Twins first baseman Justin Morneau only has about three years of service time, but talk is already starting about his escalating salary. He’s talked extension with the Twins before, but is still currently going year to year in arbitration. He’s still under team control through 2010 though.
There was talk earlier this month that Morneau would be agreeable to a six-year deal, which would buy out three years of free agency. There hasn’t been any indication that the Twins would go past five years though.
Listening to Morneau’s comments yesterday, he doesn’t seem optimistic. If Morneau keeps doing what he’s doing, he’ll be in line for $18-20MM per year by the time he reaches free agency. Morneau has seen many Twins leave, with more on the way out. It’s just a frustrating situation in Minnesota. Hopefully Bill Smith can aggressively shop his stars for a good return before they leave, or else use the draft picks to find some power hitters.
