Renovations to Target Field are ongoing and on pace to be completed by mid-March, well before the Minnesota Twins take the field for the home opener against Seattle on April 5.

The team held its annual media luncheon Friday in anticipation of TwinsFest kicking off later today.

Chief Baseball Officer Derek Falvey kicked off the post-lunch discussion. He was followed by President and CEO Dave St. Peter. Among the nuggets from those talks:

  • Falvey
    • The Twins hope to have Trevor May rehabbed and ready to go by late May or June.
    • The signing of Michael Pineda was done more with an eye toward 2019, but the team could get him back for a stretch run this year, if everything goes well.
    • Miguel Sano’s injury rehab is on pace and the target is having him ready to start the season. Regarding the investigation into sexual harassment allegations, the team is not involved.
    • The bullpen should be much improved with the additions of Fernando Rodney, Zach Duke and Addison Reed, along with further growth from some guys who showed promise last year.
    • The Twins spring training complex suffered some damage from last year’s hurricanes, but recovery is proceeding as hoped.
    • The Twins will kick off spring training with a game against the University of Minnesota
    • Pitchers and catchers report February 13.
  • St. Peter
    • The team’s goal is 2.25 million tickets sold in 2018.
    • Season ticket renewals will surpass 90 percent.
    • Single-game tickets go on sale today for the opener on April 5 and February 17 for the rest of the season.
    • Johan Santana will be the new enshrinee in the Twins Hall of Fame. The ceremony will be August 4.

St. Peter also thanked the media members who did show up, especially in light of a busy upcoming weekend, and he pledged the team’s support of the Vikings’ efforts to become the first team in NFL history to play at home in a Super Bowl. 

“We hope they can bring it home,” he says.

Following the luncheon, Twins officials led a tour of renovations taking place at Target Field. Dan Starkey, senior director of ballpark development, led the tour.  We outlined the basics in an earlier post.

The biggest upgrades are an expansion of the right field concourse area at the intersection of Gates 29 and 34, where the majority of fans enter the park and an overhaul of the “Metropolitan Club,” which had been a season-ticket holder hangout, but is being rebranded “Bat & Barrel” and opened up to all fans.

The concourse renovation adds up to 40 feet of ingress and egress for fans with a goal of cutting down on congestion. There also will be a new, premium drink rail standing-room location in the area. It’ll be called Draft 34 and it will feature 22 revolving beers from across Twins Territory. The space also will include a 600-square-foot glass lobby highlighting a new staircase providing access to Bat & Barrel.

Populous, Shea Design and Mortenson Construction have collaborated with the Twins on Bat & Barrel, which will feature six bi-folding doors totaling 1,500 square feet that will provide excellent views of the game. Weather permitting the windows will be open.

“We’d like to keep it open as much as possible,” Starkey says. “We want it to be a comfortable experience.”

Changes to the club, St. Peter told MNSBB in October, are primarily driven by the desire to keep Target Field fresh and the belief that the club was a somewhat underused space. Bat & Barrel will have a capacity of just under 300 people. It’ll be divided into three zones: a diamond-shaped sports bar, a lounge area and a sit-down dining space.

“This was a great space in the past, but it was kind of isolated from the game,” Starkey says.

The decor will include terrazzo flooring with baseball-stitch design. And the room will be designed with Twins trophies and honors dating back to the team’s 1961 entry into the market, including Gold Gloves, Silver Sluggers and Cy Youngs, along with the 1987 and 1991 World Series trophies.