Let's take a look at some Twins tidbits..
- The Twins and Carl Pavano are still close to a deal but appear to be in a temporary holding pattern, writes Joe Christensen of the Star Tribune. The sides still have some details to work out but they've agreed to put the talks on hold through Tuesday.
- Tabling the talks with Pavano should allow the Twins to focus on their potential arbitration cases. Matt Capps, Francisco Liriano, Kevin Slowey, Glen Perkins, and Delmon Young are all scheduled to swap figures with the Twins on Tuesday. Christensen points out that the Twins settled all eight of their potential arbitration cases at the eleventh hour last year.
- The Twins made some attempts to retain Jesse Crain but ultimately knew that relievers Brian Fuentes, Matt Guerrier, and Jon Rauch would sign elsewhere, according to Christensen.
- Nick Punto is still on the open market but the Twins don't have any plans to bring the infielder back, writes Sid Hartman of the Star Tribune. Punto, 33, has spent the last seven years with the Twins, hitting .248/.323/.324.
All this team every does is take advantage of the fact they are in the weakest division in baseball every year and have the benefit of the unbalanced schedule. This team would never make the playoffs if they played in the AL East and it is getting old seeing them getting eliminated in the first round every year.
It just shows how bad the Whitesox, Indians and Tigers have been the past few years in that the Twins always win the division despite their fielding a team which is not competitive with the rest of baseball. Every year their first round opponent is virtually guaranteed a trip to the ALCS.
If the Royals prospects are as good as people say in another year or two the Twins can say good bye to their mediocre teams winning the division every year.
wow, what a complete load of sh!t. You talk about things being unbalanced, just look at the Yankee payroll and try to say that is not the reason they win every year.
Your owner is worth Billions and would not resign Santana. Talk about a tight wad! He really doesn’t want to win. The outdoor stadium was a bad idea too, look at the numbers fall for their hitters last year. They don’t get baseball weather there until June!
umm im glad they didn’t resign Santana at this point
Yea, not signing Santana to a contract that he never would have lived up to makes him a terrible owner. Signing a pitcher who was declining or about to decline to a $130 + Million deal is such a great idea. Also, the Twins offered him a 4 year/80 million deal. Santana didn’t want to stay and that was evident by only accepting trades from the New York and Boston market. He wanted a big market. It would have been a terrible deal and shame on Pohlad for not giving it to him. He should have paid him $20 M a year to spend time on the DL and eventually be the reason Mauer left.
And yea, the ballpark was a such a terrible idea. Being contracted or moving to a different state would be such a better idea than having a sell-out season with only ONE rainout. And if outdoor baseball is a bad idea in Minnesota, than it’s also a bad idea in New York. April and May temperatures are very similar between the two.
Your right there the Yankees should have built a retractable dorm like Arizona. The Giants and the Jets should have done the same thing. As for Santana, he would have won 18- 20 games the last 3 years and the Twins would have had 1 world series win. Injuries are a part of the game, and hindsight is 20/20. The Twins should have built a retractable dome and had the best of both worlds. Only a Viking likes that weather!
Retractable roof wasn’t an option. We took what we could get. It’s not like we were offered a retractable roof and said no.
And injuries were bound to happen with Santana. You could see that in 2007.
PS, how did 2006 go? Santana didn’t win his game and we got swept.
I don’t get it the Diamondbacks have a retractable roof and you can’t afford one. Sell some brooms and you could have a retractable dome.
It costs 200 million and there isn’t room for it. It’s one of the smallest ballparks in baseball. It literally can’t have one on it because there’s no room.
The weather here is no different than NY, BOS, Chicago, Detroit. None of these places have a roof.
Look at our home record last year!!! Who gives a sh!t about numbers!! better than playing in a little league stadium like the yankees play in…..Johnny Damon hit homeruns in that stadium. What a joke
Our owner didn’t become a billionaire by throwing away his money. He knows that the Twins would never be able to make his money back if he spent 200 million like the yankees do. I always laugh at yankees fans:)) They have the most band wagon fans of any team in any sport. Almost everyone’s favorite player has played for the Yankees at some point…..because they were bought off because they have an unlimited payroll because they have the biggest TV contracts and such.
Thats right his father bought the team for 44 million, like I said he really doesn’t want to win. The Twins drew 3 million fans last year and spent 90 million. The Cubs and Phillies drew 3 million and their spent 140 million. They are not the Yanks.
That doesn’t tell me how much each team made in Revenue……..you would be a TERRIBLE business owner
I was going to argue you with you about your weather statement but I looked at your whole statement and there is too much wrong in there to correct. Maybe watch the Twins this year and see who’s catching?
Santana was the stupid one!! We offered him 20 mil a year. Oh yeah, how have the Mets done the last couple of years….HA HA
not every team has the incoming revenue the yanks do you cant expect owners to take a gigantic loss in money on a season. The dome made the twins very little money and payroll reflected that however with target field it has skyrocketed though still more than 80 million less than the yanks after they failed to throw loads of cash at Cliff Lee.
Santana would not have signed with the twins unless they overpaid him, post preformance not included. They were on dome money with Liriano having an amazing season and knowing soon Morneau and Mauer where going to cost them a boatload of money to keep. Everyone always brings up Santana it would have been stupid to commit the franchise to him then and just to throw in hey damn that was right he has not been a franchise worthy pitcher in New York.
Maybe they didnt sign a big name free agent to add to the roster but when Pavano resigns everyone is back that produced a division winning team save from a oft injured shortstop and some mediocre bullpen pieces. There were a lot of off years last year moving into a new stadium, payroll, and expectations and dealing with their mvps 1/2 season whats to say some of that does not rebound. A team that seriously challenged for the AL best record, that has decent chances of having their mvp stud and all star closer rebound and 4-6 more players rebound and have better seasons with some prospects in the wings, had such a terrible offseason without paying a ridiculous amount and years for a setup man (aka benoit) and a “catcher” that has to play other positions to make him semi worth it, or hamstringing an already atrocious defense like the white sox by spending the off season by gaining a DH that cant play defense at any position and our thrash reliever for 3 years when hes prone to blow up every other month.
All of the big market teams should be stuck in one division to even things out….then in the ALCS, the small market team should get to choose which players should sit on the big market team to even the payroll out. MLB desperately needs a salary cap, but then the yankees would be screwed
there should be a salary cap. baseball should model their cap like the nba salary cap. In the nba thares a set cap, but you can go over it if your resigning your players. it also allows teams to bring in a mid to low level player
yeah, I like the way the NBA runs its cap. They have caps for each player also. A rookie limit and a veterans limit. The people in the office have to make the right personnel moves otherwise your franchise will go down like the knicks in the last decade….also the T’wolves. It took many years for the knicks to finally clear some of those bad contracts and now they can win again. MLB should go to this system
Yeah, it’s nice when a Yankee fan chimes in with unsolicited contempt for a good organization. So sorry the twins don’t have an extra 100 million dollars lying around to outbid the competition for cc and teixeira.
Hello, your owner worth 3.1 billon! How much money did Pohlad pocket from the Yanks last year. The Phillies paid for Halliday, the Nats paid for Werth, your guy is just cheap. How much did the Twins pocket in revenue last year.
The Twins paid for Mauer!!!! And that was extending their payroll because they had to keep their franchise player.
The Twins paid for Mauer!!!! And that was extending their payroll because they had to keep their franchise player.
The AL Central is the weakest division in baseball, uh… really???
I’m always surprised by how little Yankees fans know about baseball.
I’m never surprised by how little yankee fans know about baseball
Yes it is. State any reason as to why anyone would draw the opposite conclusion. Look at the AL east last year 4 teams over .500. Tell me what other division has competition like the Royals with the longest playoff drought of any American League team. Yes it is the weakest division if not which is?
Well, since Pittsburgh has finished with a lower record than Kansas City for the past four years, I would say the NL Central has similar competition in that respect.
Both the AL and NL east. Just look at the standings.
don’t feed the trolls
Nice when a Yankee fan chimes in with unsolicited contempt for a quality organization. So sorry the twins don’t have an extra 100 million dollars lying around to just buy the best free agents every year.
Someone must be bummed they are clinging to wild card hopes after being told by cliff lee to shove it this offseason. I feel so sorry for those poor, downtrodden Yankees.
Most division winners would never win the AL East. The Giants won the World Series this year and probably would’ve finished 3rd or 4th in the AL East.
Try bring up some of your own talent….your favorite team is bought and paid for. The Yankees also get the support of the umpires in every series that they are in. EX. Mauer’s double down the line that landed a foot or two fair and they SOMEHOW blew that call…….That would have won us the game, but mysteriously didn’t…hmmmm
Man you really know little about baseball. Cano, Jeter, Cervelli, Gardner, Posada, Rivera, Hughes, Chamberlain, Robertson, Aceves, Nova, Pena, Nunez, – thats 13 players from the 25 man roster at the end of 2010 – Pettite also came up through the system so thats 14.
Most were in the 90’s buddy!!!! Try this decade…..all of the ones from this decade are no better than any other teams prospects! They just get to play with the highest priced free agents from the years before. Where were the Yankees in the 80’s and early 90’s when they couldn’t buy all of the highest paid players in the game????? They were forced to develop their own players, and now they have the money to keep them around
4 of the players I listed were from the 1990’s the other 10 all debuted 2007 or later. I did not even mention Montero, Brackman Betances, Buenolos, Romine and Sanchez. I also did not mention Kevin Russo, Colin Curtis, and Juan Miranda all guys from the system who played for the Yankees in 2010 even though most Yankee fans would rather they had not. Why dont you actually think before you speak. The Yankees won more games than team in the 1980’s look it up if you can actually read. The Yankees won 88 games in 93 and had the best record in 94, then made the playoffs every year winning 3 World Series.
I understand your bitter being a Twins fan and have to deal with royal jerks like Clark Griffith but get your facts straight.
WOW!! Am I supposed to be impressed with all of your current prospects. When Montero becomes the new MAUER, then talk to me. They are prospects that haven’t proven anything yet. Your upper management won’t give most of these guys a real shot because he will find free agents instead. Cano is legitimate, the rest are overhyped. Ex. chamberlain and hughes-check their ERA’s
Polhad really has you guys buffalo’d up their in the north country!
Wow you are one of the most ignorant yankee fans I have ever come across. And that’s saying something.
First, lets go back just one year and remember the situation the Twins were in. A bottom third payroll inside a “dome” that is now roofless. All this while playing in a division with a team from the third largest city in the country as well as the free spending, Dombroski run Tigers. It is an incredible feat that the Twins were able to compete in the division let alone win it 6 out of 10 years this decade. Minneapolis would have a parade if we eclipsed a 60 million dollar payroll.
Second, take off your Yankee blinders and have a little perspective on the MLB and you would know that the Twins are one of the most respected organizations in the league. This is not bias, go read about it.
Third, I promise you the AL central is not the weakest division in baseball. Look it up.
Now that the Twins aren’t playing in a dump and have a little payroll flexibility, let’s see what happens for the next few years when were able to build a team with the increased payroll.
I would love to see the Yankees compete with a 100 million dollar payroll.. No A-Rod, no CC, no Pettite, no Jeter, no Tex, no Mariano.. Haha it would be a joke.
Its not about the Twins being respected in baseball it is about them failing to advance past the first round every year because they are simply not that good. Rather than complaining about the fact other teams reinvest their profits to put a better product on the field why not admit they are a product of a wek division and if they played in a stronger division they would not be making the playoffs every year.
Look it up when was the last time the Twins won a playoff game. The Yankees have beaten them how many times in a row? The Twins have not managed to squeak out one win against the Yankees in how many years?
Your team gets embarrassed in the playoffs every year. They are looked at as a given by each team they face. What is the weakest division in baseball if not the Central? Explain how it is not the weakest in baseball when the divisions two worst teams have the lowest winning percentage compared to bottom two teams in every division. The Royals and Indians who Minnesota plays more than any other team who has won a division. No other division has two teams that are so incredibly bad. 5 teams and two of them are extremely bad. The Twins would not make the playoffs if they did not have such weak competition. The unbalanced schedule allows the Twins to play a larger percentage of their games against two very bad teams and their is no other division in baseball that allows for this.
I can’t believe I am hearing another Yankees fan complain about their tough schedule….You’ve got to be kidding me. You spend the most money in baseball(because you can make the most profits) and you are complaining about their schedule??? If you want teams like Cleveland and Kansas City to have a shot to be good, MLB NEEDS A SALARY CAP. It is not their fault that they have lost all of their talent to other teams because they couldn’t afford to keep them! Look up all of the players that they couldn’t sign or had to trade to get prospects in return. The Yankees wouldn’t know anything about this type of baseball. The Twins would! We lost Hunter and Santana to huge contracts by New York and Anaheim. The twins offer hunter 16mil/yr and santana around 20mil/yr but those weren’t good enough because they couldn’t commit long-term because it would have handcuffed our franchise.
I am not complaining about a tough schedule I am complaining that every year a bad Twins team makes the playoffs because they play a weaker schedule than anyone else and every year we are stuck watching a crappy team get swept.
So you say that Hunter and Santana would have handcuffed the franchise? Then what did signing Mauer and Morneau do? They got pretty big deals the equivalent of what you say would have handcuffed them.
They actually got very big deals for the type of players they are. They are this generations Mr. April and Mr. May. I guess one of the perks of their contracts is the fact they both get to take the month of October off and go on vacation because you never see them this time of year.
The Twins are bad for baseball, thankfully they never get past the first round because the ratings if they made it to the ALCS or WS would be the worst ever as they have no following outside Minnesota. Not sure how Yankees having to lower ticket prices at the beginning of 2009 has any relevance- a bad economy combined with over priced tickets will always lead to that. The Twins essentially have made the decision to advertise for Target first and play baseball second. The number one priority or the organization is promoting the retail giant with actual baseball coming second. When the Twins were bad and if they ever are again the stadium will be empty and you wouldnt be able to give tickets away. Twins fans are front runners and they never show up when things are not going well.
Actually, it is the Yankees who are bad for baseball if indeed any team is “bad for baseball”. The Yankees advantage is that they play in New York with the best TV/radio contract and that when they want, they can usually sign any free agent they happen to need. Note I said “usually” – Cliff Lee being a noteworthy exception.
They Yankees succeed because they can absorb bad contracts when they sign a free agent and he doesn’t work out. Their farm system is good not great over the past 20 years and while it has produced great players like Mariano Rivera and Robinson Cano and pretty good players like Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada and others, the Yankees are simply at average in terms of farm system productivity. They don’t have to rely on monor league talent so much because they can buy most premium free agents if it suits their immediate needs. When you can consistently spend $200 million or so on payroll and most of your competitiors can spend only about one-half of that, you are going buy success while your competitors have to use work hard.
I thought you said that the Twins were bad????? Shouldn’t our stadium be empty every game???? They were able to sign Mauer and Morneau because of our new stadium. If you knew anything on this subject, you wouldn’t be arguing with me!!! Everyone from Minnesota knows this!!! Typical Yankees fan acting like he knows what he’s talking about:) The Yankees get viewers because they are the most HATED franchise in any sport, and people want to see them lose!!! Twins are bad for baseball…….That has got to be the DUMBEST statement I have ever heard!! You clearly don’t know anything about the league. Watch BASEBALL TONIGHT every once in a while and listen to what everyone says on there about the TWINS…..Also, go to a list of the GREATEST WORLD SERIES of all-time and you will find the ’91 TWINS/BRAVES series on there. I can’t believe I am even commenting on your idiotic statements!!! PEACE
I can’t believe I am hearing another Yankees fan complain about their tough schedule….You’ve got to be kidding me. You spend the most money in baseball(because you can make the most profits) and you are complaining about their schedule??? If you want teams like Cleveland and Kansas City to have a shot to be good, MLB NEEDS A SALARY CAP. It is not their fault that they have lost all of their talent to other teams because they couldn’t afford to keep them! Look up all of the players that they couldn’t sign or had to trade to get prospects in return. The Yankees wouldn’t know anything about this type of baseball. The Twins would! We lost Hunter and Santana to huge contracts by New York and Anaheim. The twins offer hunter 16mil/yr and santana around 20mil/yr but those weren’t good enough because they couldn’t commit long-term because it would have handcuffed our franchise.
I was really hoping to avoid wasting my time with the simple math.. but here ya go..
Last year, in a down year for the AL central they were better than both the AL West and NL central by a large margin.
AL Central- .495
AL West- .4817
NL Central- .475
Also, the two worst teams you’re referring to are the Indians and Royals whom at .426 and .414 had better or equal winning percentages than 5 other teams in the league coming from each and every division in baseball including the AL East. You lack evidence to back up your erroneous statements. Can’t say I’m surprised.
Look, I can’t argue our recent lack of success in the postseason. But you refuse to acknowledge the fact that the Twins have been near the bottom of the league in payroll for 90% of those losses. While your team can go out and spend ridiculous amounts of money creating the deepest, most balanced lineup in the game, along with 26 million dollars on one pitcher (more than twice the payroll of our entire rotation in 2010!!), the Twins have to settle for strike throwers who struggle in the post season. The Twins get bashed for making the postseason with a 60 million dollar payroll and losing to the Yankees, while the Tigers or Mets or Dodgers are consistently near the top of the league in payroll and have struggled to even make it there..
You make little sense. Winning percentage is not how you can judge the strength of a division when your playing an unbalanced schedule. The fact that interleague play also creates a an unbalanced schedule with some teams playing better teams from the other league while others get the Pirates further shows that you can’t go by just winning percentage because it is not an equal playing field.
Hypothetically if the AL West plays the NL East in interleague play this will impact their winning percentage because they will likely have a few more losses to better competition. Not every team plays the same schedule so winning percentage is useless in determining strength of a division. Minnesota played the largest percentage of their games against low quality opponents and no team in baseball got to play as many games against two teams as bad as the Indians and Royals.
The fact the Royals and Indians were better than 5 teams means nothing. Its the fact that combined no two teams were as bad as these two teams that governs. The Orioles were bad but if a team plays 20 games against the Orioles and 20 against the Redsox, Rays or Yankees there is little to no chance that same team would win more games than they would if they played the Royals for 20 and the Indians for 20. So the Orioles are bad, you only get so many games with them and after that you have a team that won 81 games. The Royals and Indians essentially amounts to teams in the Al East playing the Orioles 20 more times instead of playing the Bluejays.
This is a fact no Team played as many games against two teams as bad as the Royals and Indians as the Twins.
The reason they dont win in the post season is the fact they are not that good. Not one of the recent Twins teams can hold a candle to the 87 and 91 teams. The team benefits from playing a weaker schedule than teams in other divisions. My point is they are not winning with a low payroll, they are taking advantage of being in a weak division. It is not smarts and player development that gets them in the playoffs it is the fact they have the easiest path. They are not that good of a team and if they were they would have one atleast one post season game. The Yankees may spend money but alot of it Jeter, Posada, Rivera, Petitte, Cano, is on players they developed. They sign free agents- just like the Twins did in 1991 by signing Jack Morris.
I dont understand this salary cap argument- The Twins are the team everyone points to when arguing against one.
The numbers do not lie and the Twins are not that good and every year they are by in large the worst team to make the playoffs. I am not comparing them to the Yankees I am comparing them to everyone else.
If you don’t want to use wins and losses (or winning percentage) as a means of determining quality of team or difficulty of schedule, then how go ahead and tell me how it is a fact that no team played as many games against teams as bad as the Royals and Indians. Might you tell me how you determined this? How about a few statistics here.. I gave you some and you simply tell me they’re not true and spew out your opinion. The Indians were just in the alcs in 3 years ago… You’re basing your argument, if i can even call it that, on your perception of teams based on 2010. I go back just THREE YEARS and the AL East had 2 of the three worst teams in all of baseball. Are you going to say the Yankees simply took advantage of beating up on those basement teams?
“The Numbers do not lie”
WHAT DAMN NUMBERS? The only numbers in our discussion are numbers I have provided disproving your argument.
You didn’t even respond to any of my other comments such as payroll, which tells me you are useless to have a rational discussion with as you will continue to blurt out the same baseless comments as you already have.
Also, I’m not pushing for a salary cap. There’s nothing I enjoy more than seeing the Rays take the division from the Yankees. But when it doesn’t happen it’s pretty easy to sit there and rip on other teams like the Twins who have to make use of every dollar they have instead of throwing 80 million dollars at AJ Burnett. You’re SUPPOSED to be better than every other team in baseball. No one comes close to the amount of money you spend. If you’re too blind to see the general correlation between W-L and payroll then why am I even continuing this conversation.
Its not about payroll its about the Twins being the weakest division in baseball and being the worst team in the playoffs every year. What part of the unbalanced schedule do you not understand. Every team in baseball does not play every other team the same amount of times. The twins played more game against bad teams than any other division winner. How do you not get this- they played the Royals and Indians two teams with very bad records more times than any other team played two teams with such bad records. This is not hard, they play weaker competition more than any other division winner. The two teams with the worst record the Rays played the most combined were better than the Indians and Royals. This is not hard the Twins played more games against two teams with a very bad record more and no other team got to play two teams with such a bad record as many times as the Twins did. It is an unbalanced schedule the teams in the Central did not play the same teams as the east during interleague play. The schedule is not balanced, teams do not play each other an equal amount of time. Winning percentage can’t be used because the team playing the NL East are playing better teams than those who are playing the NL Central.
Very slowly now The Twins played more games against bad teams the Indians and Royals than any other team team played against two opponents of such a low quality. The twins got the Royals and Indians wheras The rays got Toronto and the Orioles. The Twins play bad teams more than any other division winner. No other team got to play two opponents with such a bad record as many times as the Twins. They had a weak schedule compared to the schedule all the other division winners had to play.
The Twins make the playoffs because they got the most games against bad teams. That is a fact, they are a bad team who takes advantage of the fact they play even worse teams more than anyone else.
The Twins get to the playoffs because they consistently beat their two top competitors – the White Sox and the Tigers, especially in August and September.
This guy is still complaining about scheduling!!!! Can you believe this guy?????
He’s a troll. He is not happy unless he makes at least 40 dumb comments a day.
well that was entertaining to read. your home grown talent doesn’t come close to what the twins have developed: We grew 2 MVPs from our system before paying them anything close to what you paid for your two from A-rod. I cant wait to see this team collapse this year because, for once, most players weren’t selling their souls for a big contract to a franchise that has the most twofaced fans in all of baseball.
oh
Remember when the yankees gm said, “we are not going to give up our first round draft choice this season” ? and then, i dunno, a week or two later they did. that just about sums up the yankees if you ask me. When push comes to shove, you will buy a player rather than draft one.
Oh
and that comment you made about going on vacation in october: Morneau was actually injured the last two post seasons. just thought id clear that one up. Cuz who knows if the yankees would have won anything if their $180 million idontlike”teixeira”centofmymoney would have been injured. or what would have happened if perhaps your $275 million dollar MVP were to be injured. So the next time you lose a player having two mvp seasons cut short by injuries and still win your division both years then talk to me about what “vacation” means to you.
The yankees scraped into the playoffs last year because they are a power team built on winning short postseason series by having CC pitch every three nights and then rivera pitching 1-2 innings flawlessly. I cant wait until rivera finally lets you down again like he did in Arizona. Even more than that, since pettite is going to have a brett favre like arrival this year, I cant wait for your weak pitching staff consisting of one good arm, two mediocre arms and a handful of nobodies to crumble over the course of a full season and not even make the playoffs this year. This is because the yankees are reactors and they pay for big old band-aids to come save their club’s mediocre homegrown talent. Well the yankee farm system is pretty dry now and I’m like a kid at christmas waiting for the day when all the money in the world cant save the yankees from letting players see who they really are.
And don’t forget, yankees fans will most likely take the subway over to Citi field and say they have been a mets fan all along haha.
Mauerneau… have faith buddy: the yankees are on a death march and we are headed to the promised land!!!!
Pavano= 2 years at 10 mil per year plus a third year option at 11 mil or a 2 mil buyout. Option vests with 30 starts in 2012 or 60 starts over 2 years. What’s all the fuss?
my eyes just went straight to the Twins have no plans of bringing Punto back I didn’t need to see anything else I’m happy regardless of what it says
I miss that explosive Ford- Punto combination!
Please don’t make me relive those times haha
I really don’t understand the Punto hate. He plays pretty good defense at 3rd, SS and 2nd, and he really doesn’t hit that badly for a utility player. Why is everyone so down on him?
As a utility player he is fine. Getting paid as a starter and sucking while doing so is most people’s problem with him.
spot on answer there him making $4 mil is just wrong
spot on answer there him making $4 mil is just wrong
agreed, I like him but should not have been making 3+ mil
Just because the Twins can’t afford the highest-paid player at almost every position on the field does make them “mediocre.” Just because the Yankees’ front office screws up buying the championship almost every year must hurt. But believe me, it’s fun to watch a quality team like the Twins that is able to masterfully balance free agency with one of the best farm systems in baseball.
Notice how much better Pavano did with us than you? Could it possibly be better coaching?
Tell you what: you keep rooting for your overpaid, underperforming Yankees and I’ll keep rooting for my year-in-year-out overperforming Twins.
I love that last line its so true
Well that’s the reason why the Twins are still thought of as the piranhas of baseball.
Forget about the Yankees, the Twins will have enough problems this year with the Sox and the Tigers. Your lucky you have two door mats in your division with the Indians and Royals. Heck the Royals look like a minor league team this year.
That’s because they are small market….they have had to trade away all of their best players because they couldn’t afford them anymore……ramirez, thome, sabathia, lee, martinez – beltran, damon, dye, and now greinke. It doesn’t take a genius to figure that out, but then again, you are a yankees fan
Forgot Albert belle haha
I’ll believe the Sox and the Tigers to be a problem when they are actually a problem. I won’t ever count either out, but every time this statement is made by a fan or predictions are made by the “experts” they are almost always wrong.
That statement is said every year, when is it going to actually be true?
This year i’m happy the twins didn’t spend a bunch. There is nothing out there. basically 2 pitchers, lee and pavono, they didn’t need a 1st baseman, wearth was overpaid.
BTW Yankeefan, thanks for signing Pavano. The Tigers offered him more money and would have been stuck with him on the DL four years. We signed Ordonez instead!
Why are you guys knocking on the Yankees for the time Pavano spent with them? This shows how ignorant Yankees haters are. Will you also know on the Padres because of Chris Young and his many DL stints? What about Detroit for having Joel Zumaya and his seasonal DL trip?
I would understand if you knock on the Yankees for they payroll but for signing Pavano and him screwing the Yankees? Show some class.
The Yankees screwed themselves on Pavano, dude. Just being thankful because that was one of the best signings never made! If you don’t want my sincere gratitude, then fine.
But check this out:
Jeter- .270 Avg, .340 OBP, .370 Slg, .710 OPS
Damon .271 Avg, .355 OBP, .401 Slg, .756 OPS
Y’all can have Damon back, but I wouldn’t give him $ 50 million!
So, the Yankees caused Pavano to go to the DL so many times? Is that what you are implying?
You do realize that Jeter was 8th in AVG, 6th in OBP, 14th in SLG, 10th in OPS amongst SS in 2010? He was also the oldest amongst all the SS in front of him. Is he overpaid? Sure, but what’s your point? Those are respectable numbers for a SS, in the AL East at the age of 36 nonetheless.
Not implying anything, just stating the fact that the Tigers had an offer on the table for Pavano before the Yanks stepped in and signed him. The Tigers could have gotten stuck with a long term bad deal, but had the money to sign Ordonez instead.
The point with Jeter is it’s a bad contract. He could not have gotten half as much from any other team. He’s started a pretty steep decline from the looks of things.
But your mistake is that you are assuming that Pavano would have had the same years with Detroit that he had with the Yankees. He could have had the same years, worse years or better years. He could have won a Cy Young with Detroit for all you know.
Yes, Jeter is overpaid, that’s an indisputable fact. But to say he’s in a steep decline is wrong. Again, you are assuming. 2010 could be an outlier and he could bounce back to his normal numbers or he could keep going downhill. He’s declining but until another full season you can’t say he’s in a STEEP decline.
You’re assuming that I’m assuming!
All I assume with Pavano is if the Tigers signed him, they would not have had the cash to sign Magglio.
As far as Jeter, I’d bet pretty heavily that we won’t see the Jeter that roamed New York prior to 2010. That could be wrong, but he just looks like he’s clearly lost a step and some quickness at the plate as well. At 36 that’s not a surprise. The money they gave him is okay, but three years under the circumstances is out there.
Respectable, but not 20MILLION worth………If the yankees had to use the payroll of the Twins, they would be terrible. They have signed some of the worst contracts in MLB history!!!!! All of their mistakes would set them back for years if they were a small market team. You Yankee fans probably think that Cashman is SMART!!! HA HA
I think he mixed up the stats.
It wasn’t the fact that you signed Pavano, it was the fact that you outbid everyone and WAY overpaid for him, then he was injured most of his time their. The whole situation was just HILARIOUS
It must be cold there, you’ve got brain freeze, whats your owner worth! One of these years your overperforming team might win a series in the playoffs agains’t the Yankees. Sounds like sour grapes.
What does any of this have to do with the article up top? There is no reason to bash the Twins before the season even starts. Good for you, you got to the ALCS instead of the ALDS.
If I were a Yankee fan, I would worry more about beating the Red Sox than badmouthing the Twins right now.
You should compare yourselves to other big market teams…..like the red sox, who have more titles than the yankees in the last 8 years……looks like they are buying better free agents than you guys. get some real baseball people in your front office for crying out loud!!!
Can’t believe I’m going to defend the Pohlad’s but here it goes…
Carl didn’t make those billions from the Twins. He wasn’t going to spend his own money on the team. Why blow all of your hard earned money on a team? Most owners don’t want to go bankrupt. It’s a business and you don’t run it to go into the ground.
And some, not sure how much, of that money is actually the businesses that they own or have some type of investment in. It’s not like they just have that sitting in a bank account somewhere.
I don’t know for sure, but I’m guessing Steinbrenner, didn’t spend his money on the team. I’m guessing it’s the revenue from tickets, concessions, merchandise, tv contracts..etc. You can correct me if I’m wrong, because I honestly don’t know…but either way, most of the money is the money that the team makes, not the money that he made doing other things.
The Twins generally only spend 50-52% of what they make. I don’t agree with that, I wish they spent about 70% or so, but it’s nowhere in the “billions” you keep throwing out there.
In 2009, the Twins made 162 million dollars. The Yankees $441 million. Do you not see the gigantic difference? This is the reason the Yanks can spend so much, it’s not out of Steinbrenner’s pocket. This is the reason the Twins have a limit. Hell, the Yankees make 1.6 times more than even the Red Sox do.
It’s not about the owner’s wealth, it’s about what the team makes in that market. In 2009, only six teams made less money than the Twins. Almost everyone was ahead. Now I’m sure that’s changed because of the new ballpark, but I don’t think it went up to some insane number either. I could see it increased into the low 200’s, but that’s just guessing. I really have no idea.
Stop acting like the Twins have billions of dollars to spend, because they don’t. And another thing, Pohlad isn’t the only one pocketing money. If the Yankees are making +400 million than the Steinbrenner’s are pocketing half of that every year. No complaints about the Steinbrenner’s pocketing money? No? Because that would be laughable, right? They do it too. They just make more overall.
You nailed it right on the head!!!! People who are fans of big market teams do not understand that smaller markets do not have the potential to make as much as a New York or Boston team, so why would they spend like them
Yeah, it’s nice when a Yankee fan chimes in with unsolicited contempt for a good organization. So sorry the twins don’t have an extra 100 million dollars lying around to outbid the competition for cc and teixeira. How are all those homegrown prospects doing so far?
Your right, sorry. I just hate to see owners like Polhad owning teams and not spending money to improve the team. As for the article, I think the Twins releif pitching isn’t good enough to beat the Sox or the Tigers right now, but with their great farm system they can pull a rabbit out of a hat.
Didn’t Pohlad fork over 180 million dollars to Mauer last year? I didnt think anybody on that whole team is getting paid other than Morneau and Mauer. A little surprised they didnt make some moves this offseason.
This year i’m happy the twins didn’t spend a bunch. There is nothing out there. basically 2 pitchers, lee and pavono, they didn’t need a 1st baseman, wearth was overpaid.
as for releif pitchers any of them with talents had a type A price tag. No releif pitcher is worth giving up a 1st round pick, with maybe a couple exceptions.
Didn’t Pohlad fork over 180 million dollars to Mauer last year? I didnt think anybody on that whole team is getting paid other than Morneau and Mauer. A little surprised they didnt make some moves this offseason.
I think everyone on this board needs to remember that Carl Pohlad passed away, the team is owned collectively by the family now, it’s not just one person.
An owner’s worth is no indication of a ballclub’s worth. It would be completely irresponsible for the twins to pay what the yankees do for players. the yankees simply because of their geographical location have the ability to spend more money. that should not be a major deciding factor in who is competitive in a baseball league. To suggest that because the Pohlads are worth more means they should spend more on their baseball team is completely unfounded. The Pohlads didn’t invent or create the Twins they are simply one of their entities. The Steinbrenners have every right to pay the huge contracts as the market they are in dictates that they can afford it. The problem is with the MLB and their unwillingness to have a salary cap. Also, to say that the Yankees are great grooming ballplayers from within is a little short sighted. Yes, you can bring up alot of names that have done great things in Pinstripes but keep in mind they were being surrounded by the top free agents during their playing time which inflates numbers, not to mention that about 24 other teams would not be able to pay the money to retain these players. They would have to keep reshuffling players in.
Exactly!! That was my point earlier. Don’t you think that Steve Kerr, Toni Kukoc, B.J Armstrong and company were better players because of Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen???? Brett Gardner on the Royals is hardly an average player. Same with Cervelli and Chamberlain
Exactly!! That was my point earlier. Don’t you think that Steve Kerr, Toni Kukoc, B.J Armstrong and company were better players because of Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen???? Brett Gardner on the Royals is hardly an average player. Same with Cervelli and Chamberlain
An owner’s worth is no indication of a ballclub’s worth. It would be completely irresponsible for the twins to pay what the yankees do for players. the yankees simply because of their geographical location have the ability to spend more money. that should not be a major deciding factor in who is competitive in a baseball league. To suggest that because the Pohlads are worth more means they should spend more on their baseball team is completely unfounded. The Pohlads didn’t invent or create the Twins they are simply one of their entities. The Steinbrenners have every right to pay the huge contracts as the market they are in dictates that they can afford it. The problem is with the MLB and their unwillingness to have a salary cap. Also, to say that the Yankees are great grooming ballplayers from within is a little short sighted. Yes, you can bring up alot of names that have done great things in Pinstripes but keep in mind they were being surrounded by the top free agents during their playing time which inflates numbers, not to mention that about 24 other teams would not be able to pay the money to retain these players. They would have to keep reshuffling players in.
Lets look at this in more detail. The AL West has four teams so that means the Rangers must play the Angels and A’s more than the Twins play the Indians and Royals. They get Seattle as well but the Twins still have more games against the Indians and Royals than the Rangers had against Seattle. Texas had to play more against the A’s and Angels so they had to play more games against quality opponents than the Twins. In the AL West the two worst teams combined for 141 wins. In the AL Central the two worst teams had 136 wins. The two worst in the AL East 151 wins. The NL East 148 wins and this division had the NL Wildcard.
The two worst teams in the NL Central had 132 wins but with six teams the Reds do not play the two worse teams as often as the Twins do. Every other team in the NL Central was better than Cleveland meaning the Reds played better teams more often than the Twins. All of the Reds opponents were better than the Indians and Royals aside from the Pirates and the Reds don’t play the Pirates as often as the Twins played the Indians and Royals. The Reds did not play as many games against two very bad teams as the Twins did. The two worst teams in the NL West won a combined 145 games.
The Central is the weakest division in baseball and the Twins played the largest percentage of games against two very bad teams than any other division winner. The Pirates and Mariners were very bad, worse than the Royals but the Reds and Rangers still did not play as many games against them as the Twins did with the Indians and Royals. The next worst team was much better than Cleveland in each division so no other team in baseball played as many games against low quality opponents as Minnesota.
It’s the weakest division in baseball and the fact the Twins have not won a playoff game in how many years along with its two bottom teams being much worse than the two bottom teams in any other division makes this clear.
Teams always raise their level of play when they play a division rival. You talk about how bad the royals are, yet they went 17-18 against the EAST!!! If they are so bad, explain to me how they won 17 games against the greatest division in MLB history????
It would have been nice to see Minnesota contracted or atleast allowed to move to a city that would better support them.
The Twins dont sell out when they do win and there are many other teams like the Redsox, Cubs and Cardinals that sell out no matter what.
The Yankees were having trouble selling their seats when they opened their new stadium!!!! They had to lower their ticket prices to sell out…..and how many more people does new york have compared to minnesota????? Your last statement was absolutely ridiculous!!!! The Twins are a classy organization, and maybe 1% of REAL baseball fans would agree with you on the subject. Why don’t you ask Peter Gammons, Buster Olney, and the rest of the baseball writers what they think about the Twins Organization???
Check the Twins attendance for 2010 and tell me that minnesota didn’t support them. Clearly you aren’t anywhere near Minnesota.
Twins attendance 3 million, spent 90 million, Phillies attendance 3 million, spent 140 million. By getting a pitcher like Lee or Halladay the Twins would have a better chance of winning the series. Instead they go after Pavano. At least you don’t have to pay 5 bucks for a hot dog.
The Phillies made +70 million more than the Twins in 2009, which is where the money comes from. And a hot dog is five dollars. Thank you, come again. I’m sure you will…
It would have been nice to see Minnesota contracted or atleast allowed to move to a city that would better support them.
The Twins dont sell out when they do win and there are many other teams like the Redsox, Cubs and Cardinals that sell out no matter what.
Be proud of Joe “I only care about winning the batting title and not a playoff series” Mauer because as long as the team has players like him with that mentality they will keep their playoff game losing streak alive.
…what are you talking about?
I’m pretty sure he has no idea. Seems like an immature child to me.
He has no idea what a player with CHARACTER looks like or sounds like!!! He cheers for the YANKEES
The Twins new park is going to hurt the M&M boys, look at Mauer’s stats last year, 9HRs and 75 RBI way below his average. Polhad should have built a retractable dome like Arizona.
Thank you Yankees fans for ruining this thread.
Although everyone else here pretty much disproved all your points, yankeeaddiction, I would liketo add a few more comments. First, there are times when divisions are very weak. Do you honestly think the AL East was always this strong? Remember when the Yankees would feast on perennial 90 game losers, the Orioles and Devil Rays? I didn’t hear Yankees fans complain about weak teams then.
As for the Target Field numbers, Mauer needs to learn how to pull the ball if he wants to hit more homeruns there. Admittedly, I don’t care that much for his HR numbers if he still hits .330 in a season.
One last point I would like to make, do you know why I dislike the Yankees. Its not because of their history. Its not because they beat the Twins, because that will eventually change. No,its because the Yankees have the worst fans in any sport, or for that matter any area of fandom. (Yes I called Yankees fans worse that Twilight fans). They are the worst because its not enough for Yankees fans that their team wins, they also need to ruin the game and sites like these for the rest of us fans. If you want proof, just take a look at the top of this thread. So now I must ask, yankeeaddiction, why did you decide to post here? The real reason? I am betting it is because you are trying to infuriate us. That does not make you a fan, that makes you a troll.
Joe Mauer is the most selfish player in baseball and only cares about his batting average. Morneau could have played in the last two post seasons but chose to sit out and nurse his so called injury.
The Yankees have won 27, count them 27 World Championships. The reason being the right mixture of developing, trading for and signing free agent players. Look at the 2009 World Series Champions that embarrassed the Twins so severely. Home grown players- Catcher Jorge Posada, backup Francisco Cervelli Shortstop Derek Jeter, Second Base Robinson Cano, backup infielder Ramiro Pena centerfield Melky Cabrera and Brett Gardner, Starting Rotation Andy Pettite, Joba Chamberlain, Bullpen Mariano Rivera, Phil Hughes, Phil Coke, David Robertson, Alfredo Aceves- Thats 14 players who came up through the system. Trades 3rd base Alex Rodriguez, Right field Nick Swisher, Chad Guadin, Damaso Marte, Eric Hinske FA Signings Sabbathia, Burnett, Texeira, Damon.
Matsui was a hybrid- technically he was scouted and signed as an international player so you can argue that because of this and him not playing in the bigs before the Yankees that he came up through the system. The posting fee makes the deal like a trade and does not allow for negotiating with all teams but its still like a FA signing in some ways. Push him aside when evaluating how the team that smashed, crushed and embarrassed the Twins was built.
Gardenhoser asked Girardi if he would be willing to school him in the area of managing after the 2009 post season and often studies Girardi and tries to mimic his style.
I doubt anyone would ask Girardi for managing advice. He has the same amount of talent as a video game manager, and the luck of one too.
Tally up how much money your favorite franchise is paying your FA signings??? That is the difference between NY and Minnesota. I can’t wait for when Jeter, Rivera, and Posada are gone. Then all of your home grown talent, from the 90’s, won’t be around to save you in these types of debates. Your new prospects aren’t better than most teams!!! Then you will see that BUYING your talent is the difference!!! You must have a HUGE EGO to come on a TWINS post and talk trash. As said by a previous post, your fans are the most hated people in this country
2011 roster home grown talent: 2nd base Robinson Cano, Back up catcher Francisco Cervelli/Jesus Montero, Left Field Brett Gardner, Backup infielders Eduardo Nunez and Ramiro Pena Pitching Staff # 2 starter Phil Hughes, #5 starter ??/7th Inning guy Joba Chamberlain, #5 starter/long man Ivan Nova, 7th inning reliever David Robertson.
That is 10 players that will fill 9 roster spots aside from the “core four”. These are all home grown talents who have come up through the system long after the 1990s and who with the core four make up more than half the roster.
You are just wrong.
I am excited to see your home-grown “talent” fail to win games this year. cervelli, montero, nunez, pena, nova, robertson, and joba are mediocre to triple A talent.
YOU are just wrong.
Instead of writing a series of posts, you could have just admitted that you are a troll. It would save us a lot of time. What truly disturbs me is that you actually have five pages worth of reasons to hate the Twins. It is just a game kid. It would be better to focus that energy on something more constructive.
As for my comment on Mauer’s swing, I do not want him to change it. It is just that Target Field was designed to be a pull hitters park. Mauer, however, hits to the gaps, so he will not hit as many homeruns at Target Field as he did the Metrodome. Noticeably, look at Thome’s, Kubel’s and Young’s numbers there. All of them are, or in Young’s case became, hitters that pull the ball and have had success at Target Field.
One last thought on your “math”, yankeeaddiction, there was only 1 season where two teams finished with .600 winning percentage (2004). In about half of those seasons, there were three teams that finished under .500. In some cases, the Rays and Orioles finished under .400. The point is that the AL East’s dominance is a recent phenomenon and is not permanent. Each division, and each team for that matter, go through good and bad cycles.
I’m willing to bet that yankeeaddiction is in an obese, hypochondriac, virgin pushing forty who lives in his mom’s basement . . . and even if it’s not that, personally identifying with a team to the point where you are just making things up to support some entirely subjective opinion that exists only within your very limited mind just reeks of insecurity and unhappiness. Lighten up a little, baseball is supposed to be fun.