Report from the Fort: 3/24 News and Notes

[Ted Schwerzler]

Fort Myers, FL - A game day at Hammond Stadium, there was plenty going all over the complex early in the day. MLB Network was in town to give Minnesota their day on the station, and Wander Franco is in the opposing Tampa Bay Rays lineup.

 

While Carlos Correa isn’t quite ready for his debut in the Twins lineup, he did go through his first infield-outfield drills with the club today. Nick Gordon was stationed by Correa at short, but plenty of younger prospects like Royce Lewis and Jose Miranda remained near to pick his brain and observe.

Blayne Enlow followed Alcala throwing his first live at-bats since undergoing Tommy John surgery. Talking with him afterward he noted a debut with Double-A Wichita should be on tap in early May. He’d be returning to the mound roughly 11 months after going under the knife.

After getting his first live at-bats since the World Series yesterday, he continued ramping up with another session facing Jorge Alcala on the minor-league side.

A Forbes report dropped this morning showing the value of each team in baseball. Unlike the lies Rob Manfred tried selling during the lockout, it’s very apparent owning a team is quite lucrative. Minnesota is valued at $1.39 billion, a five percent increase year-over-year. The lowest valuation checks in at $990 million for the Miami Marlins.

Prior to the game, Minnesota outfielder Brent Rooker was scratched from the lineup with a right shoulder strain. The Twins announced he is day-to-day. The hope would be that it’s not a long-term absence.

Minnesota's bats have struggled with high-velocity pitchers to start out Spring Training, and Drew Rasmussen provided another test for them today. Despite sitting around 96 mph on his fastball, the Twins jumped early. Byron Buxton turned a regular-season triple into a double before Jorge Polanco nearly left Hammond Stadium.

Bailey Ober looked very sharp on the bump today. He stretched out to 44 pitches over three innings. The fastball was roughly in the 92-93 mph range, but he generated 10 whiffs against the Rays. With most of their regulars in the lineup Ober's performance wasn't a watered-down one either. With no trade yet completed for another arm, Ober should remain locked into the rotation. There's some growing belief Josh Winder could find himself among the group. John looked at how soon Minnesota needs a full rotation.

The Twins tallied seven runs on nine hits in their win over the Rays today. Another good showing from an offensive production standpoint is certainly welcomed. Tim Beckham, who’s likely ticketed for Triple-A, provided the big highlight with a mammoth moonshot immediately trumped by his bat flip.

Two weeks out from Opening Day, the Twins announced their theme night packages for the upcoming season. Tickets have been flying off the shelves since the signing of Correa. Minnesota expects to draw increased interest on these special nights again this season. The Twins also partnered with Summit Brewing to release a new team-branded beer.

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[roger]

Huge believer in Josh Winder.  Just might find himself in the rotation to start the season.  Maybe Josh pitching 4+ innings as they will certainly be concerned with his innings.  Might work great with one of the long guys following him for another 3.  

[SarasotaBill]

If you think a 5% increase is good then I'm glad you don't manage my money.

[USNMCPO]

19 minutes ago, SarasotaBill said:

If you think a 5% increase is good then I'm glad you don't manage my money.

I believe there is a difference between a 5% profit and a 5% valuation increase. Gotta play the long game....

[The Mad King]

"Byron Buxton turned a regular-season triple into a double"

 

can you elaborate please? ?

[jmlease1]

I never know what to think about spring training results. you can't count on them to be predictive of how a player is going to do during the year, but at the same time if a guy isn't getting results it makes you very nervous at best.

I hope Ober & Winder are looking strong and healthy. I still want the Twins to sign (or trade for) another pitcher, but both of those guys are going to be important to the Twins this season.

It'll be great if Polanco gets out to a fast start this season; he was pretty rough out the gate last year coming off the injury,

[Vanimal46]

There’s also this. 

[se7799]

Meanwhile on the back fields, Correa took very competitive batting practice from Alcala.  Was very impressive from both.  What struck me most was how they sat and talked pitches and sequences for over 20 minutes after.  Great day at the fort.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

2 hours ago, SarasotaBill said:

If you think a 5% increase is good then I'm glad you don't manage my money.

It wasn't a 5 per cent profit, but rather a 5 per cent increase in value. I don't know what the profit was.

[MN_ExPat]

True... ST numbers don't matter that much.  But from what I've seen/watched, both Winder and Ober have looked sharp.  They're hitting their spots, changing speeds, mechanics look clean.  It's a promising start for them.

[SarasotaBill]

15 hours ago, tarheeltwinsfan said:

It wasn't a 5 per cent profit, but rather a 5 per cent increase in value. I don't know what the profit was.

I never mentioned a 5 per cent profit. The S&P 500 increased 30% last year. Stocks have averaged over 8% for decades. A 5% franchise annual increase is not good compared to stocks. 

[Major League Ready]

19 hours ago, USNMCPO said:

I believe there is a difference between a 5% profit and a 5% valuation increase. Gotta play the long game....

The appropriate measure would be return on equity which is valuation less debt or approximately 1.1B in equity.  Return on equity without the growth (just profit) on valuation is around 3%.  This makes me wonder if they could really get 1.39B.

[Tiantwindup]

17 hours ago, SarasotaBill said:

I never mentioned a 5 per cent profit. The S&P 500 increased 30% last year. Stocks have averaged over 8% for decades. A 5% franchise annual increase is not good compared to stocks. 

Considering the impact of the loss of games from the pandemic and the uncertainty of the valuations (unlike the stock market you do not get a daily assessment of what someone is willing to pay for the business), a 5% increase in the value of the business seems quite healthy. I cannot feel sorry for the investment returns of the owners.