Originally Posted by
Shane Wahl
No. No one is stupid enough to believe that the Twins would "outright release him for free." It would have been a COMPLETE waste of time for any team to bother and they ALL knew that.
Just about the whole roster is put on revocable waivers to muddle things up and disguise true trade interests.
Yikes.
You are just wrong about Mauer's trade value. It's 6/$138 million remaining, correct? Teams often sign players to such deals knowing that the latter half to 1/3 of the contract is going to be dubious. The point is that those teams want to win and win every year.
The Red Sox would throw a lot to get Mauer, for instance. They have several shortstops and pitchers in the system, and I think two of their top 10 prospects are actually catchers. I could see four top 15 Boston prospects coming quite easily.
It would still be a mistake for the Twins to do it (unless they were unloading . . . everybody), but to deny this reality is quite strange.