My long standing opinion, whether I have been able to fully grasp it or not, is that sports and baseball especially, should be fun. When I started on this writing journey 20 years ago (yikes) I thought that winning is the only way it could be fun. Winning certainly is fun, but scaling the picture down to an individual game and appreciating the gameplay, strategy and environment can be fun, and zooming out, you an appreciate development and the ecosystem of your organization.
After last years dismantling of the bullpen, and the bad feelings that resulted, along with a butchered attempted sale of the team, it was hard to get too many people bought in on the concept of a fun baseball season. I was optimistic, if not for fun, than for winning. My recipe was to appreciate the development of young players, enjoy areas where the team exceeded expectations and don't put too much stock in the comment section at Twins Daily.
For most of the season, the Twins were in the hunt, which was fun! They certainly exceeded expectations, and saw enormous development from Taj Bradley and Brooks Lee, continued contribution from Byron Buxton and Kody Clemens, and plenty of leg room at the ballpark for all 6'3" of me.
It was enough for the Twins to make a move at the deadline to bolster their bullpen. Of course, injury and fatigue dragged down the second half of the season, but on the plus side, we finally got to tap into the vaunted top of the Twins prospect pool. Kaelen Culpepper, Walker Jenkins and Emmanuel Rodriguez are all here now (along with Ben Ross and Aaron Sabato, for good measure).
I worry that next year will be a struggle, even for me, to find the fun. I don't know much about labor negotiations, but I do know that the one we are barreling towards sounds like a real catastrophe in the making. I don't want to go on a salary cap/floor tangent right now, but I think any institution of such a system will have disastrous unforeseen consequences. I think not instituting a system will result in a lockout that costs a big chunk of the season. Already, independent of the Twins, we are looking at some bad vibes.
At the very least, the team assembly will likely be rushed. It can't possibly be more convoluted than this past offseason, but even if Jeremy Zoll has the green light to add to the payroll, the make up of the roster doesn't lend itself to any specific big money endeavors. So the Twins might either continue with a diminished payroll, go after poor fits, or simply give the playing time to the young emerging players.
There is likely to be a lot of negative energy around baseball, and I don't know how the Twins are going to thread what is left of the offseason and make fans happy, or anticipatory. The glow is coming off of all the young recent debutants, because they will now be expected to contribute. Luke Keaschall had a strong season this year, but he is now lost in the field, which means he must be an excellent hitter. Royce Lewis has strung a couple bad seasons in a row together, and there is a legitimate wonder if he has a place on the team any longer.
If the younger players don't contribute on their low salaries, then the team is cheap, as they alway are. The player development is insufficient. And frankly, we all saw Edouard Julien, Jose Miranda and Matt Wallner sputter away blazing starts. Fans will go into the season looking for reasons for skepticism.
I think the correct route for the roster is to let it breathe. Very little should change, except where contracts are expiring, and young players should get their experience at the Major League level. Unfortunately, recent prospect flameouts and a longstanding unwillingness by ownership to spend money will make it easy for the fanbase to move quickly to scapegoating as the team has it's growing pains.
The Twins are a team on the rise, with a bumper crop of young prospects and allegedly, new life in the ownership box. Those should be good indicators of a fun year ahead. Unfortunately, the labor landscape will pollute the offseason, and the narrative surrounding the team doesn't seem to let people view the Twins as ascendent.
The nice thing about a young team is the knowledge that the players will be members of the organization for a while. Get to know the players. Kaelen Culpepper seems to have great energy. Lewis is relentlessly positive. Keaschall and Lee seem to have some quirks lurking below the surface. Walker Jenkins, thus far, seems to have the personality of a block of wood, and as someone with a similar personality, that is fun in it's own way too!
If I start to lose sight of enjoying the team, I know I can focus on appreciating the players for who they are. Baseball is the cadence of summer, an ongoing story every year. Winning, losing, strategy, development, it's always the players that make it fun.
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