Written By Chris Schad
The past couple seasons haven’t been kind to the Minnesota Twins. With the past four years resulting in 90 or more losses, the team has passed down its mistreatments to the fan base. Up until this season, there’s always been some kind of perk to sticking with the team.
Even though the run up to Target Field yielded successful results, the new ballpark was enough to lure the fan base to keep coming back. It can be argued that if it weren’t for the new attraction, the departures of Johan Santana and Torii Hunter would have caused a mass exodus.
The honeymoon period at Target Field lasted a couple seasons, but after a 2010 American League Central division championship, the team started to go south. Thankfully for the Twins, this was tolerable with the fan base as well with the All-Star Game coming to town in 2014, leading many to stick around the team with the opportunity to see Giancarlo Stanton nearly hit a baseball into Canada.
As of today, the smoke has cleared around 1 Twins Way and the question remains: How can the Twins keep the public around?
Their quick answer would be the future.
While the Twins have been floundering at the major league level, general manager Terry Ryan has done his best to rebuild the farm system. Thanks to a couple high draft picks and some savvy international signings, Minnesota owns the second best farm system in the majors according to ESPN’s Keith Law.
The promise of the future isn’t a bad way to keep a fan base engaged. However, you can only push the future for so long. At some point, the fans are going to ask when the future begins. As the Twins could tell you, the answer is tricky.
The Twins have several roadblocks in the way of an April debut for their top prospects. While Byron Buxton might not have much competition at cracking the outfield, Miguel Sano is blocked by Trevor Plouffe, who is coming off his best all-around season in 2014. It’s up to Ryan and new manager Paul Molitor to see if the opening is there or create one with a mid-season trade before a hasty call up.
There’s also the fan favorite matter of arbitration numbers (that is, if you can detect the sarcasm). The Twins have gotten better at spending money since the opening of Target Field but still have to spend wisely to achieve long-term success. By holding Buxton and Sano past the Super Two threshold (which occurs around June or July), Minnesota could potentially hold off pricey contract negotiations for another year.
While it’s not a fan favorite strategy, it could also be avoided if the Twins want to reach an agreement with Buxton or Sano right now. It’s an approach that’s been used in Tampa Bay where Evan Longoria and Matt Moore were given extensions early in their career (and in Longoria’s case, before he was called up) to compensate for arbitration issues down the road. The Houston Astros also used this technique with prospect Jon Singleton.
Still, fans won’t care about the behind-the-scenes contract negotiations; they want a winning product on the field. Fans will be screaming for the likes of Sano and Buxton to earn a roster spot as soon as they set foot in Fort Myers, but even they have their own issues.
Both Buxton and Sano are coming off seasons where they spent more time on the disabled list than on the field. Buxton may have the fast track considering his injuries weren’t as severe as Sano’s Tommy John surgery, but both need to make up for lost time before being thrown into the fire.
The Twins have made this mistake in the past as several top prospects were rushed to the majors only to fall off the roster several years later. Remember the excitement over Joe Benson and Chris Parmelee when they had September call-ups in 2011? Or how about when Aaron Hicks won the starting center field job for Opening Day in 2013?
All three players were rushed up to give the organization a temporary thrill, but none of the three ever experienced prolonged success. If the Twins did that with the best prospects to come through the system since Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau, the fan base would be even angrier than they are now.
In all likelihood, Buxton and Sano will make an appearance at Target Field this summer. However, the Twins must figure out if the short term thrill will match the long term rewards.