Baseball season ends, so now what?
Posted on November 5th, 2009 – 11:42 AMBy Joe Christensen
It’s always tough when the World Series ends, knowing there won’t be another meaningful major league game for five months. The Twins open April 5, in Anaheim, Calif., against the Angels, and then open Target Field on April 12 against the Red Sox. Twins pitchers and catchers report to spring training on Feb. 21, and we’ll be there as the anticipation builds in Fort Myers.
But what now?
Well, the clock already is ticking for the Twins. They have five days to decide whether to pick up Michael Cuddyer’s $10.5 million option for 2011, or pay him a $1 million buyout. Either way, Cuddyer is coming back next season, but it’ll be interesting to see how that plays out.
Teams also have a 15-day exclusive negotiating window with their own free agents. For the Twins, that involves Orlando Cabrera, Joe Crede, Ron Mahay, Carl Pavano and Mike Redmond.
The annual General Manager meetings begin on Monday in Chicago, and that’s usually a breeding ground for trade rumors, etc. We’ll be keeping up with all of this, though it’s worth discussing a few ground rules.
On Tuesday, when the St. Petersburg Times reported that the Rays were close to dealing 2B Akinori Iwamura, Internet speculation spread that Aki was coming to the Twins, who had cut Brian Buscher from the 40-man roster earlier in the day.
As the Iwamura-to-Minnesota speculation spread, we checked into it and were told it wasn’t the Twins. I got a tip that it would be Pittsburgh, but it wasn’t from a Rays source or a Pirates source, so I refrained from blogging it or Tweeting it until I had something firm.
Hopefully, our readers will appreciate those standards in what figures to be a newsy offseason for the Twins. In the Twitter age, speculation spreads like wildfire. If you see something, and you haven’t read it here, please pass along the tip via e-mail (jchristensen@startribune.com), send an @reply on Twitter (@JoeCStrib), or comment below. But we’ll use our judgement on what and when to publish, filtering the information as best we can.
So sit back and enjoy the offseason. The on-field games might be finished, but the off-field stuff is just beginning.
83 Responses to "Baseball season ends, so now what?"
To my mind, there hasn’t been a meaningful game played in over a week. I tuned out the games, for the most part, as soon as the WS participants were determined.
The Cuddyer option gets picked up. Can’t imagine why they wouldn’t at this point.
I doubt any of the Twins’ FAs will be signed in the ‘exclusive’ negotiating period. Redmond because the Twins should be ready to move on with a young backup catcher in 2010 and the rest of them because they’re logically going to see what other offers might be out there.
The off season moves will be interesting to follow, but let’s not kid ourselves. Looking at the Yankees, it’s clear that everyone else is maneuvering to play for ’second place’. The inherent advantages that the Evil Empire has over everyone else is such that all you can do is try to make yourself competitive and hope the Yankees self-destruct in some manner during the course of next season.
In all honesty, it might be best for the long term fortunes of the other teams if the Yankees do real off about 4-5 seasons in a row of dominating every one else. Maybe then, someone will step up and do something about the inequities that Bud and his buddies allow to continue.
Jim, I think if the Yanks win a second world series in 2010, 2011 will see MLB teetering on the brink of collapse. It may already be too late. They could have run local ads on Fox, since the ratings were strictly NY and Phil.
Pick up cuddy’s option, sign pavano for 2 yrs, look into trading for JJ Hardy (hardy for perkins plus a pitching prospect?), sign placido polanco for 2 years. if not hardy, bring back orlando. sign mauer to lifetime extension..if no better options at 3rd, platoon harris/punto. i can’t imagine valencia will be starting after not getting a sept call up. maybe consider cuddy back at 3rd considering how well he hit when he filled in for morneau
The Cuddyer option gets picked up. Can’t imagine why they wouldn’t at this point.
Because that $10.5M in 2011 would be better used for arbitration/contract money for players like Slowey and Delmon Young. And not to mention the fact that the Twins are about to open their pockets big for Mauer’s extension.
The only news that matters this offseason is the news that the Twins have signed Joe Mauer to a 10-year contract extension.
Thrylos….Cut your losses on the Delmon vs. Cuddyer thing would you?
I appreciate the standards, and it’s good to know that at least some people in the media think about this kind of thing.
You shoved all in on Young and were wrong. (Don’t feel bad I did the same thing on Gregg Jefferies in 1989) The twins have the chance “not to call” and save some time and money… Is 30 HR’s and carrying the team down the stretch when Morneau went down not enough for you yet?
hopeful, and very affordable 2010 line up
CF Span
2B Polanco
C Mauer
1B Mourneau
DH Kubel
RF Cuddyer
LF Young
SS Hardy/Orlando
3B Harris/Punto
Rotation: Baker, Slowey, Pavano, Blackburn, Duensing
Bullpen: Guerrier, Rauch, Neshek, Boof, Liriano, Mijares, Nathan
Bench: Morales, Harris/Punto, Tolbert, Casilla
“if the Yanks win a second world series in 2010, 2011 will see MLB teetering on the brink of collapse.”
The @#$%@#$% Yankees winning the W.S. is a catastrophe in my world (and apparently in your world), but not in the real world.
MLB will NOT be “teetering on the brink of collapse”, because of it.
Sauce -
Cuddy is not going to play third base. Gardy has already fielded q’s about cuddy at 3rd and said he doesn’t consider it an option. I think cuddy himself has also said that 3rd isn’t his preferred position.
I say we trade high on Duensing. That is probably just me.
Hey Joe,
Are the Twins unveiling the new uniforms next week? I see that the New Era website shows a new road hat-the TC hat with a red bill. Didn’t see the M hat anywhere.
Link to some ideas for uniforms:
http://www.alright-hamilton.com/2009/04/say-what-twins-are-getting-new-uniforms.html
I like the classic cream myself.
Sauce -
Just wondering, how do you see Hardy in there? I think the conventional wisdom is that it would take trading, say, Liriano or Blackburn to get it done. You disagree with that? Just curious.
i’m not saying he will be playing 3rd, i doubt he will be. just saying that considering him there wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. we’re already paying him so we wouldn’t have to sign anyone new, and it would solve the log jam in the outfield
Thrylos98-
I know we play the Kansas City Royals an absurd amount of times during the season…but it’s not a reason to hold on to hope for Delmon since he basically got his numbers fat off that particular opponent down the stretch.
Pick up Cuddyer’s option.
david
i posted a few minutes before that hopeful line up, trading for hardy would make sense. brewers need pitching, we always have an abundance of it. i think they would take a perkins plus another relatively high pitching prospect for hardy
Just wondering, how do you see Hardy in there? I think the conventional wisdom is that it would take trading, say, Liriano or Blackburn to get it done
Hardy was ostracized in AAA for the last couple months of the season. There is no way that it would take that much. Perkins (in same situation with Hardy) should get it done with Milwaukee eating some of Hardy’s contract as well.
if Billy could get Hardy for Perkins that would be a “Grand Slam” !!
That would be quite the coup. I wonder if Milwaukee would be thinking the same thing?
Any ideas as to why JJ stunk it up last year?
What would it take to pry Yunel Escobar from Atlanta?
Say we sign Mauer longterm could we build something around Ramos, Bromberg, Punto?
Is that way off?
thrylos, yes I should have said “Unless thrylos is hired as GM, I can’t imagine why they wouldn’t at this point.” 
you don’t NOT pick up a fair market value option for a guy who had the kind of year he had, especially given that the last thing you want to do is send a signal to the other stars that it’s going to be “business as usual” (letting key players walk because of money) even with the new stadium. Just simply NOT going to happen.
And no, MLB is not, nor will it be next year, teetering on the brink of collapse.
But should the Yankees go on extended dominating run, you will expect to see fees for local broadcast rights paid to other teams (especially small-mid market teams) shring significantly, increasing the revenue gap between the Yankees and those teams even more than it is today.
You don’t need a payroll cap or a minimum payroll. You need an equitable sharing of MLB revenue.
Let teams keep their gate receipts and let them keep most, if not all, of their merchandising revenue. Let the Yankees benefit from their new stadium if they can convince people to spend $500 for tickets.
But broadcast/cable/radio rights should be owned by MLB and distributed equally among the teams. MLB should not only negotiate rights fees with ESPN, TBS and FOX for national games, but also with those media organizations that want the local rights for each team.
If the Yankees’ YES Network wants the rights to do Yankee games, that’s fine… let them bid openly against other media companies for that right, and let FSN, et al, do the same thing in any market they’re interested in. Then split the revenues among all the teams.
Big market teams will still have more money than the rest. But it will be a much narrower gap. Then we’d see how each organization can compete for players on the FA market AND in development of young talent.
Average player salaries would not go down. SUPERSTAR salaries MAY be affected. Total payroll for MLB, the total pie from which all salaries are paid, would not drop.
But this sort of thing will never happen as long as Bud and his friends cab argue that the Yankees, for all their bullying and obscene spending, do not “always” win it all.
Since, under the current system, the only broadcast fees that MLB itself gets are from national networks, MLB only cares about what’s “good” for national networks… and that, like it or not, is the Yankees on top every year.
Yikes! I didn’t realize that message was so friggin long. Sorry, all. I’ll get off my soapbox now.
I keep hearing Escobar from the Braves probably won’t be moved.
As for Hardy-I do listen to some Milwaukee sports talk and when he was moved down to AAA there really weren’t any concrete reasons given for why he stunk last year. Not injured, just had a bad year.
Perkins would be good, but I would bet the Brewers would want another pitcher.
As for those uniforms-I have heard those are close, but not quite what the Twins are doing. I just want to know so I can plan my jerseys purchases accordingly!
Huh-New Era took down the new road hat from their site and has the M hat back on it. Guess someone said something.
Milwaukee should have dealt Hardy when he had some value. A guy coming off that kind of season can’t be worth a whole lot, even if a number of teams need SS help. Frankly, I’m not sure I want the Twins to go after him if it costs anything more than a mid level prospect or two.
Joe,
I do not appreciate your “standards”
and I think you use this to cover your butt.
If you knew it wasn’t the twins, why didn’t you blog that or tweat? It would have brought eyeballs to your site, and been factually accurate.
You guys constantly get scooped by other cities - how come you knew nothing about Sano?
Sethspeaks.com is more plugged in to the Twins than you and he does it for free.
I hope you could actually break something meaningful for once so we don’t have to go to other team’s sites to get the news.
I don’t understand why the Twins have to decide now on an option for 2011????? Did Cuddy’s agent or the Twins want that in his contract. Either way I just don’t see how the Twins can make that determination now. Understand though that NOT picking up the option sends the wrong message to Mauer and Morneau for that matter.
This group of Yankees is too old to make an extended run at dominance. They would have to bring in some new players and it would take some time for them to mesh together.
I hate the Yankees as much as everyone else (Red Sox too for that matter) so when they went ahead last night I turned the game off— I did not want to watch them celebrate.
Sauce says:
November 5th, 2009 at 12:52 pm
hopeful, and very affordable 2010 line up
CF Span
2B Polanco
C Mauer
1B Mourneau
DH Kubel
RF Cuddyer
LF Young
SS Hardy/Orlando
3B Harris/Punto
Rotation: Baker, Slowey, Pavano, Blackburn, Duensing
Bullpen: Guerrier, Rauch, Neshek, Boof, Liriano, Mijares, Nathan
Bench: Morales, Harris/Punto, Tolbert, Casilla
That’s a terrible bench and absolutely NO upgrade from this yr. I ahve no problem with say a Casilla/Punto type platoon at 2B but we need more power/production at 3B.
Brewers were asking alot during the trade deadline, and Slowey and a prospect for Hardy would be the equivalent of what they asked the Red Sox for. However, the down season Hardy had was also added to by the Brewers because they sent him down to AAA one reason. They were delaying his Super 2 status, making him more valuable in a trade.
Perkins and a prospect would not get it done. Hardy is one year removed from a 20 plus hr, all star SS season. And hes on the right side of 30. It would take AT LEAST Liriano plus a prospect, and might even take more then that. Liriano plus a prospect id be okay with, but any more then that and id say no deal.
Hey Joe, thank for you not making us pay for “premium” coverage, even though you Twins reporters are far superior to your Access Vikings counterparts.
agreed. I have the Yankees, but more so because of what MLB allows them to do. They play within the rules that MLB has. So even though we all vent about the Yankees, it is really not them but MLB that allows for inequities to exist. If our beloved Twins were doing or could do what the Yankees do and everyone hated us, we would have a different perspective. But, fix it Bud or your “minor” leagues will still exist at the Major league level.
JJ Hardy. His numbers pre 09 speak for themselves. 09 was a unique situation. The Brewers screwed up good IMO. Here’s a 26 yr old kid, a good guy, an allstar SS, a plus defender, puttin up .280 with 25 jacks the 2 previous years. They had Escobar, this young kid tearing up the minors. They let it be known that he was the SS of the future. While the kid they already had on the field, a kid that about 25 other teams would love as their SS, wasn’t handled. He stumbled around. They sent him down. I just hope the Twins didn’t lose an opportunity by not goin hard after him early in the year. IMO he’d be a PERFECT fit. Just the right age. I think he’s gonna be highly sought after this off season.
pikadrew,
Your Super 2 theory doesn’t fly since he has over 3 years of experience.
Also, I agree with T98 bout Perkins for JJ. I think people round here don’t appreciate Perkins’ potential. He’s had spurts of top of rotation dominance.
“So even though we all vent about the Yankees, it is really not them but MLB”
But it is the Yankees who are in love with themselves for having won 27 W.S. on a playing field that has been uneven for 90 years.
So, f@#$%@#$%@#$%@@#$% the @#$%@#$%-king Yankees, but I am not going to vent about it.
MLB would love it if the Yankees went on another dynastic run.
I don’t mind the Yankees as much as I mind the Twins pooping their pants at the sight of pinstripes.
shaun, re: uniforms.
If it’s any indication, the Twins unveiled their “Saturday throwback” uniforms the Monday before Thanksgiving last year. I suppose, just in time for Holiday shopping. Would make some marketing sense I guess.
SAUCE…where is the bat off the bench? The Twins were at a disadvantage in the postseason because they didn’t have a bat off the bench. It’s tough when Morales or Punto or Tolbert have to bat late in the game because they have nobody better. Where is the another veteran lefty arm in the bullpen? Mijares does a lot of sep up work for Nathan, they still need a lefty-lefty matchup earlier in the game. Sign Mahay!
Picking up Cuddyer’s option is a no brainer to me.
Anyone else thinking that playing last season with Johan and taking the 2 first round picks from losing him in free agency would have done this team better than what they got in the trade?
Bill Smith needs to salvage his reputation this offseason by extending Mauer, signing Pavano to be a 3rd or 4th pitcher in our rotation, adding a veteran stopper (of #1 or #2 rotation status, NOT another castoff) for the rotation, and adding a Middle Infielder who can produce with a bat (Cabrera would be an OK compromise on this, but not what I’d look for first).
I’m also for giving Crede a 2nd Chance as we’ll be playing on a natural surface next year, same type of deal as this years.
Can click my name for a more in depth look at what I think.
Excuse me, i meant to delay free agency another year, so he has 2 years before he qualifies for free agency.. not Super 2. lol.
Maybe they should just award the Yanks the WS championship every year.
And then make them play an allstar team from all the other teams in MLB. This “world series” might really be competitive.
“Sethspeaks.com is more plugged in to the Twins than you and he does it for free.”
SethSpeaks.net …
But seriously, you guys, Joe and LaVelle do so much. They truly do a terrific job every day throughout the season. They’ve got contacts all around baseball. And seriously, my guess is that they didn’t get a pay increase to provide these terrific blogs to us, for free.
First, decline Cuddyer’s option and either negotiate it down or outright release him. $10.5 million for a very replaceable player is far too much. Second, offer Pavano 2 years, $12 million with incentives to $15-18 mill. If he bites, great, and if not, let him walk. Three, drop “Red-Dawg” like a bad habit with Morales providing a cheap upgrade. Four, offer Mauer an aggressive, more than reasonable extension with option years (6 years $120+ mill with an option for a 7th). If he wants to stay in Minnesota, he’ll show it. Five, find a viable and affordable one year option at 3B to further groom Valencia. Six, watch to see if the Brewers non-tender Hardy, and go after him WHEN they do not.
While the Twins have money to spend, it doesn’t mean they HAVE to do so. The worst they can do is start overpaying for players. Keep spending wisely and staying consistent . “You can always recover from the guy you didn’t sign, but you’ll never recover from that one bad contract.” (Vernon Wells, Magglio Ordonez, Jason Giambi, Barry Zito, Kevin Brown, Mike Hampton, Alex Rodriguez in Texas, etc.)
Joe Mays…
I think the Twins need a top-notch starter, who isn’t a pitch to contact guy. They don’t have anyone who has electric stuff, who can blow hitters away. Adding this type of pitcher would really strenghten the rotation. I know it would be expensive…but it’s something that I feel is needed to put the Twins rotation in the above-average category. Liriano was supposed to be that guy…but that ship has LONG past…unless something miraculous happens.
Andruw Jones after his one big year…
I mean Liriano’s ship has long PASSED!
Carlos Silva - that one still makes me laugh…Kyle Lohse?
And Liriano’s ship has not passed. He is coming into his second full season in MLB recovered from TJ surgery. Alot of pitchers, if they return, return 2 years or so after the surgery to full health. He wont be what he was, but this year is the year to tell if he will at least be a very good number 3 or so.
Yunel Escobar from Atlanta…YES!!
TGVIKES and Tj Just
the bench of morales, harris/punto, tolbert, and casilla is a weak bench…but we don’t have much else of an option..maybe go get mike sweeney for 1 yr, $1 million for a bench/DH type guy..who else would we have on the bench? and to say that polanco isn’t an upgrade at 2nd is completely wrong
If the Diamondbacks don’t (or haven’t) exercise his option, Brandon Webb might be interesting.
Hardy could be had. The Brewers may “want” a lot for him but the are backed into a corner and “have to” trade him. They’ve already got their shortstop of the future up a ready to go for next year. They can’t hang onto Hardy.
Perkins has never had “spurts of top of rotation dominance”. He had 2-3 very good outings during a stretch. Just like any #4 or #5 stumbles into over the course of a season. He has to go.
And if the rotation returns in some form of what the Twins had at the end of the season (adding Slowey back into the mix) it will be nice, possibly very solid but will still not address the issues vs. the Yanks, Sox & post season games, No Power pitching in the rotation.
Their plan in recent years of signing or trading for the Pavano’s, Livan’s & Ramon Ortiz’ of the world are a cheap option but miss the franchises once successful approach. They won a title in 1991 because Jack Morris was a #1 starter not a nice #2 or # guy. They already had that in Tapani & Erickson. Jack was an All-Star, a game #1 & # 7 in the post season guy.
That it what they need now. A rotation and post season difference maker. If they aren’t going to trade for one or go after a big name free agent who fits that bill than at the very least they need to take a flier on a guy who at time fit that bill & could fill it again because he has something to prove and/or is finally healthy again.
Say like a Ben Sheets? Just to throw one name out there/
TGVikes1,
Your roster has no backup OF. Not to mention, why would they keep four utility infielders on the roster?Casilla is unlikely to make the team next spring. I wouldn’t put money on Harris being with the team next spring either.
Sorry Seth….I forgot about the “.NET”
by the way, whats up with Seth Speaks .com?
I want to bombard him with Twins questions and see what happens.
I never bother putting together fantasy lineups. If I wanted to do that I could play a video game.
Rich
Harden
Please!
Rich
Harden
Please!
ES16
The line up you’re referring to was my roster…the back up outfielder would be kubel..and if you have better bench options, tell me
Here we go again….. On a side note the guy who’s chair got confiscated got screwed. They should have given him the money from e-bay to pay his legal fees. They flexed there muscle to take away his property. That is one shady move for the city to pull.
kirby 91
i agree that they need a true ‘ace’ in the staff..but i don’t think signing one before the season starts will happen. possibly acquire one at the trade deadline or before the all star break..a rotation of baker, slowey, pavano(hopefully), blackburn, and duensing is a good rotation..not great, but good. come playoffs and down the stretch, however, you are right. they need a true stopper in the rotation
In the playoffs, Blackburn gave up 0 to the Yankees and Pavano gave up 2. Our ace in 06 went 1-2 in his final games down the stretch and then lost his game in the playoffs.
I am not saying it wouldn’t be nice to pick up a stopper but I don’t see it happening. Everyone wants a #1 or 2 guy. I want 5 guys in there who can throw shutouts or give up only 1 or 2 any given game without shocking me and we have that.
Take a flyer with a guy like Bedard.
Sauce,
Sorry. You do need another OF though. If Kubel is the DH and an OF gets hurt, he has to move to the OF and you lose the DH. Gomez will likely be the bench OF next season.
I agree with kirby 91 and leftyd that the Twins #1 priority should be a number one starter/ace. I said it before on these blogs; the same thing kirby 91 is saying. The Twins made bold moves in 87 and 91 to put them over the top and make them a champoinship caliber team. They don’t seem to have that mindset lately and seem to want to just be contenders for the AL Central. I think a number one starter, someone as leftyd says “can blow hitters away”, a strikeout guy, will make them WS contenders..
Actually, Liriano has pitched two full seasons since the Tommy John surgery. 2010 will be his third. There is nothing wrong with his “stuff”, it’s his control that is the problem. You can’t walk 6 batters every outing and expect to win very many of those games.
Old Twinkies Fan,
Outside of possibly signing CP, the Twins are not likely to sign any starting pitchers. They have eight guys that started multiple games this season returning, plus Boof. They’ll work with what they have. Their priorities will be signing Mauer and finding some infield help.
Waylon,
You forfeit your vehicle on your 2nd or 3rd DWI depending on aggravating factors. This spring a guy forfeited his restored ‘39 Ford Coupe.
The Twins need to 1. Sign Maurer 2.Pickup Cuddy option or sign extension 3. Find a #1 type pitcher, Ben Sheets? If he is healthy. Harden would be awesome. 4. Get a power hitting 3B who is righthanded, Beltre? Valencia doesn’t impress me anymore 5. See if we can match up with Milwaukee for JJ Hardy, if not we live with Punto at Short & 6. Sign one of the many good FA 2nd basemen out there. I like Orlando Hudson the best. Good fielder, good #2 guy in the lineup. 7. Repeat as Central Champs 8.Knock off the Evil Empire in the Playoffs 9. Win a World Series 1st year at Target Field. That’s my Christmas list.
SweetOne says:
November 5th, 2009 at 5:13 pm
Waylon,
You forfeit your vehicle on your 2nd or 3rd DWI depending on aggravating factors. This spring a guy forfeited his restored ‘39 Ford Coupe.
That is harsh. The law is the law. But a chair is downright harsh.
I think someone on here mentioned out right releasing Cuddyer? In the words of Jon Bon Jovi, ” You give blogs a bad name” AND you make Thrylos seem reasonable… This is all, of course, according to my sources. ( :
I have a bit of a different idea I’d like to get your opinions on.
Instead of the 1 million buy out, or the 10.5 million for 2010… signing Cuddyer to a 2-3 year deal for 25 million dollar contract. I think Cuddyer might be willing to do that for the longevity factor.
That would give us a bit more flexibility, and stability at the same time.
Also to the gentleman that mentioned Liriano… I’m not sure that his problem is anything to do with his physical tools. His brain and his heart are what I question. Now might be the ultimate time to trade him because he’s still young, and he has that 2nd year after a TJ surgery thing in his favor. Trading him for Hardy might be a sweet deal.
If Lirano turns it around, he is in the NL so we don’t have to suffer for it, and we still get Hardy who can play SS or 3rd base.
Hardy would be a great get. Signing Pavano also makes sense to stabilize the young rotation. Milwaukee could use Hardy at 3B so they really don’t “have to” trade him. SS is a need but getting a 3B or 2B is probably more important especially if we can sign OC for a couple years. If we’re going to trade away talented prospects, they need make some decisions about the rotation first. The fact is we have a lot of proven Major League arms. Here’s the current group of starting pitchers who have pitched at the major league level and virtually all of them have had some success.
Baker
Liriano
Blackburn
Slowey
Perkins
Bonser
Duensing
Swarzak
Manship
We don’t need more than six of them so trade three for a quaility third baseman and sign Polanco to play second.
As for the uniforms … please discard any idea of the “powder blue” uniforms. The powder blue seems to convey an aura of weakness.
I don’t think the Twins have much choice but to exercise the 2011 option. If they don’t they almost have to trade Cuddyer right away. How could they expect him to play full out after basically telling him they don’t want him? And if that happens, the chances of resigning Mauer become less. I don’t think Mauer will talk extension until he sees what other moves the Twins make this offseason. If he sees “business as usual” I think he’ll walk.
10.5 million is a little steep for Cuddyer. Abreu just re-signed for 9 million per year, and his numbers were comparable if not better than Cuddys. Either way, he’ll be back because they have to show Mr.Mauer they want to win. Also, it has to be the biggest no brainer in history to get Joe signed. I can honestly say if they let him go I will NEVER EVER watch or spend one dollar on the Twins ever again in my lifetime. No BS. That will be the end for me.
“Abreu just re-signed for 9 million per year, and his numbers were comparable if not better than Cuddys.”
numbers never tell the whole story.
Cuddy is a better outfielder than Abreu and he’s also proven he can play a very good 1B, which adds to his value.
