All Things 2023-2024 Minnesota Twins Off-Season Thread

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A couple of factoids I have heard in the media:

On PTI, the Diamondbacks are the second team ever to make it to the World Series having been outscored in the regular season. The other was the 1987 Minnesota Twins.

On the Dan Patrick Show, the Rangers (84) and Diamondbacks (90) combined have the fewest Regular Season wins for any World Series in which a full season was played.
 
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Rangers win it 6-5 in 11 on walk-off HR by Adolis Garcia.

local angle (courtesy of Pat Reusse): D-Backs relief pitcher Kevin Ginkel has MN roots. His father graduated from Mounds View HS and his grandfather was a long-time teacher at Mounds View.
 


baseball news - Frank Howard dead. Hit 382 HR in his MLB career. 6'7" and 260 lbs - reportedly hit the ball as hard as any player in his era. Spent a lot of his career with the Washington Senators (version 2) and moved with team to Texas when they became the Rangers.

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Arizona Fall League update:

Twins farmhand Kala'i Rosario hit his 6th HR. In the last 15 days, Rosario is slashing
.303/.378/.758 with an OPS of 1.136.

and Aaron Sabato has passed Rosario to take the AFL lead with 7 HR. Sabato with a .932 OPS in Fall league play.

if Sabato keeps this up, he could be a trade chip.
 




short ornery norwegian said:
baseball news - Frank Howard dead. Hit 382 HR in his MLB career. 6'7" and 260 lbs - reportedly hit the ball as hard as any player in his era. Spent a lot of his career with the Washington Senators (version 2) and moved with team to Texas when they became the Rangers.

----

Arizona Fall League update:

Twins farmhand Kala'i Rosario hit his 6th HR. In the last 15 days, Rosario is slashing
.303/.378/.758 with an OPS of 1.136.

and Aaron Sabato has passed Rosario to take the AFL lead with 7 HR. Sabato with a .932 OPS in Fall league play.

if Sabato keeps this up, he could be a trade chip.
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Sabato needs to be added to the 40 man or he could be lost in the rule 5 draft. Not sure anyone would trade for him when they have a chance to get him for free. Plus it’s the AFL, not exactly a place known for good pitching as the young good arms have thrown their innings and are shit down.
 


From the Parkinglot said:
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From the Press Release, I wonder if this means they could be thinking about simulcasting the Radio and TV Feeds and cut the talent budget in half:

The Twins are currently assessing potential broadcast options, as well as a talent lineup for the 2024 season and beyond. An announcement regarding those decisions will be forthcoming this offseason.

Personally, I am hoping they keep the Provus-Gladden tandem is some fashion. I really enjoy their chemistry.

As for Bremer, I appreciate his accomplishments and longevity but this feels like it was good timing with BSN being deep sixed to start with something else. Good to go out with an AL Central crown.
 
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Per Jim Bowden in The Athletic, he has Gray listed as the tenth best FA & Kenta @34 best FA available -

10. Sonny Gray, RHP​

Age: 33
HT: 5-10 WT: 195
2023 (Twins): 5.3 WAR
Career: 30.0 WAR
Agent: Bo McKinnis 2023 salary: $12.7 million

Sonny Gray had an excellent platform year and is expected to at least finish in the top five in the AL Cy Young Award voting. He went 8-8 with a 2.79 ERA over 32 starts, striking out 183 in 184 innings. That was the most innings Gray has thrown since 2015. He finished in the 99th percentile in both pitching run value and breaking run value as opposing batters hit just .097 against his newfound sweeper, which was a difference-maker.

Best fits: Twins, Rockies, Giants, Cardinals, Orioles, Angels, Braves
Contract prediction: Three years, $64 million


34. Kenta Maeda, RHP​

Age: 35
HT: 6-1 WT: 188
2023 (Twins): 1.1 WAR
Career: 8.6 WAR
Agent: Wasserman 2023 salary: $3.125 million

Kenta Maeda returned from Tommy John surgery and pitched effectively this year, posting a 4.23 ERA over 20 starts, with 117 strikeouts in 104 1/3 innings. From June 23 to the end of the season he made 17 starts and yielded three earned runs or fewer in all but one of them, and he allowed two runs or fewer in each of his final four starts. Teams could be hesitant to give Maeda a multiyear deal based on his injury history, so he might have to sign a one-year contract and go back on the market next offseason if he can replicate this season over another 25 to 30 starts next year.

Best fits: Twins, Giants, Angels, Cardinals
Contract prediction: One year, $10 million with incentives
 
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The Twins' broadcast story will be very interesting to watch in the off-season. Obviously, the amount of revenue they get from local broadcast will impact the team's budget and payroll for next season.

So -in order to set a budget and payroll, the Twins need to know what their revenue will be. The TV question needs to be settled as soon as possible. And there is also the issue of making the games available for as many fans as possible, including the cord-cutters who rely on streaming to watch TV.

on the format - I'm biased as a retired radio guy - but I think radio and TV are two very different mediums. In radio, the announcer paints the picture. In TV, the viewer can see the picture, so the announcer is there to add something different. I really liked the games with Morneau and Plouffe in the booth giving insights on the game. I think the traditional play-by-play role is less important on TV. that's harder to do in radio because you have to be describing the action in greater detail for the listeners. so I would not be in favor of a simulcast.
 

Ope3 said:
From the Press Release, I wonder if this means they could be thinking about simulcasting the Radio and TV Feeds and cut the talent budget in half:

The Twins are currently assessing potential broadcast options, as well as a talent lineup for the 2024 season and beyond. An announcement regarding those decisions will be forthcoming this offseason.

Personally, I am hoping they keep the Provos-Gladden tandem is some fashion. I really enjoy their chemistry.

As for Bremer, I appreciate his accomplishments and longevity but this feels like it was good timing with BSN being deep sixed to start with something else. Good to go out with an AL Central crown.
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Woof I hope not. How much would that save? 500K on the high end? It's mildly annoying for Vikings preseason games, but it would be just awful for baseball. I know they do it for some Spring Training games but that's a tiny audience.

I do think it's possible they told Bremer he'd have to take a pay cut and if he was already waivering, decided to hang it up. Provous to the TV side is a no-brainer but hire a new radio play-by-play guy and please keep Gladden off TV.
 
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short ornery norwegian said:
The Twins' broadcast story will be very interesting to watch in the off-season. Obviously, the amount of revenue they get from local broadcast will impact the team's budget and payroll for next season.

So -in order to set a budget and payroll, the Twins need to know what their revenue will be. The TV question needs to be settled as soon as possible. And there is also the issue of making the games available for as many fans as possible, including the cord-cutters who rely on streaming to watch TV.

on the format - I'm biased as a retired radio guy - but I think radio and TV are two very different mediums. In radio, the announcer paints the picture. In TV, the viewer can see the picture, so the announcer is there to add something different. I really liked the games with Morneau and Plouffe in the booth giving insights on the game. I think the traditional play-by-play role is less important on TV. that's harder to do in radio because you have to be describing the action in greater detail for the listeners. so I would not be in favor of a simulcast.
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howeda7 said:
Woof I hope not. How much would that save? 500K on the high end? It's mildly annoying for Vikings preseason games, but it would be just awful for baseball. I know they do it for some Spring Training games but that's a tiny audience.

I do think it's possible they told Bremer he'd have to take a pay cut and if he was already waivering, decided to hang it up. Provus to the TV side is a no-brainer but hire a new radio play-by-play guy and please keep Gladden off TV.
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I agree with both of you, I would rather have separate crews.

I can not comment on the Vikings because I feel like watching exhibition football in general on a summer evening/afternoon is just a complete misuse of what few days/nights are remaining of a Minnesota summer. Having PA be the simulcast announcer specifically causes me to have an ear spasm.

As for the Twins, my experience is limited in watching Grapefruit League simulcasts. While noticeable it would not change my viewing pattern. As for ratings in general, while not really sure, my hunch is that it wouldn't move the needle or really impact the bottom line. If it is 500k in potential savings as Howie suggests, considering that they are most likely they are going to take a huge haircut in overall income, it seems like it would be consideration.

Maybe it would improve both broadcasts in some aspects but hinder it in others. No idea.

It's entirely possible I am reading too much into the phrasing of the Press Release. I totally admit that.
 

Ope3 said:
I agree with both of you, I would rather have separate crews.

I can not comment on the Vikings because I feel like watching exhibition football in general on a summer evening/afternoon is just a complete misuse of what few days/nights are remaining of a Minnesota summer. Having PA be the simulcast announcer specifically causes me to have an ear spasm.

As for the Twins, my experience is limited in watching Grapefruit League simulcasts. While noticeable it would not change my viewing pattern. As for ratings in general, while not really sure, my hunch is that it wouldn't move the needle or really impact the bottom line. If it is 500k in potential savings as Howie suggests, considering that they are most likely they are going to take a huge haircut in overall income, it seems like it would be consideration.

Maybe it would improve both broadcasts in some aspects but hinder it in others. No idea.

It's entirely possible I am reading too much into the phrasing of the Press Release. I totally admit that.
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I think you're misreading/reading too much into it. I know of no other MLB team that does this and it doesn't seem worth the meager savings. I could sooner see them go back to not having them travel to road games than save $$ this way.
 

howeda7 said:
I think you're misreading/reading too much into it. I know of no other MLB team that does this and it doesn't seem worth the meager savings. I could sooner see them go back to not having them travel to road games than save $$ this way.
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It's the whole not traveling not just in 2020, but also for the majority if not all of 2021 that has me thinking this is an option in the first place.

While yes, I certainly may be misreading too much into it, it's also rather unprecedented that teams go backwards in local TV/Broadcast revenue and viewership itself has been trending downward (for several reasons including distribution of the games themselves).
 

Ope3 said:
It's the whole not traveling not just in 2020, but also for the majority if not all of 2021 that has me thinking this is an option in the first place.

While yes, I certainly may be misreading too much into it, it's also rather unprecedented that teams go backwards in local TV/Broadcast revenue and viewership itself has been trending downward (for several reasons including distribution of the games themselves).
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I think people are overstating the panic over the TV $$. They're not going to go from $50 million to $10 million. They're going to go from $50 million to an unknown amount somewhere in the $30-50 range.

So yes, they might cut payroll $10-15 million from last year, but they're not going to gut the team. And I don't think messing with the TV broadcast right when you're trying to get people on board with a new product/distribution to save the equivalent of a minimum salary player makes sense.
 

howeda7 said:
I think people are overstating the panic over the TV $$. They're not going to go from $50 million to $10 million. They're going to go from $50 million to an unknown amount somewhere in the $30-50 range.

So yes, they might cut payroll $10-15 million from last year, but they're not going to gut the team. And I don't think messing with the TV broadcast right when you're trying to get people on board with a new product/distribution to save the equivalent of a minimum salary player makes sense.
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I think it would be the Radio/Streaming broadcasts that would suffer with a simulcast, TV would be much more what viewers are used to.
 



Ope3 said:
I think it would be the Radio/Streaming broadcasts that would suffer with a simulcast, TV would be much more what viewers are used to.
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Depends which way they error, but one or the other suffers. Paul Allen still calls the play-by-play the same on TV as he does radio. Which is indeed over-kill for TV and also obnoxious in the normal Paul Allen way. I guess if they promote Dan Gladden nothing would change. He doesn't bother calling the play-by-play even when it's his innings to do so.
 

howeda7 said:
Depends which way they error, but one or the other suffers. Paul Allen still calls the play-by-play the same on TV as he does radio. Which is indeed over-kill for TV and also obnoxious in the normal Paul Allen way. I guess if they promote Dan Gladden nothing would change. He doesn't bother calling the play-by-play even when it's his innings to do so.
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TV brings in the lion share of revenue, so that's why I think they would tailor the broadcast in that fashion. In my completely hypothetical mindset it would be the play-by-play guy for the traditional 9 innings, whether it's Provus or someone else. They would probably keep the rotating color analysts, which Gladden could be part of but not the main guy.

Radio would just get that feed, and live with it.

I don't think what we have seen in previous simulcasted Spring Training games would be the experience going forward for Regular Season games.
 
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I tried to do some checking and I am not aware of any MLB club that does a simulcast. as far as I can tell, they all have separate radio and TV teams.

now, there are several clubs where the same announcers will rotate between radio and TV, but it's not a simulcast. the announcers do some games on TV and some games on radio. this is more common with the color position but in a few cases, the play-by-play guys switch back and forth between radio and TV. The Pirates have two play-by-play guys who take turns doing radio and TV.

FWIW - found a chart on wikipedia listing all the radio and TV broadcast teams. for Twins TV, the primary announcer is TBD - so they already updated the list with Bremer's announcement.
 

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