Twins re-sign Punto to two-year, $8.5 million deal with option for 2011
Posted on December 11th, 2008 – 12:06 PMBy Joe Christensen
The Twins have re-signed free agent Nick Punto to a two-year contract with an option for 2011. La Velle has more details from Las Vegas.
“Nick has been an important part of the Twins’ success for the past five years,” General Manager Bill Smith said in the announcement. “He provides great defense up the middle and brings leadership and energy to our lineup.”
Terms of the deal were not released.
Punto, 31, batted .284 (96-for-338) with two homers and 28 RBI in 99 games last season.
On Tuesday, Twins manager Ron Gardenhire told reporters Punto would be his starting shortstop if he re-signed with the team. Other teams who spoke to Punto included the Mets and Phillies.
Update: The deal is for two years, $8.5 million with an option for 2011. Punto will get $4 million in 2009, $4 million in 2010 and the option is for $5 million in 2011 with a $500,000 buyout.
249 Responses to "Twins re-sign Punto to two-year, $8.5 million deal with option for 2011"
punto punto punto punto punto punto punto punto punto punto punto punto punto punto punto punto punto punto punto punto punto punto punto punto punto punto punto punto punto punto punto punto punto punto punto punto punto punto punto punto punto punto punto punto punto punto punto punto punto punto punto punto punto punto punto punto punto punto punto punto punto punto punto punto punto punto
who wudda thunk?
Best move in 2 years….addition by not screwing up.
Booooo, He will now be the starting ss and that eliminates the Twins chance of improving at a position of great need.
Need to find power for 3rd base. Must be looking to Wigginton. Only player who makes sense or Hall form the Brewers.
at least this should keep them away from Jack Wilson.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! PLEASE! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
TOP STORY FROM LAS VEGAS…. CC Sabathia? K-ROD? Nope Nick Punto resigns with the Minnesota Twins!!! OMG Well Mr. Punto has regained the title of My Most Hated Twins Player!!! This is a joke. Why did the Twins even go to Las Vegas? Bill Smith like to play Craps? Gardy getting some bowling in at one of the nice bowling halls in LV? Another two years of crappy play by a defensive replacement that should only be playing in like the 7th inning and beyond. But he is a starter for the Free Spending Wheeling and Dealing Minnesota Twins!!!!!
what a joke, if they paid over 2.5 million, I will cry. I hate this FO.
boring! we’re assured #9 hitter with no power than can NOT produce in clutch situations. punto is an above average fielder who cant hit with any pop. why? there are so many infielders id rather have than punto. cant wait to hear how much we over paid for him!
hopefully there is a provision in his contract that states “for every head first slide into 1b you pay back $25,000 to the team. and if injury arises from this you owe us $500,000 and the team treats you to your very own SOCK PARTY!!!”
Good signing, very good glove at short. Now lets get a third baseman.
That’s great news. I don’t like the head-first-sliding-into-first either, but on balance he is a great asset to the team.
I would rather have LNP then Jack Wilson
Wow Punto at shortstop this must be the righthanded power hitter they have been talking about that we needed so desperately. Tolbert is just as good as Punto and wouldn’t have cost as much. We didn’t need Punto we need somebody like JJ Hardy to play shortstop with a platoon of Harris and Buesher playing third base what a “pp” signing.
Honestly–as much as I would have liked to see Punto sign elsewhere, I’m fine with this signing as long as it is for under $2 million a year.
Knowing the Twins, I bet it’s two years, $4 million each. If that’s the case, then this FO gets an “F” for the winter meetings.
Punto plays great defense. Defense wins games, most of the time. Who else could we get without giving up a starting pitcher?
that the Twins would make a “huge” signing? Of course not. Punto is a terrific defensive shortstop which, for people who know baseball, is incredibly important for team success. It may not be the sexy pick, but its not like we were going to give up Slowey or Baker to get JJ Hardy (which I’m guessing it would take). Now we can focus on upgrading 3rd base. WHY NOT JOE CREDE???????
I saw Punto puking at Spin once. Then he made out with a hot girl. She was probably an 8 but he could get a 10 if he hits over .300.
Punto plays the game the way it should be played. Starter? Not so sure about that but like that he stays a Twin. Like most commentors, they need to get that thirdbaseman now. Ty would be awesome, maybe send Young to get Atkins.
I’m fine with this IF 3B is upgraded. It would be nice to see the coaching staff working with him on running through 1B rather than sliding every day in spring training.
Aslong we upgrade at 3B im fine with Punto at SS, his defense and the intangibles he brings to the clubhouse make up for his lack of offense. I get terribly frustrated with him at times too but you can’t deny he is what Twins baseball is all about, he frustrates Ozzie Guillen more then anyone.
Like i said though, we need Beltre, Kouz or Atkins still….if we go into the season with the same lineup as last year it’ll be depressing.
I give up.
AND - better than another Adam E. Or Wilson. Tejada is too expensive and old.
and its 2 years for 8 million. Better pay Punto 4 million a year than pay Tejada 11 million for crappy defense and declining offensive skills. NOW GO GET CREDE!
In what way did he show ‘leadership’?
Sliding into 1B headfirst? having a temper tantrum when he couldn’t get his terrible bat on the ball? making a webgem on one play, then making Morneau come off 1st to get his errant throw the next play? His .260 average with runners on (yah he could get on base, but sure as heck wasn’t going to drive them in for you). Yeah, great leader
Another 2 years of not allowing my children to watch Twins baseball. Punto missed the first day of little league when they practiced running THROUGH first base.
punto signing saves these strib blogs.
Twins fans- Please hit head here:
________________________________________
I too like Punto on this team. When utilized properly (and with pop hopefully coming from other positions), he’s a big asset to the team: defense, energy, leadership, versatility.
get over it people. punto isn’t so bad. every team needs a couple bottom-of-the-order guys who field well. And it’s not fair to judge him only for 2007.
same price as lamb…..
Is this April 1??
I like Nick Punto.
WOW, some of you have some real issues!! I wouldn’t stop watching or supporting the Twins because they signed Punto. They could have gotten someone worse and they could have gotten someone better but what would we have to give up to get a better offensive shortstop??
Is this April 1?
I can’t understand why Punto is ripped on so much here. People who just look at power stats know nothing about playing a 162 game major league season. Texas leads the leauge in power stats almost every year and every year they are last. Punto helps win games and is a great leader for young players learning how to play the game right. Ya, he should share some of the SS AB’s, but Im very happy he has been signed. Also, this front office has produced a winning club for nearly a decade with one of the lower payrolls in the league. How can you say they are horrible?
That being said, I do think they desperately need a 3B this year and hope they can get Kouzmanoff for any pitcher besides the top 3…if they can pull that off it would be a very successful off season.
Yeah Babay… hopefull they cut Harris soon
It’s great to see the Twins resign Nick Punto. As others have mentioned, he’s a terrific defensive infielder, and he plays the game the way it should be played. Whether he should be the starter at shortstop is a question, but of all those the Twins have had over the last 5 years, he’s clearly the best. He plays with passion and provides a spark to the rest of the club. Probably equally as important, he WANTS to be with the Twins.
BOO!
HISS!!
Evidently being Gardy’s love child has it’s benefits as another no-talent hack gets a terrible contract!
BOO!
Wooohooooo! Great effort from Punto, good defense and 0 bat. I bet Morneau is thrilled the Twins added some “pop” for the 9 hole.
Punto may be an asset, but not a “big” asset. He is not a leader of this ball club. He’s an a$$ kisser who makes some wonderful plays to blind the real attributes to his ability. Inconsistant and horrible at the plate.
Why do other people’s names and email addresses keep popping up on my page!!?!! C’mon Strib! Too many budget cuts and layoffs?
Why doesn’t everyone hate the guy so much for sliding head-first into first base? Sure it can be annoying, but so is Carlos Gomez smelling his bat every time he walks up to the plate, Eddie Guardado “adjusting” himself before the first pitch of an inning, Torii Hunter allowing inside the park homeruns in the playoffs, Jason Kubel taking a called strike 3 with runners in scoring position, Jesse Crain throwing “ball 1, ball 2″ to the first batter he faces every inning…
If you wish the team had done something different to address the shortstop position, that’s fine. But get over the head first slide thing and talk about something else.
so where is craig? off becoming the newer and more improved craig? banned for life?
can’t believe he doesn’t have thoughts about this — seems like he called it a year ago when he said punto was bound to be the twins ss…
What a joke. So we are not able to compete in the free agent market so we decide to overpay a utility player and declare him a starter. Get ready to watch the same scrappy team that plays just well enough to miss the playoffs.
Punto is not hated by anyone who is rational. Punto gives 100% all of the time.
Those who matter find that a great quality and we respect him for it.
Now all the Twins need to do is resolve the situation at third.
They may just stand pat as Buscher has promise.
They will win the division with what they have now.
Any significant addition could mean a series title.
Great jobe by the best management in baseball.
If Punto plays everyday, I predict he will win the triple batting crown. You heard it first here.
STAY AWAY FROM CREDE HIS BACK IS BAD LETS NOT SPEND MONEY ON A GUY THAT CANT BE COUNTED ON TO PLAY
YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!
C’mon guys two more years of “getting after it” how can that be bad.
Ummmm…I am not real happy about bringing Punto back, but I decided if they did it for a reasonable cost a got a SOLID hitting third baseman I could live with it. Well, they haven’t found a third baseman yet (please bring Wiggington), and they certainly didn’t do it reasonably. $8.5 Million over two years for a crappy hitting SS??? ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? Tolbert for $300,000 would have been MUCH better. What are we doing, seriously? We have league minimum players who can do they exact same things as Punto. Sure he dives head first into first and convinces us all he’s playing hard, but he’s still out 90% of the time he does it, the same as the guy who runs over the base and not into it!
CREDE BACK IS BAD DONT SIGN HIM LOOK AT HIS HISTORY . D.L. D.L. IF HE WAS HEALTHY THE SOX WOULD WANT HIM BACK
What a waste of money, Gardy is loving it though.
This is so pathetic….$500,000 and a Continental Diamond gift card. This should not be news.
4 million for 129 ground outs to second. This is a travesty
What a great deal Billy.
Now..can we please see the picture that Punto is using to blackmail this whole organization
Good news! Go Punto! FYI, I’m tired of all the overkill on this blog with the endless stats. Yeah, they are important to a certain extent, but, there are things called intangibles that can’t be measured by all these stats that make you guys feel important on this blog.
may have overpaid, but for a gold glove talent who plays the way he does it may be a good signing. and for everyone complaining about no offense, name me a time when one hitter has lost the game for a team. It doesn’t happen, but one player on defense can absolutely lose a game….he will be fine.
GOOD!
La V, you might as well come home these losers (front office) have completed their work.
I just vomited with rage all over my keyboard at work, now my fingers are all pukey from typing. I hope gardy is happy with his “gamer when he is batting .220 at the all-star break.
Punto is best described as 10 pounds of suck stuffed in a 5 pound bag, or if you prefer, punto plays like mays, but hits like Mendoza, either way, 8.5mil over two years is a lot to pay a guy who can’t stay healthy and is nothing more than a late inning defensive replacement. Please excuse me while I go take a punto, I’ll try to remember to whipe my Nick.
Excellent. Will I pay $15 to watch Punto and Buschner? One less decision to make.
People bitch about Punto all the time, but I for one am thrilled to see him back. He’s had some rough times, but he’s had some good ones too. He’s no slouch with base running either, and when you get punto-gomez-span-casilla in the order, you might not see alot of home runs, but we’ll probably see some really exciting plays on the base paths.
on a side note - is Tolbert still signed with the twins? Would he end up being a utility guy in the spring d’ya think?
Are you kidding me? We wont add a third year for Casey Blake, but what the heck? Lets give Punto an 8.5 million dollar deal. Looks like the twitch I get when the Twins 8 hole player is up to bat is going to last at least 2 more years….
Yeah, he’ll win 1) Lowest Qualifying Batting Average 2) Fewest RBI’s per plate appearance 3) Only guy to openly make fun of his team for the contract he signed, “They didn’t realize the Phillies offered 2 years/$2.5 million, they thought it was $2.5 per year, morons” and he will be saying it from a wheelchair with a broken back, which occurred after sliding headfirst into first base and Prince Fielder falls on him.
RR
You have to be nuts if you think Punto is going to wear any crown but the dunce hat. I guess I’m okay with this if they go out and get a decent 3B - it just makes me mad that the Twins had to pay him $4 million a year. I like the idea of fines if he slides into a base head first and I think we should add another fine if he gets picked off or has more boneheaded base running mistakes - I hate that about him. This wasn’t my idea of the Twins FO being bold - get a 3B guy who can hit and field and keep Delmon.
CUDDY SHOULD PLAY 3RD. WHY THE HECK CAN’T WE MOVE HIM TO 3RD? HE’S BETTER THAN ANY FA OUT THERE!!!
On a lowercase note, signing Punto was the right thing to do, you fools. He was the spark to this team, plays hard, and hits around .290. What more do you want from some crap NL shortstop that we would pick up?
You Punto haters need to get ya heads checked.
Punto cant hit, has not figured out that in t-ball they teach you to run through 1st base…because it is proven faster than sliding head first…..what a moron….how can Gardie allow this stupidity??? So, he cant hit, run, and all he is good for is in the field,(which I admit he is very good).
Typical Twins, signing below average talent to continue our just able to compete mentality.
The Twins have been a good team since the beginning of the decade. Problem is the front office/ownership never does anything to help improve them from good to legitimate contender, even with the new stadium coming.
Most loved/hated Twin ever. I love his fielding, and his offense isn’t horrible. Little too much money, but that’s what others were offering him, so we gotta pay. Now we need to dump a couple players if we get a 3B or shortstop.
This shows that: a) there are not other decent SS out there —OR— b) none of them want to play for the Twins. This better have been their only option or it’s horrible!
The Twins reluctance to take action at the Winter Meetings is becoming an all too familiar routine. They are becoming know as the bottom feeders of the majors. They will wait until all the good players are scooped up by other teams and then claim that there was no one available to help the Twins. The highly of the year, sadly, is the signing of the over-rated and inconsistent Punto. The Twins are staking too much significance to the possible return of Cuddyer who is possibly the most over-rated player in all of the major leagues. He does as much to help the team lose games as he does help them win games. Cuddyer is a bum and should be traded as soon as possible.
I can only hope that Bill Smith is fired, and blackballed from the state of Minnesota, and professional baseball.
LNP for 3 more years is like electing George Bush Jr to a 2nd term. It should have been made a freaking crime punishable by deportation!
Bill Smith is going to rival Kevin McHale for Idiot of the 21st Century in Minnesota sports if he is allowed to keep making bad decisions!
The reason the Sox are lettign go of Crede is because they have had Josh Fields in their farm system for some time now…I think Crede is a decent (not great) option.
Nictros, are you nuts…Punto hits around .290? He’s a career .245 hitter at best, with maybe 30 RBI’s. He should not be a starter…he’s making almost as much dough as Cuddy…is that right to you?
[…] to the Star Tribune, The Twins have re-signed infielder Nick Punto to a 2-year, $8.5 million deal with an option for […]
Hits around .290??? This year maybe. He’s a career .250 hitter, who 15 months ago was finishing up a .210 year in which he had to hit over .300 in September to get OVER .200 Don’t even go there.
Lets all hope the Cuddyer gets traded before the start of the season. He is known as a jinx. The Curse of the Cuddyer will haunt to Twins all year and keep them from winning the division. There is nothing the Twins can do to stop the Curse, except to trade him away. They may be able to geet a minor league prospect for him, if they are lucky.
Could you imagine who we could sign if we didn’t have Cuddy and Punto’s contracts now? Seriously, they are going to eat up $12-13 million this year. Not that we would sign someone anyway, but it would be a nice thought.
I would have rather seen that $$$ go towards a 3B and take my chances with Tolbert/Harris at 2B. Or SS.
So that’s just a hair over 60 or 64 mil now, depending on who you listen to. Sign a Colome or some desperate FA bullpen arm in Jan, platoon Harris/Buscher at 3B and there you go folks - your 2009 MN Twins.
If they would just honestly come out and say “Know what folks? Our goal is to have at least half of our stadium outlay paid for by 2010. With our 2008-09 team/MLB revenues and payroll structure, we are well on our way to accomplishing that. Thanks for understanding” I would be happy.
Typical Twins big free agent signing, even if LNP were free it wouldn’t be a good deal. Looks like someone paid too much for another average (or less) ball player.
Ugh, this is the news I come back to after my lunch break? Very disappointing! I would have been happy if our lone off-season move was losing Punto to free agency!
Can anyone recall if there ever been a player like this that majority of the fans and management have such different opinions on?
2007 was a bad year but he really kicked it into gear in 2008.
What moron goes to third from first on a ball hit to left field.
How much of that 8mill is he giving to Morneau for saving him every throw.
Bat him 4th Gardy you genius.
Target Corp must be thrilled with the AAA line-up they will see in the teams first year in teh new stadium.
This is such a t ryan move
I can’t wait for the bobblehead night.
Slide right in to Continental Diamond.
Leader..my rear
and teh twins loose go quietly in the 9th
Do the math….$44,000 a hit
FRAUD!!
With Punto anchoring shortstop, there’s only one question remaining… when do World Series tickets go on sale?
Meh. I’m OK with this so long as they do something at 3rd. And Cuddyer is NOT the answer there. Can’t field, and his poor fielding distracts from his hitting.
Of course, he isn’t much of a fielder in right, either.
I think the Twins should be banned from going to the Winter Meetings if they are going to tease us with the idea of improving and come back with Jones a mediocre version of Slowey, and Little Nicky Punterrible.
We don’t need Orlando Hudson, Cabrerra… we didn’t need Casey Blake, and trying to get DeRosa or JJ Hardy took effort, and balls…
Bill Smith you are a fool!
OK morons, Cuddyer and Punto are not the problem. Bill Smith is the problem. Also, DY is not good option to replace Cuddyer. OK, you stat gurus, I’m waiting for your response.
Twins did OK re-signing Punto. Defense is strong up the middle with Punto and Casilla so this makes the pitchers a little better. They might have over-paid a little bit but teams tend to do that when the re-sign there own guy’s. I have ripped LNP a lot but the guy can pick it and he come’s up with an occasional hit. As long as Gardy doesn’t hump him in the dugout and stick him in the two hole, the Twins did fine with this one.
[…] Re-Sign Punto The Twins made their big move. They re-signed Nick Punto. 2 years $8.5 million. I just threw up in my mouth a little […]
At least we now know what the pictures of Gardy are worth on the open market
I’m a Twins fan living in Brooklyn so I don’t get an opportunity to see the team play that much. So please explain to me why there’s sooo much vitriol aimed at Punto. The guy plays great d, and can play any position you need him to play. He hit .290 in ‘06, .284 last year (and had a really down year in ‘07). What’s wrong with that? Tolbert is in line to be the utility infielder, which under Gardy’s system means he’ll play alot.
Did you really expect the Twins to get two power hitting players for the infield this off-season?
Hey B.C. with all your front office expertise, what would you have done?
Well said DOB.
I hope Bill Smith is fired! He is now on par with Kevin McHale in my eyes… it has only taken him two years to make more bad moves than Terry Ryan did in his entire freaking career (until the last 18 months of his tenure)… For the love of all things holy this man needs to be fired and replaced…
Guys. Guys. Guys. Stop being so negative. Keep in mind that Punto is injury prone and will likely miss at least a portion of the season.
Was Bill Smith too busy eating at the Rio Suite’s Buffet to get anthing done besides signing Punto? I guess he doesn’t have to worry about his weight? What a joke! ANYBODY but him! Little Nicky Punto, sliding head first into 1st base. I hope he doesn’t jam his neck on first sack. $4 mil per year. Cut it out. I guess the sophomore jinx is in full effect.
Maybe if this wasn’t the first move of the off-season and Bill Smith had acquired a good reliever or third baseman already, it would be viewed a little more favorably…. no, no it wouldn’t.
Is there another team in baseball that can break the heart of it’s fans worse every offseason only to have us continue to rally behind the boys?
The players have to not only beat the other teams, but they have to overcome the handicap of having an idiot running the team, and a cheapa$$ owner!
Carl, your golden pyramid is almost complete…
Just remember it’s easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a Pohlad to ever see another World Series
Poor signing - nothing more, nothing less. I fear Young Billy and company are in far over their heads.
Settle down, everyone. Punto is serviceable. To deem this off-season a failure right now would be premature and pessimistic. Punto was key for the Twins in the ‘06 run and his improved play last year certainly did not hurt. Sure, he’s only good for 20-30 rbis a year…but he is probably good for getting on base 1/3 of the time and he provides speed and smarts on the base paths. He is what Twins baseball is all about — HUSTLE and HEART. They overpaid, yes…but to trade any of our promising prospects for a minor offensive upgrade would have been a huge mistake.
Before getting down in the dumps, take a look at what Punto gives the locker room — he brings the passion and grit that a fringe-playoff team needs.
Now — let’s be patient. Maybe with the Punto signing out of the way we can go get ourselves a power 3b bat!
If not…I propose a Cuddy move back to his original defensive home. Have him take half of his Spring Training plays at the hot corner and see if it comes back to him. He wasn’t a great defensive 3B but, let’s face it…None of the guys the Twins are looking at acquiring (outside of Beltre) are studs with the glove. Span and Young could switch OF spots, if Gardy and the guys feel it would be a better fit…Think about it! We would not have to sacrifice any young talent and Cuddy will only have to play there until his contract is up and Hughes/Valencia are ready.
If punto plays everyday, you can count on the season single strikeout record being broken.
Great signing. Now get some relief help and the Twins are set……
I hate the winter meetings. I get all worked up to make a deal…and then we don’t. BORING!!! We have the MOST mediocre infield in all of baseball (minus Morneau). Go sign Wiggington.
Trade for Wiggington is what I meant.
could I type my name and information in here one more time please????
IF it’s not blank I get someone else’s info in here.
What the heck is the problem STRIB?
While I agree that defensively Punto is very good, the Twins need to make a bold move or two to get to the next level and compete for championshps. Not just make the playoffs, then one series and done. Let’s hope they can get a excellent player at 3rd, like Wiggington, Beltre, Atkins, or someone. How about Burrell at DH/LF? How about going for Peavey and Kouz now that the Cubs are out of it?
I agree with DOB and TC. I am fine with this. We will set and watch you all bash Punto all year, and then listen to how great of a Twins fan you are when they make the playoffs.
You are the same people who bashed the Vikings the first 4 games and wanted Chili fired, and are now cocking off to Packers fans about how bad they are.
Shut up and enjoy Twins baseball. They have kept us interested for the past 10 years. Very few teams in baseball keep their fan base excited all summer long for a decade straight.
What a joke. Hopefully we’ve just been punk’d. $4 million for defensive crappie-flops, head first dives, and a swiss cheese bat. Money well spent!
At least Jack Wilson won’t be in a twins uniform.
The Punto signing is ok only if they go out and get an a 3rd baseman. Punto and alexi are a solid tandem at short and second, they make most if not all the routine and somtimes spectacular plays.But… PUNTO is not an offensive threat whatsoever. We need someone like Beltre, only if we can get him to sign an exstension, id hate to give up good pitching for just 1 year of his bat. Also Jorge Cantu would be a great guy to get, his only 26 and cheap(as in salary) he had 20 errors last year But i think his offensive numbers more than make up for the errors. Hopefully we get someone that can hit the long ball and can protect Morneau….lets hope for somthing to happen
Whhhhhheeeeeeww Hooooooo Punto is back with a sliding vengence. Everytime I eat a slider I think of Punto. LOL
Shutupeveryone….
I still want to see Childress fired.
I want to see Kevin McHale fired.
and I want to see Bill Smith fired.
You can kiss up to the owners all you want, but I like to see the reality… and that is that Punto is a joke, and Childress is too self absorbed, and into his own belief that he refuses to see the game on the field sometimes… and McHale is a failed abortion.
I have to type my name in all the time too…although I just switched to this one. I like the idea of being punk’d, then I could stop crying and start laughing. Ty Wiggington will make me be ok with this signing, because he will add 30 HR’s to our lineup and play good solid defense at third.
Jimmy bee
Everytime I flush I get that same feeling. Wow we all have a little punto in us.
BC.Beneke says:
December 11th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
Shutupeveryone….
I still want to see Childress fired.
I want to see Kevin McHale fired.
and I want to see Bill Smith fired.
Double elimination death match in the Steal cage to see which one of 3 fighters gets to keep his job
Best Nick Punto story.
I was sitting in about the 3rd row this last season behind home plate. They introduce Nick Punto as our shortstop for the day. I yell out Punto you are terrible just go away(something like that anyway). This 85 year old lady, gray hair, barely able to stand, turns and yells at me “Punto is a defensive wizard!”
What do you say to that? I just sat down and took my medicine.
Ty Wiggington would also be a good trade, but im willing to bet the astros would want alot for him, and i dont think the twins would give up alot for him
New Twins promotion
Little Nicky Night every Wednesday at the dome
$1 Sliders
Does anyone else think Ron Gardenhire needs to pipe down here for a little while?
The Twins don’t want to take a risk… they would rather be cheap, and pray that one of their hasbeen/neverwas pickups works out.
Who is going to be our next Mike Lamb? Our next Tony Batista, Brett Boone?
Joe suggested we give the Twins a mulligan for last year…
I think it was forshadowing that they are going to be bringing back
Randy Mulligan out of moth balls.
Gardy running his mouth just cost the Twins $8 million and took a bat out of the lineup.
[…] Around the Majors – […]
Twinsanity 8.5 million over 2 years that is
The Astros have a lot of infield depth though. I bet he (Wiggington) could be had, and he doesn’t have an outrageous salary. He’s only 31 (just turned actually), so he’s got 5-6 GOOD years left. Beltre is gone after this year, is going to cost a lot more in salary, and actually, will not put up any better numbers (lower batting average probably). I say do what it takes to bring in Wiggington.
Again, all you fire Bill Smith bloggers, what would you do? Who would you get rid of to get a better hitting shortstop?
Gooooo Little Nicky
upnorth-
I don’t think we should fire Bill Smith, but I would rather have Casilla at SS, Tolbert at 2B, a total cost of about $600,000 a year right now, than pay Punto $4 million/year for the next 2 years.
gprat…
“don’t beat yourself up, old people die, that’s what they do… they just die” Old School
Just realize that 200 years ago wizards were drown, and burned alive!
Twins have made another free agent signing bust. Wow, how can Punto possibly be worth 4 million a year? They should’ve put that 4 mil with the 6 mil they were going to give Blake and sign Fucal. TWINS ARE HOPELESS AT SIGNING FREE AGENTS. New stadium = overpaying for Nick Punto…awesome.
Do you suppose we could convince LNP
to do a head-first slide down an elevator shaft? Eight mill for two years? He makes Adam Everett look like
a slugging shortstop.
This takes Tolbert’s opportunity away to
play himself into a great everyday player.
Ht. 5′9″ Your the first Punto basher that makes some sense. I like Tolbert. Question, when does Casilla and Tolbert enter free agency? How much will they want? Compared to other shortstops, where does Punto’s salary fall?
BC Beneke Punto’s new contract calls for him to slide into the dugout. If the Twins trade DY for Jack Wilson I will be having a bad day
“Who would you get rid of to get a better hitting shortstop?”
Cuddy,Blackburn,Boof,Humber.. the list is endless
Jimmy Bee
I am not a huge huge Jack Wilson guy because of his outrageous contract per his ability… but Punchless Punterrible for 4 million a year.
I think coke heads spend their money wiser than the Twins just did.
Who would take Boof? You would get rid of Blackburn and replace him with who?
upnorth says:
December 11th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
Who would take Boof? You would get rid of Blackburn and replace him with who?
LNP of course
Im sure he could be had just wouldnt want the twins to trade a young starter for him, boof and humber would be sweet deal, but who really knows what the hell smith is thinking.
Some food for thought.. DeRosa will only be making about $1.5 mil more next year than our *Defensive Wizard* Compare those stats
trading Boof for something other then a bag of oranges is asking for to much.
BC Beneke KLove is a rebounding madman
Whats everyones thoughts on Cantu?
Arguments in favor of punto:
1. Brings alot of hustle and excitement
2. Is good on the basepaths
3. Is great in the field
4. Has good heart, leads by example
5. Is a serviceable MLB hitter
Me, refuting these arguments:
1. “Hustle” leads to injuries by diving foolishly into bases
2. He has a 72.6% success rate stealing bases. Not that great. Also, routinely gets picked off or stupidly tries to take an extra base against a great arm.
3. Punto is Ok in the field, but is not the god some make him out to be. His range isn’t that great, and he often showboats routine plays, making them appear more difficult.
4. A good example, huh? That entails pouting, cursing, and throwing stuff after each of your many strike outs/pop ups?
5. He is not, in any way, shape or form, a serviceable MLB hitter. He routinely, when asked to bunt, bunts the ball in the air. He Is a lifetime .250 hitter with no power (.332 carreer slugging percentage. .332, for Christ’s sake!). Has a lifetime .319 on base percentage, which is not good.
Yeah, he’s the greatest. Can’t wait to watch 2 more years of Nick Punto.
Cantu will not be a left side of the infield player for very much longer he has a shoulder condition of some type so eventually he will be put at 1st base so I personally wouldn’t get him.
Jimmy Bee great concept. Not only is Punto the starting shortstop, he is now a starting pitcher also. I think we got him for a great price!!! I think we paid to much for him, but which starting pitcher are we going to give up to get a better hitting shortstop? Who is going to fill the starting pitcher vacancy after we trade one of them away?
Jimmy Bee.
I liked trading for Love all along… though it was mostly to get rid of Marko, and the rest of that dead weight from the bad decisions McHale made.
To me Little Nicky Punterrible reminds me of the resigning of Trenton Hassell a few years ago.
“He’s a defensive guy that we have to have”
Of course he can’t score, can’t stay healthy, and when he does stay healthy you wish he was hurt because he is a dead spot at the batters box.
How does LNP make the rest of the division better? He’s an extra 3 outs a game… add an extra inning on to any starter’s game and they get an extra 5 million a year in the next contract.
When every game is one inning less for the Twins thanks to Punto… every other team is playing at an advantage over us… that’s how everyone else just got better.
I’m not mad that Nick Punto will be back next year. I don’t see the Twins doing another blockbuster trade, and I am a little worried about relying on almost an entire roster of rookies. Casilla only had a few months at second, we haven’t really seen what Tolbert can do, and Harris/Buscher are best at third. Morneau’s a rock at first, but everybody else could regress. A veteran guy with proven defense all over the infield is a good thing- I’m going to cheer for Punto and hope that his hitting continues to improve (last year was pretty decent).
Anywhere we can use LNP. Starter, MR,LR he can be placed anywhere and will be a natural fit. We could trade Liriano and Throw him in there as our number 2. On days off you can also find LNP even serving up Nachos at the dome concession stand
[…] Minnesota plucked Jason Jones out of the Rule 5 draft, then the Twins re-signed Nick Punto to a two-year […]
[…] Minnesota plucked Jason Jones out of the Rule 5 draft, then the Twins re-signed Nick Punto to a two-year […]
Punto goes back to the Twins - Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees Blog - TheTimes-Tribune.com says:
BC Beneke what are these 1-2 hour late healines that come up after everyone on here knows these headlines already
Oh and speaking of Jason Jones…
We really needed another guy that gives up too many hits per 9 innings and can’t strike anyone out? That is not going to solve the rotation or the bullpen problem!
I’ll trust Gardy.
Let’s say he gets 500 at bats and hits .220. That’s 110 hits. And let’s say, over the course of the year, he makes 30 plays (one every six games) that would have otherwise been a hit or reached on error. Add those 30 hits to his 110, and now he’s batting .280 effectively. It’s like having a guy who can’t make those 30 plays but hitting .280.
Just saying, it may not be as bad as it looks.
The wolves stink up every arena they enter but I can’t stop watching KLove. Foye is lousy and must be sent out of town along with Boof. 2 sport package deal Boof, Foye, Madsen Childress and McFail to Detroit for Millen and the Detroit Lions
Swannie,
That was nice to read… it’s people with a heart like yours that the world needs more of.
Unfortunately I disagree. Nick Punto is going to help the lineup digress by being 3 outs a game that could have been used productively…
maybe one less failed bunt, one less headfirst slide into 1st base, and one less 6-4-3 DP a game…
that would be nice too.
Bringing in Orlando Carbrera or Orlando Hudson would have been better moves.
Trading for DeRosa would have been a better move.
Letting Punto go, and not signing anyone would have been BETTER. Tolbert is not afraid to take a walk.
Punto has a .319 lifetime OB% and a .332 slg% and his fielding is way overrated. Come on. I like your posts a lot, but this topic I have to disagree. You are a good person though… probably a lot better a person than I am.
I think I’m going to puke.
I love Punto’s intangables, like his 07 average. This is a joke.
i have a fever and the only prescription is more NICK PUNTO
At ESPN it sounds like for pitching prospects we are almost nearing the acquisition of old, old and washed up DeRosa from the Cubs. This is our cruddy trade of the offseason.
When Punto takes terrible at-bats, he curses and throws his bat like a 7 year old. He can’t control his emotions; that’s how much he hates to fail. Maybe that’s what it means to be a gamer. Or maybe that’s excitement. I’m confused. Help me.
Oh, wait! I’ve got it! Bunting into the air over, and over, and over again is Excitement, and headfirst bellyflops into first are what make you a Gamer. Sweaaring and throwing tantrums after strikeouts is Battling Your Tail Off, and dejectedly walking back to the dugout after popping up or grounding into a DP with men on is Scuffling A Little Bit. Getting picked off is Fighting It.
Let’s see if the third attempt to post works….
This was the 2nd most predictable event of the entire MLB offseason (after CC saying he wanted to be on the WC, but taking the Yankees’ money).
Yawn. Hope they didn’t use all that huge monetary flexibility they said they had to use to make themselves better…..
Jimmy Bee…
I don’t mind DeRosa at 2nd, and Casilla at SS… do the Pags/Leuis thing with Buscher and Harris at 3rd.
But paying LNP 4 million a year to sit on the bench seems almost worse than paying Lamb 3 million to play for the Brewers
BC- It’s perfectly fine to disagree with me- and after all, we’re both just offering opinions. I confess that I don’t spend much time delving into other teams’ players trying to find the ideal player to upgrade our team. Partly because I like all the players and don’t want to see them gone (naive alert!), and partly because I assume that the Twins will be conservative and won’t make a big trade this offseason. Signing Cabrera or Hudson is an option, but if they are expensive/require first-round picks, the Twins won’t do it. The Rays trade last year surprised me, though, so who knows?
Looking at the pieces the Twins realistically WILL work with, signing Punto seems to be a good move. Otherwise you have no back-up plan if one of the rookies fails.
Yesterday, La Velle E. Neal of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune heard about no-trade problems for the Twins with Mariners third baseman Adrian Beltre. Today, Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times has further detail:
When [the Twins] attempted to investigate a possible deal, they discovered that — since the last time they’d looked into Beltre during the season — he’d added the Twins to a list of teams on his limited no-trade clause. Twins officials were somewhat surprised, though it’s not unusual. When a player sees a team showing public interest in trading for him, they will sometimes amend their no-trade to include that club and then use it as a bargaining chip down the road. Usually, some kind of cash settlement is needed.
If players can freely swap out or add teams to their partial no-trade clause, why do such clauses exist? Did Scott Boras negotiate some type of flexible no-trade clause, or are all partials like this? I don’t have the answers, but Baker says this is a “workable” scenario in regard to the Twins and Beltre. He seems to be the best available third baseman. Any team acquiring him gets him for one year plus probable Type A draft pick compensation if he’s
Swannie…
It’s completely cool. I’m a hothead that believes I’m always right. I am my own boss, and I don’t have mirrors in my office because I don’t always agree with my boss, but that being said… it’s just nice to see people stand up for what they believe in.
I get that they won’t trade a 1st round pick for a free agent. It doesn’t make any sense to me since only about 18% of 1st round picks make it to the majors anyways and no one is guarenteed we will be here for that person to do anything for the team.
I mean would you rather have signed Mike Lowell 3 years ago, and lost a 1st round pick and went to the world series, or have our 1st round pick from 3 years ago?
I think the Twins front office has somewhat of a dilemma on its hands.
Yes, signing a big name free agent would be great, but..Delmon hit 10 HR last year. I’d be really surprised if that number didn’t improve a lot.
Gomez is incredible defensively and looks to have the ability to turn into a middle of the order hitter along the lines of Torii Hunter. He is probably good for 20 HR’s too.
You guys are all thinking we need to look for another big RBI person, when it’s very likely those people are already playing with the organization.
Michael Cuddyer really didn’t have an off year last year. He had 36 RBI’s in 71 games. Project that out over 144 games (the amount he played the preceding year) and he’s around 75 RBI’s.
The dilemma the Twins FO has is this: Do they make a deal, or, do they allow the current roster to develop?
Either way is a gamble.
And giving up any of the current pitching staff is asking for trouble. What happens when (I would say “if” but, I don’t think there’s any doubt that at least one pitcher will wind up on the DL) a pitcher goes down?
It looks like the quality FA market is overpriced (See Sabathia signing) or, what’s reasonably priced isn’t really an upgrade over current players.
When I look at all the other long suffering fans, I’m glad we’re actually arguing over what the Twins need to do to win in the playoffs, not just make the playoffs.
IT”S THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT. I can’t take this anymore no need to talk me off the ledge! Just check me into the funny farm. woooooooohoooooo
[…] $8.5-million deal with an option for 2011. Punto has a career OPS+ of 74 and is going to make $4 million a year. I’m in the wrong line of […]
Scared,
How convenient of you to ignore Punto hitting over .290 in ‘06 and ‘08.
Blake…
This team will have more power in it’s lineup this year than last.
Cuddyer will hit his 16 homers
Delmon will hit 15-18
Morneau may go back up to 30
none of that is all that impressive however…
But if Gomez hits 20 homers this season and steroids are not found in his locker… I will buy a Nick Punto Jersey.
BC: Interesting question about Lowell. It all depends on who the first-rounder was three years ago (I have no idea). But if your choice is between Lowell and a shot at the playoffs/World Series one year and, say, picking up Joe Mauer who becomes an elite catcher- well, I’d rather go with Mauer. It’s all so much speculation that probably either choice is acceptable. In hindsight, winning the WS would be the pinnacle, but if Lowell’s production declines and the Twins sit in basement for years without good prospects, how are those seasons enjoyable? I can understand how Twins fans feel that they have waited long enough and it’s time to win it all (we ALL want to win it all!), but I’m not sure this is the year to cash in all the chips. There are too many uncertainties.
This is why I would own bonds, not stocks. Yeah, I’m a risk-taker 
This is such a joke. The status quo is always awesome! Let’s fall just short again and then the FO can lament how they did their best to fill needs when their priority all along was to resign an overrated, fake hustle, no bat schmuck. God this team annoys the crap out of me.
What other choices did the Twins have to play SS?
Don’t say Harris.
That’s laughable.
Up North. Have you noticed that the Twins like to hold on to their prospects and then wish they had traded them before they became busts (remember Adam Johnson, BJ Garbe or Ryan Mills). The Twins should develop prospects and then trade them for proven (and young) talent. You have to give to get and the Twins don’t want to play that way. We have plenty of talent in the minors to get Beltre, Hardy or my favorite, Dan Uggla but no, they went the “safe” way and picked up the POS Little Nicky Punto. Yuk, yuk, yuk!
BC, I’m taking a screen shot of that statement. Just because.
While I don’t expect Gomez to hit 20 this next year, I think he very well will in a couple of years.
Looking at your projections (ignoring Gomez) that’s 20 more homers than they hit last year. From what I’m reading, more home runs is the reason people are screaming the Twins need an RBI guy at third.
I’m not sure they really need one, at this point.
OK, Punto is not an All-Star, we all know that. He got a contract for what the market would bear. Good for him! He’s a good back-up player and a sometimes starter. The real problem is that Bill Smith and the Twins organization shy away from moving the team to the next level by paying the market rate for guys like Casey Blake, so that Punto will not have to be an everyday starter. So, focus your anger on BS not Punto.
swannie…
You put a smile on my face.
However, we needed a SS, and this year there were more SS’s available via free agency and trade than any year that I can remember.
Plus I admit it. I am the number one Nick Punto hater in Minnesota.
But I also didn’t like Ron Coomer or Matt LeCroy.
I want to see production. I want to see something special. Christian Guzman was frustrating but fun.
I’ve grown up with watching Allan Trammell, Cal Ripken, A-Rod, Jeter, Nomar, Vizquel, Larkin, Rollins, Reyes just to name a few… I want to see us get a guy like Renteria, Furcal, Cabrerra, trade for JJ Hardy, maybe sign a guy like Orlando Hudson and move Casilla over to SS…
Punto reminds me of the players I watched in the late 70’s and early 80’s.
Lenny Faedo sucked! Scott Ulger, Mike Cubbage, Huston Jimenez… oh my god… I just threw up in my mouth… Punto belongs in the powder blue uniforms on teams with Bombo and Hosken Powell… not wasting a roster spot with Morneau and Mauer…
I was at game 6 in 91… there is nothing like being in a world series… if we had to trade Mauer to get one title… it’s worth it.
I mean we sacrificed one baby jesus and it set all mankind free… if we trade this baby jesus maybe we become the 21st century Yankees, lol
I am going to hell for that joke.
I don’t have a problem with Punto at SS in the dome but on grass where defense is less important Harris should get the playing time at SS, since his bat has more pop.
The same could be said of our outfield. Span and GoGo at home for the D fine, but Delmon in on the road so we can get the ball out of the infield.
Blake…
This team needs a 3-4-5 type hitter.
By more power I want someone that commands some respect. I would like to see Mauer put back into the 2 hole, and maybe someone brought in to bat between the two, or someone to protect Morneau.
He might have hit 40 had he had a legit threat hitting behind him.
When you add 3 here, 4 there it does add up in the total numbers, but it doesn’t strike fear, or make a statement of any kind.
How many pitchers in 2007 do you think looked at the twins and said, ok 5 easy outs every game? maybe 162?
This team could also get a lot worse from last year… they are all young and look at the swan dive the team took after 2006.
Here’s nice link…
http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?mid=200809273559068
Punto is the best guy we could get at short. He fits in, plays gold glove defense and has been a pretty decent hitter two of the last three years. All we had to give up for him was money and now we still have something to trade for third base if we want to.
Hey…check out this nice play….
http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?mid=200809273559068
Classic Punto play……
http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?mid=200809273559068
He’s fun to watch…
http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?mid=200809273559068
I did not send out those twins videos
Whoever is stealing my name please stop.
Bullwinkle…
Please don’t ever do that again.
BCB…totally unintentional. Talk to the IT guys at the Strib. This browser is really funky.
Relax, everyone.
Nicky will be giving some of that $8 million back, when he pays for the naming rights to the new stadium.
“Nick Punto Stadium”
Joe C.
Being that this is around the majors… any updates on any other teams besides the Punterribles?
Bullwinkle…
It’s cool. I’m just paranoid about people stealing my name and posting stuff I wouldn’t say/do…
Especially since I can pretty much upset everyone on my own, lol.
I guess I just don’t expect the Twins to have known superstars unless they came up through the farm system. (Or if Smith would swing a trade for unknown players that panned out. Pridie? Guerra? Humber? Help me out, guys.) There’s still plenty of time for Smith get a great third baseman and make Punto’s signing much more reasonable.
And while ‘91 must have been absolutely awesome, it was followed by the rest of the nineties. Which were pretty bad. I would hate to see the Twins become the 2008 Tigers v 2.0. They made a lot of moves, made a huge trade, and it all looked good at first- but the team ended up in last place and now they are in rebuilding mode.
I hate tonights sports lineup. No Wolves and no Baseball
BC…you upset people? Sure. But…I remember last December, you were one of the lone bloggers advocating Ellsbury (or Lester), Lowrie, Masterson for Santana over any of the other (supposed) offers. I’ll give you some “street cred” for being right.
I would still take Ellsbury and Masterson for Santana but I love seeing neither Hankee’s or as BC says it the bitchsox get him.
Swannie…
Great points, but signing 1-2 free agents that could make an impact is not sacrificing the future in any way.
Trading 3-4 prospects for an established player or two to fill in holes on the major league roster could screw things up, but it has to be done at times.
The Expos traded away Randy Johnson to get Mark Langston so they could compete for the playoffs.
A few years later they traded Jeff Treadway and Delino DeShields to the Dodgers and got Pedro Martinez.
The Detroit Tigers traded John Smoltz for Doyle Alexander… Doyle went 12-1 that year his only loss in the 2nd half was to us in the playoffs I think.
Great, not sure what I said, but my comments are now “awaiting moderation.”
Jimmy Bee
No Timberwolves game tonight = no loss
I did predict before the season that the Wolves would start out 4-17, and that Wittless would resign because McHale didn’t have the manhood to actually fire him and put the dog out of his misery.
McHale is a disease… kind of reminds me of Bill Smith a little.
McHale is a disease… kind of reminds me of Bill Smith a little
Norv Turner reminds me of a disease. He is given teams that are ready for the Super bowl then turns them into complete sh!t
BC: If the Twins can find a way to not sacrifice the future AND win in the playoffs on a budget, we’ll both be happy. And the Twins will have proven to be the best in baseball. (I think they’re getting there- good manager and pitching coach, batting champion catcher, former MVP, best defensive outfield in the majors, young pitching core, stud closer, competitive almost every year, new ballpark in ‘10… there’s a lot to like!)
Go get Wigginton and start locking up Baker,Slowey and extend mauer while it is still financially possible.Mauer might command Texiera like numbers if he ever tests the free agent market.Wiggington will be moved by houston very soon. Check out their MLB website. They even mention non tendering him if neccessary to reduce payroll. GET WIGGINGTON!!!!
Hey BC -
Seriously, you liken Bill Smith to Kevin McHale…ALREADY!?!?!? Come on…Mac’s been at this for a decade. Don’t insult his legacy by comparing him to a guy with a couple bad trades on his hands 
Swannie…
Yeah there is a lot to like about the players, and I love the minor league system when it comes to developping pitchers, but I would like to see the team either look at power hitters or at guys that can get on base (and can play some defense) as apposed to the Dougy T-ball type ball players that the team has brought up…
I mean Morneau is the exception, but is it impossible to expect them to bring up a couple of guys that can help this offense drive in some runs since they won’t trade?
I mean we have the weakest sister 3rd hitter in the major leagues… that guy can’t even pull the ball.
dg784-
I said he kind of reminds me of him. It’s kind of like if you are a pet owner, and you you have a puppy… you can smell the crap, but you haven’t quite found where the little puppy left it’s business.
I get that same kind of reaction to seeing the job that Bill Smith has done.
But at least it looks like he can draft because if last year’s draft pans out it could be one of the best drafts in team history. Shooter Hunt could be with this club in spring training, and if he is… he has a shot of making the team… and I read one place already that they think of Hicks as the 2nd best player drafted already last year.
Everyone… can Wiggington play 3rd base well?
I’m just curious. I know he can hit 20-25 bombs without much problem, but if he can’t field the position at all…
And I seriously don’t know. I don’t watch Astros games. those uniforms from the 80’s and Mike Scott and JR Richard… just scarred me… so I still can’t do Astros games.
Gardy would have probably taken a pay cut to assure he could write Punto’s name in the lineup everyday. He better start driving in some runs from third base for 4 million bucks a season.
WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
I’M BACK BABY
WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
I’M BACK BABY
I wasn’t able to get on the internet this afternoon. The 8.5 million is worth reading many of the hate filled posts in this thread.
Regards,
BS on the Punto signing:
“I think it was important for them to go see what the market was going to bear,” Smith said. “But in the end, I think Nick wanted to stay with the Twins. HE’S A POPULAR PLAYER AMONG THE FANS, he’s a popular player among his teammates and you know he’s a popular player among the coaching staff. So we were able to close this thing out late last night.”
Popular? With who?
I don’t mind Punto, in fact, I like him. BUT only in a reserve role. If he plays 100 games, I’m good. If he plays 135+? NO WAY. I just hope the FO realizes, and it seems imposible to me that they couldn’t, THIS DOESN’T CUT IT. NOT. EVEN. CLOSE. They need more. Punto is great…defensevly. We need power. Sign Ibanez(?). I know he’s a lefty outfielder, but find a way. 20+ HR’s with over 100 RBI looks good to me.
What are the Twinks thinkin! No way Nick P is not worth $1 million per year much less $4 million. Management has to make a stand and get value at every position. Think about it, Punto getting over $20,000 per game (162 game schedule). Smith panicked and wasted our money and our time.
With Punto we can’t win and I would rather lose than pay way too much for a utility infielder.
“I would rather lose than pay way too much for a utility infielder.”
I had no idea that the Twins were spending YOUR money for Punto’s salary.
Now I am 100% in favor of the signing!
Way too much for Punto, but better than giving up a starter to get a SS. Besides, pitching and defense win ballgames, not HRs, and NP’s defense will help the pitchers. Yes, NP needs to learn that you shouldn’t try to bunt pitches too much above the waist and for gosh sakes, would someone teach him to hit a fly ball.
On the other hand, look at the Yanks’ hitters last year. Yet with all of these good hitters, the Yanks were near the bottom in driving in a runner from 3rd with less than 2 outs. I live in NJ and listen to a lot of Yanks games and I can tell you, ARod, Jeter, Cano, Giambi, and Abreau many times failed to hit sac flys. The radio announcers would go nuts over this and near the end of the season, the Yanks’ radio announcers tallied a dozen games the Yanks would’ve won if they could’ve driven in a runner from 3rd with less than 2 outs. So, so much for the power game.
Now, try for Wigginton or Hardy (Atkins doesn’t hit that well o/s of Coor) or put Cuddy at 3b, if he can field. Twins’ problem is 4 OFs and no 3b with power. But keep DY, he’s going to be a star.
With Liriano back for a full season the Twins already are better than ‘08. Pitching is tough to develop, so don’t give up any starter, except Perkins.
And everyone, quit yapping about the Twins being cheap. When they average 34K per game over three years, then you can complain if they aren’t signing the homegrown stars such as Santana, Hunter, Carew, & etc. But I don’t want the Twins to blow money on FA’s. What did ARod bring to the Rangers and Yanks? What did Santana bring to the Mets? FAs are no guarantee of anything.
I live in NJ (right across the River from NYC, where I lived for many years, but grew up in SD) and after watching and listening to a lot of Mets/Yanks games, I can’t see rooting for mercenaries. Are you bloggers who like FAs so much, also fans of Blackwater and Halliburton?
GO TO THE GAMES!
Yankees get CC; Mets get K-Rod. We get Nick Effin Punto?? I am so furious I think I am going to have a stroke. To the Twins front office: DROP DEAD, Didn’t think we could go lower than Terry Ryan but this bozo takes the cake.
BC, sir, I must seriously challenge you for the position of the #1 Nick Punto hater in the upper midwest. My loathing for him has no boundaries.
The Twins now have a SS who hit .284 last year,stole 15 bases and fielded somewhere between OK and fabulously.
They did not have to give up Blackburn, Perkins or an outfielder.
They still have enough payroll room to pick up a third baseman and a reliever.
And best of all, all the sociopathic fans have killed themselves, so it will be safe in the Metrodome next summer.
Life is sweet!
Punto. Who is stupider: Punto, Smith, or Gardenhire?
Punto. False hustle
Punto. Gag. Puke. Argh. Suck.
Many teams already have left Las Vegas. Not the Twins, who are one of the few teams that will attend the minor league banquet held at the end of the meetings. They have good reason to attend this year because Twins Director of Minor Leagues Jim Rantz was to become the first recipient of the “Chief Bender Award”, given for distinguished service in player development.
Okay, the cat is out of the bag. They teach the Gardy/Punto double inverted pretzel slide all the way through the minors.
I think I saw Bill Smith hanging out with Kevin McHale at a bar one night….it all adds up.
“What did Santana bring to the Mets? FAs are no guarantee of anything.”
1. Santana wasn’t a free agent. We traded him going into his contract year; they signed him to an extension.
2. He brought probably the third best performance of any starter in the National League. Johan was absolutely fantastic and did everything he could for the Mets. It’s not his fault they had no bullpen. The Mets blew 7 saves during Johan’s outing. If he’d had a bullpen, he would’ve won the NL Cy Young. He pitched brilliantly.
As for your two examples of poor free agent signings… you could turn and do the exact same thing for successful free agent signings.
What did Carlos Pena do for the Rays? What did David Ortiz do for the Red Sox? Some work, some don’t. Same as developing players. More players are going to be busts than not. It’s a fact of the game.
At any rate… Bill Smith makes me sick right now. What a terrible move.
I think it’s funny to think of Punto as a multi-millionaire. Goes to show you how mediocrity really is rewarded in this country.
Maybe he’ll buy a cabin up by the boundary waters and feed Gardie ludafisk in the off-season.
he will prove everyone wrong..he will continue to play great D and he will step up and hit 300
No he won’t
Punto will hit .243 with 12 doubles 1 triple and 2 homers 21 RBI 12 steals 9 caught stealing and 18 errors at SS with 489 plate appearances because he is going to get hurt sliding into first base.
steve from fridley.
Don’t forget the Braves signing of Greg Maddux.
That might be the greatest free agent signing of all time.
Also look at both the Florida Marlins world titles… half those rosters were free agent pickups.
Punto is nothing more than a utility player on most teams. Who we get to play third will also be a dissapointment, I can see it now. Another retread, and halfway thru the year we will give up on him and play a young guy, and then say “wait ’til next year”.
Punto sure gets a lot of hell from a lot of stupid fans for one bad year.
I love the “sometimes the best deal is the one not done” logic. Sometimes the worst deal is the one not done too. Remember some of the great names the Twins decided to keep, instead of trade? Remember the ’90’s where they relied entirely on their farm system?
The Red Sox have plenty of FAs or guys they traded for in their prime earning years. It takes a combination of approaches, and being right in your decisions (and lucky), not just going with only FAs or only your farm system. Heck, the Twins have plenty of guys they traded for on their roster. It’s not like their farm system has created a ton of great hitters and impact players lately (by their own executives’ statements this summer, not just my statement).
Robert please throw your computer out the window of the coffee shop you are undoubtedly sitting at. WE DONT NEED YOU!!!!! Nick Punto is a triple a starter at best, he is a decent utility guy but his bat sucks a hitter should be able to hit .250 by accident.
I emailed the Twins voicing my displeasure and I got a repsonse from Jack Goin and he compared Punto to Chone Figgins and Mark DeRosa. I almost choked on my lunch when I read that.
Yeah it’s pretty disappointing that they expect Punto to be or starting SS for the next to years but it could be worse.
They could have traded too much for Wilson or we could have resigned Everett(noodle arm).
What will the front office and Gardy do if Punto’s hitting .220 at the all-star break???
To Steve from Fridley:
First, the Bosox didn’t win anyting in Ortiz first year. Second, Fenway is a very good park for Ortiz. Third, he had a much better hitting lineup with him in Boston. Let’s see how he does this year with Ramirez gone and Lowell most likey back to being an old dude.
Also, Lowell was considered an old washed-up dude; I don’t think that you would’ve been excited if the Twins had signed him.
I know Santana wasn’t a FA, but he was going to be a FA and the TWins weren’t going to sign.
Also, you don’t sign FAs, because they’ll have a great season; you sign them to get you to the post season.
There are far more examples of FA flops than successes. Pitching, defense, Crawford, and Longoria contributed more to the Rays success than Pena.
You know very little about finance and obviously are clueless as to finances. I hope that you have someone who balances your check book for you.
The Pohlads contribute a lot of money and resources to the Twins Cities community. If you want the Twins to spend more on players then go to games and support the team. The Pohlads don’t have to lose money on the Twins because this would please you and other angry bloggers.
GO TO THE GAMES! Spend as much time supporting the team with your money as you do with angry blogs.
“Spend more or your money supporting the team??” Why, so Pohlad can pocket 95% of it and use the rest to run a farm club for the rest of the majors?
Joe, the Twins drew 2.3M last year, up slightly from 2007.
The Pohlads have a new publicly financed stadium coming on line and revenue from national sources is up.
Yet the Pohlads CUT payroll last year, by approximately $15M, and unless they do something drastic, will be at a similar number this year.
Perhaps it’s YOU who are ‘clueless as to finances.’
BTW, I love this one: “…you don’t sign FAs, because they’ll have a great season; you sign them to get you to the post season.”
And how do they do that, Joe…if not by ‘having a great season?’
To: USAFChief from Joe (USMC):
2.7M fans, but who gets the concessions money? What’s the average ticket price in the Dome compared to Boston, NYM, NYY, Philly, LAA, LAD, Seattle, etc., etc.? Have you considered, Mr. Finance, the following: Salaries $52M, cost of farm clubs, stadium rent; cost of front office, cost of advertising, cost of travel for all of the above. Get real and get some common sense.
And the Pohlad’s contribution to the new Stadium was how much? How much were you willing to contribute to the new Stadium, other than your taxes, which may account for maybe $10 a year, depending on where you live. What percentage of your income goes to charities versus the Pohlads?
Are you just a person who dislikes anyone successful life and doesn’t give to you what they’ve earned themselves?
And yes, that’s right, you sign players to win. Look at ARod’s stats in the clutch. He has good seasons, but he doesn’t drive in runs many runs when the Yanks are up or down by 4 or fewer runs; he doesn’t drive in runs with two outs and runners in scoring position; he hits a lot of HRs and gets RBIs in blowouts. So what! If the Mets don’t make the WS this year, there won’t be any enjoyment in Met land no matter how well Santana, KRod, and Putz perform on the field.
How many WS did the Twins win with Killebrew, Allision, Hall, Mincher, & etc.?
Pitching and defense win games; little things mean more than long ball in blow outs.
that’s 2.3M fans last year. Twins need to consistently draw 2.75M fans per year and more when they’re having a pretty good season. Boston and the Yanks almost always sell out every game.
Sign Adam Dunn!!!!!!
He’s a prolific HR hitter who will seem cheap 3-5 years from now…..sign HIM TWINS
ADAM DUNN BILL SMITH
ADAM DUNN BILL SMITH
Sign ADAM DUNN NOW….Someone who knows Bill Smith pass this along…PLEASE!!!!!
we can play any nerd we want to at 3b with ADAM DUNN DH’ng
Someone back me up on this…..The SIGN ADAM DUN NOW CAMPAIGN
ADAM
DUNN
NOW!!!!!
Joe Crede NOW! There is no room for Adam Dunn and he strikes out about 200 times a year.
Here is a list of players who were non-tendered today, and therefore became free agents.
Daniel Cabrera
Denny Bautista
Ty Wigginton and Reggie Abercrombie
Jonny Gomes
Willy Taveras
Takashi Saito, Scott Proctor, Yhency Brazoban, Angel Berroa
Clay Hensley and Charlie Haeger
Chris Britton and Justin Christian
Tim Redding
C. Trent Rosecrans e-mails that the Reds will not tender contracts to Matt Belisle or Gary Majewski.
Chris Capuano
Kevin Cash
Chuck James
Chris Burke
Wigginton is now a FA!
I am immensely disappointed in the Twins. They have glaring needs and are apparently content to keep the team as is. Meanwhile, I am forking over my hard earned cash every time I buy something in the metro area to pay for their new stadium. So do we have to wait until 2010 before this team gets serious and makes a commitment to winning? Stay the course doesn’t work. I dont find finishing 1 game out acceptable. I don’t find just “making” the playoffs acceptable. If I invest my time and energy into rooting for this team, I want to know management is doing everything they can to win. What I see is management doing everything they can to preserve the Pohlad wealth. So lose a few million next year. Sign a big gun. Supposedly all these new revenue streams with the new stadium will have the Pohlad’s swimming in their cash like Scrooge McDuck so start spending it. You didn’t get the new stadium so you could climb up the Forbes Rich old bleep list. I’m tired of the Twins being lauded for the farm and developing players up in MLB too. As soon as they can, the great ones leave for GREENER pastures. Thats no way to win. Baseball is a business, if you can’t make the investments to win, then get out, Pohlads.
The problem I have is Matt Tolbert is the same type of player as Punto, except for he is faster and has more range…. He makes $310,000…. If Punto deserves 4mil+ a year what does Kubel deserve? Gomez? heck what does the bat boy deserve?
The Twins should have signed a real shortstop instead of trying to shuffle the unility guy Punto around the infield to shortstop. The idea that he may be the Twins shortstop next year only means that there will continued confusion and shuffling around of players in the infield, since Punto will inevitably be used at second base and also third base when needed. What the Twins really need is an established permanent infield. Morneau if the only permanent established position player in the infield at the present time. As long as the Twins scramble the players around in the infield, they will not win a division championship. The uncertainty about who will play where from day to day does not help the players perform at their best. It only serves to bolster Garenhire’s ego by making him feel important by constantly manipulating the infield lineup. There is a rumor going around that Gardenhire wants to maintain the uncertainty regarding the player positions in the infield until his kid, who is in the minor leagues, can come up to the Twins. Then Gardenhire will put him as the established second baseman even through he has sub-standard abilities.
is it possible there’s some misplaced anger going on here? i can understand people being upset that, so far, the twins haven’t done anything to make themselves any BETTER than last year. we didn’t sign blake (which i personally thought wouldn’t have been a good move, but i respect different opinions on that). we haven’t made a trade for a hardy or a beltre. we let two VERY good relievers go to the giants for a good price. but seriously everyone - punto isn’t horrible. he’s not a great player, but he’s very serviceable and had a 99 OPS+ last year - meaning his offensive contribution was roughly average (1% below, to be exact) across the major leagues. he’s the best option we have at short right now, and he doesn’t cost 10 million to sign or a couple of starters to trade for. and while he’s about average offensively, he’s above-average defensively (though i think his d is sometimes overrated).
My point is - the punto signing is nothing to get excited about. the twins need to sign someone else (bullpen please, 3B if you insist) or make some trades. but provided they improve in other areas, nick punto is durable, plays hard, gives you passable offense and above-average defense. his performance really isn’t worth all the vitriol sent his way.
To: Island Depot:
You’re kidding right? Do you really believe that the Pohlad’s should lose a few million to put a winning team on the field. What an outrageous statement. Do you know that the Yankees, Bosox, Angels, Mariners, Giants, etc. (among many other teams) make money? So, it’s not as though these owners lose money to field expensive (but not always winning) teams.
How much are you willing to “lose” to help the Twins get the money to sign FAs? Can you afford to “lose” a few hundred? A few thousand? Come’on ante up.
