The first thing we do need to do is to congratulate catcher Mitch Garver and DH Nelson Cruz on being named 2019 American League Silver Slugger winners. Garver and Cruz are the first Minnesota Twins teammates to win Silver Sluggers since Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau in 2008.
The last previous winner of a Silver Slugger award was outfielder Josh Willingham in 2012. Kirby Puckett and Joe Mauer have each won the award five times. Garver and Cruz are the seventh and eighth Minnesota Twins players to be awarded Silver Slugger.
The Silver Slugger Award is awarded annually to the best offensive player at each position in both the American League and the National League, as determined by the coaches and managers of Major League Baseball. The award was started in 1980. A complete list of Twins award winners can be seen here.
Recognizing four Baseball Operations personnel for their ongoing contributions, the Minnesota Twins today announced the promotions of Daniel Adler and Jeremy Zoll to Assistant General Manager, Alex Hassan to Director of Player Development, and Jeremy Raadt to Director of Baseball Systems.
Twins Announce Baseball Operations Staff Promotions.pdf
The Twins extended a qualifying offer to right-hander Jake Odorizzi, the club announced Monday, November 4 but did not extend one to Kyle Gibson or Michael Pineda. Odorizzi has 10 days to accept or reject the offer, which is a one-year deal valued at $17.8 million for the 2020 season. If Odorizzi were to reject the qualifying offer to enter free agency, the Twins would receive a compensatory draft pick for his departure.
The Twins announced that they declined their $7.5 million club option for starter Martin Perez, making the 28-year-old southpaw a free agent and committing the Twins to rebuilding a full four-fifths of their starting rotation this offseason.
The club’s only other option decision for 2020 involved designated hitter Nelson Cruz, and it came as no surprise at all that the veteran’s $12 million club option was officially exercised on Monday, as had been previously reported in October.
Left-handed pitcher Stephen Gonsalves was claimed off waivers by the Mets on Monday.
Right-hander Kohl Stewart was outrighted off the 40-man roster and elected free agency. Stewart, 25, was a first-round selection (fourth over-all) in the 2013 MLB Draft.
The Twins quietly announced that TwinsFest 2020 will take place on Friday (4pm-9pm), January 24 and Saturday (9am-6pm), January 25. What they didn’t specifically mention is that it always used to be three days long including Sunday but that is not the case this year. I am sure that Twins fans that have to travel a longer distance will not be too excited about this development. TwinsFest is one of the largest fundraisers for the Twins Community Fund, an organization working to change the lives of kids across Twins Territory by getting them involved in youth baseball and softball. Is this the beginning of the end of TwinsFest? Other MLB teams are eliminating this player interaction with the fans and the Twins could be going down the same route. TwinsFest tickets will go on sale on December 11 and it will be interesting to see what the price will be.
Twins Announce 2020 Spring Training Promotional Dates; Season and Group Tickets on Sale Now
Although the November 6 Twins Press Release made no mention of a Spring Training ticket price increase, the Star Tribune reported that the Twins have added a $1 to price of ‘vast majority’ of spring training tickets with the top price for a seat now at $46, while grandstand price stays the same at $9. The Star Trib article can be seen here.
MLB Spring Training game tickets are already too high for what you get. Big league players seldom if ever play a complete game and visiting teams barely bring enough big league players to an away game to meet MLB requirements. IMHO, MLB Spring training game tickets should be priced no higher then the average ticket price for a AAA game the previous season.
Looks like the Twins are wasting no time raising ticket prices after winning 101 games, winning the AL Central Division, setting a new MLB home run record and getting swept in three games in the ALDS by the New York Yankees. Are the Twins greedy by raising Spring Training ticket prices? You know what I think, how about you?