Is Nathan Next?

[Dahitman44]

Say it ain't so, Joe.

This team really needs to keep the best closer in baseball. The strong bullpen will help keep things going for the young starters.

Even Gardy and Andy came out and said that the Twins really need to keep him.

Will they be smart enough to lock him up? Don;t tell me they do not have enough money they do. Also -- Pat and Jesse are nice but best kept where they are.

Let's see if the Twins are smart enough to lock Nathan up. He has said he would like to say.

What do you guys think?

[rippingsomelips]

why can they sign big contracts for justin and cuddy but not santana kind of weird isnt it????

[Dahitman44]

Rippin --

We had our chances with Hunter and Santana -- I hope we don't blow it with Nathan too.

[rippingsomelips]

yes we did your right but we blew the santana thing what are we getting for him not a darn thing we should of got rid of him when the yankees or redsocks wanted him a lot better players were up for trading then dont you think????

[rippingsomelips]

i think nathan and mauer will be gone by the time we open up new stadium ???

[Dahitman44]

Right on. My Brother.

The question is -- will we blow this Nathan deal too??

I would guess we could actually get a lot more for him than we could for JS.

Why? Because of his price tag. He is a lot cheaper and that will allow the team to give up more, at least I hope so.

But, I would rather keep him.

[rippingsomelips]

i think we problebly will blow the nathan deal when the time comes pohlad needs to sell the team he is a worthless owner his kids dont want anything to do with him or the team

[rippingsomelips]

look at the wild they got a new owner and they will probebly spend some money to get good players here and bring a stanley cup here ??

[Dahitman44]

All true, but the Wild will need to keep their cry baby in Gaborik --

Good luck on that one too.

"I am going to pretend I am hurt until you let me skate on all shifts and play suck hole and score a bunch of goals."

He is a baby too.,

[Scott K]

I heard Nathan wants what he believes is his market value. And I heard he thought that to be 15 million per year. See ya! Twins wont and shouldnt pay him that much!

[maros91]

If you are going to rebuild your pitching staff then go all the way and trade Joe Nathan. I think Neshek could take over if we trade Nathan.

[OLY]

Gardenhire already stated that while Neshek might be a closer someday, he is ABSOLUTLEY not ready to handle being this teams closer. Anyone who thinks that he could do as good or better of a job than Nathan is insane. The twins should give Nathan whatever he wants and keep him in the closers role for at least 2-3 more years.

[sdstatekid]

Yes, Nathan is the best closer in the game BUT what is the point in keeping him for 2-3 more years when we will be rebuilding for the first 2 years. I say trade him now, they might be able to get more for him(talent wise) than they got for Santana. I would like to see them trade him for another very good young bat or trade him plus one one of our second-tier starting pitchers for a front-line starting pitcher prospect.

[Jarrod32]

rippinsomelips...I think Mauer signed a four-year deal last year, so he is locked up for three more years...including the first year in the new stadium.

As for Nathan, he is under contract this year...and he can help the young starting staff out. Not much worse on the morale of a young pitching staff than to pitch well only to watch a bullpen give up a lead or blow the game. Keep Nathan around to help the young starters out.

Come the trade deadline, no doubt some team will be looking for a closer or some bullpen help. If you are in the race, you keep him. If not, and if you get an offer you can't refuse, take what you can get...do what is best for the long term interest of the team.

[Dahitman44]

Knee-shack might be a nice local talent and a pretty solid pitcher in his own right but he is not ready to close.

I agree that if we are rebuilding we could get by with somebody else, but by having the best bullpen in the game, we don't need as much from the starters.

Smilin' Carl left us 20 million under last year's payroll, let's spend some and lock up Nathan.

I agree that he should command a lot but do we really think we will get a lot for him? he could be traded at a trading deadline deal too, but we should sign him and know that our pen will get us through a lot of games.

[IFallsRon]

Nathan only had 38 save opportunities last year compared to 47 and 48 the previous two years. He has pitched an average of 70 innings in each of the past three years.

The likelihood of Nathan being available on July 1 will correspond to the number of opportunities he has.

[Dahitman44]

Snow-man --

You are right on the money. if we are in it then we keep him -- if not we get the best we can for him if he does not want to return.

[Dahitman44]

Mn newspaper reports that Nathan would like to stay to the Twins and sign an extension. Reading between the lines it sounds like he does not expect to be the highest paid close, but I would expect a 3 year deal worth $30 million or the four year deal that Codero got -- 4/$45 Million.

I know that is a lot -- I know he is 33 but it would be nice for the youngsters to know they have the best bullpen and the best closer ready to shut the door.

IMO -- We HAVE to sign him. We are at about $50 million this year but was at about $72 million last year -- I think there is room -- don't you?

[Scott K]

By signing Nathan wouldnt increase this years dollar amount, he is already on the books for this year. Us being at 50 million this year will give us room to sign some big one year contracts to free agents. I know that 09 and 10 them numbers go up, mostly do to the big contracts already signed.

I agree though, are young pictures need a good bullpen to rely on. There isnt anything more discouraging to a young picture, then to pitch good all game then not get a win because of the bullpen! On the other hand, if someone wants to give us some real good players for him, (not prospects) I will take that also!

[Dahitman44]

That is true, but what are the chances that the Twins will sign aa FA this season -- is there anyone out there? Can you imagine what they will cost based on Silva's contract.

One thing we have to remember is that old Sid gave a ton of props to the owners for signing the players they did and putting out the extra money for the Stadium. Now, I might ask, if our payroll goes way down this year (it is) and they spent extra money on the stadium INSTEAD of in players should we really be thanking them?

Just a thought ...

[juggs]

Shake a tree and a closer falls out. The save has become the most overrated stat in baseball. Nathan was a nobody until he was made a closer. Same with many others. Remember Eddie Guardado? They can put anyone in his spot and do just fine.

[Dahitman44]

Actually, he was a very good setup man.

The save is very important, IMO.

They have made it that way so it is.

[Dahitman44]

This was just in the STrib -- I hope Gardy is right.

"I think we're going to sign him," Gardenhire said Tuesday. "I think we're close. I think there are good offers on the table, and I'm not even thinking about him not being here.

[Dahitman44]

Of course this does not sound as good.

"It sounds like he knows more than I do," said Nathan, 33. "We really haven't talked to them in about 12 or 13 days. It's a good sign if he's saying that. Maybe he's talked to somebody, but ... we're just waiting for them to give us a call and see where we're at."

[CrappiesNCats]

Good news for twins. Cubs have a lot of nice minor leaguers to raid. they are using Kerry Wood as their closer. He will implode/explode and they will be forced to play a hand and overpay for nathan. get what you can. closing is not an impossible task and anyone in the pen can do it. if you can't get three outs on a consistent basis without giving up runs, you shouldn't be pitching in the big leagues.

let the bidding begin! (sad part is at the deadline we could get more for nathan than we got for johan)

[IFallsRon]

If he wants a no-trade, does that come at a lower salary?

[Dahitman44]

Wishful thinking, I Falls.

[CrappiesNCats]

 Originally Posted By: IFallsRon

If he wants a no-trade, does that come at a lower salary?

generally yes. but when worse closers get HUGE deals it still isnt going to put nathan within signable range. i hope it gets done though. i'm just not optimistic that Tweak will return next season

[Dahitman44]

Anyone else hear anything on Nathan?

[Dahitman44]

This is part of what Jim had to say in the STrib --

He is right on the money IMO.

• The team needs all the good publicity it can get heading into what could be a tough season, and signing Nathan would give them three big contracts of which to boast -- Morneau's, Cuddyer's and Nathan's.

My solution: Do what it takes to sign Nathan, even if it hurts, but don't give him a full no-trade clause. This way you preserve a valuable asset and withhold the right to deal him if necessary.

It's a risk, but so is assuming you'll be able to replace the best closer in Twins history.

One more reason the Twins should sign him:

It's not our money.