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Plenty is made of the disadvantages that a market like the Twin Cities faces in comparison to glamorous coastal destinations like San Francisco and New York. For pro athletes, those locations tend to offer more money, more marketing opportunities, and more prestige, for starters.
But there are also distinct advantages to a quaint midwestern locale like Minnesota – ones that might resonate and hold more influence with specific players, and can (as we've seen) sway player pursuits in a meaningful way.
Specifically: there's a certain coldness to many of the big markets and all they entail.
In the follow-up of Carlos Correa's stunning pivot to sign with the Twins after cutting off negotiations with the Mets, it became clear that the shortstop kept Minnesota on his radar – and ultimately directed his agent Scott Boras to go and get something done – because of how he felt treated by them throughout the past 12 months, and especially through this latest free-agency episode.
The Twins could have been compelled to move on at some point and cease making contact, during a process where they were spurned twice for bigger offers in bigger markets. But Correa expressed appreciation for Derek Falvey and Twins reps continually checking in to see how he was doing, as a person – and never wavering in their desire to hammer out a deal with the player, if practical.
In a world of big egos and high-stakes decisions, you don't always find this type of genuine care and concern. Correa has said as much. Upon signing, he called the Twins his "extended family." He spoke of how the positive experiences his actual family had in Minneapolis last year influenced his openness to a reunion. He beamed that his son would "grow up Minnesota Nice."
Yeah, these are the kinds of things people say when they sign new contracts, I get that. But when you look at the way this all played out, it's difficult to ignore the validity behind these seemingly sappy sentiments.
Clearly Correa was very eager and excited to sign in New York. He waited out frustrating negotiations and haggling for weeks. But as he watched the infinitely rich Steve Cohen and his team renege on a deal they'd agreed to, railroading Correa with perceived leverage as they cut the guarantee in half and stipulated annual physicals on the back end ... suddenly the appeal of an organization that's shown him nothing but warmth and good faith looked all the more welcoming by comparison.
It was a frustrating process, said Boras. “But in the end, seeing how happy he was and how excited the Twins are, maybe this was the way it was meant to be all along.’’
Looking back one year earlier, we can also see how the "Minnesota Nice" factor played a role in the Twins locking up their other franchise centerpiece to a highly favorable deal.
It's easy to forget now, but Byron Buxton's contract talks with the Twins once looked as imperiled as Correa's. In another very realistic scenario, Buxton could've been alongside the shortstop peddling his services as a free agent this offseason.
But just ahead of the MLB shutdown last November, Buxton and the Twins reached agreement on an extension that could only be described as extremely team-friendly. There's little doubt he would be in line to make significantly more in guaranteed money this offseason than the $100 million he got from the Twins in an incentive-laden seven-year deal signed back in November of 2021. A $15 million annual base for a player of Buck's caliber is still a little hard to conceive.
Make no mistake: Buxton's willingness to sign this contract was an extraordinary showing of loyalty. That level of loyalty is only earned through trust and affinity toward an organization that's done right by him. The Twins deserve credit for keeping that bond intact through a regime change and then some.
This is speculation, but I believe another aspect of Minnesota's low-key culture that appeals to Buxton, as an oft-injured player who takes it pretty hard, is the relatively lesser scrutiny and sensationalized media commentary compared to large markets.
Not to say there aren't a bunch of obnoxious Twins fans always making their little quips and barbs about Buxton's tendency to get hurt – they annoy the crap out of me – but what he faces here is nothing compared to the onslaught of rancor he'd face in LA or New York for having the gall to be frequently unavailable.
I think he recognizes that and it's part of what makes him comfortable in this setting. Buxton gives Joe Mauer a run for his money when it comes to talent/ego ratio – a perfect successor in the soft-spoken superstar lineage. Is it a coincidence neither was eager to leave?
Sometimes I get annoyed with how much the Twins franchise embodies the "Minnesota Nice" credo to an almost nauseating degree. From the decades of understated yet ultra-humane leadership under Terry Ryan, to the legend of an "oh-shucks" hometown Hall of Famer, right down to the two friendly chaps shakings hands in their logo, the Twins can be comically on-script for their locale.
But then, I wouldn't have it any other way. The Twins don't have many built-in advantages compared to larger markets when it comes to attracting talent and outpacing the field. So they've sought to turn treating people the right way into a differentiator, and – sad as it might be as a general statement – it seems to have become one.
Hard to argue with that strategy.
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