tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11215059.post2388732564321978821..comments2023-12-19T20:25:36.069-06:00Comments on Nick's Twins Blog: You Better Lock It Up!Nick N.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00848574337121154690noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11215059.post-75160780441178804652008-01-28T09:45:00.000-06:002008-01-28T09:45:00.000-06:00It's true that the Twins are essentially paying Mo...It's true that the Twins are essentially paying Morneau's arbitration money plus a couple of free agent years, but from a PR standpoint it "looks" like they're handing Morneau an $80 million check while claiming poverty when it comes to making Santana a big contract offer.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11215059.post-20861743530618104452008-01-26T12:41:00.000-06:002008-01-26T12:41:00.000-06:00"Over the course of his career, he has really only...<I>"Over the course of his career, he has really only been an average first baseman overall, and it seems dumbfounding that he can collect a contract worth $80 million when the comparably valuable Joe Mauer signed for $33 million just a year ago."</I>.<BR/><BR/>I think there are a couple things going on here. One is that Morneau's contract is buying different years in the arbitration/free agent cycle. The other is that Mauer signed a year earlier, so Morneau isn't really getting paid that much more than Mauer during the life of Mauer's contract. <BR/><BR/>Morneau's career numbers are really not very relevant. If you look at the last couple years he has hit a total of 65 home runs and driven in 241. I don't think you will find many first baseman who have done anything close to that and he hasn't turned 27 yet. This contract locks him up for his prime years. <BR/><BR/>Mauer, on the other hand, will be just hitting his prime when his contract expires. They are likely going to end up having to pay him a lot more than Morneau if they want to hold on to him into his early 30's.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com