Winter Meetings News

Twins had the opportunity to take Eduardo Morlan, the minor league reliever they dealt in the Young-Garza swap, in the Rule 5 draft... they didn't and instead picked something called Jason Jones, who isn't bad but I doubt he has the upside of Morlan.

Twins also announced the signing of Punto to a 2-year, $8M deal, with a $5M option for 2011. Gardy says he is the starting shortstop. If they're set with that, they won't be moving Casilla to short, so all 2Bs are out of the question in a trade. The only way to improve this team now is at 3B, meaning one year of DeRosa or Beltre (good options, but not for long), or multiple years of Wigginton (decent option), Atkins (bad option, especially since we'd probably have to give up more for him than for Wigginton or DeRosa), or Kouzmanoff (horrible, horrible option).

Redirect, Again

From my last post here, nearly a year ago:

"I don't intend to abandon this site."

Oops.

I'm no longer writing for MVN, either, but baseball is starting back up and I might just give this stuff a shot again.

Home Run Porch will be moving, however, and will now be hosted by Wordpress.

The new address is http://homerunporch.wordpress.com/

On the off-chance that anybody still checks this site after 11 months of inactivity, update your bookmarks accordingly.

Redirect!

homerunporch.wordpress.com

Torii's Future

Over at SBG today, I saw this link to a Jonah Keri article on espn.com. I encourage you to head over there and check it out, because Keri is a member of the national media who understands why the Twins have been great this decade - and he's the only person I've seen associated with ESPN who isn't enamored with Torii Hunter.

A link in Keri's article sent me here, where Jason Williams points out that the contracts of Hunter, Luis Castillo, Carlos Silva, and Ramon Ortiz coming off the books next year will free up $25.2 million for the Twins. I've been optimistic so far on the Twins ability to keep Johan Santana around, and having that much more cash to play with in the offseason gives me even more hope. As Keri writes, the Twins have much bigger fish to fry, in Santana and Justin Morneau, than to pay Hunter (and in my opinion, regrettably, Joe Nathan as well) into his (their) declining years and risk losing an MVP or Cy Young.

Random Thoughts

• Ramon Ortiz is the only player not to have reported to Twins training camp on time, but this is fairly common for players traveling from Latin America. Personally, I think it would be best for the team if he didn't show up at all. I still think J.D. Durbin will be a good #3 starter for a major league team - but it is unlikely the Twins will have room for him, as the starting rotation is likely to be Santana-Bonser-Silva-Ortiz-Garza (I figure the Twins have conceded the first four spots already, and only the fifth is up for grabs). Durbin could still make the team out of the bullpen, and I'd like to see it if only to keep him in the organization. Many forget (or didn't know) that he likely would have been called up instead of Garza last August had he not gone down with nerve damage in his elbow.


• The Twins appear to have re-entered negotiations with Justin Morneau. I'd love to see them come to an agreement soon, but I can't see Morneau's value being much higher a year from now than it currently is. In short, I'd love to see them lock him up long-term, but I won't lose any sleep over it if a deal doesn't happen this summer.


• Kevin Garnett and the Timberwolves continue to be consistently mediocre. A loss at Washington tonight dropped them to 25-28, though they still hold the 8th seed in the Western Conference. It is nice to see Randy Foye starting, but still frustrating to see the other rookie, Craig Smith, continue to get declining minutes in favor of Mark Madsen and Marko Jaric. I'd love to see the team cut some of the dead weight by Thursday's trade deadline, but it seems incredibly unlikely to me that any team would be willing to take it on.


• The Wild, on the other hand, continue to impress me. I caught most of the game versus Dallas tonight, and once I started watching I couldn't look away. The Wild play an exciting brand of hockey. I'm definitely not a hockey expert, but it is the most exciting game out there when the games are close. The Wild lead the league with 20 overtime games (in which they are 15-5), so they are a lot of fun to watch. The team has been on a roll since star winger Marian Gaborik's return in January, and goalie Niklas Backstrom has been filling in admirably for the injured Manny Fernandez. In fact, I think Backstrom has played better than Fernandez. Tonight, Mikko Koivu provided the game-winner in the third frame of a shootout as Backstrom stopped all three Dallas attempts - moving the Wild into 7th in the Western Conference and just one point behind Vancouver for the division lead. As long as Gaborik stays healthy, this team can hang with anyone, and can potentially make a run deep into the playoffs.

Twins Ink Cuddyer

The Twins signed right fielder Michael Cuddyer to a one-year, $3.575 million deal today, locking up the last of their arbitration-eligible players. The deal carries a $50,000 bonus if Cuddyer reaches 650 plate appearances. Cuddyer, like Justin Morneau, is not eligible for free agency until 2009, so the Twins have plenty of time to sign him to a long-term deal.

While the Twins stated their priorities this offseason as signing the heart of their order - Mauer, Cuddyer, and Morneau - to long-term deals, I think that a one-year deal for Cuddyer is the best option at this point. Cuddyer certainly had a great season last year, but I'm not entirely convinced he won't regress a little this year. I'd like to see more than one solid season from Cuddyer before making a long-term commitment to him. With Johan Santana's free agency rapidly approaching, the Twins have to be careful with their payroll. I'd hate to see them make a commitment to a guy like Cuddyer and then see him regress to his 2005 form. I do think Cuddyer will continue to do well, but I have no problem at all with the wait-and-see approach the Twins are taking.

Twins, Mauer Reach 4-year Deal

According to espn.com and the Twins official website, Joe Mauer has signed a 4-year deal, which will keep him in Minnesota through 2010. The terms of the deal have not yet been disclosed.

I'll have more to say once we hear how much the deal is worth, but I'll be very happy if it's in the ballpark of the previously rumored $33 million.

UPDATE: The deal is worth $33 million over 4 years. According to espn.com, the deal pays Mauer $3.75 million in 2007, $6.25 million in 2008, $10.5 million in 2009, and $12.5 million in 2010. Mauer can also earn award and performance bonuses.

Now that Mauer is signed, I expect Morneau to sign a very similar deal in the near future. I'd like to see his contract last a year longer than Mauer's, for reasons explained here.

My only concern is the money this locks up for 2009 and 2010, the first years of a potential Santana contract. Pohlad has been more willing to open his wallet lately, and I think they'll still make a run at Santana - but if Morneau's contract is structured similarly to Mauer's, it can't help their chances.