Sigh.


http://myespn.go.com/s/conversations/show/story/3220894

I like watching the Twins almost as much as watching the Timberwolves. Actually, I listen to them on XM radio as I don't live in the midwest. That's the magic of baseball though, you can listen to it on the radio!

I'm very excited at all the changes Bill Smith has put forth this off season. Half out team is going to be an upgrade over last year. It's always hard to see someone like Tori Hunter leave but there is no way he is worth what he is currently making for as long as the contract is.

There is also no way it would be worth while to pay Santana what he supposidly will make with the Mets or the contract length. Baseball has become a $ game and all the chips are in the hands of the big market teams. It sucks actually.

Thats what makes it so gratifying to be a Twins fan. We are the BEST at developing and putting together good teams that compete. Until the rules change, we will always be the underdog.

I'm excited for what we got for Johan. I guarantee you that out of these 4 players at least 2 will become stars. If we kept Johan this year we would only get draft picks at the end. WATCH OUT FOR THE TWINS!

I am so sick of us losing our star players for prospects. Yeah, we signed Morneau and Cuddyer (not a star but a solid player) to long term deals but how many times to I have to see a guy in their prime traded for prospects.

The worst part about this is we trade one of the best at probably the most important position in the game.

So our starting pitchers are now:
-Liriano (who could quickly become our Kerry Wood)
-Boof (I like him and hopefully he can become a consistent quality starter)
-Scott Baker (Hopefully can improve above .500 this season)
-Kevin Slowey (I didn't see him pitch but he was successful in a short amount of time)
-1 other guy (don't really know who from Rochester or the new guys will fit in)

I would have rather us signed Santana to a long-term deal so we could have eased Liriano in and not said, \"Hey you're our #1 starter now..prepare to have the whole franchise lean on that elbow.\"

But hey, in 2 years these guys we just got will be real damn good for 2 seasons and then we will trade them for more \"future prospects.\"

We are always looking for the future...why can't we ever look to now.

There is no salary cap in MLB like the NBA so the sky is the limit for teams to spend. They have a luxury tax but it is a joke. The market size of NY & Boston type cities provide media contracts alone that pay for these players. We don't have enough people living in a 3 state area that is \"Twins Territory\" to compete. It needs to be fixed.

The cool thing about it though is that every year small market teams beat big market teams in the playoffs. It can be done, it's just a different way of drafting, developing and trading players. No one does it better than the Twins. If we kept Tori and Johan at what they will get paid we would have to hire College Wolf to play first base.

mmaland wrote:

Hey now, I'd be a good first baseman. Plus, I'd play for really cheap.

P.S. Welcome back Ryan, hopefully you stick around?

Also, I agree with you on playing for the \"here and now.\" Why can't we keep the best friggin starting pitcher in baseball?!?! He was my favorite player on the Twins the past 5 or so years. Sigh, it's depressing.