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Twins lay low in offseason with regional TV revenue uncertain
A major factor is the uncertainty around their regional broadcast revenue with the parent company for the Bally Sports networks in bankruptcy.
MINNEAPOLIS — Limited player movement across Major League Baseball this offseason has been no more pronounced than in Minnesota, where the defending AL Central champion Twins have so far claimed a couple of players off waivers and signed a middle reliever coming off an injury.
Hot stove? Try deep freezer.
Free agents have largely felt no rush in recent years, but a major factor in this quiet offseason appears to be uncertainty around regional broadcast revenue.
The Twins are among 11 teams who’ve had nearly all of their games on the Bally Sports networks, whose parent company went into bankruptcy last year. Amazon recently announced it will partner with the Diamond Sports Group in the reformation process, but with spring training less than three weeks away the urgency for clubs like the Twins is clear.
“It remains a fluid situation,” said team president Dave St. Peter, who described himself as “incredibly optimistic” about being able to announce soon what platform Twins games will be broadcast on in 2024.
In the meantime, the front office has had to play it cool. After fielding a club-record payroll that was $164 million heading into the postseason, fueled by shortstop Carlos Correa’s $200 million, six-year contract, the Twins produced their first postseason series victory since 2002. But the wariness around the regional television situation has prompted a reduction in player salary costs.
Starting pitchers Sonny Gray (St. Louis), Kenta Maeda (Detroit) and Tyler Mahle (Texas) and reliever Emilio Pagán (Cincinnati) all departed as free agents for deals that average $14 million annually. Gray got the biggest contract: three years for $75 million.
The good news for the Twins is they had a healthy stable of starting pitching depth. They also had rookies Royce Lewis, Edouard Julien and Matt Wallner emerge as key regulars — and in the case of Lewis, a potential superstar — midway through the season.
“I think we have an excellent group, period. As of right now we have a team that is an equal or better team than we had last year coming out of camp,” manager Rocco Baldelli said Friday before the team’s annual fan festival at Target Field. “The focus shouldn’t be on the couple of players that we currently don’t have that we ended the season with.”
Pablo López, Joe Ryan, Bailey Ober, Chris Paddack and Louie Varland will likely enter camp next month as the starting five. The Twins can be quite confident in that quintet, even after losing the other three. What they could use now is another viable option or two in case of the inevitable injuries. Because of the price of starting pitching on the open market, that’s likely to be accomplished via trade.
Another reason the Twins believe in their ability to maintain the momentum they built last year is the health of center fielder Byron Buxton. Yes, center fielder.
After what turned out to be false hope of him contributing on defense during yet another injury-shrouded season while Buxton was relegated to designated hitter duty, he’s been enjoying a winter without restriction and on track to become a two-way player again.
“He’s pain-free, so that’s where I want to be,” Baldelli said.
Having Buxton regularly available to play center field opens up so many more avenues to strengthen the daily lineup, when he’s not occupying the DH spot.
“No setbacks. Everything has gone according to what we hoped the plan would look like,” president of baseball operations Derek Falvey said. ‘So when you ask why I have more confidence today than I do a year ago, it’s because we were still waiting to see how he was going to be. This year I feel like he’s further along in that process.”
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The council argues that the HERC must be closed to comply with the city’s zero waste policy, which was passed back in 2017.
MINNEAPOLIS — The Minneapolis City Council unanimously approved a plan to shut down the Hennepin Energy Recovery Center (HERC) on Thursday.
The resolution comes after decades of protests against the massive North Loop trash incinerator that burns roughly 365,000 tons of garbage a year.
“Today is a big step towards protecting the health of our communities and addressing longstanding environmental injustices that disproportionately impact communities of color,” said councilmember Robin Wonsley, in a statement.
The resolution calls for the incinerator to be permanently closed by Dec 31, 2027 and for the entire facility to be shut down by Dec 31, 2033.
The council argues that the HERC must be closed to comply with the city’s zero waste policy, which was passed back in 2017.
In October 2023, the Hennepin County Board signed off on a plan to close the HERC between 2028 and 2040, depending on how quickly the county can transition into a zero-waste system.
Of the garbage burned at the HERC, 75% comes from the city of Minneapolis. The other 25% comes from a dozen other cities in the area. The HERC produces enough energy to power more than 25,000 homes and half the buildings in downtown Minneapolis.
At a City Council Meeting on Oct. 10, Jenni Lansing with the City of Minneapolis Health Department provided analysis on the air pollution impacts of HERC. She said the health department supports working towards a zero-waste future and the ultimate closure of HERC, but said closing it now is not the solution.
“Overall emissions in Hennepin County are dominated by on-road and non-road, mobile and nonpoint sources, and these sources drive the cancer and non-cancer risks to health in Minneapolis,” Lansing said.
Hennepin County defines zero waste as preventing 90% or more of all discarded materials from being landfilled or incinerated.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
The snow is really coming down in some places with Maple Lake getting 3.5″ so far.
GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. — The wettest Halloween storm ever — is making mischief before little trick-or-treaters hit their neighborhood’s slushy streets.
Officials are reporting several power outages and car spin-outs.
There have been over 14,000 power outages, according to Xcel Energy.
The Minnesota State Patrol has responded to 169 crashes and 94 vehicles off the road, as of 2. pm. Thursday.
Meteorologist Beny Dery said an additional 1 to 2″ of snow is possible before things taper off this evening.
So far some of the totals around town are: 3.5″ Maple Lake, 3.0″ Buffalo, 2.5″ Dassel, 2.4″ Windom, 2.0″ St. Bonifacious, 1.5″ Maple Plain and 1.5″ in Bethel.
The snow is expected to let up from west to east and should wrap up for the metro between 5 to 6 p.m.
Last week, prosecutors charged John Sawchak with attempted 2nd-degree murder and other felony charges after he allegedly shot his neighbor Davis Moturi.
MINNEAPOLIS — Following the shooting between two neighbors, the Minneapolis City Council voted unanimously to request that the city’s auditor conduct an independent investigation into the incidents and cases between Davis Moturi and John Sawchak.
Moturi was allegedly shot by his neighbor, Sawchak, on Wednesday, Oct. 23 but Minneapolis police did not arrest Sawchak until days later.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara defended not arresting Sawchak sooner, calling it a “high-risk” situation. O’Hara later said the victim, who had complained about harassment from Sawchak for months, was failed by police. Sawchak was arrested this past weekend after an hours-long standoff.
Moturi suffered a fractured spine, two broken ribs, and a concussion in the shooting. “Mr. Moturi’s life matters and I’m sorry that for nearly a year, MPD did not treat it like it did,” said Council Member Robin Wonsley in a news release, “Today’s vote affirms that the City Council is committed to taking meaningful actions towards accountability and restoration, starting with this independent review.”
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey released this statement:
“Mayor Frey fully supports an independent review of this incident. The mayor and City are committed to always doing better, and this means closely examining past actions and finding where there may be ways to improve and grow. The mayor extends his condolences to Davis Moturi, his wife, Caroline, and their family and friends. The safety of our residents is a top priority and any form of violence or hate speech is completely unacceptable and does not align with who we are as a community. Brian O’Hara will continue to be the Minneapolis Police Chief.”
