Latest / Foul Territory / Minnesota Twins team preview with Dan Hayes

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Minnesota Twins team preview with Dan Hayes · Foul Territory

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Speaker 1: As far as how your fans viewed you, there couldn't
0:04
Speaker 1: have been a worst season coming off of how electric
0:06
Speaker 1: October twenty twenty three was.
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Speaker 2: Here we go, Dan Hayes joining us from the Athletic
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Speaker 2: covering the Minnesota Twins. We're going to jump into their
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Speaker 2: storylines in a moment. But before we do that, Dan,
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Speaker 2: you know the storylines we cover for twenty twenty five
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Speaker 2: or there. It's something that you know someone can see
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Speaker 2: weeks from now and it's probably going to stay stable.
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Speaker 2: So I want to know before we get to that
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Speaker 2: point if you think we're going to have to redo
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Speaker 2: them because the Twins would suddenly do something crazy like
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Speaker 2: a Dylan c.
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Speaker 3: Smove.
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Speaker 2: I read your article was great. Can you give us
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Speaker 2: more context on why you think it probably won't happen?
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Speaker 1: Yeah, I think it won't happen a because I think
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Speaker 1: one I mean, is anybody convinced that aj Peler really
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Speaker 1: wants to do it? Because how does he truly improve
0:52
Speaker 1: the Padres by getting rid of Dylan Ceas. I mean,
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Speaker 1: like that's still a team. I know they have everything
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Speaker 1: going on right now with their ownership situation, and there's
1:00
Speaker 1: rumors about needing to cut payroll. But I mean, like
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Speaker 1: Dylan cees, taking them off the padres gives them far
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Speaker 1: less of a chance to compete. And if he can
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Speaker 1: capitalize and get three or four guys to fill out
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Speaker 1: all the holes they have, then yeah, okay, that makes sense.
1:16
Speaker 1: Do the Twins really want to pay that premium for
1:18
Speaker 1: one year? This is a team that knows that their
1:22
Speaker 1: prospects are, how they're going to stay alive, how they're
1:25
Speaker 1: going to be afloat for years while they deal with,
1:29
Speaker 1: you know, being a mid market team on the bottom
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Speaker 1: of the on the bottom of that mid section. I
1:34
Speaker 1: think they're seventeenth in market size and usually they're seventeenth,
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Speaker 1: eighteenth or nineteenth in payroll. So it's always prospects and
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Speaker 1: young guys that keep them afloat so they can sign
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Speaker 1: around the edges and it's tough one. I could never
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Speaker 1: see them trading Walker Jenkins or Emmanuel Rodriguez or Lukeishel
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Speaker 1: for one year of Dylan cease and I think, you know,
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Speaker 1: Aj Probler probably wants to really reload.
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Speaker 3: Look at what Corbyn Burns brought the Brewers last year.
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Speaker 1: They got two guys that were formerly top one hundred
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Speaker 1: prospects and a comp pick. You know, obviously that part
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Speaker 1: that Dylan Cees if he got traded before the season started,
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Speaker 1: would bring whatever team the qualifying offer the compensation pick
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Speaker 1: for the qualifying offer next year. That definitely complicates matters.
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Speaker 1: But you know, I imagine a J Prowler is aiming
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Speaker 1: high to fill those shoes if he was to move on,
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Speaker 1: and what does that mean? And you know, I think
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Speaker 1: it would be some really he wants major league talent.
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Speaker 1: So I think it'd be really difficult to remove a
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Speaker 1: couple of major leaguers from the Twins unless they let
2:41
Speaker 1: them do what they want. And you know, I mean,
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Speaker 1: I just don't know that it matches up, but it's
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Speaker 1: absolutely something I think the Twins need to do, just
2:49
Speaker 1: because they need to find a way to recapture this
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Speaker 1: fan base. They still have not drawn two million fans
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Speaker 1: since twenty nineteen, and when you think about it, post lockout,
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Speaker 1: they traded for Sonny Green, they signed Carlos Korea, they
3:01
Speaker 1: didn't draw two million fans that year. They were in
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Speaker 1: first place as of Labor Day, and you know, they
3:06
Speaker 1: were really beat up that year and collapsed.
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Speaker 3: In Cleveland one.
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Speaker 1: But they win the division in twenty three they don't
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Speaker 1: make two million fans that year. Usually you bump, you
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Speaker 1: get a bump the year after you win a division,
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Speaker 1: but ownership cut payroll by thirty million dollars. Going into
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Speaker 1: the twenty twenty four season. They drew even fewer fans
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Speaker 1: than they did in the division winning season, even though
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Speaker 1: they were seventy and fifty three on August seventeenth. And
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Speaker 1: you know, in line, I think they were like ninety
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Speaker 1: five ninety six percent chance of making the playoffs. They
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Speaker 1: didn't draw. So this this team needs to do something
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Speaker 1: to reconnect with its fan base. And the story I
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Speaker 1: wrote the other day was just basically, hey, you have
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Speaker 1: this new TV deal. The amount of households that can
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Speaker 1: now see Twins Baseball because of no blackouts is four
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Speaker 1: point four million. Last year it was one point three
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Speaker 1: seven million fans or households over the five states of
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Speaker 1: Twins territory. So you're tripling your potential audience. And look,
4:03
Speaker 1: the money is never going to be the same as
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Speaker 1: it was when it was Ballely Sports that was fifty
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Speaker 1: four million dollars two years ago. Streaming does not allow
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Speaker 1: for that kind of money. I think the Potter's had
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Speaker 1: forty thousand subscribers going into last season, So do the math.
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Speaker 1: It's you know, five million bucks. But at the same time,
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Speaker 1: you have a chance to attract new fans. There's tons
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Speaker 1: of little kids, you know, three times the little kids
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Speaker 1: across those five states now can see the twins that
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Speaker 1: weren't able to before. You know, the time is right
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Speaker 1: to make a move and kind of try to win
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Speaker 1: back your fans. It's just do you really want to
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Speaker 1: pay that price? And that's why I think it's unlikely.
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Speaker 1: But you know, it's they've definitely fished in the waters
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Speaker 1: and checked the out things. They even asked about Luis Castillo,
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Speaker 1: and that's not gonna happen just because the money is
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Speaker 1: way out of their market their league right now.
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Speaker 3: But they've certainly looked for those kind of moves.
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Speaker 2: Dan, I want to buy back on two points. Umber One, sure,
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Speaker 2: you were a playoff team the year before, but then
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Speaker 2: you smacked your fans in the face marketing wise and
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Speaker 2: said we're not doing a single thing.
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Speaker 3: We hate you.
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Speaker 2: So that's why fans didn't show up and ultimately they crumbled.
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Speaker 2: Number two, MLB was holding back streaming availability that was
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Speaker 2: on the league in my opinion, and Also, now you're
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Speaker 2: taking away the discoverability because you will only be able
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Speaker 2: to watch them or see them if you go into
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Speaker 2: an MLB platform versus streaming or versus landing on them.
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Speaker 2: So I'm biting back. I actually firmly disagree with some
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Speaker 2: of this stuff and thinks it will hurt them and
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Speaker 2: think it will hurt them long term. But that's my
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Speaker 2: take anyway.
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Speaker 1: No, and also this, the fact that they didn't have
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Speaker 1: streaming last year really hurt them because they had that.
5:44
Speaker 1: You know, Exfinity had the three months dispute with Diamond
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Speaker 1: Sports right during the middle of the part where the Twins.
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Speaker 3: Were good, they weren't.
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Speaker 1: I think May one was the first date and they
5:54
Speaker 1: were going for win number eleven in a row, and
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Speaker 1: that winning.
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Speaker 3: Streak that they had with the rally Sausage.
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Speaker 1: Right when people want to tune in. They were taken
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Speaker 1: off the air for three months and not having a
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Speaker 1: streaming option it last year. Potentially as far as how
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Speaker 1: your fans viewed you, there couldn't have been a worse
6:13
Speaker 1: season coming off of how electric October twenty twenty three was,
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Speaker 1: and you know, fans were fired up. I mean that's
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Speaker 1: the first time they'd won a playoff series in twenty
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Speaker 1: one years. And I know we talked about the just
6:24
Speaker 1: a losing streak, the eighteen game losing streak, but to
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Speaker 1: win a series for the first time in twenty one years,
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Speaker 1: you had people excited about being at the ballpark and
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Speaker 1: to go with, you know, thirty million dollars off that payroll,
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Speaker 1: And like you said, it was sort of a slap
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Speaker 1: in the face to do that. And if you're working
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Speaker 1: with limitations, if you're the front office, but there's not
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Speaker 1: much you can do, and it certainly is not a
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Speaker 1: great place to be as you're trying to sell the
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Speaker 1: more people A damn.
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Speaker 4: I got to ask you kind of it's kind of
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Speaker 4: a personal question, but it's involved in this. You've you've
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Speaker 4: covered the Padres, the White Sox, and the Twins. Why
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Speaker 4: is it every time you covered they start snipping payroll
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Speaker 4: instead of adding I don't know, it just it just
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Speaker 4: seems like a weird coincidence that the Padres, the White Sox,
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Speaker 4: and the Twins all have to cut payroll after you
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Speaker 4: were around them.
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Speaker 1: Hey, it's shocking to me that twenty nineteen was the
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Speaker 1: first time I ever even covered a playoff team. So
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Speaker 1: after starting in two thousand and seven. So I mean,
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Speaker 1: like I've been at some of these franchises at their
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Speaker 1: lowest points. I would bet that my period of watching
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Speaker 1: the White Sox beat writer winning percentages, it's probably in
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Speaker 1: the bottom ten percent, having been there from twenty twelve
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Speaker 1: to twenty seventeen.
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Speaker 3: And yeah, it's a good point. That's a good point.
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Speaker 1: Maybe I should just move on to another franchise and maybe,
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Speaker 1: you know what, it would be interesting to see if
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Speaker 1: I cover the Dodgers what they did with payroll at
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Speaker 1: this point.
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Speaker 4: They probably they probably they probably you know, just release
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Speaker 4: show hey and just be like, oh, we're just we
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Speaker 4: gave up, Dan hayeses here we give.
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Speaker 2: Up The Dodgers would turn into the Mavericks from this
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Speaker 2: past weekend.
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Speaker 3: All right.
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Speaker 2: I want to get to storylines, though, So let's cue
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Speaker 2: that up. The big four storylines for the Minnesota Twins
8:09
Speaker 2: heading into this season. I mean, the sale has to
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Speaker 2: take center stage because this team could get taken over
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Speaker 2: by a billionaire who actually gives a crap about baseball
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Speaker 2: and winning. So stay tuned, will ask Dan about that
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Speaker 2: a redemption season or could a slow start lead to
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Speaker 2: a manager change or some other type of change with
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Speaker 2: this ball club, the usual health questions, Krea, Buxton, Lewis,
8:28
Speaker 2: how they doing?
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Speaker 3: And the baby bats.
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Speaker 2: I mean, this team's got a good farm system, So Dan,
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Speaker 2: let's start at the top. This team could get dealt
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Speaker 2: by opening day. And by delt, I mean to an
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Speaker 2: owner who actually gives a crap. I'm sure Twins fans
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Speaker 2: are following this story closely and you've been all over it.
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Speaker 2: So where are we at? And do you think it
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Speaker 2: will change the complexion of this franchise if they land
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Speaker 2: with an owner who is not obsessed with saying the
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Speaker 2: word revenue or portfolio.
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Speaker 3: Yeah.
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Speaker 1: Look, this is the story for the Twins this offseason.
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Speaker 1: I mean it's been forty years of the same ownership
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Speaker 1: and the one two World Series. Early on, they did
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Speaker 1: spend on payroll a couple of times. When target Field opened,
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Speaker 1: I think there were ninth and tenth in payroll, and
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Speaker 1: fans came out, I mean fans. There were three million
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Speaker 1: fans in those first two years of target Field. There
9:12
Speaker 1: was three million fans after it was either the first
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Speaker 1: World Series or the second World Series. But payroll has
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Speaker 1: never been a good thing for the Twins. Usually it's
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Speaker 1: you know, seventeenth eighteenth. It's been bottom of the barrel
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Speaker 1: at the start of the two thousands, so that could
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Speaker 1: change everything absolutely, And you know, I think it's something
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Speaker 1: that fans are optimistic about. But also, look, you know
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Speaker 1: I was I covered the Padres when they sold in
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Speaker 1: two thousand and nine and John Morris was going through
9:44
Speaker 1: a divorce at the time and had to sell, and
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Speaker 1: Jeff Moraed came in, and you know, a year later,
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Speaker 1: Jed Hoyer, I still remember, was on the dais at
9:55
Speaker 1: Indianapolis just looking pale because he had to trade Adrian
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Speaker 1: Gonzalez to the Red Sox because the team with the
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Speaker 1: thirty eight million dollars payroll had to slash even more
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Speaker 1: and couldn't afford to sign Adrianganzolz to a long term contract.
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Speaker 1: So you never really know what you're going to get. Now,
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Speaker 1: this is hopeful because look, you look at the market
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Speaker 1: and there haven't been a lot of Major League Baseball
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Speaker 1: teams for sale in the last fifteen years. I think
10:20
Speaker 1: since the Dodgers sold and the Padres back in twenty twelve,
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Speaker 1: I think there have been five total. And the Orioles
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Speaker 1: were sold four days after Peter Angelos died and that
10:29
Speaker 1: was a quiet deal. It's not like they were out
10:32
Speaker 1: in the open market. I don't think that Kansas City
10:34
Speaker 1: was really out on the market. So you're looking at
10:37
Speaker 1: the Mets, you're looking at the Marlins, and the Mariners
10:40
Speaker 1: was even within their own ownership structure. I think somebody
10:43
Speaker 1: stepped up and bought more. So it's not like there's
10:45
Speaker 1: been an open bidding. And when you have thirty of
10:48
Speaker 1: these products, you know people are interested in buying. So
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Speaker 1: I think there's hope in that. You know, the name
10:53
Speaker 1: that I've reported and this been out there is Justin
10:56
Speaker 1: Ishbia and his brother Matt owns the Phoenix, and Justin's
11:01
Speaker 1: a partial owner of the Suns. They own a minor
11:04
Speaker 1: league baseball team, they own soccer. They they definitely represent
11:09
Speaker 1: hope to Twins fans because I think, you know, he's
11:12
Speaker 1: a huge baseball fan. There's we've written at The Athletic
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Speaker 1: about his donations to Michigan State and his thoughts on baseball,
11:19
Speaker 1: and I think that you know, you want someone that's
11:22
Speaker 1: a fan in there, and you want someone that knows
11:24
Speaker 1: and I think I think Scott Boris said this at
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Speaker 1: the GM meetings. You want someone that knows that they're
11:30
Speaker 1: no longer anonymous. They have winner or loser attached their
11:34
Speaker 1: name once they buy a franchise, and you never know
11:37
Speaker 1: what you're going to get. You could get John Fisher,
11:38
Speaker 1: you could get Bob Nutting, or you could get you know,
11:41
Speaker 1: Steve Cohene.
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Speaker 3: So like somewhere in between. Twins fans would be thrilled.
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Speaker 1: If someone came in and wanted to spend twenty million
11:47
Speaker 1: bucks on the payroll and cut beer prices by a
11:50
Speaker 1: buck or whatever.
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Speaker 3: And you know, I think.
11:53
Speaker 1: There's there's room for hope for Twins fans, and I
11:56
Speaker 1: do think that we will see someone picked by opening day.
11:59
Speaker 1: What the structure looks like as far as baseball proving
12:02
Speaker 1: that that's a good question because it takes obviously time
12:05
Speaker 1: to get the approval of the owners. But I would
12:09
Speaker 1: think that the vetting is pretty pretty thorough right now.
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Speaker 3: Of the groups they're going forward, two.
12:15
Speaker 4: Things Dan real quick before we get to the next one.
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Speaker 4: One the White Sox people the fans, they want them
12:20
Speaker 4: to buy the White Sox because I think they're small
12:22
Speaker 4: owner in the White Sox already, so forget the Twins.
12:24
Speaker 4: The White Sox want those guys to buy their team,
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Speaker 4: and second of all, dais. I never heard the word
12:28
Speaker 4: deis in my life until we went to the BBWAA
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Speaker 4: Awards and like every guy and I'm like, what the
12:33
Speaker 4: hell is a dais? What are they talking about? I'm
12:35
Speaker 4: missing a word here, and then you just drop dais.
12:37
Speaker 4: That's definitely the first time that word's ever been dropped.
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Speaker 4: So that's it all. Let crowds go to the next storyline.
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Speaker 5: Now.
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Speaker 1: I think that's the first time I've ever used that word,
12:45
Speaker 1: by the way, so you got to be there too,
12:48
Speaker 1: me too.
12:49
Speaker 5: Well done, well done, AJ use it like four times.
12:52
Speaker 5: So now he's done for like the rest of his life. No,
12:55
Speaker 5: I'm going to go to the fact that you were
12:58
Speaker 5: just talking about, how like this really is hinging on
13:00
Speaker 5: payroll and ownership selling or not selling? So would it
13:05
Speaker 5: be fair because this team, I mean is in the
13:07
Speaker 5: American League Central, where three teams made the playoffs, they
13:11
Speaker 5: were on the outside looking in? Is this rockaball Deli's like,
13:15
Speaker 5: if it starts slow, could he be on the trading
13:18
Speaker 5: block or I mean on the cutting block here.
13:21
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a good question, and I will say that
13:24
Speaker 1: Derek falve to no end talks about the great partnership
13:28
Speaker 1: that they have, so I would put it less likely,
13:33
Speaker 1: but you never know. I mean, look, last year was terrible,
13:35
Speaker 1: the end of the season was not good, and you
13:37
Speaker 1: were going to have a new ownership group come in,
13:40
Speaker 1: So that puts anything on the table, I think, because
13:45
Speaker 1: you know, a new owner gets to say what they want,
13:47
Speaker 1: and so who knows what the foundation of the Twins
13:50
Speaker 1: looks like from a front office standpoint, from a field
13:54
Speaker 1: staff standpoint in a year. I mean, but you know,
13:57
Speaker 1: winning is a cure all and it's crazy. This team
14:00
Speaker 1: has done nothing this offseason, and you can understand for
14:03
Speaker 1: the most part the limitations. They have still a little
14:06
Speaker 1: bit of money to spend. I'm told they have a
14:08
Speaker 1: you know, a little bit of a wiggle room, maybe
14:10
Speaker 1: five million bucks. There's no cutting of the payroll this year.
14:14
Speaker 1: They need to do something still. They need to round
14:16
Speaker 1: out the roster a little bit. The bullpen is outstanding,
14:20
Speaker 1: but there still could be some minor ads there. I
14:23
Speaker 1: think they need ads in outfield. They need to do more,
14:28
Speaker 1: even though they're projected on paper to win eighty eight
14:31
Speaker 1: games right now, because yeah, you're right, a slow start
14:35
Speaker 1: could do them in. You know, but last year, I
14:37
Speaker 1: think they started seven and thirteen and one thing that
14:40
Speaker 1: Roco did a great job. You know, they were down
14:42
Speaker 1: Royce Lewis at that point, they were down Carlos Korea
14:44
Speaker 1: was keeping them together and they rolled off that you know,
14:47
Speaker 1: winning streak and got back into competition, and then they
14:51
Speaker 1: had the hideous ends of the season and it's hard
14:54
Speaker 1: to erase that. And who knows if they came out
14:57
Speaker 1: and went, you know, twenty and forty, there's still a
15:01
Speaker 1: fair amount of money for the Twins payroll wise, to
15:04
Speaker 1: be invested, and it could lead to a change.
15:08
Speaker 5: Oh that would be shocking.
15:10
Speaker 4: I think, yeah, it would be shocking, just because of
15:12
Speaker 4: the way what Rock has done, the way they talk about.
15:14
Speaker 1: Roco and so yeah, but let's Letten just to reemphasize.
15:19
Speaker 1: I mean, I think he they were down Buckston, they
15:23
Speaker 1: were down Korea when they fell apart last year, the
15:25
Speaker 1: minute Joe Ryan went down. You had two starters with
15:28
Speaker 1: the ability to go five. I mean, they were so
15:31
Speaker 1: up against They did a good job getting through what
15:33
Speaker 1: they could, but that offense quit and at one point
15:36
Speaker 1: in September and Rocco doing the part where he said
15:40
Speaker 1: that it was an unprofessional series that was eye opening
15:43
Speaker 1: and and so it was a lot of chaos going
15:47
Speaker 1: on because of stuff, you know, because they didn't have depth,
15:51
Speaker 1: and again that it didn't come off well externally. Fans
15:56
Speaker 1: were upset. But I agree because because Derek Valve has
15:59
Speaker 1: mentioned so many times how much of a partnership he
16:02
Speaker 1: has with Roco that it would be it would take
16:04
Speaker 1: something really egregious or you know, just a big kind
16:10
Speaker 1: of maybe disappointment to see them moving.
16:15
Speaker 4: Okay, all right, so you mentioned it a little bit.
16:17
Speaker 4: The injuries. Can they keep Carlos Korea, Can they keep
16:20
Speaker 4: Byron Bucks And can they keep Royce Lewis? Can they
16:22
Speaker 4: keep some of the pitchers healthy in order to get
16:24
Speaker 4: to their number of eighty eight? That's the biggest question
16:26
Speaker 4: for me is right, Yes, they haven't spent, but the
16:28
Speaker 4: guys they have here, can they keep them healthy? What
16:30
Speaker 4: do you think the games played of these guys are
16:32
Speaker 4: and how healthy can they be?
16:34
Speaker 1: Yeah, Buckston getting to one hundred games last year was encouraging.
16:37
Speaker 1: I know they're excited because this is the first healthy
16:40
Speaker 1: offseason he's had since the twenty eighteen twenty nineteen, and
16:44
Speaker 1: I remember at that point he'd had an injury riddled
16:47
Speaker 1: twenty eighteen, and he really was fine going into the
16:51
Speaker 1: offseason and was doing like two days and hitting all day.
16:55
Speaker 1: And it's really when Byron Buckston took off offensively to
16:58
Speaker 1: the kind of hitter that he's become the last couple
17:00
Speaker 1: of years. So they're pumped about that, but the injury
17:04
Speaker 1: history suggests there's always something right around the corner with him.
17:07
Speaker 1: Carlos Korea looked really in shape. We talked to him
17:11
Speaker 1: at twins Fest last weekend. He looked, you know, like
17:15
Speaker 1: he's ready to go, and he talked about it. I think,
17:18
Speaker 1: you know, it's funny he's going to have to do
17:20
Speaker 1: the treatment at all times on the heels or the
17:24
Speaker 1: planner fasciatus on both feet. But I think he feels
17:27
Speaker 1: a lot more prepared for that after the two years
17:29
Speaker 1: are going through it. It's just that that's hard to escape.
17:31
Speaker 1: I mean, it's something that sticks around once you get it.
17:34
Speaker 1: And you know, he's doing this shock wave of therapy
17:38
Speaker 1: on the right foot that he said last year was
17:41
Speaker 1: so painful that it would make him tear up when
17:43
Speaker 1: he was taking it. So but he's in much better
17:46
Speaker 1: place now because of where the feet are, So you know,
17:49
Speaker 1: how do they manage that. That'll be interesting. They're going
17:51
Speaker 1: to need someone to step in at times at shortstop.
17:54
Speaker 1: Royce Lewis, you know, the end of the season, he
17:59
Speaker 1: kind of figured out a new routine. They talked about
18:01
Speaker 1: it that he changed things midyear after he came back
18:04
Speaker 1: from the devastating quad injury on opening Day. The ends,
18:08
Speaker 1: I think he played fifty eight of sixty one games
18:10
Speaker 1: at the end of the season. That's the longest he
18:12
Speaker 1: stayed on the major league field at any time. I
18:14
Speaker 1: think they're hopeful that that's the trend. But he's blown
18:17
Speaker 1: out his knee twice, he has a quad injury. He's definitely,
18:21
Speaker 1: you know, had tricky little injuries here and there over
18:23
Speaker 1: his time in the majors. So the fact that you're
18:25
Speaker 1: built around those three, you know, it leads to concerns.
18:29
Speaker 3: You need depth. That's why some of these young guys
18:32
Speaker 3: are going to have to come through.
18:33
Speaker 1: The brooks Lee's, the Edward Julians, the Jose Mirandas the
18:38
Speaker 1: you know guys like that. And it's why Willy Castro
18:40
Speaker 1: remains valuable to them is because they can put him
18:42
Speaker 1: in at shortstop for twenty games of Carlos Corego's on
18:46
Speaker 1: the il and it's something that they need more of.
18:49
Speaker 1: They need outfield depth right now. You know, the outfield's
18:52
Speaker 1: pretty thin to think if you looked at it right now.
18:54
Speaker 1: Willie Castro is probably their fourth outfielder. He's really sort
18:58
Speaker 1: of your back up every position with the exception of catcher,
19:02
Speaker 1: and they've talked about maybe even putting him at first
19:05
Speaker 1: base and knowing he could handle it, and it wouldn't
19:08
Speaker 1: shock me at all.
19:09
Speaker 3: But you know, pitching wise, you know.
19:12
Speaker 1: Bailey over previously, he's been healthy the last couple of
19:15
Speaker 1: years and has done really well. He had previous injury
19:17
Speaker 1: history that they helped him manage his way through. Joe Ryan,
19:22
Speaker 1: you know, the groin got him in twenty twenty three.
19:24
Speaker 1: Last year he had the forearm injury. Or you know,
19:30
Speaker 1: that's challenging. But he came in sounding like he's feeling
19:33
Speaker 1: really good. He said that before he got to camp
19:36
Speaker 1: he wanted to be hitting ninety on the gun and
19:38
Speaker 1: in his first bullpen session, his first pitch was like
19:41
Speaker 1: eighty nine to five, and so he feels really good.
19:43
Speaker 1: Where they've said that, there's the MRIs have showed that
19:46
Speaker 1: he's cleared. He's never really been an injury history guy.
19:49
Speaker 1: So you know at the top you've got those three guys,
19:52
Speaker 1: but you know it's then you're looking at Chris Paddock
19:54
Speaker 1: and Simon Woods, Richardson, David Festol. You've got some questions
19:58
Speaker 1: at the back end of the rotation. But you know,
20:01
Speaker 1: Paddock thinks he's going to be healthy and good to go.
20:03
Speaker 1: He just didn't return at the end of last year.
20:05
Speaker 1: And you know, the key for them would be not
20:07
Speaker 1: have to push him the way they did last year.
20:10
Speaker 1: Anthony Deskafani's injury in spring training meant that Chris Paddock
20:14
Speaker 1: was full go from the start coming off of his
20:16
Speaker 1: second Tommy John and that was not a great spot
20:18
Speaker 1: to be in for them.
20:19
Speaker 2: Dan last one because we're pushing against a break here,
20:22
Speaker 2: so I'm going to phrase it this way to get
20:24
Speaker 2: to it quicker. So prospects, give me the guy that
20:27
Speaker 2: is going to make an impact of the bigger names
20:30
Speaker 2: this year. So we got like thirty seconds, But give
20:32
Speaker 2: me the one name on our way out here.
20:35
Speaker 3: If he can stay healthy. Emmanuel Rodriguez.
20:37
Speaker 1: That's my guess, just because he's at Triple A already,
20:39
Speaker 1: outfield is probably where they have their most holes. I
20:43
Speaker 1: think he can make a If he was hitting a
20:45
Speaker 1: ton at Triple A and staying healthy, he can be
20:48
Speaker 1: up here pretty quick.
20:49
Speaker 2: There you go, Okay, circle the name. Of course, we
20:52
Speaker 2: do a Baseball America Hot Sheet show as well, but
20:54
Speaker 2: make sure you check out Dan's work in the athletic
20:56
Speaker 2: Give him a follow on Twitter.
20:58
Speaker 4: Dan Dan, And if I would have gone to twins
21:01
Speaker 4: Fest this year, would you have interviewed me?
21:04
Speaker 1: Uh No, I would have said hello, though, I would
21:06
Speaker 1: you know what I would ask you if you were
21:07
Speaker 1: going to buy.
21:07
Speaker 3: The team, if you were one of the guys that
21:09
Speaker 3: was interested in my well.
21:11
Speaker 4: Hell, I chose the BBW A A instead.
21:14
Speaker 5: That's why short arms.
21:15
Speaker 4: Dan.
21:16
Speaker 2: Thank you for the time. Great to see you appreciate it.
21:18
Speaker 3: Hey, thanks guys,