The Cedar Rapids Kernels held a press conference Wednesday to introduce their new Major League affiliate, the Minnesota Twins. It was actually more of a public introduction to which the press was invited, but that was certainly the right approach by the Kernels. Affiliation changes are big deals in the local communities and when your organization hasn’t had a change in 20 years, it’s an even bigger deal.

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(Image: Kernels.com)

I would have liked to attend, dressed head to toe in Twins gear like many of the crowd gathered in the Kernels’ conference room, but my schedule didn’t really allow for it yesterday. My conflicting meeting did end early enough for me to tune in to the live streaming feed being broadcast online by one of the local media outlets, so I did get to see some of the comments from the Twins’ Bill Smith and then most of the questions being fielded from media and the public by Smith and Jim Rantz.

For a good sense of how the press conference went and the enthusiasm expressed by pretty much all in attendance, from the Kernels, the Twins and the public, check out Jeff Johnson’s report at the Cedar Rapids Gazette’s website. There’s a video clip, as well. Jeff covers the Kernels beat for the Gazette (as well as the local Junior Hockey League team, the RoughRiders), so some of you might want to start following Jeff via the usual social media outlets.

I admit that I have reasons for being happy about this affiliation that go beyond the obvious advantages for the Kernels and 99% of the baseball fans in the area. Yes, the Twins farm system is stronger than the Angels right now and probably will be so for quite a while. The Twins build their MLB team from within, while the Angels have become one of the richest teams in baseball and will likely continue to build by buying free agents and supplement them with the occasional super-prospect they uncover, such as Mike Trout.

If you run a minor league team, you’re better off with a MLB affiliate committed to drafting and developing talent. of course, we could debate how well the Twins have been doing that the past few years, but let’s do that another time. The fact is, that’s their model. So make no mistake, this is a huge “win” for the Kernels and we congratulate their Board and GM Doug Nelson for getting this deal done.

The Twins have a good fan base in the area and this deal clearly makes those of us who are members of that base happy. That should translate in to a few more butts in the seats at the local ballpark, but not nearly as many more as having a competitive team on the field would account for. From that standpoint, the Twins’ timing couldn’t be better. It would be almost impossible for them to send a team to Cedar Rapids next season that would lose more games than the team the Angels sent this season. Their 53-86 record was by far the worst in the Midwest League.

There’s been a lot said and written about how much better next year’s team is likely to be and the Twins brass certainly has brought up the success that their Appy League team in Elizabethton had in 2012 as evidence that expectations should be high in Cedar Rapids next year. That’s fair and I, too, believe the team has the potential to be very good.

But before we order MWL championship rings quite yet, Kernels fans (and Twins fans, too) need to keep one often-overlooked fact in mind. There’s a reason Elizabethton wins a lot and that players who move from E’town to Class A sometimes don’t look as good as hoped right away.

Those players are skipping a level of competition in the process.

No, they aren’t skipping a level within the Twins organization, but there is a whole level of minor league ball that the Twins have elected not to have an affiliate in and that’s “Class A-short season.” Many of the players that Max Kepler, Byron Buxton and their friends were up against this year will be sticking around extended spring training for their respective clubs and then playing in the NY-Penn League or Northwest League next summer, while many of the Elizabethton players are skipping straight to Cedar Rapids in April.

I don’t necessarily think there’s anything wrong with the Twins’ approach, but I’d point out that it does fly in the face a bit of the perception among many fans that the Twins don’t push their players through the system quickly. That case might be made for some guys after they reach the full-season minor league level, but not so much before that. Of course, we also know that guys do stick around E’town for more than one season at times, too, but that still means those players have faced somewhat lesser competition levels by the time they reach the MWL.

Just sayin’ there’s more to the issue than what we see on the surface sometimes and while I’m anxious and excited to see the team the Twins put on the field in Cedar Rapids next season, I’m not expecting them to go undefeated or anything.

But, as I said, I have other reasons for liking this match-up between Minnesota and my home town team and they are admittedly very selfish reasons.

First, obviously, it gives me more stuff to write about at Knuckleballs. Don’t worry, this will not become an “all Kernels, all the time” blog. It has been, is, and will continue to be primarily a Twins blog. But we’ve always reserved the right to write about whatever we darn well please, Twins-related or not. That’s why you’ve had to put up with me writing about the Kernels before… and the Hawkeyes… and Arlo Guthrie’s “Alice’s Restaurant.” But, yeah, I’ll clearly have a much better excuse to write more about the Kernels next season now that they’re part of the Twins family. How much more remains to be seen, but I’ll certainly mention them from time to time (that’s me… the king of understatements).

But, speaking of my Alice’s Restaurant rant from a ways back, here’s my REAL selfish reason for wanting this relationship: I have come to believe that this affiliation is my last-best hope of ever seeing Twins baseball on cable television in Cedar Rapids. In fact, if I HAD been at the press conference Wednesday, I probably would have asked the Twins crew if there was any chance this deal might nudge Fox Sports North and Mediacom together to the point where FSN would at least be an option on the local cable system.

So, imagine my pleasure when someone in the crowd asked pretty much that exact question.

Of course, I was less impressed with the Twins response, but hey… I’m not giving up hope. Rome wasn’t built in a day and signing an affiliation agreement won’t make Eastern Iowa a full-fledged member of “Twins Territory” overnight. I’m a patient man. (Stop that laughing, right now!)

While the Twins people did give the same standard, “that’s out of our control,” response to the television question that their President, Dave St. Peter gave to me last winter, they did mention a few other ways that they plan to work on as initial steps to make us all feel like part of the Twins family.

For instance, it sounds like Cedar Rapids may well get a stop on the Twins Caravan in January. That’ll be nice. I’ve never made the effort to drive a couple hours north to Mason City or whatever border community the Twins have ventured in to previously, but they do sound like fun events. I would expect a very big crowd in CR for that if/when it comes to pass.

By the way, I believe Kernels staff will also be set up at Twinsfest in January, so if you attend, make sure you stop by and say hi. Doug and his folks are a great group of hard-working people that I’m sure you’ll enjoy getting to know. (Tell them I said that, will ya? I could use the brownie points.)

The Twins reps also alluded to making efforts to find a local radio affiliate to carry Twins games on the radio. They mentioned also that they’re excited about the fact that all of the Kernels games are carried on the radio and that Twins fans everywhere will be able to catch those games online. In addition, those of you who are blessed to be in an area that does carry FSN, it sounds like you may actually get to watch a few Kernels games on FSN next summer.

Honestly… I think that’s great. Good for all of you. But you have to admit that it’s ironic (or, to my mind, moronic) that you folks in Minneapolis may well have more opportunities to see Kernels games on your televisions than I’ll have to watch Twins games here in Cedar Rapids, because of the MLB blackout of the Twins on MLB.tv, etc. But that’s all I’ll say about that… today.

For now, I’ll just say it feels good to be at least one step closer to having my home town become a real part of Twins Territory. Thank you and congratulations again to the Kernels organization, as well as the Twins.

I’m ready for spring training to begin.

- JC

Will the Kernels likely have the same coaching staff as Beloit did this past year or do teams generally find a local area coach to take over thier lower minor league affiliates? Also you mentioned some teams in MWL have cable coverage. Which teams?

The manager, coaches and trainers are employees of the Major League affiliate and assigned by them, so the Twins will decide who they assign to CR. Someone at the press conference asked about coaches and the Twins reps said they expected some shuffling in their minor league assignments for 2013 but decisions won't be made until at least October.

The Kernels have TV cameras rolling for all of their games for the purpose of their closed circuit TVs (on the concourse, on the big video board for replays, etc.). Mediacom, the local cable company in most of the larger Eastern Iowa cities, also broadcasts a handful of Kernels and Quad Cities River Bandits games during the season on their public access channel. I assume the Twins believe FSN could work out a deal with Mediacom to carry the Kernels games that Mediacom broadcasts.

I'm not sure what other MWL teams might have similar (or even better) TV options.

I have a couple fo questions for you JC. I have not thought of season tix as a option due to travel time from Dodgeville to any MWL locale, but I saw the 10 game Voucher option on the Kernals website for any game. Does that work pretty smooth to your knowledge and any pitfalls I should be aware of before I trek the family down there.

Also my wife wants to know do the Kernals do a meet the Kernals night like the Snappers do. We have made those the last few times and have had a great time getting autographs and pictures with the Snappers. We have to get oriented to the trip to CR now which is fine as going through Madison has never been a thing I have looked forward to. I like Dubuque more actually.

I've bought my tickets by the "book of 10" for the past several years and it works great as long as you're sure you'll make it to 10 games. You essentially get 10 ticket vouchers for the level of seats you want and then, when you get to the ballpark, you go to a ticket window and exchange the vouchers for tickets in your level. Use them one at a time or all 10 at once, it doesn't matter to them. I usually buy 2-3 books of 10, but I'll probably get season tickets next year.

There are 3 levels of seating, premier, club and plaza levels. Premier are the closest few rows to the field. Club seats are a buck or two less expensive but are the remaining fold-down seats in the main "bowl" of the stadium. Plaza are bleacher seats down the right field line.

I usually buy books of Club seats. If I feel like sitting in Premier seats for a particular game, I just pay the buck or two difference for each ticket when I redeem them. The only "pitfall" would be if you happened to show up for a sold-out game after all the tickets in your level have been taken. That has happened to me exactly once in the past 4 years. I showed up right at game time for a game with a promotion going that I should have known would be a big crowd so it was my being stupid.

I believe the Kernels do usually have some kind of "meet the Kernels" event when they get to town from Spring Training, but I've never gone. I'm not sure if it's a public thing or for season ticket holders or what. But I'll check on that next week and come back here to post what I find out.

MWL Fan (and anyone else interested): I got this response from Kernels GM Doug Nelson on the question about whether they have a "meet the Kernels" event:

"Yes we do. This year's event will be held on April 2 at the ballpark. Gates will open at 5:30, fans have the opportunity to meet the players from 5:30-6:30. The team then takes the field, are introduced and then scrimmage. It's a fun and relaxed night for everyone and best of all it's free!"

Hey JC, are you in that area where you don't get the Twins on cable, but you would also get Twins' games blacked out on the mlb.tv package?

I know there was a poster on another message board that had this issue. Total BS...

Edit: I just read the link you posted in the article so my question had been answered.

What would really be cool is if the Twins would let the Kernals host a series at Target Field. I know other teams have done this.

They'd obviously have to find a way to make it work financially for the Kernels, since they'd be giving up home game gate receipts. But I do think maybe the Kernels played someone in the past at Miller Park, probably the Timber Rattlers but I suppose it may go back to when the Brewers were affiliated with Beloit.

It would be fun for the players, I'm sure, and I wouldn't be surprised if a few thousand fans showed up to watch a Kernels/Rattlers game at TF.

EDIT: A little googling shows the Rattlers still have an annual game at Miller Park. This past April, they played Dayton there. April makes sense as a time to do it because it's generally a bad month for attendance at home for minor league teams.