Submit your questions for the #WinterMeltdown

[Parker Hageman]

As part of the #WinterMeltdown event on Saturday, we will have a Q&A session with the panel of baseball representatives including Minnesota Twins' president Dave St. Peter, former Twins pitcher Scott Erickson and Pelotero director John Paley.

 

Please use this thread as an opportunity to submit questions that will be asked of the panel this weekend.

Our hopes are to be able to record that portion of the event and share it with those who are unable to attend in person.

[Eric R Pleiss]

Terry Ryan (and Bill Smith before him, and Terry again before that) often receives a lot of the praise when the team does well, and a lot of disdain when the team does poorly. You are the man who puts not only the GM, but the rest of the front office staff in a place to be successful (or not). What are the things that you're doing as team president, other than putting the right people in place, to help building a winning culture in Minnesota?

[Wookiee of the Year]

My wife wants to know why, when she goes to Target Field and sees all the ads for Dairy Queen, she can't satisfy her DQ craving in the park.

[Badsmerf]

Dave-

 

First question. Is there any way to convince you to bring the trees back? Twins record with trees: 94-68 without: 195- 291. You must have made a deal with the Lorax.

 

Second question. Do we know if the concrete has settled yet? If it hasn't, is there any settling agents that can help the Twins hit more home runs?

[Jeremy Nygaard]

First question. Is there any way to convince you to bring the trees back? Twins record with trees: 94-68 without: 195- 291. You must have made a deal with the Lorax.

 

I think the Lorax would have wanted to keep the trees. He does, in fact, "speak for the trees".

[Jeremy Nygaard]

Maybe it's because I just don't know a ton about beer... but what's 612 Brew have to do with Mason's? How come the glass has both on them?

[Parker Hageman]

Maybe it's because I just don't know a ton about beer... but what's 612 Brew have to do with Mason's? How come the glass has both on them?

 

612Brew is the beer sponsor.

[Parker Hageman]

I want to ask Erickson how he went from a small workload in 1989 with the University of Arizona Wildcats and Visalia (169.2 innings) but then throwing a total of 214 innings in 1990 between Orlando & Minnesota. Then in 1991, after the fast start, his velocity falls off and, by the post-season, his catcher and manager are saying he wasn't the same pitcher he was at the beginning of the year.

[Badsmerf]

I think the Lorax would have wanted to keep the trees. He does, in fact, "speak for the trees".

That is my point. After they took the tees they started losing.

[Thrylos]

Question for Dave St. Peter: Who worked out the crazy pricing of the Spring Training tickets in the new wrap around porch (10 different pricing zones, while Tampa with a similar set up has only one price) that results to massive confusion when trying to order tickets on line; and is there any way to get it more simplified for 2015?

[Badsmerf]

Question for Dave St. Peter: Who worked out the crazy pricing of the Spring Training tickets in the new wrap around porch (10 different pricing zones, while Tampa with a similar set up has only one price) that results to massive confusion when trying to order tickets on line; and is there any way to get it more simplified for 2015?

With only 1 price how would we separate economic classes?

[alskntwnsfn]

Questions for the Panel:

 

Dave St. Peter: What is a day or week in the life of DSP like?

Scott Erickson: Which pitcher from today's game reminds him of himself?

"What's he been up to lately?"

"Which hitters did he love facing, which ones crushed him?"

John Paley: "What themes do you see your next film focusing on"

"What sort of support or resistance did MLB or the Twins give you in the making of Pelotero?"

"Could baseball academies, ala the DR, work in the US... are there such places or is it more of a camp/retreat approach?"

"Which teams are the best at finding talent in the DR and why?"

"Vladimir Guerrero riding barefoot on the back of moped as an uninvited guest to a tryout is a great story, any other great stories like this out of the DR where guys showed up out of the blue and blew the scouts away?"

[MikeBates]

Questions for the panel:

 

Dave: In what way, if any, do you think your role as team president is different from the roles of other team presidents around the league? How do you work to make this position your own?

 

Also Dave: If you ever tried to get a leave of absence during the season to go on Survivor, as one of your counterparts did in 2013, what do you think Jim Pohlad, Terry Ryan, and Ron Gardenhire would say?

 

John: Have you seen MLB's new international spending rules make any difference in terms of the level of age-related fraud in those markets, or in terms of the exploitation of young Dominicans by buscones?

 

Scott: In your first two seasons, you made a total of two starts with Brian Harper as your catcher. Can you talk about why and how you were paired with Junior Ortiz and how that relationship developed over those two years?

 

For Dave and Scott: Do either of you know where Shane Mack is? Can you work on getting him to come to Twins Fest next year? Is his mustache still glorious?

[Cody Christie]

For Dave St. Peter:

 

At Fargo's Twins Caravan stop, you passionately spoke about the Twins recent payroll spending. As part of that discussion, you made it sound like payroll was something you and Terry Ryan worked on together. Can you discuss the process the team goes through in deciding what the payroll will be and how much the team can spend each season?

[Cody Christie]

For Scott Erickson:

 

There were some injuries issues in the later portion of your career. Do you attribute those injuries to pitching a lot of innings with the Twins when you were younger?

[Cody Christie]

For John:

 

Tell us one thing that people might not already know about Miguel Sano.

[Don't Feed the Greed Guy]

For John Paley: It is my understanding that Major League officials declined to be interviewed for Baseball: Pelotero. Have you been able to interview anyone with MLB while filming the sequel? Have you had an opportunity to interview members of the Twins Front Office? Dave St. Peter?

[Brock Beauchamp]

Have you been able to interview anyone with MLB while filming the sequel? Have you had an opportunity to interview members of the Twins Front Office? Dave St. Peter?

 

To add to this question:

 

"He's sitting over there. Want to interview him right now? You cool with that, Mr. St. Peter?"

[Don't Feed the Greed Guy]

For Dave St. Peter: Later tonight we'll get a chance to hear from John Paley, Co-Director of Baseball: Pelotero. Have you seen the film? If so, what are your thoughts about how the game of baseball is portrayed in the film? Have you had a chance to visit with John Paley?

[Don't Feed the Greed Guy]

For Dave St. Peter: Later tonight we'll get a chance to hear from John Paley' date=' Co-Director of [i']Baseball: Pelotero[/i]. Have you seen the film? If so, what are your thoughts about how the game of baseball is portrayed in the film? Have you had a chance to visit with John Paley?

 

I was only slightly disappointed that this question didn't get asked. I was visiting with one of the other administrators, and he noted the fine line Twins Daily must walk in order to maintain access to key personalities like Mr. St. Peter while also maintaining a voice outside of the mainstream media.

 

Later, I visited with John Paley, and asked him to compare/contrast MLB and the Twin's organization, regarding cooperation with their documentaries. Paley said there is no comparison. The Twins have been very supportive, allowing access to the clubhouse, dugout, and other angles. MLB has never been nearly so cooperative. Paley also brought this out in his interview, later in the night.

 

In summary, good interviews, of what I could hear. It was difficult to hear all the content, and visit with online friends that I met for the first time. All the same, thanks so much for putting this on. Good work, hard work. Much appreciated.