Minniman

Dozier for pitchers Ron Davis and Paul Boris and shortstop Greg Gagne? What the?

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.

Walker had options, but the Twins just let him go? Is that right? They just let an asset go for nothing? Was this to clear a roster spot? For who?

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.

If Mauer could step down for injury reasons, and the Twins could go to an insurance policy for the money, why wouldn't either side do that? If Mauer was hitting .300 with some pop on his bat and good legs under him, I could see him sticking this out, but that is not going to be the case in the foreseeable future.

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.

I understand you guys think this is like workman's comp. There is no way anyone gets their entire salary paid by workman's comp. If injured on the job in Texas, you would receive the average of your weekly wages for the 13 weeks prior to your date of accident multiplied by 2/3 with a maximum of $895 per week. Did Prince have AFLAC to cover the other $8.95 million per year? Of course, Prince could go on Social Security disability if he cannot work at all. I doubt he will get the $9 million per year from that. We have Fielder bilking the system here, as would Mauer if he retired from game related injuries. I believe players should receive benefits, but I do believe they deserve their entire contracts to be paid. MLB players get too much and NFL players get too little.

If he plays. The Twins could bat him ninth and force him to play catcher. That is part of the contract too. Where in his contract does it state he can decide not to play and still get paid? Sure, if Mauer plays, he should get paid. If he walks away for his own reasons, no. To be legally binding, contracts must have benefits and obligations for both parties.

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

$96 million? No.

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.