After disappointing season, Twins president disappointed that fans are disappointed
The Minnesota Twins are playing out the final stretch of the 2022 season and fans are left wanting more.
After signing Carlos Correa and leading the American League Central for a majority of the first five months, injuries, poor performance and bad management decisions have caused the Twins to fade out of the playoff picture.
The final weeks have revealed the apathy of the fan base as the Twins finished with their lowest average home attendance since Target Field opened in 2010. Even worse? Just 18,505 fans – or less than half of Target Field's max capacity – gathered for the Twins' home finale against Chicago White Sox on Thursday afternoon.
After a lost season, everyone is frustrated including Twins president Dave St. Peter. The high-level executive voiced his opinion in the Star Tribune this week, citing his frustration and disappointment towards this year's attendance.
"I'm surprised and kind of bordering on disappointed that we haven't drawn better the second half of the season," said Dave St. Peter, the Twins' president and CEO. "... The way we played coming out of the gate, we got off to a good start, and I fully expected our attendance to jump more than it did."
St. Peter then theorized why attendance was lower than expected in 2022.
He cited MLB's lockout which pitted millionaire players against billionaire owners. He cited the economy, which has limited the amount that fans can spend on entertainment. He even mentioned the "narrative" over public safety in Minneapolis in the wake of the riots after George Floyd's murder in 2020.
But what he didn't mention was the Twins' performance on the field.
The Twins got off to a fast start by pounding on the bottom feeders of MLB. Minnesota had a record of 26-14 over their first 40 games but 25 of those games came against teams that didn't make the playoffs. Fifteen of those games came against teams that are currently in last place.
From that point on, the Twins posted a record of 53-64 including a 15-29 record against playoff teams.
It wasn't just about the losses however, it's how the Twins were losing them. The collapse was the result of a series of wounds – some unavoidable, some self-inflicted – including:
- Signing oft-injured outfielder Byron Buxton to a seven-year extension and watching him get hurt in the second week of the season.
- Resting Carlos Correa and Buxton in the same home games.
- Sending out Emilio Pagán and his 4.57 ERA in high-leverage situations.
- Ignoring medical reports prior to making trades for Chris Paddack (elbow) and Tyler Mahle (shoulder) before they suffered season-ending injuries.
- Pulling Joe Ryan in the seventh-inning of a no-hitter.
- Pulling just about every other starter on the roster before they enter the third time through the order.
There are more things that could be listed, but Twins fans simply didn't want to pay for a $50 ticket to buy a $15 beer and a $7 hot dog to watch Chris Archer sweat out four innings. Even pitching coach Wes Johnson got sick of it, opting to leave for a college job in the middle of the season.
You may be asking yourselves if maybe this year will serve as a wake-up call, but every indication is that things will remain the status quo heading into next season.
The Athletic's Aaron Gleeman asked St. Peter if he expected the Twins payroll to remain in the $140 million range as it was this season. He then asked whether that number would be above 50 percent of the team's revenue.
I asked #MNTwins president Dave St. Peter if he expects the 2023 payroll to be in the same range as this season's $140 million.
— Aaron Gleeman (@AaronGleeman) September 29, 2022
I then asked if he expects the 2023 payroll to reach 50% of total team revenue, which is often used as a baseline for MLB spending.
His full answers: pic.twitter.com/ky9kQYhqG4
This creates a "chicken-and-egg" scenario. The Twins would like to generate more revenue, but they seem reluctant to spend it in order to create a better product on the field.
The San Diego Padres have realized this, owning MLB's fifth-highest payroll despite having a similar franchise value as the Twins. Thanks to a winning product on the field, the Padres rank fifth in average attendance this season.
This is important considering that Correa is likely to opt out of the three-year, $105.3 million contract he signed last March. After comparing himself to a Dior belt earlier this week, it's clear that if the Twins want to keep him, they'll have to pay up.
If the Twins aren't willing to do that, they could generate interest in shaking up the team's power structure, but that also seems unlikely.
St. Peter told reporters earlier this week that Twins president of baseball operations Derek Falvey will return for 2023 and be here for "many, many years after that." Falvey also told reporters that he never thought about firing Rocco Baldelli and that the Twins' manager "is a big part of our future."
The current regime has done some good things including signing Correa and constructing the "Bomba Squad" that won 101 games in 2019, but they've also had some head-scratching moments that make Twins fans wonder if anything has changed.
Until it does, the Twins have landed in the same apathetic purgatory that consumed a franchise located just footsteps away from Target Field.
While the Timberwolves rejuvenated their fan base with a playoff appearance and the acquisition of Rudy Gobert, Twins fans are left resigned to the fact they'll just wind up either missing the playoffs again or being the New York Yankees' chew toy next October.
This is the reality of a team that has the longest postseason losing streak in the history of North American sports and one that has everyone – including the team president – feeling disappointed.
