WHY DON'T FREE AGENTS WANT TO SIGN WITH THE MINNESOTA TWINS?

While the free agency fate of Josh Donaldson still hangs in the balance, many have noted that the team's front office has repeatedly failed to convince free agents to come to Minnesota this offseason, and not for lack of trying. By all accounts, the team has put together competitive offers for each guy they've targeted, but have not been able to get a deal done. Why is this? (Essentially, this going to be a list of things that suck about Minnesota)

1. The Weather

According to World Population Review Minnesota has the 4th-coldest climate of any U.S. state, and are the only state in the top 7 that is home to any professional teams (Big 4 sports, at least). Baseball has a very high proportion of players that grew up in warm or hot climates.Very few minor league teams are in cold climates, and the minor league season is shorter anyway, so they don't have as much cold weather to deal with. Do any of these guys really want to come play baseball when it's 35 degrees and raining in April?

2. The Taxes

Minnesota has one of the highest income tax rates in the nation. So, say, the Marlins (in Florida) offer someone like Josh Donaldson $100 million dollars. Florida has no income tax. Therefore, to match the offer, the Twins would have to offer about $111 million to make up for the 9.85% income tax Donaldson would be subject to. This is a big disadvantage for a team that already isn't able to be a huge spender and has other location-related disadvantages.

3. The Location and Youth Baseball

A minuscule percentage of pro baseball players come out of the states of Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, and Wisconsin. Therefore, as we saw with Zack Wheeler this winter, the Twins aren't likely to be able to play up the advantage that "you can play close to home". This is closely related to the weather of course, as year-round baseball is very difficult/impossible to do in this region.

4. The Proximity to Wisconsin

I mean, if I had to think of one good reason to not live in Minnesota, having to live so close to Wisconsin would be up there. I even moved to North Dakota just to get further away.

You'll notice that "The Pohlads are cheap" didn't make the list! By all reports, the Pohlads have opened the pocketbook to Falvey and Levine this winter, Falvey and Levine have made competitive offers for free agents, and they just haven't been able to sign many of them. Yes, maybe they could have gotten a deal done by vastly overpaying these guys (maybe not), but these kind of bad contracts rarely work out for teams past a year or two, and it's a good way to end up like the Red Sox and Indians, who are selling off young stars because their payroll can't afford to take on more big contracts.