Minniman

I get that Castro is good at pitch framing, but is that enough for $8 million per season? He isn't a good hitter, he has a weak arm, and he is average at calling games.

Isn't that why you play them ... to see who should be back? I am not sure I understand the concept.

It is nice to have a DH play a majority of games if he is a big bat. Like other players, he needs to play and see pitches to be effective. When he needs a day off, that is when someone else is slotted as the DH and gets the "half day" game. I said at the time that releasing Ortiz was a big mistake. A few Red Sox World Series wins later, a future Hall of Fame nomination to come, and the breaking the Curse of the Bambino makes this move one of the worst in Major League Baseball history. A couple seasons ago, I wanted the Twins to push hard to sign Nelson Cruz for DH duty. Two seasons of 40 home runs and a good average in Seattle show that would have been a good move. If Mauer showed power, he would be a good fit for DH. That is moot because he only showed power that one contract year. If the DH is not good enough to be a solid 1st through 5th bat, you need another DH.

Terry Ryan thought he could re-create the 1987 Twins story. Guess what? That was much harder to do in the real world than it was on paper. Trying it without Mount Crushmore, Gold Gloves, Silver Sluggers, and Cy Young candidates makes it look like a foolish attempt.

Kiriloff at the post-game presser: http://cdn3.denofgeek.us/sites/denofgeekus/files/boris_growls_0.jpg

Yeah, he played poorly after the break, but so has the whole team. Again, it may work out for the Twins, but it is just funny how low this team has gone.

This trade may end up fine for the Twins, but it is sort of funny. I mean, trading the team's one All-Star player in that same season is something Calvin Griffith would do. It's no problem though because the Twins have lots of .296 hitters with 27 steals, 47 RBIs, and 12 dingers. Nunez looks like a player MacPhail would have picked up to balance the young nucleus on the team.

Think again. A player retains 2/3 of his salary for doing NOTHING. He can sit at home and watch games for millions of dollars, or he can sign with another team and feed off two salaries. Some players do retire, while other, like Thomas Vanek, sign with another team. Expect both Parise and Suter to get bought out before their contracts end, as much of their payments are already made in the first ten seasons. The last three seasons are used to spread out the cap hit. One or both of them may even retire rather than play for the relative chump change at the end of their contracts. Buyouts do help, but they won't solve those six year $100 million or more contracts that the MLB has. Even under the NHL system, a lot of money would have to be paid.

In an NHL buyout, a team can terminate the contract of a player and escape both part of the salary and salary cap charges. If the player is younger than 26 years old, he will receive one-third of the remaining value of the contract. If the player is 26 or older, he will receive two-thirds the original value of the deal. The cap hit charged to the NHL team is spread out over a period of twice the remaining the length of the contract. Regardless of the lack of a cap in MLB, being able to cut a player and pay only 2/3 of the remaining salary over an extended period would have its advantages.

It isn't like he is earning twice minimum wage here. It would be nice if the NFL and MLB went with a buyout system like the NHL. It is more fair to the player than the NFL and more fair to everyone else than MLB

... Why shouldn't he leave money on the table?

Mauer is being paid to knock those runs in.

Why?

Why do people say things like that? We did not all think the Nolasco signing was good at the time. Some of us did not like the Torii signing either. That signing was too much too late.

Ryan lost Hicks to promote a last gasp outfielder hitting .194 for the Red Wings. We have such a great GM.