Over the past days, several news outlets talked about the fact that the St. Paul Saints will join the Minnesota Twins organization. But only one outlet announced the teams have hammered out a deal.
With the deal in place, this gives the Twins a big flexibility regarding roster moves and dealing with players on the Injured List.
Last weekend, the biggest hint was given by Twins manager Rocco Baldelli. In a thank you message to Twins fans, Baldelli wore a St. Paul Saints cap.
Nothing is said about who paid the $20MM entrance fee that clubs need to pay when entering Minor League Baseball. Since the Twins needed the Saints and not the other way around, it is safe to assume, the parent club paid that amount.
The partnership between the two clubs may drive up the value of the Saints. The team was one of the most successful Indy teams, especially financially. The team is owned by a group that contains son of late Bill Veeck, Mike Veeck and actor/comedian Bill Murray.
The Twins also signed a deal with the Wichita Wind Surge to become their AA farm team. Last year, the Wind Surge moved from New Orleans to Witchita as the Marlins’ AAA team. But due to COVID-19 the team never played a game at that level. It must be a major disappointment for the club that once started as the Denver Zephyrs in the PCL, to be demoted to AA. The city of Wichita spent about $75MM on a 10,000-seater, which is common for AAA ball, quite a waste of money.
Dutch Baseball Hangout 
You must be logged in to post a comment.