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Minnesota Twins: The very important Rochester Red Wings lease agreement

By Nate Palmer

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - SEPTEMBER 11: Fans watch from the last row of the outfield seats during the ninth inning of the game between the Minnesota Twins and the Oakland Athletics on September 11, 2013 at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Athletics defeated the Twins 18-3. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - SEPTEMBER 11: Fans watch from the last row of the outfield seats during the ninth inning of the game between the Minnesota Twins and the Oakland Athletics on September 11, 2013 at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Athletics defeated the Twins 18-3. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /
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The Minnesota Twins have had the Rochester Red Wings as a minor league affiliate since 2003, that relationship was recently in jeopardy.

The Minnesota Twins Triple-A minor league affiliate just celebrated some very big news on Tuesday. After a bit of a tense situation surrounding the lease agreement between the Rochester Red Wings and their home ballpark, county-owned Frontier Filed, the two sides finally came to an agreement on a new 10-year lease agreement.

This was a situation that the Twins had to be paying close attention to. In fact, Derek Falvey was asked about it this past summer in his first official visit to Rochester. In that visit, Falvey expressed a desire to stay in the current affiliate agreement with the Red Wings and this lease agreement has to make those words feel that much more secure.

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This is an important season for the Twins to feel good about their relationship going forward with the Red Wings as their Player Development Contract (PDC) expires at the end of the season. These contracts are done in two or four year terms and always expire at the end of even year seasons. This allows teams to regularly evaluate their minor league affiliations and allow for moves to a new partnership if needed. In the recent past, the Twins haven’t been hesitant to make affiliation moves.

In September of 2012, the Twins made a move from their Single-A affiliate in Beloit, WI to Cedar Rapids, IA. This move put the Twins in a city that is as close to the Twins Cities as they can get. Which holds the potential to influence that Eastern Iowa market into wanting to follow the major league Twins as well as their minor league players.

Then again in 2014, due to a lot of uncertainty surrounding the stadium situation with the then Double-A affiliate New Britain Rock Cats the Twins changed their affiliate by agreeing to a PDC with the Chattanooga Lookouts. A very different situation, but a similar stage was almost set with the Red Wings.

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While the Twins do still need to agree to continue their PDC with the Red Wings the lease agreement certainly is a step in the right direction to continue carrying the Rochester club as their Triple-A affiliate. With such a long-standing relationship between the two, it would feel strange to see that affiliation end. This lease certainly is a moment of celebration for the Red Wings and likely the Twins as well.

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