twins will be receiving up to $15 million in TV allocation funds in order to jump start the trade market. So when other teams in similar situations make moves, you further anger the fan base. While you may be technically correct that the prospect capital and/or payroll may have been too high to make a significant trade, the fact that this has fervor has been nine months in the making and just blowing it's top now. A screaming fan base means they still care. We don't want to get to Disney Star Wars territory and just have apathy. That's when the swirl around the toilet bowl starts.

I have been very critical of the FO and ownership for the off-season moves (specifically Farmer, Margot, and DeScalafini). We definitely could have used that payroll now. Seems like ownership is going to pocket whatever money they were set to receive from the TV reallocation. This is especially sad when you see other teams in similar positions (Guardians, Royals, Dbacks, and Padres) using theirs. After listening to pundits from MLB network and ESPN Houston about the various trades, I’m not sure I’d want to give up the trade capital necessary get the likes of Kikuchi, Tanner Scott, or Trevor Rogers, especially for rentals or reclaim projects. We already have a roster of reclamation projects at various stages of success I of all fans want to make a move, but these moves needed to be made in the off season not when the market is hottest.

Kikuchi officially to the Astros. All prospect rankings are preseason per MLB Hou - Kikuchi Tor - Jake Bloss: RHP #9 in Astros, on MLB roster Joey Loperfido: OF, not top 30, on mlb roster Will Wagner: INF, #13, in AAA Toronto had stated they want mlb ready or very close. Given that the Twins have the 15th ranked farm system per mlb and the Astros the 27th. Would this trade have worked? Twins give up Canterino, Severino, and maybe a PTBNL? I might be way off and will defer to our minor league experts on whether this is too much.

I am resigned to the fact that we do not have the budget nor the stomach to acquire a front line starter. I would be ok with running what we have. An opener for Festa like Wednesday or Paddack with someone resting in the wings when he implodes in the 4th or 5th. Miller just went on the IL so that should end his discussion. But broken pitchers are the Twins Way. ;) I would like to see a LH RP and a corner OF that can actually PH. I am over Margot and his 0 fer in PH and Rocco for continuing to roll with it. My idea would be a Yimi Garcia or Tanner Scott. I would even bring back a Rob Refsnyder type since he can at least PH (4 for 13). Does anyone know Kirilloff’s ETA? Last news I saw was he hasn’t begun baseball activities yet. Can we transfer him to the 60 day IL and create a 40 man spot? Another trade bite might be Headrick in St. Paul. When he was right, he was good and someone might need bullpen help enough to dangle him out there. As for other DFA/trade options, it’s the usual suspects in this order: Farmer, Okert or Thielbar provided we upgrade, and Margot provided we upgrade.

Great article. While we don’t have actual numbers, I believe it was speculated that Bally signed a contract for around 75% of the 2023 contract, which was $54 million. That is approximately $40 million that ownership just pocketed. They may not even receive that amount as we will find out at the end of the month when Bally has their bankruptcy proceeding. I wish I could find the report, but San Diego has done the best of the 3 MLB.TV production markets and they have only netted $4 million in revenue. That is a significant decrease to consider without the fact that attendance is down. The dream is ownership is saving money to maintain payroll between $125 to $135 million and stay competitive by demanding the FO does the impossible. The fear is that ownership sees how the Guardians are doing and demand they operate more similarly to them and cut payroll even further to make up for the lost revenue and to hell with the fans.

I would have to agree that given the payroll constraints that the FO hit more than they missed. Given all the injuries, Santana has turned the corner in being a decent signing. Farmer and Margot could have been better spent. My fear is with the injury with Correa. I believe we are being set up by the FO (actually ownership) on why we will not make any consequential improvements at the trade deadline.

The SP that the Twins really need to look for is a sage veteran pitcher that can help out the young guys in a pennant chase. That does not seem to be Pablo at this point. Is it possible that Pablo is putting too much stress on himself being the anointed ace of the staff, the Pable Day promotion, and all the hype that goes with it? Last year, Pablo had Sonny Gray to take the pressure off of him. With that being said, I don't think that is any of these pitchers from the Blue Jays. Chris Bassitt is the closest, but he will cost too much in money and prospects. Zach Greinke is going to be in the HOF, but he was always the Robin to someone's Batman when it came to being the superstar. In KC, the team was never good enough for expectations. In LA, Arizona, and Houston, there were always other starters who had the spotlight so Greinke could just pitch and not have that pressure. This could have probably been its own thread.

Apparently the bullpen is challenging the FO with the thought: "You can't replace us all!" Oh great! Thielbar is coming in! Only 4 more runs until we can get Willi Castro!

Correa must have the day off? Not available for PH?

I'm not sure I'd be itching to go out to Oakland. The A's are going for the sweep against the Royals and they probably should have won at least one game over the weekend against us.

I'm curious as to why Thielbar is still on the roster. I know MN nice with a MN native, but he hasn't pitched in over a week and his spot is starting to tax the rest of the bullpen. Unless they plan on sending Sands down the St. Paul Express for Funderburk.

Curious to see how much influence the head groundskeeper has in helping the crew chief on whether to call the game. If there is more rain coming, which it looks like there is, may this game get scrubbed and we have a double header tomorrow. I'm not sure who could do a spot start, maybe Festa if his time is up or maybe a bullpen game with Funderburk, Sands, Jackson, etc. I could also see them move up the game on Thursday to make sure that the game gets in since TB isn't coming back to MN.

I actually don't remember the last starting pitcher that the Twins turned around as a reclamation project. Maybe Phil Hughes if you would call him that? And I think he just needed out of NYY as opposed to being a reclamation project. Odorizzi is more the example where they had a decent pitcher and made him a better pitcher by tweaking mechanics and focusing on what he does best. My position has not changed from the last few years where we really need a swingman in the bullpen that can eat innings and not burn out the bullpen. Maybe that's what Varland or Festa should be shooting for in the second half. Otherwise, we really need a starting pitcher and I'm not sure we are ready to part with the prospects it will take to get that done.

I'm not sure what this makes me as a Twins fan, but I had penciled in these losses before the series started. What I had hoped for was that these games would be competitive and not completely derail the team like it did when the Yankees came to Minnesota. A few things to look forward to: we didn't lose much ground to the Royals or Guardians, the Pirates pitching staff is just as beat up as ours after their series with the Dodgers, and we are hopefully seeing Correa get on track. That will add to Lewis and Kepler so we have a better balanced lineup. Please let Castro play 2B so we don't have to see Farmer anymore. Our chance is in front of us. Opponents have a .436 winning percentage between now and the ASG.

I want to first congratulate Dick on a successful career and happy trails into a reduced retirement role with the Twins. One thing that this organization does right is to keep their long-term people in the family as long as they want to participate. I agree with a couple of commenters that I hope they write some kind of day-to-day contract for Dick to get to 5,000 games. While that shouldn't matter and he pointed out in his announcement that it doesn't matter, I believe it is important for him to someday get into the Baseball Hall of Fame, where I believes he belongs someday. The best part of his broadcasts were the stories and the memories to recall events from nearly every era of baseball in Minnesota. With that being said, here's my two cents on possible replacements for Mr. Bremer: Obvious front-runner should be Cory Provus. Being the radio announcer and his TV experience with the Big 10 Network is plenty and we are definitely used to Cory in Twins Territory. Other possibilities are: Marney Gellner - I honestly thought she was being prepped for the position when they experimented with her calling spring training games a few years ago. Again, another familiar voice that has earned an opportunity. I am not sure with her home life if she wants the commitment of February to October on the road. She will do what is best for her and her family and I have always wished her the best of luck. Jenny Cavar from the Rockies. She seems to do a good job when I watch Rockies broadcasts. She only does it part time so maybe she would be willing to move for a full-time gig. Jon Sciambi - this is dreaming...... Thom Brennaman - probably not because of his baggage, but still a good announcer. I would also like them to settle on a color commentator. I still would prefer a player or someone who has been involved in the game for a long time (calling Ron Gardenhire). My preference is Latroy Hawkins or Trevor Plouffe. I believe that Morneau and Perkins are just too pedantic, like reading a textbook to me. While I don't want the reincarnation of Hawk Harrelson, someone closer to Bert's liveliness would be beneficial. Plouffe has too many other ventures going and doesn't seem to be on many broadcasts outside of California to probably want a full-time color gig. This post looks closer to a quarter than two cents, but here it is.

Alex Rodriguez just needs to be quiet. I would rather listen to Dan Schulman from the Blue Jays than him. Micheal Kay is alright. ARod keeps bringing up all of these painful memories of watching Twins games against the Yankees and it's not necessary.

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I just hope that Twins Territory purchased most of the tickets before they found out the matchup. Toronto has always drawn well at Target Field and that might mitigate some of the home team feel. I believe watching the games they played in late May at Target Field, it seemed there were as many Blue Jays fans as Twins fans in the stands.

I know no one wants to hear a Carlos Correa comment in this thread. I do find solace that the offensive can produce without him for a few games. Even in Wednesday's loss to the Rays, the offense showed fight to come back and tie the game. I would rather that Correa takes a few days off here or there and be healthier for the postseason than Rocco believing the offense won't work without him in the lineup as I am under no illusion that we will need him in the lineup as close to 100% as possible in the postseason.

Not sure I can add much more to this thread other than to agree that he should be no higher than 5th the rest of the season, even if he does improve. The pressure needs to be taken off of him so he can get right for the playoffs. His plantar fasciitis injury is obviously affecting him at the plate. When watching his at-bats, the GIDP's, the taking strike three calls, seems to be out front pulling the ball, and his running out of the box. It all seems to be related to him actually having to plant that foot down, which appears like he doesn't have to do as much in the field since he is going side to side. He should have been moved down the order a month ago. This one is everyone's problem. Rocco should have moved him down. CC should have been a better leader and moved down the order himself (e.g., Miguel Cabrera). It does sound like that he is a great clubhouse presence, but part of the presence is taking responsibility and being a team player. Since he can play though the injury, a "scheduled" IL stint could have been worked out at some point when the Twins were healthier to help him get some recovery. The FO should have addressed this better since he is supposed to be the Twins' best marketable player to get butts in seats. I may be the outlier fan, but I want the team to win first, even if that means CC isn't in the lineup every day if that gives the team the best chance to win. As for the boos at Target Field, CC addressed them earlier this year saying he would boo himself as well. Big props to him at least being able to read the room and give a frank response. But I'm not going to apologize, the boos are warranted and magically as the boos have been getting louder, he has finally started moving down in the order. Sometimes, boos do have a purpose and the fact that the "Minnesota Nice" fans have risen up speaks volumes that they expect better out of everyone involved.

First, I am not sure who is saying anything negative about Buxton. I've read every comment in this thread, and it seems overwhelmingly that everyone is more worried about his overall health than whether he will eventually play again. If he does play again, I do not see a way that he will come back as a full-time CF. I foresee at best: 50/50 OF/DH with some IL stints sprinkled in to give him some rest. My disdain in aimed at the FO and Rocco. When it became apparent that Buck couldn't go, even as a DH, he should have been shut down and evaluated to free up the DH spot. Sadly enough, production has improved without Buck in the lineup and that's likely attributable to freeing up a hot hitter to stay in at DH. Rocco of all people should know the concept of saving a player from themselves with his own hype and the way his own injury-riddled career played out. But maybe that's where being a "player's manager" doesn't work as well as he may have blind spots of being too sympathetic to a player's concerns, needs, or contracts. (Look for my comment on the Carlos Correa thread later addressing this.)

So coming to Target Field for the first time in 4 years worked well this weekend as I'm hoping to secure a contract from the Twins to stay away.🙂 Here are a couple of items I took out of the weekend. I'm unsure Correa is the veteran presence we all had hoped for. The only time he didn't seem to GIDP is when there were already 2 outs in the inning. I do think that Buxton needs to go on the IL until he is actually ready to play in the outfield. He seems to be a person that lulls about every AB and needs to make great OF plays to regain confidence. Gallo just needs to go. On Saturday, the young PA announcer accidentally announced him twice. I made the comment that they should give him six strikes and I bet he would still strikeout. It has to be stressful to be a pitcher as giving up a run might create a loss. Even though it is the easiest thing to do, The pitching has been there all year so everyone needs a pass once in awhile Sonny Gray bull dogged 6 innings when anyone else would have taken him out after the 2nd. Popkins probably needs to go as well. I agree that no one has to be listening to him anymore. Maybe they can get Adam Dunn to be the new hitting coach. Again, making a joke before today's game when two little kids scores from 3rd bout hoping that wasn't the only runs we scored today. It just about happened. Don't fret. I'm leaving MN tomorrow and will be back next year for a weekend of twins games. 🙂