Tag: Dave St. Peter

Twins and Lee County agree on 30 year extension

The Minnesota Twins have signed a 30 year lease extension to continue to use the Lee County Sports complex as their spring training home on the assumption that Lee County will get $15 million from a state grant to help finance the expected $25 to $30 million in improvements.  Lee County Commissioners voted 4 -1 yesterday to sign the 30-year conditional lease with the Twins. Lee County and the Twins needed to sign this conditional lease prior to the exact details of the improvements being agreed upon because the $15 million state grant can only be used to retain a current baseball team and the county has to apply for the state grant before July 6.

Twins president Dave St. Peter

When Twins president Dave St. Peter was asked what improvements the team was looking for, he said “We are focused on general improvements surrounding fan amenities, player development and amateur sports.” When pressed for more details, St. Peter said he could not be more specific at this time. Rumor has it that the Twins are looking to add about a 1,000 seats, add some ballpark elevators, add a team dormitory and a player-development academy. When I asked the Twins president what the chances were that the county would get the state funds and when these improvements were expected to be completed, he replied that “he is optimistic that the county would get the state funds and that some improvements would be completed for 2014 and the balance in 2015.” Dave St. Peter went on to say that “we have eight (8) years remaining our current lease with two five-year team options. When asked about his thoughts about the rumored move of the Washington Nationals to Ft. Myers where they would use the old Boston Red Sox spring training complex, he had “no comment”.

The Twins have called Ft. Myers as their spring training home since 1991. The only other city that the Twins have used as a spring training facility was Orlando, Florida where they trained from 1961 through 1990. The Twins supposedly generate at least $25 million to $30 million per year from tourists traveling to Lee County, using the hotels, eating at the restaurants and going to games.

What to do, What to do?

GM Bill Smith

November 11, 2010 – The Twins have nine players (Jim Thome, Orlando Hudson, Carl Pavano, Jesse Crain, Matt Guerrier, Brian Fuentes, Jon Rauch, Randy Flores, and Ron Mahay) that became free agents and Nick Punto was added to the free agent list when the Twins passed on his $5 million option and let him walk for the $500K buy-out. They did however; pick up Jason Kubel’s $5.25 million option.

OK, so what do they do now? The Twins payroll was about $101 million last year and President Dave St. Peter has stated that the payroll will go up for 2011 but he did not say by how much. For the record, the Twins have stated that they usually spend 50% of their revenue on player payroll. Since we don’t know the true figure of the Twins revenue let’s assume that they will raise their payroll this year by about 10% and that the payroll number they will be shooting for is $110-$115 million.

The Twins have a number of issues as they go into the off-season. The bullpen is pretty much decimated by free agency so they have a huge rebuilding task there, Carl Pavano, although not a number 1 or 2 pitcher in my mind is still a valuable starter. They can probably fill their 2B hole from with-in and then there is always the question of what happens with Jim Thome who was the team leader in home runs but can’t play in the field and is 40 years old.

If those were the only problems that the Twins had they would be in good shape but they have two other huge black clouds off in the distance, will Joe Nathan bounce back from Tommy John surgery and if so, can he be ready to open the season as the Twins closer? What about Justin Morneau and his concussion, will Justin be healthy enough to start the season at 1B? Nathan and Morneau are huge question marks that have huge implications on how the Twins should spend their payroll dollars and what kinds of free agents they should go after and what kinds of trades they might pursue.

If I am Bill Smith I have to sit back and say WOW, where do we start? Strangely enough Smith started by signing free agent pitcher Eric Hacker, a career minor leaguer, with the exception of 3 big league relief appearances with the Pirates in 2009. Smith has also been quoted as saying they are in the Thome hunt but you have to wonder how long they will stay in that hunt. Thome put up some very nice numbers but only because he had the opportunity to play way more than was originally planned due to Morneau’s injury. If Morneau is healthy do you want a 40 year old with back problems as your DH? No, but then again he did hit 25 home runs and he will want more money and there are other teams, some in the Central Division that might just give it to him. Orlando Hudson is probably history, a luxury the Twins can no longer afford with Alexi Casilla once again showing he can probably do the job for less money.

So what to do with the bullpen free agents? Mahay and Flores are easy, let them go, no one is going to beat their doors down to sign them. Flores had a 4.91 ERA and pitched a total of 3 2/3 innings in 11 games, geez! Brian Fuentes I really like, but he wants to close and the Twins don’t have that opportunity open to him here so he is gone too. Jon Rauch is good insurance since he has closing experience but with him I am thinking it is all about the money, depending on what he wants determines if the Twins keep him. The two most important free agent relievers are Jesse Crain and Matt Guerrier. Guerrier is three years older and has pitched in 70+ games in four consecutive years. Crain strikes out more batters but also walks more. There is also some talk floating around that Crain would like to be a closer somewhere and the Twins have no closer opening. Crain and Guerrier are two totally different pitchers but yet they both get the job done. If I am Mr. Smith, it is a priority for me to sign both of these guys to provide some stability for a bullpen that needs some help. And these moves just scratch the surface of the Twins moves this off season, you might need a scorecard to identify the players.

Twins extend deal with ESPN 1500

August 10, 2010 – The Twins announced today that that they have extended their agreement with 1500 ESPN Twin Cities to be the team’s Twin Cities metropolitan area radio affiliate through the 2012 season. The two-year agreement with Hubbard Broadcasting, which owns the station, allows for 1500 ESPN to broadcast all Twins regular and postseason games and at least 25 Spring Training games.

I think it is a terrible decision to extend the contract with 1500 ESPN. Many Twins fans listen to the games on the radio and there are many more that would listen if the station could provide a signal that went out farther than 1500 ESPN’s property lines. As many others have said for years, the signal strength of the station is just plain terrible. I don’t understand why if the Twins want to be first class organization why they go with a second tier minor league radio station. They have a top notch ballpark and a very good team and still they go the cheap route and put their games on 1500 ESPN. Why not go back to WCCO were they belong? WCCO’s signal is so much better in quality and strength that there really is no comparison.

In addition to a bad signal, the pregame and post game announcers leave a lot to be desired. When I listen to 1500ESPN I feel like I am listening to a bunch of announcers that are still in broadcasting school learning how to become professional announcers. 1500 ESPN pre and post game announcers don’t seem to understand baseball at all, I have never seen a bigger bunch of band-wagon jumpers then at 1500 ESPN. If the team goes into a short slump, the announcers rip everyone in site, if the Twins win a couple of games in a row you would think the Twins are the best team that baseball has ever seen.

I can’t believe that the Twins did this, going from WCCO to 1500 ESPN a few years ago was a terrible mistake but here they had an opportunity to fix the problem and they still dropped the ball. I would love to hear why the Twins keep choosing 1500 ESPN over WCCO. The money can’t be that much different, what’s the real reason Mr. St. Peter?

How sad is it that less than 10 miles due west of Target Field and I can barely get a signal as I walk on the Luce Line trail?

They Said It

July 4, 2009 – Here are some fun and interesting quotes pertaining to the Minnesota Twins/Washington Senators that I found in The Sports Illustrated archives.

Frank Kostro, Minnesota Twins utility man: “So far I’ve played right, left and first base and I’m Polish. Does that make me a utility pole?” – 4/29/1968

Mickey Mantle, injured Yankee, after batting practice at the Minnesota Twins’ Metropolitan Stadium: “This is the greatest home-run stadium I’ve ever seen. If this were my home park I’d hit 90 homers some year.” – 7/29/1963

Dick Erickson, head groundkeeper at Met Stadium in Bloomington, MN. asked what his job would be if the Twins and Vikings move into a domed stadium in 1981: “I guess I’ll just scrape the bubble gum off the field.” – 12/18/1978

Dave St. Peter, Twins president, on having real grass in the ballpark that Minnesota plans to open in 2010: “It will be a great joy to see somebody riding a mower instead of a vacuum cleaner.” – 9/24/2007

Sam Mele, to his family after he was fired by the Minnesota Twins: “What are you crying for? All these years you’ve been saying you’d like to have me home for the summer. Well, that’s where I’ll be now.” – 6/19/1967

Ellis Clary, Minnesota Twins scout, whose team is in the thick of its divisional race despite one of baseball’s lowest payrolls: “We’ve got the only players who’ll make more in their World Series shares than in salary.” – 8/6/1984

Calvin Griffith, 285-pound former owner of the Minnesota Twins upon running into equally hefty Craig Kusick, a onetime Twins first baseman who now teaches high school phys ed: “You and I should attend some of your classes.”

Ron Davis, former Minnesota Twin reliever who had a knack for giving up late-game homers, on the boos he still hears at appearances in the Twin Cities: “When it’s 10 years later and they still hate you, that’s what you call charisma.” – 2/20/1995

Mrs. Laura Quilici, hearing that her son Frank had been named manager of the Minnesota Twins: “Oh, the poor kid. He’s going to get an ulcer now.” – 7/17/1972

Jim DeShaies, Minnesota Twin pitcher on ignoring baseball tradition and changing his seat in the dugout during teammate Scott Erickson’s recent no-hitter: “I think everybody gets caught up in superstitions. But I don’t put much stock in them—knock on wood.” – 5/16/1994

Tony Perez, Cincinnati Reds coach, on wire-service reports that pitcher John Smiley was unhappy about his trade from the Pittsburgh Pirates to the Minnesota Twins: ” John Smiley is going to change his name to John Frowny.” 4/6/1992

Don Baylor, Minnesota Twins DH, on why he would say no if George Steinbrenner offered him the Yankees’ managing job: “I came into this game sane, and I want to leave it sane.” – 10/19/1987

Cookie Lavagetto, manager of the likely last place Washington Senators, after reprimand by Commissioner Ford Frick for saying the Yankees would win pennant by 15 games: “I wanted to get them overconfident so we could beat them.” – 4/14/1958

Billy Gardner, Minnesota Twins manager, on outfielder Darrell (Downtown) Brown, who has hit one home run in 591 career at bats: “That must be an awful small town.”

Tom Kelly, Minnesota Twins manager, explaining why he made pitcher Pat Mahomes walk off the field with him after pulling him during a 17-1 loss to the Detroit Tigers: “Then we would have to take only half the boos each.” – 5/10/1993

Junior Oriz, Minnesota Twins catcher, after teammate Scott Erickson threw a two-hitter for his 12th straight win: “He’s unbelievable. He’s like that guy in Texas who’s 41, or 42, or 43.”

Sam Mele, ousted Minnesota Twins manager, asked what he had noticed most about the club this summer: “They got going right after I left.” – 9/25/1967

Gene Mauch, Minnesota Twins manager, on having a blood relative, Roy Smalley on his team: “Sometimes I look on Roy as my nephew, but sometimes only as my sister’s son.” – 5/26/1980

Hal Naragon, Minnesota Twins catcher, on whether Boston’s Carl Yastrzemski will turn out to be the Red Sox new Ted Williams: “He’s like Ted from the shoelaces down.” – 9/18/1961

Gene Mauch, of the Minnesota Twins, who is in his first year as an American League manager: “I’ve seen more inferior umpiring so far this season than I saw in 16 years as a manager in the National League.” – 7/19/1976

Calvin Griffith, president of the Washington Senators, who once promised to keep the club in Washington “as long as I live,” in an amendment: “As long as we make a living.” – 7/14/1958