Obviously Mcab + Neshek > Nathan + anybody.

But when you’re talking about the team the Twins have… A starter makes it through 6 with a lead, we’re going to win the vast majority of those games (our statistics for leading after 6, 7, and 8 respectively are off the charts in the last 3-4 years). With two absolute studs at the end of your bullpen, it takes a lot of pressure off the rest of the ballclub.

In a perfect world, Option B wins. In Twins world, option A is really the only option.

Basically, I think Option B looks better. And that’s everything I’ve been trying to say boiled down.

Again though, even with M-Cab. He’s an absolute stud, to be sure. One of the best players in the game over the next 5-7 years. We’d have to put (especially this year) 20-25% towards one player, which doesn’t leave enough to go around to field a competitive team. Even when we get to 2010 and have a 90-100 mil payroll, we’re still going to have to have role players, or young players, step up and have out-of-your-mind seasons (think Rockies, circa 2007) for us to challenge for a WS. We were close in the early part of this decade, and will probably at least return to that in the next few years. But it’s just not realistic to expect to spend that much on players.

While 12 mil/yr for Nathan is higher than I thought he’d get (and eventually turn down) as an offer, our farm system has shown the ability to produce excellent arms for our pen. Having Nathan as the rock to hold down the 9th inning was a shrewd personnel move, if you ask me. It also placates guys like Mauer & Morneau, who don’t want to rebuild. Plus from what I hear, he’s part of the glue that holds the clubhouse together.

In 2010 when our payroll approaches 100 mil, and we have another bat under our belt, our young pitching that has developed to deserve big contracts, having Nathan in the pen will be a good thing, and at a “bargain” price for the market.

If you think that Jones has completely broken down, that’s fine. There’s other decent bats to be had. Realistically, if the Twins had been willing to open up the purse strings, they probably could’ve made a run at M-Cab. I realize that cost $$ + prospects, but the Twins could’ve at least been in the running. Ditto for less luminaries such as Renteria, Tejada, and Rolen. Because the reality isn’t in the particulars; it’s in the philosophy. If the Twins keep signing bottom-barrel offensive talent, they’re not going to compete again.

Agree on Pohlad and that’s really what I’m getting at. You can eventually find, via FA or trade, a real slugger if you’re willing to pony up $15MM - $20MM a year. Whether it’s Jones or Soriano or whoever… over a 2-year horizon, you can find a guy you’d be happy with. But if you’re going to set your limit at $3MM/yr, you’re not. And then things won’t change.

Before deciding which trade would have been better for the twins, I guess I’d like to see how these prospects pan out. Far too many “cant miss” prospects do just that. If the Twins would have given up Michael Restovich in the early part of this decade, we would have landed Soriano (the first time around… if I’m wrong about that, sorry. I believe it was Soriano, but even if not, I know holding on to him is why TR didn’t land somebody big).

I’m not arguing with you Mathew on the principal of the thing. I’m simply phrasing my arguments around the framework that the twins ownership has placed upon the environment. Joe Nathan’s contract is not such that he’s not tradable. In fact, for 12 mil per, he’s going to be a bargain for an “elite” closer in 2008-2010, assuming he maintains that status.

Yes the Twins should have signed Hunter & Santana to extensions before last season. They didn’t, and those guys left. They learned their lesson this time around, and now have a great nucleus of young talent. Another year of development, a key signing or two, and we’ll be competing for a WS in 2010, which is what the plan has been all along.

The significant reason why the twins are different than the Tigers is the fact that Carl Pohlad is behind the wheel. The news reported recently that, of the 80 million the Twins had received in revenue sharing (I want to say over the last 5 or so years), only like 5-10 million had been put back into payroll. That’s $15 mil/yr that would have bought us our Andruw Jones caliber player.

And it’s not at all clear that the Twins plan is to trade Nathan. That’s just speculation of anxious fans, “If it doesn’t work out, we can just trade him!”