April in Minneapolis
It was a heat wave. Day time high of 41°.
Announced attendance of 12k...
Waych the highlights with an eye to the stands.
If there was more than 2500 in the seats tuesday night, my name is Jose Gimenez... Lol, you'll need to be far older than I to know that reference.

Fans are missing. Watching the twins thus far has been reminiscent of covid baseball. The only thing missing is the cardboard cutout of Prince.
Ive watched 5 or 6 of the 11 games. Fell asleep during each one.

No fans is always an issue for spring ball in the northern climes. Add in the long shadow cast by a $.5T dodger payroll. The tiny hint of a robo bone thrown at fixing bad plate umpiring. In minnesota especially when actual active roster payroll dropped another 40-50k for opening day. A few other "baseball cities" doing similar ahead of the upcoming cba negotiations. All across the league- the game, to this fan-just feels pointless in the early going.

Especially compared to last season when mlb started off with unusually warm weather for much of the cold weather regions. And at least a dozen teams with payrolls not too ridiculously shy of the dodger $350k... Just 2 seasons back. A $209 k payroll had you within a late add of being the top payroll across the league. In 2026? $200k means your nearly 2/3rd's behind the highest payroll.

Of course. Money isnt everything. In most years past. Buying a championship rarely panned out. But in most years. 99% of the competion wasnt more than 50% light on spending.

I gotta ask. If its a 4 hour movie with not much intrigue. And you know how it ends? Who buys a ticket?
In hollywood. Many a 4 hour movie was filmed. With 2 hours landing on the floor of the editing room. For the exact purpose laid out above.

Baseball just isnt built for 162 grind that ends in a predetermined result. Especially if the opening month is played in a refrigerator.

We shall see what may & june bring.

Yet, here we are 2 weeks in. 5 teams have 25+ run differential. 20 have negative & 5 are treading water.... The Dodgers are the only over 30 @ +35.

2026 is shaping up to be a rather forgetable season.
Oh, btw. Side note. Cold weather games negatively affect those teams with highest hr% to runs scored. Detroit falls into that category.
Its one of the reasons ive always preached defense & contact hitting for the Twins.
Hot starts & hot finishes for a coldweather team is built on contact hitting, obp & great defense.