Nathan inks extension with Minny

by JulioBernazard on Mar 24, 2008 3:58 PM EDT

MINN has worked out an extension for CL J Nathan. I was kind of hoping he'd leave the division, if not the league. (Although it's modestly encouraging that a mid-market club can extend a superstar.)

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3309556

They really ripped off SF with that trade, didn't they?

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Is it just me, or this.....

... a horrendous waste of money? They're not going to be competitive for a couple of years and they sign an older and expensive closer to 3 year deal.

by crazymoloh on Mar 24, 2008 4:58 PM EDT 0 recs

Re: Is it just me, or this.....

Older, but highly effective.

Good PR move, and lets Gardy try some things with the rest of the staff, knowing CL is set.

by JulioBernazard on Mar 24, 2008 5:23 PM EDT up 0 recs

Re: Nathan inks extension with Minny

Frankly ... this deal looks kind of awful for the Twins. They already had him for $6 million in 2008. This deal guarantees Nathan another $41 million for only three more years -- about $13.7 million per season.

They do get a club option to keep him for another year, 2012, for an extra $10.5 million. But that's four seasons away, and he'll be 37. The club option is a net asset, but it's not worth that much.

Seems like a lot of risk to take on for a team that isn't contending this year or next. Whether it's a total trainwreck or not depends on just how limited the no-trade clause is.

by Jay on Mar 24, 2008 8:08 PM EDT 0 recs

Re: Nathan inks extension with Minny

Yeah I think the no-trade clause makes or breaks this deal for them (although, really what are they going to spend the money on?). If they have some flexability in trading him at some point, than I think they did ok, they will certainly be able to flip him for some prospects, and its not like the money invested in him is going to stop them from spending (wisely) in some other areas.

by hans on Mar 24, 2008 9:00 PM EDT up 0 recs

Re: Nathan inks extension with Minny

I don't understand the twins. They could have used the Nathan and Morneau money on Santana, clearly a more valuable player.

by oxforddave on Mar 24, 2008 9:12 PM EDT up 0 recs

Re: Nathan inks extension with Minny

valuing starting pitching is such a conundrum sometimes, its one position that can dominate a game, yet its one of the more injury ridden spots as well, and investing heavily in it is much more riskier than investing in other areas.

by hans on Mar 24, 2008 10:31 PM EDT up 0 recs

Re: Nathan inks extension with Minny

I don't think it's an either/or thing. I think Santana just didn't want to stay -- I know they offered him at last $100 million.

This deal is not good, but the Morneau deal is a disaster. If Morneau were as good as they're paying him for, you could make the case that having these two players is better than having Santana.

by Jay on Mar 24, 2008 11:54 PM EDT up 0 recs

Re: Nathan inks extension with Minny

I guess everyone knows my thoughts on giving ANY reliever a long-term deal. And even though Nathan is right now one of the best and most consistent relievers in the game, this is an idiotic deal, especially considering who they just traded. If all I was concerned about was risk, I'd take the Santana contract over Nathan's deal without hesitation.

And even if Nathan retains his abilities through the end of the deal, we're talking about throwing more than $10M/year to a pitcher who's going to throw a maximum of 70 innings a year. And since Santana won't be giving them 28 quality starts a year, he'll probably be pitching a lot less than he did before.

by Ryan on Mar 24, 2008 11:36 PM EDT up 0 recs