North Dakota Preps

All-Star catcher Joe Mauer and Minnesota completed an eight-year, $184 million deal! Although some feel that this will tie up too much of the Twin's payroll, I for one am ecstatic!!!

I'm happy for 2 reasons: It keeps him in Minnesota thru what should be his prime years and it keeps him away from the Yankees

Its great that he signed this extension, Minnesota is where he wants to be. I think this will hurt the Twins in the long run. They have not been a team to spend a lot of money. Sure they spent a lot of money this year but what about in three years from now.

cubsfan wrote:Its great that he signed this extension, Minnesota is where he wants to be. I think this will hurt the Twins in the long run. They have not been a team to spend a lot of money. Sure they spent a lot of money this year but what about in three years from now.

They have the money though. They have one of the richest owners in baseball, who in the past didn't want to spend money but now will because of projected revenue from Target Field.

Richest doesnt mean most profitable though. He can have all the money in the world, but if hes paying contracts with a minimul profit he wont be around long. That's where Boston and New York have the advantage.

I think the Mauer contract, Span's contract, Blackburn's contract, bringing in JJ Hardy and Orlando Hudson are all signs that the Twins now have enough revenue in Target Field to handle $100M + in salary. I believe the dam has finally broke and they will continue spending money on salaries, although responsibly like Bill Smith said in the press conference.

The responsible part will come when they won't pay a ton of money to keep aging guys like Cuddyer. If Cuddy wants to stay a Twin he's going to have to take a pay cut in his final contract, unless he surprises me and keeps hitting 30 homers a year.

A couple things, Carl Pohlad was the owner of the Twins until his death in 2009. His son Jim Pohlad now runs the day to day operations and is a little more loose with his money.

Also, baseball is correct. Its not about the owners personal worth, but the revenue that the team makes that allows spending.

baseball wrote:Richest doesnt mean most profitable though. He can have all the money in the world, but if hes paying contracts with a minimul profit he wont be around long. That's where Boston and New York have the advantage.

Another thing to think about, the Twins have made the playoffs 5 out of the last 8 years only spending around $70M a yr. They now plan to spend $95-$100M a year. So with Mauer's $24M a year that still leaves them with roughly the same amount that they've always worked with and been competitive with. The Twins won't be able to spend like they did this off season any time soon but this is not going to put them in the poor house and cause them to not be able to get other talent around Mauer like the nay sayers would like you to think.

I should also say that my explanation and numbers are very simplistic. But I want people to understand this is not the same situation that happened to the T-wolves and K. Garnett. The Twins and baseball do not have a salary cap to worry about and the Twins have not been penalized any draft picks **coughJoeSmithcough***