Who else subscribes to The Athletic? I know that the season has been a disappointment, but it seems like coverage of the Twins is getting more perfunctory. Anyone else have that impression, or am I imagining it? Over the last few months I’ve found reporting by the Athletic’s national writers to be much more robust, even on issues with local connections. A few examples:
I’m a bit dismayed, for example, that neither Gleeman or Hayes has published anything about the work & living conditions of the serfs in the Twins’ minor league system, despite that being an area of increased scrutiny. (Maybe the writers don’t care, or maybe they’re behind the curve on reporting the issue; it’s opaque to readers.)
Neither writer has had much to say about the expiration of the CBA, how involved the Twins’ management is in the negotiation of a new agreement with MLBPA, or how the negotiations or a lockout might affect the Twins’ plans for 2022 & beyond.
What’s the deal (literally) with the Twins’ TV broadcast contract? Viewership is dramatically down, primarily because Bally has deliberately limited access to streaming. It seems to me that the broadcast deal is part of how the franchise is valued, and that tactics that antagonize and freeze out fans would pose some medium- and long-term jeopardy to its value. Does the contract lack an escape clause that would allow the Twins to terminate the agreement based on bad faith decisions by the broadcast rights holder? How successful have franchises been in launching their own networks? How could the conditions that doomed Victory Sports One be addressed in the contemporary market? What, if anything, can the Twins learn from those teams and their own past experience if they decide to try again?
I'm going to let my subscription run out. Starting last year, they cut back on Gophers (not that they had a lot of coverage to begin with) and Loons coverage and Britt wrote a lot less about the Wolves. I understand COVID and all but when the games came back the writing didnt.
They have shoved more national writing and listicles on the Minnesota homepage (today is good, 2 or the top 4 articles actually cover the local teams)
Those are excellent questions. I think part of the problem is that the writers assigned to the Twins are more "game guys." They can smartly opine about strategy, performance, stats, roster and line up construction, etc., but really don't have the skills or background to tackle those issues "outside the lines" that are more business related. A deep dive on all three both nationally and Twins related would be fascinating.
Yeah, I would be completely shocked if Gleeman ever writes anything about labor issues.
I'm not sure he should be expected to, to be honest.
Do you see coverage of the labor issues as the responsibility of the beat writer?
For me, it seems like an issue on which both could make unique contributions that benefit readers — and share a byline, a positive, developing practice elsewhere at The Athletic, as DG notes below.
Absolutely agree. Get a writer who understands the business side of things and then have Gleeman, et. al. add what the impact is on the Twins could be really good. For example if someone could write on the Local Broadcast rights issue, a baseball guy/gal could then add what the impact would be on roster construction/free agent acquisitions.
The big difference is that it's clear that writers on the hockey side are writing from their strength and their passion, then getting support from colleagues.
Having read Gleeman for >15 years, I don't think we're getting that article anytime soon.
Do you see coverage of the labor issues as the responsibility of the beat writer?
I don't think I do. I think that these articles should be, and have been written. Just looking at The Athletic, I can see this article, and this article written about minor league conditions just in the past week. Does every writer have to write one? Is this some sort of virtue test? If so, to what end?
Well, neither of those articles mention the Twins or their affiliates. There clearly is increasing interest in reporting on labor issues, which seems like low-hanging fruit for new media platforms that care about engagement. I don’t think it’s unreasonable — let alone akin to a virtue test — for Twins fans to wish their local sportswriters would report on how the Twins’ minor league players are treated relative to those in other systems, particularly when prominent national stories don’t report those specifics. I wouldn’t think my local network affiliate was virtue signaling if it did a story on working conditions at the local Amazon warehouse or meatpacking facility. That’s bringing a nation-wide story into local focus.
Last season the Twins made a decision to buck MLB-wide trends by not laying off employees during the pandemic, which was a local facet of a national labor story. Maybe there was no need to report on that?
I'm a subscriber. I've noticed fewer articles in general this year.
The app has also taken a step back in that it's harder to see stories from another location. You now have to follow that location first before seeing the articles. You used to be able simply view that location ad hoc.
I'm a subscriber and Ive been very impressed with the community of writers that has evolved on the hockey side. Lots of shared bylines and promotion of ideas and work across a variety of topics (analytics / sexual violence / business / game reports). Its made it much more fun to write my little bit of hockey stuff when theres so much coming out from lots of complementary sources.
Also, Russo is an absolute workhorse and worth the subscription on his own.
R. I. P. Tony Esposito. I've never been much of a hockey fan, but even us non-hockey fans knew who Tony Esposito was. He has passed at the age of seventy-eight from pancreatic cancer.
NBBW and I watched In The Heights over the last 2 nights.
Good energy, Latin-vibe (you know I partially grew up in República de Panamá), lots of spontaneous dancing, and Jimmy Smits! I highly recommend it.
Buster Posey after sliding into home: "I'm so fast."
😅
DG, it looks like tomorrow's game is on YouTube, so you can watch the Twins
get creamed byplay the Sox!Huzzah!
I don’t know why but I’m trying to finish the walking dead’s 10 th season. Just god awful writing.
LOL
Who else subscribes to The Athletic? I know that the season has been a disappointment, but it seems like coverage of the Twins is getting more perfunctory. Anyone else have that impression, or am I imagining it? Over the last few months I’ve found reporting by the Athletic’s national writers to be much more robust, even on issues with local connections. A few examples:
I’m a bit dismayed, for example, that neither Gleeman or Hayes has published anything about the work & living conditions of the serfs in the Twins’ minor league system, despite that being an area of increased scrutiny. (Maybe the writers don’t care, or maybe they’re behind the curve on reporting the issue; it’s opaque to readers.)
Neither writer has had much to say about the expiration of the CBA, how involved the Twins’ management is in the negotiation of a new agreement with MLBPA, or how the negotiations or a lockout might affect the Twins’ plans for 2022 & beyond.
What’s the deal (literally) with the Twins’ TV broadcast contract? Viewership is dramatically down, primarily because Bally has deliberately limited access to streaming. It seems to me that the broadcast deal is part of how the franchise is valued, and that tactics that antagonize and freeze out fans would pose some medium- and long-term jeopardy to its value. Does the contract lack an escape clause that would allow the Twins to terminate the agreement based on bad faith decisions by the broadcast rights holder? How successful have franchises been in launching their own networks? How could the conditions that doomed Victory Sports One be addressed in the contemporary market? What, if anything, can the Twins learn from those teams and their own past experience if they decide to try again?
I'm going to let my subscription run out. Starting last year, they cut back on Gophers (not that they had a lot of coverage to begin with) and Loons coverage and Britt wrote a lot less about the Wolves. I understand COVID and all but when the games came back the writing didnt.
They have shoved more national writing and listicles on the Minnesota homepage (today is good, 2 or the top 4 articles actually cover the local teams)
Those are excellent questions. I think part of the problem is that the writers assigned to the Twins are more "game guys." They can smartly opine about strategy, performance, stats, roster and line up construction, etc., but really don't have the skills or background to tackle those issues "outside the lines" that are more business related. A deep dive on all three both nationally and Twins related would be fascinating.
Yeah, I would be completely shocked if Gleeman ever writes anything about labor issues.
I'm not sure he should be expected to, to be honest.
Do you see coverage of the labor issues as the responsibility of the beat writer?
For me, it seems like an issue on which both could make unique contributions that benefit readers — and share a byline, a positive, developing practice elsewhere at The Athletic, as DG notes below.
Absolutely agree. Get a writer who understands the business side of things and then have Gleeman, et. al. add what the impact is on the Twins could be really good. For example if someone could write on the Local Broadcast rights issue, a baseball guy/gal could then add what the impact would be on roster construction/free agent acquisitions.
The big difference is that it's clear that writers on the hockey side are writing from their strength and their passion, then getting support from colleagues.
Having read Gleeman for >15 years, I don't think we're getting that article anytime soon.
I don't think I do. I think that these articles should be, and have been written. Just looking at The Athletic, I can see this article, and this article written about minor league conditions just in the past week. Does every writer have to write one? Is this some sort of virtue test? If so, to what end?
Well, neither of those articles mention the Twins or their affiliates. There clearly is increasing interest in reporting on labor issues, which seems like low-hanging fruit for new media platforms that care about engagement. I don’t think it’s unreasonable — let alone akin to a virtue test — for Twins fans to wish their local sportswriters would report on how the Twins’ minor league players are treated relative to those in other systems, particularly when prominent national stories don’t report those specifics. I wouldn’t think my local network affiliate was virtue signaling if it did a story on working conditions at the local Amazon warehouse or meatpacking facility. That’s bringing a nation-wide story into local focus.
Last season the Twins made a decision to buck MLB-wide trends by not laying off employees during the pandemic, which was a local facet of a national labor story. Maybe there was no need to report on that?
I'm a subscriber. I've noticed fewer articles in general this year.
The app has also taken a step back in that it's harder to see stories from another location. You now have to follow that location first before seeing the articles. You used to be able simply view that location ad hoc.
I'm a subscriber and Ive been very impressed with the community of writers that has evolved on the hockey side. Lots of shared bylines and promotion of ideas and work across a variety of topics (analytics / sexual violence / business / game reports). Its made it much more fun to write my little bit of hockey stuff when theres so much coming out from lots of complementary sources.
Also, Russo is an absolute workhorse and worth the subscription on his own.
R. I. P. Tony Esposito. I've never been much of a hockey fan, but even us non-hockey fans knew who Tony Esposito was. He has passed at the age of seventy-eight from pancreatic cancer.
NBBW and I watched In The Heights over the last 2 nights.
Good energy, Latin-vibe (you know I partially grew up in República de Panamá), lots of spontaneous dancing, and Jimmy Smits! I highly recommend it.
Buster Posey after sliding into home: "I'm so fast."
😅
hot damn.
🔥🔥