Email a copy of 'Offseason Outlook: Minnesota Twins' to a friend
Loading ...
By Steve Adams | at
Email a copy of 'Offseason Outlook: Minnesota Twins' to a friend
MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com
hide arrows scroll to top
rct 2
I always have to laugh when I see Pelfrey’s contract. No idea what the Twins, who should have been watching their payroll intently, were thinking.
Pei Kang
I wonder if Pelfrey would be better suited to a limited bullpen role, like 7th inning or 8th inning guy? I suffered through many years of his inadequacies as a Met fan, and wondered the same thing-what insanity gripped the Twins to sign him…
buffalonichols
I thought he was worth a shot. He showed glimpses at times in 2013 and he was coming back pretty quickly from Tommy John. $5.5 million really isn’t anything when it comes to the majors these days and the Twins are certainly making enough money where they could give him a try at that rate.
Pei Kang
I guess, having a warm body is better than nothing…
buffalonichols
I would say having options is better than nothing. I was fine with them taking another chance on Pelfrey improving than going again with the likes of Andrew Albers, Col De Vries, Liam Hendriks, Scott Diamond, Pedro Hernandez, P.J. Walters, etc.
Pei Kang
true enough. He ended up like those guys though, which, sadly, was no surprise to me…
DarthMurph
I could see the Twins as a dark horse for Cruz. I doubt they’ll top whatever the Os will pay to keep him though.
Walt in Maryland
I know this might sound like blasphemy to Minnesota fans, but should the Twins explore trading Mauer? He alone accounts for more than half of the guaranteed money on their books. He’s no longer a catcher, and he isn’t hitting for power.
DarthMurph
No. No team is going to take on his full salary and he makes the team money through merchandise. He isn’t completely horrendous enough to offset his status as a hometown franchise player.
vtadave
Maybe this changes in the recent CBA, but don’t all 30 teams share equally in the overall pool of merchandise revenues?
Sky14
First of all, Mauer has a no-trade clause so a trade is up to him. Second it would be selling his value at its lowest, even if the trade could go through. Lastly, his contact is not getting in the way of the team, as he still is productive and the team has plenty of payroll space to add players if needed. There’s no reason to dump him for the sake of dumping him.
buffalonichols
Exactly. Selling low makes no sense and the Twins have enough money to add to their roster even with what they are paying Mauer.
Scott Berlin
That Joe Mauer contract is horrendous. And I remember Twins fans and many others calling that a hometown discount at the time.
DarthMurph
It was a hometown discount at the time. He was having historic years for his position. He has given them a somewhat respectable return thus far, though obviously it isn’t looking great moving forward.
Bad contracts are contextual. Mauer’s is not as bad as some others like Crawford or Howard because people will buy stuff with his name on it.
Scott Berlin
Still wasn’t a discount. He’s a catcher, to sign him to that high of an AAV for that many years was a market rate contract. That contract bascially pushed Morneau off the Twins sins Mauer took over at first which they should have known was going to happen eventually. If you’re saying 23 million a year wasnt a discount, do you really think Mauer was going to get something in the range of 30 million a year? You have the home discount rate (which this isn’t), the market rate (which this pretty much) and above market rate which some argue this may have been. This contract was made 4 years ago, not at current prices.
buffalonichols
That contract didn’t push Morneau off the Twins. Morneau’s health issues pushed him off the Twins. And yes, I do think somebody would have paid Mauer more than what the Twins did. He really is overpaid based off his production lately, but it is worth noting that in baseball you more or less get paid for what you’ve done, not for future performance. He wasn’t making near $23 million a year when he was having his MVP and batting title seasons. So it all balances out in the end. Plus, as much as the Twins are taking a hit now for his contract, it would have been much worse with fans if they had let him walk, especially after promising Target Field would help them keep their talent.
DarthMurph
No it really wouldn’t have been market rate at all. There’s a big different between 23 million and 30 over 8 years, but with the Yankees and the Sox involved he would have definitely made more than 180 million.
ian 2
He would have been a FA the same offseason that Werth and Crawford got their 100m+ deals. And that same offseason he would have been the youngest of the three. AND the Yankees, Red Sox and Tigers were all looking for catching help. If he had made to free agency, he would have made a lot more. Also, his swing would have been a perfect fit for Fenway. A lot of his flyball outs at TF would have bounced off the Green Monster.
Scott Berlin
An 8 year contract for a catcher… The Twins were paying him at a rate that you would expect him to catch that entire contact for at least 140 games a year.
Paulie Walnuts
There’s quite a few very long-term “hometown discount” contracts signed in the 2010-11 timeframe that proving to be major obstacles for teams — not only Mauer, but Troy Tulowitzki, Carlos Gonzalez and Ryan Braun.
Steve Adams
It’s definitely not pretty, but the Twins were really handcuffed. Mauer won an MVP in the final season at the Metrodome and would’ve hit free agency a year later. The front office had to weigh that contract against what would be an unimaginable PR nightmare of having their hometown MVP leave to sign in Boston or New York a year after Target Field opened.
John Cate
I don’t know how they won as many games as they did. You combine a pitching staff of guys that mostly pitch to contact with a lousy defense behind them, and you’re not going to win a lot of games.
Patrick Donahue
I don’t know about about 2015, but after that the Twins should be in fine shape. The article says they have about $25mil to spend, but considering where their payroll was at 3 years ago, $35mil if the Pohlad’s are in a good mood could be reasonable. Let’s say they went out and got themselves a Nelson Cruz type, and a James Shields type (I’m throwing names out here). The opening day lineup for 2016 would look like this…
Danny Santana
Joe Mauer
Bryon Buxton
Nelson Cruz
Miguel Sano
Kennys Vargas
Oswaldo Arcia
Brian Dozier
Kurt Suzuki
7 of 9 are 20+ homer guys, with a couple in the middle 30+ homer guys. Heck, your 9th man was an All Star this year.
James Shields
Phil Hughes
Alex Meyer
Ricky Nolasco
Trevor May/Tommy Milone
(With Jose Berrios and Kohl Stewert knocking on the door)
Bg
Think you are a bit over optimistic with the numbers, but agree that roster has good potential…..now whether or not they reach that potential is iffy. The team made a good first step towards improving on Monday this week and keeping fingers crossed the new coaching staff is able to get the best out of the team.
Patrick Donahue
That’s true, I may very well be off, but if you take the estimated payroll of $70m, they could spend $42m to get it back to the $112m it was back in ’11. Heck, they had 2 years recently where it was $27m higher than it was now. So saying that I could see them spending $35m isn’t that far out…
Unassisted Triple Play
Am I the only one who thinks Joe Mauer is underpaid? Ok, yes, I am the only one. Twins FO – quit messing around and PAY JOE MAUER!
Curt Green
Love your sarcasm.
Unassisted Triple Play
I’m serious.
Curt Green
And so am I, love your sarcasm.
blueblood1217
Do any of you guys know if the Twins cut Chris Colabello?? Thank you
Mike 71
I haven’t heard anything about it yet, but i’m sure they will try sending him to Korea or something like they did last year before sending Andrew Albers over there. But Colabello has no future with the twins, especially with all the young guys coming up.
SteveB 2
Frugal ownership will always be the downfall of this team.
Jesse Lund
Isn’t Eduardo Escobar also a Super 2?