roger

Won't disagree with much of what you say. However, you almost make it sound as if it is baseball's choice to have more development leagues and cost. The truth is that many players come straight out of college to play with their NBA team. I can't remember the last player to go straight from college to the big leagues, with even the best taking two to three years to arrive. Thus, the games are different. And that was my point, there are significant differences which makes it irrelevant to point out that one pays out 50% and the other 48%.

One has to be careful when comparing the percentage of revenue between sports. Personally, I would think that a 50-50 split seems fair, but I don't know what the real underlying numbers are. But comparing it to basketball isn't relevant. Basketball has little to no development cost, for example, they draft two kids every year and one makes the team. By comparison, baseball teams need to operate an entire minor league system with nearly 200 players (including the DSL), coaching staffs and others involved in development. I don't know how many amateur scouts basketball teams employ, but I recall from some time ago that the Twins had nearly 50 scouts. I would expect the difference in these costs alone would be more than the small percentage of revenue difference between basketball and baseball.

Not certain, but haven't minor league players always (or at least recently) not been paid a salary in spring training? Thought they got lodging and meal money only, although that could have changed.

Yes we should. I’ve been saying that since the day he was drafted. But then I have a soft spot in my heart for everything from the Badger state. want to second what chipettit19 said because it is huge. His brother moved quickly from college to the Indians with all reports indicating Noah is the better player/prospect. That is huge! seems to me he does everything well. Isn’t that what we think of as a good baseball player. Returning to my Badger side, will state that I believe we are gonna see him in a Twins uniform a lot sooner than most expect.

I believe, Ted, you are the one that may be making a less than accurate statement, calling Manfred's statement about profitability a bald-faced lie when comparing it to the stock market. You pulled up someone's text showing a 308% return from the S&P 500 (SPX) compared with team value increasing 564%. I don't know if Manfred referred to the SPX or where the 2002 date came from. I also don't know where the 564% came from, but will assume that as factual because I have no idea how to confirm it. But timing can be everything. Should you change the start date to October 1, 2002, the SPX has increased 498% (885.76 on 10/1/2002 and 4,418.64 at today's close). That is approaching the stated increase in team values. But who says Manfred was talking about the SPX, unless he referenced that. The QQQ, which is an index fund that follows the NASDAQ, was at 36.08 on March 1, 2002 and closed today at 347.06. If my California math is correct, that's a gain of 961.9%, or nearly 2x what team value has increased. And if a basic index can increase by 961% during that 20 year period I suspect a lot sharp financial people, such as baseball owners, could beat that by a substantial amount. So yes, Manfred was correct when he stated that owners could have done better by investing in the stock market. With that said, I don't like most of what Manfred has brought to the game and believe that he, the owner's and MLBPA have all done a terrible job of dealing with getting a new agreement in place. We need them to stop trying to make the other guy look bad and sit down and negotiate a deal that will make baseball a better game for the players, minor league players, staff and communities, other employees of the 30 teams, owners and most of all, us fans.

Question, they got rid of the comp pick which means the team signing a player will not lose a draft pick. Will the team losing said player still get an extra compensation draft pick?

OK, Wallner is from Forest Lake. I know Varland is from someplace around there also. Is it possible they played in the same youth/american legion programs when young? Of this group, am most excited about Miller. Could he be the answer to the annual Twins question of who will be their shortstop? I sure as heck hope so and he can't get to Target Field soon enough.

To answer your question, I would say Mike Trout.

Am not a fan of Steer, who hopefully will prove me wrong. Am more than a little excited about what Julien may become, with his speed the kid could end up being special. Hated seeing Enlow go down last year, will second the above comments hoping he comes back 100% healthy. Must disagree with MinninPa regarding Rodriguez. Correct me if I am wrong, but didn't he sign in the summer of 2019? That would have put him in the DSL in 2020, but that didn't happen. So he shows up in Fort Myers last spring without an inning of professional ball. I find it interesting that they brought him north rather than staying in the DSL to begin his career. The fact he did anything with his bat should be encouraging and a .346 OBP and .524 slugging is a heck of a lot more than nothing.

Looks like we will be watching a lot of MiLB tv this spring. But for those of us who no longer have cable, nothing will change...at lease as to what we can watch. As for the season opener, Nick. Seems like negotiations have gone dormant and the likelihood of opening on time is nil.

Your comments and others here got me wondering about Strotman. We know what he did after coming over from Tampa, and it wasn't all that exciting. But wasn't he coming back from TJ surgery last summer? If so, wouldn't we expect him to wear down later last summer? That may be the reason he wasn't all that sharp and maybe we should discount what we saw after he joined the Saints.

When I saw your headline, Seth, the first thing I thought about turned out to be your opening. Who in this group will have great summers and be in your Top 20 next year, or even Top 10? My memory isn't what it used to be, but I gotta believe that several of these kids would have been Top 20 material back when we started following the minor leagues, wouldn't they Seth? The biggest disappointment has to be the two recent first round picks. But seeing Rosario in this group and not in the Top 20 is more than a surprise to me, hell, its shocking. Loved your recent work about the two lefties taken high last summer, so more than surprised to find Povich in this group. Soularie and Raya are likely both Top 20 material, just haven't had the opportunity to get on the field. Seeing so many exciting prospects in this group tells me the Twins organization is in fantastic shape. Now if they can just get on Target Field in a couple years, maybe the Twins will start winning again.

Also recall seeing Mays play, although there wasn't a lot of tv to see back then. Agree 100% with everything you said and am so happy that the Twins got it done this winter and Byron is staying home.

There could be a few problems using average, Nick. A few teams that have seen their local tv revenues go thru the roof will skewer this graph. Could be a few or even lots of teams that have a curve more similar to the blue and gold lines. Got a feeling the Twins, and most of the Central Division, would be among them.

I really like all the pitchers the Twins drafted last year in the first ten rounds. Seeing this young man taken at #13 seems to enhance the chances the Twins may get a couple good arms from this group. Considering that 2020 was pretty much wiped out insofar as the draft and minor league season was concerned, it appears to me that the FO is finally getting their plan in place. Hopefully we will begin seeing that Cleveland like pipeline producing arms later this year with more arms arriving nearly every year. Bring'em on!

Now that was interesting, Seth. Had never heard of him, but what an interesting story and life. Curious when that photo of he and the gals was taken? Maybe late 60's or early 70's? Do you know?

Cavaco is dropping because like Javier, he ain’t getting it done on the field. That’s totally different than Lewis and Enlow who missed 2020 and were injured in 2021.

You may want to check your math. The Twins value of 1.325B is roughly 30 times larger than the $44M the Poland’s paid (wasn’t it 80 some million?). 30 times the annual salary of $29k would be roughly $900k, not $9.8M. I suspect the average salary today is much higher than $900k, thus your logic would suggest that players have done better than the owners. i am not arguing in support of the owners, merely pointing out the mistaken math. Personally, I am disgusted with both sides. Unfortunately, neither side appears interested in solving the games real problems, minimal comp to the minor league players, more of the pie going to younger players and better revenue sharing to improve competition among all teams.

And that is so sad, Dman., that spring training is going to be changed. Unless they come to an agreement literally in the next few days, the start will be pushed back. How long they keep pushing it out will determine whether the season starts on time, which is looking less likely every day. And if it gets pushed back, do they play later into the fall, shorten the season, or what?

Watched a lot of his starts on MiLB last summer. He was dominant, leading me to believe he was the best pitcher in the organization. Have been commenting about that since. So glad to finally see someone else giving him some ink. I thank you, I suspect he thanks you and I got a feeling it won't be long and the Twins will be thanking you.

What I would like to see Max address is, 1) indicating he is aware that he needs to make changes to combat the shifts; and 2) implementing those changes. Would love to see him step up to the plate in this year's first series, whenever that will be, observe where the infielders are playing, and laying a bunt down the third base line. Do that once in every series for the first couple weeks and holes will begin appearing, holes for some of his ground balls to reach the outfield. One extra hit a week is what, .050 added to his batting average?

Sorry, but I must disagree old nurse. Ben has continued to improve his hitting at every level as he has moved up. No reason to expect that he will not become a solid major league hitter, eventually. Give him another year at St. Paul with a few stops at Target Field and I expect he will be a solid hitter come 2023 or 2024. Add his defense and I expect we will see him either alternating with a right handed catcher or as the Twins #1 catcher at some point. I will admit that I have been biased about this young man since he was drafted. After all, my wife lived in Verona when we met, and that's worked out awfully well for me. No reason Ben can't work out just as well for the Twins!

That is true, .679 career minor league OPS. He began as an 18 year old from Verona Wi putting up an OPS in the mid-to-upper .500’s his first two years. Since, his OPS has gone up every year, reaching .750 last year at AAA. Sometimes career minor league stats don’t tell the entire story. Consistent progress may be a more important indicator of a player’s potential. I expect that may be the case with Ben.

Curious what you meant by your LaMonte Wade comment, mike? Are you wondering which of the three will step up and become a solid major league player? Or did you mean that, unfortunately for another team?

You crossed the line, Cody, with your comment about Rortvedt..."His hit tool will never make him an everyday catcher." Unless you are the Supreme Being, you don't know that. You did a great job explaining why Celestino's bat failed in his initial callup. Wasn't Rortvedt in the same situation? Will Ben ever be a great hitter? Will he become a good enough hitter, when combined with his defense, to be a solid major league starter? Will he never hit enough to be more than a solid backup? You could be right, but the truth is we don't know. Would prefer if you and other writers would stay away from absolute comments about young players before they have the opportunity to get it done on the field.