Monday, October 18, 2010

Site Update and Survey

2010 was a tremendous year for the Minnesota Twins and their fans. It started with an exciting offseason that showed the Twins front office willing to spend as they had promised when they got a new stadium. The front office’s commitment continued throughout the season with several additions. The Twins fans got to see Target Field, and the wonder that it truly is, throughout the entire facility. Sure, the season ended in an incredibly disappointing way, another three-game sweep at the hands of the Yankees. But that doesn’t take away the many countless hours of entertainment that the Twins provided us for nearly nine months. And those of you that are like me, well, we enjoy it year-round. We will be following the Twins Hot Stove action throughout the offseason. Again, the TwinsCentric Offseason GM Handbook is now available for pre-order at www.TwinsCentric.com, and it is a great overview of all of the Twins decisions in the upcoming offseason.

At an event the day after the Twins season came to an end, I was asked, “What are you going to do now that the Twins season is over?” My response? “Sleep!”

We shall see if I add any sleep during the offseason. (Easier said than done!) I have a feeling that this will be another very interesting offseason. The Twins have 11 free agents and nine arbitration-eligibles. They have to determine whether to pick up 2011 options on two players. The payroll is a huge question mark at this point.

Today, I wanted to give you an idea of what to expect from me, and from this site (and the various other sites I provide content for), and then at the end, I want to ask you some questions as well.

·         SethSpeaks.net – This is obviously the flagship for it all, and any projects or links will be found here. The plan would be to post something nearly every day. Any time the Twins make a move, I will be posting my analysis and opinions.

·         TwinsCentric blog at StarTribune.com – As a group, we decided to continue posting blogs there throughout the offseason, and the StarTribune is ok with that. Depending upon how much is going on, I might only post there on my days with a link at SethSpeaks.net. During the season, I would post separate blogs at both locations.

·         SethSpeaks.net Weekly Minnesota Twins Podcast – The goal will be to host those shows every Tuesday night at 9:00. I will attempt to talk to a Twins minor leaguer, maybe an occasional major leaguer, Twins media types and bloggers each week to discuss what’s going on. During weeks such as the Winter Meetings, it is possible that I would have additional shows.

·         TwinsCentric Projects – As you know, the Offseason GM Handbook is available for pre-order. As we did last year, we will be putting together the Twins 2011 Annual with the Maple Street Press. That will likely be on newsstands in March or so. Last year, we were asked to write quite a bit of the Twins Yearbook, so perhaps projects like that will pop up as well.

·         SethSpeaks.net Minnesota Twins 2011 Prospect Handbook – I really haven’t mentioned it here yet, but my plan is to again sell a Twins prospect book, as I have the last two years. I will again be working with Jonathan Mayo of mlb.com , and I have asked several of your favorite Twins minor league bloggers, and people from the Twins affiliates’ teams to help write. Expect much more information on this in the next two months. My hope is to have it available much earlier than last year.

·         Twitter – I’m sure I’ll be active at @SethTweets, and on my facebook page.

·         Twins Fest – I’ll be there.

In other words, I will remain incredible busy writing on the Twins, even if it may not always seem that way. The reality is that I may almost no money from this blogging thing, so I will need to prioritize other things such as career (that pays me) and parenthood. So occasionally, I may just need a day off.

With that in mind, I want to offer you a chance to help me prioritize a little bit. I need to know what you like to read about here at SethSpeaks.net, and what things you could do without? Here are some questions that I would like answers to in this demographic survey, but please feel free to answer what you want, not answer what you don’t want to. Feel free to complement and criticize. Feel free to be brief, or long-winded.

1.)     Where are you located?

2.)     What age range do you belong to?

3.)     What are the top 3-4 reasons that you come to SethSpeaks.net (or the other various projects)?

4.)     Are there things that you could do without or don’t like?

5.)     Thoughts on the TwinsCentric e-books, blog, etc.?

6.)     Thoughts on the podcasts (SethSpeaks.net Weekly Minnesota Twins podcast or Twins Minor League Weekly)?

7.)     Open Comments… please feel free to tell me anything, good or bad.

Thank you to everyone for making it a good Twins season. Thanks to the Twins players, front office and coaching staff for another fun season to follow. Thank you to all of the fellow Twins bloggers for their support. Especially thank you to the other TwinsCentric guys (Parker, Nick and John) for a great year, and hopefully it keeps getting better. Thanks to those that I met at the various TwinsCentric Viewing Parties. Thanks to all that come to this site every day for information. Thanks to those who have written throughout the year. High-end summary à just thank you to everyone for making this a good year, and I do look forward to the offseason.

 

Please Leave your survey/comments here if you would like, otherwise, you can e-mail me at sethspeaksnet@hotmail.com. Thank you!

 

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