It seems we went all around the world this offseason just for the Minnesota Twins to end up exactly where they were.
From a roster standpoint, the Twins were subject of rumors and speculation about trading some package of Jorge Polanco and Max Kepler for a frontline starter only to trade the former for a reliever and a top prospect. Losing Sonny Gray and Kenta Maeda wasn't really addressed but the team did take a handful of high-upside gambles on guys like Josh Staumont and Carlos Santana.
Off the field, the drama around the TV rights deal led to discussions about games potentially airing on Amazon Prime only to have Minnesota land a one-year deal to continue broadcasting games on Bally Sports North.
The TV deal has been the bane of everyone's existence in Twins Territory. Not only did the lack of a deal contribute to the payroll getting slashed, nit the return to Bally means another year of impossibly trying to finding games.
Now that the team has a deal, though, Twins president Dave St. Peter indicated that things are about to change.
Twins president Dave St. Peter drops major hint about future of Twins TV broadcasts
The Atheltic's Evan Drellich sat down with Dave St. Peter to talk about the newly minted deal, which naturally involved discussing what the future might hold.
St. Peter kept his cards close to the chest, but did mention that MLB's rumored regional streaming service is something the Twins could benefit from. In doing so, he dropped some cryptic quotes that are impossible to not read into at least a little bit.
"I don’t think it’ll be the only option. I think there will be other options based on conversations that we’ve had with Diamond and with other broadcasters. But certainly from a direct-to-consumer perspective, it’s an option that feels very appealing to us," St. Peter said.
The notable part of that is the mention of 'other broadcasters' which implies the team might forgo a direct-to-consumer model and try to find a similar situation to what it had with Diamond Sports Group but with a company that won't go bankrupt in the middle of the deal.
It could also mean that the Twins are looking to launch their own direct-to-consumer service in the mold of YES and Marquee. Both the Yankees and Cubs brodcast regionally on their own networks, but also allow for broader reach by offering the service outside of just the viewing market.
This sort of plan would go along with what St. Peter repeatedly told Drellich was a key goal -- widening the reach of Twins broadcasts.
Right now out-of-market fans can watch games through the MLB.tv app, but something specifically tailored to the Twins would naturally be more appealing. There's also the possibilty that in creating it's onw direct-to-consumer service, the Twins network becomes a local sports hub not unlike how YES broadcasts Brooklyn Nets games in addition to Yankees games.
Revenue is the major factor here, as the lack of a TV deal had an instantly negative impact on the team's payroll and its offseason plans. Creating a network would be risky but it would also mean more potential profit.
All we know for sure is that Bally Sports North is going to be the home of Twins games for at least next season. After that, it sounds increasingly likely that things will be different.