Twins Sign Morneau!!

[mntwinsfan]

Here is the story from yahoo sports.

Nice to see we can get a couple of our better players signed! 4.5 million for Morneau is cheap..

By DAVE CAMPBELL, AP Sports Writer
February 2, 2007

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- AL MVP Justin Morneau agreed Friday to a $4.5 million, one-year contract with the Minnesota Twins, who also settled their salary arbitration cases with third baseman Nick Punto, reliever Juan Rincon and outfielder Lew Ford.

Punto agreed to a $4.2 million, two-year contract, Rincon received a $2 million, one-year deal and Ford reached a $985,000, one-year agreement.




Morneau, a 25-year-old first baseman, hit .321 last year with 34 homers and 130 RBIs and won the MVP award by 14 points over New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter. Morneau's agreement was at the midpoint between the $5 million he had asked for and the $4 million the team offered to the player who hit more homers than any Twin in a season since 1987.

Rincon went 3-1 with a 2.91 ERA in 74 1-3 innings as Minnesota's primary setup man to closer Joe Nathan. Rincon, who has appeared in at least 75 games in each of the last three seasons, also settled at the midpoint after asking for $2.4 million and receiving an offer of $1.6 million from the team.

Punto, who hit .290 with 47 RBIs and 17 steals for the AL Central champions in his first year as a full-time starter, will get $1.8 million this season and $2.4 million in 2008. He had asked for $2.1 million and had been offered $1.6 million.

Ford was a backup last year who hit .226 with 18 RBIs in 234 at-bats. In addition to his base salary, he could earn $65,000 in performance bonuses: $15,000 for 300 plate appearances, and $25,000 each for 400 and 450 plate appearances. Ford had asked for $1.3 million and had been offered $800,000.

Two Twins remain scheduled for hearings this month: AL batting champion Joe Mauer ($4.5 million vs. $3.3 million), and right fielder Michael Cuddyer ($4.25 million vs. $3 million).

[brewersfan19]

Yes it is, considering the amount of $$$ spent on average pitching this year. Congrats to the Twins fans!!!! Nice signing!!!

[A'sDiehard]

Wow that's a bargain for the MVP.

[browntown653]

Another year like that...and there is no way in hell he's gonna make $4.5 million ever again in his life.

[catman]

I agree. It just puts off the inevitable. The Twins are going to have to open their wallets if they want to keep this kid under contract. I can see 6 years, $50M being in the ballpark for him, especially if they sign Mauer and Santana to similar length contracts.
Nice to see Punto under contract for a couple more seasons. He will certainly be a good utility guy, if Moses makes the team next season.

[brewersfan19]

Twins have at least 3-4 other players as well they are goin gto have to do that with too (Mauer, Santana, Liriano, and if you want Nathan)! Yikes, I feel your pain a little at least. At least Milwaukee's owner has opened up the pocketbook a little each year, I hope that trend continues. But remember, we had Selig before, just as bad as Polad (sp) IMO!

[Saber]

You have no idea what arbitration does to player leverage, do you?

[Fishercat]

I was going to say, Morneau had the option to sign the deal, or go to arbitration where he wouldn't have gotten much more...

[Lynch]

Twins actually did something decent this week :shock:

While I'm not huge on 1-yr deals, I think it was pretty much expected with Morneau. The 1 yr deal can be both good and bad. If Morneau performs, he hits his payday, if not, the team has a bargaining chip next year to go for a longer contract. If he -does- perform as I'm sure he expects to, he'll be getting paid by someone, whether it be the Twins or someone else. The ball is really in his lap now. I'm sure the cheapass Twins are hoping for another great year out of him only to let him go someplace else after next season because as long as that tightass Pohlad owns the squad, there's no way they'll have Cyantana, Morneau, Mauer and a couple of these younger promising pitchers all on the same payroll.

[mntwinsfan]

I dont know about that. I think they HAVE to sign all to long term deals. Maybe the David Ortiz loss will smarten up Polad so this will not happen again. New stadium needs the big time players.

[catman]

Going into the new ballpark, I would think the Twins would want to field a competitive team. Keeping Morneau, Mauer, Santana, Hunter, Garza, Slowey, Liriano, etal, would allow them to field such a team.
This one-year deal postpones the inevitable for another season. Morneau will make more than this, with a contract similar to the one I mentioned being a decent one, IMO.

[brewersfan19]

I thought the same thing with the Brewers opening up Miller Park. Don't hold your breath. People will come to the Cities just to see the stadium, and those fans are NOT coming to see the Twins so much, they want to see the stadium. I know, cause my wife and I love baseball and if I can't see the Brewers and she is a White Sox fan, then we just go to see the stadium. That is how it was when we went to Coors last summer to see the Stadium, the rockies palyed the Dodgers. Penny threw a 3-hitter in Coors! The fans would love to believe that theory of putting on a competitive team in a new stadium, but it doesn't always go that way. But the Twins have been competitive and successful the past few years, and I fully expect that they will remain up there with the elite teams too!

[Fishercat]

Guys, Morneau was still arby eligible this season, he had no choice in the matter. He either signed a one-year deal, or he went to arbitration for a one-year deal

I don't think his service time is done by the end of 2007 either

[Timberwolf]

Twins signed him which was good. Too bad that it was only a ONE-YEAR deal. This is not going to cut it. This is not what a franchise should do for a superstar. This team is better off signing Morneau to a long-term, lucrative contract right now rather than later. He is only going to get expensive, folks. Why go for this? I am not that encouraged about this and I am not even sure why Morneau accepted this. I hate being negative on the Twins, but how does this make any Twins fans feel good.

[Timberwolf]

But remember, we had Selig before, just as bad as Polad (sp) IMO!

Could you name one player that left in which the Twins missed over the years? I can't seem to remember. Don't give me David Ortiz because he played like a stiff here. Pohlad will reward his players that has meant a lot to the franchise. Go ask guys like Rick Aguilera, Kent Hrbek, the late Kirby Puckett, Brad Radke, and others.