Minnesota Twins: No Twins Baseball? At least we have the St. Paul Saints

As fans of the Minnesota Twins, we were hoping MLB brass and the MLBPA would play fair and timely in contract negotiations to avoid any delays to the MLB season. In a billion dollar industry, these can be tricky things to just expedite along. As it stands today, a delay to the season seems to be all but a sure thing as both sides are just starting a stare-off.

The good news is minor league baseball can somewhat operate as normal, helping to provide a baseball fix to the fans of Minnesota. One incidental caveat of having your AAA affiliate in your backyard is an MLB work stoppage won’t stop the fans from having a professional baseball product to watch with a direct pulse to the Minnesota Twins.

The “Fun is Good” atmosphere of the St. Paul Saints is a great fallback. The antics of the Saints Entertainment Team is always sure to bring laughter with the likes of Mudonna, Coach, Chef and the gang. In short all hope would not be lost in Mudville.

One caveat is no player on the current 40 man roster is eligible to play. Well, technically they could cross the picket line of the union, but that would be a disastrous career move. I don’t see a full season lost, but a May/June start date could be a real possibility for those players.

For potential players such as Jimmy Kerrigan, Austin Martin and Kyle Garlick this a tremendous opportunity to shine in front of the Twins faithful. On the flip side Royce Lewis would have to continue to play a waiting game as things play out. With 2 lost seasons this puts his development scenarios in further stall mode.

We all hope MLB and the players association can come to an agreement sooner rather than later. However, having the St. Paul Saints as a fail safe is a nice option for the fans of the Minnesota Twins. Also a nice little road trip down to Cedar Rapids (A ball) or Wichita (AA ball) may seem like a nice little adventure.