The tickets were specifically listed because you said "no one cares" about the Twins in the regular season.
Not including (fast pitch) softball would exclude essentially 50% of the potential target fan base (females). It's completely relevant.
To say no one cares about the Twins regular season is simply not true. They drew nearly two million fans. They derive a far higher % of their revenue from in stadium sources than the Vikings or Wolves. And their TV ratings were traditionally top 10 in mlb and higher than the Wolves or wild. At least until Bally mucked it up.
The Twins (& Vikings) have a 1 to 2 generational head start on both the Wolves & Wild. Neither "newbie" has been to the Championship Round and each has made it to their respective Conference Final just once.
You couldn't see it happening, yet it just did. The Diamondbacks with payroll #21 (4 rungs lower than the Twins at #17) just beat the Phillies #4 to win the National League Pennant. Before that they dispatched the #5 Dodgers.
You couldn't see it happening, yet it just did. The Diamondbacks with payroll #21 (4 rungs lower than the Twins at #17) just beat the Phillies #4 to win the National League Pennant. Before that they dispatched the #5 Dodgers.
It happens in the "unfair" league. Go figure.
MLB payrolls 2023: Full list of every baseball team from highest to lowest
Mets billionaire owner Steve Cohen, who purchased the team for $2.4 billion, is not afraid to open the checkbook. Complete list of the 30 payrolls.www.usatoday.com
And yet MLB has proven to have as much if not more parity than other pro leagues. I don't think anyone disputes that a bigger budget is an advantage, but it hasn't really impacted the parity on the field to a significant degree.
I would say it's the other way around. The QB position is easily the most important and most impactful position in both leagues. And it's not even close.
Ok well put it this way, the "anti-parity" structure of MLB has not had a significant impact on the on-field results and entertainment value so I don't really care. Give me the MLB setup over the NFL haves and have nots being determined almost purely by QB play any day of the week.
In my opinion, the advantage of the big payroll teams have is that while it does not guarantee big success they are also far less likely to be horrible, barring huge injuries. Although, the Mets this year did their best to disprove that.
I think it allows them to add to their chore group. And keep them. Larger contracts generally work out more often for players that resign with the organization they developed in.
Lower probability, sure. But it happens often enough that they are not anomalies. Detroit, Kansas City twice, Cleveland, Tampa Bay and now Arizona all since 2010 have got to the World Series.
You are ill informed on this subject. I only listed the 6 most obvious instances, there are other middle budget teams that have made it (ie Houston 2017). Texas in 2010 made it to the WS in 2010, ranked 27th out of 30. They made it again in 2011. Your extrapolating it to only 21% is folly.
There's no rule prohibiting the Oakland A's from spending more than the Yankees.
The A's could have also drafted Aaron Judge (257 HRs career) instead of their #27 pick, Billy McKinney (34 HRs career).
The funny thing is McKinney played for the Yankees this season.
Quietly becoming a solid Grid guy when hunting for rarity.
Additionally there is a Luxury Tax, which has been a guardrail of sorts. It has proven to be somewhat of a leveler. There is a threshold were it's quite punitive to overspend.
Agreed...a higher team payroll adds better depth and more margin for injuries. Having that increased "margin for error" will almost always have those teams vying for at least a Wild Card spot.
That's one way to look at it but I think most people think of parity in terms of how many different teams are advancing far and having a realistic chance of winning it all.
With the Cousins development, unfortunately #121 is coming sooner than later.
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We're #1.
