we got 'em - correia and pelfrey

[Ybone]

All this complaining about Mauer and his salary and yet everyone wants them to spend that kind of money on a free agent pitcher who plays every 5th game. Yeah Mauer hits mostly singles, about 1/4 of his hits are for extra bases but his on base % is over 4.oo and he has a no trade clause. It would have been a public relations disaster not to sign him and remember he hit close to 30 homers the year before the contract. Also 147 out of 162 games is more than 2/3s.

[CodyDawg]

I guess catchers that play all 162 and hit .330 grow on trees. But hey, we could replace him with Drew Butera!

[JBMasterAngler]

BEFORE his contract being the key word! He has since only hit 22 HR's in the past 3 seasons combined, and 190 RBI's. I don't think we need to spend big bucks on a pitcher, just get pitchers that aren't complete garbage!

[Ybone]

Where are they going to get these pitchers?

[CodyDawg]

you find me another catcher, that is available, that has anywhere near a carreer .405 OBP, hits .320, has an MVP, 3 gold gloves, and 4 silver sluggers. Heck, there are very few of ANY position player that can match those stats.

The problem isnt Joe. The problem is the fact they wont spend the money to put talent around him. Dont think for one minute that if we got rid of Joe's contract they would get some good pitchers. That aint gonna happen. If we get rid of Joe, they will pocket the money and start telling us how great of a hitter Butera is going to be.

Cheap, cheap, cheap organization that laughs all day long at the fans for buying into a wee bit of hope. They have already stated this is a business. So I encourage everyone to give them their wish. Until they put up a good product, stay away from Target field.

[greebs]

yep. the team had no choice but to give joe that contract. he was coming off a stellar year and the fans would have been in an uproar had the local guy been let go to another team.

the new stadium is what has hurt his power stats. balls that were homers in the dome now are fly ball outs. and yes players on other teams don't seem to have a problem with the distances to the fences but then again they are facing our pitching staff.

I get as frustrated as the next guy watching joe take that first pitch right down the middle for a strike instead of swinging at it. that's just his style and at least for one more year we have a hands off manager who isn't going to tell joe to do it any different so we may as well just accept that is how it is.

[CodyDawg]

i sometimes get frustrated with that too, but it is pretty hard to correct a guy who is a career .327 hitter.

[YiGGiN4SLoBS]

The problem isnt Joe. The problem is the fact they wont spend the money to put talent around him. Dont think for one minute that if we got rid of Joe's contract they would get some good pitchers. That aint gonna happen. If we get rid of Joe, they will pocket the money and start telling us how great of a hitter Butera is going to be.

Cheap, cheap, cheap organization that laughs all day long at the fans for buying into a wee bit of hope. They have already stated this is a business. So I encourage everyone to give them their wish. Until they put up a good product, stay away from Target field.

You pretty much nailed it.... Iv'e been saying this for a long time! And yes, Terry Ryan made some trades to help the FUTURE pitching staff, but if and when these guys become good and its time for them to be paid.... they will be traded or let go in FA.

We have some of the cheapest owners in baseball who care about nothing else but making a big profit.

[Ybone]

You must not be old enough to remember the last owner, Calvin Griffith. These guys are big spenders compared to him but in all fairness to Calvin he couldn't afford to lose money on the team, it was how he made his living and he wasn't involved in other business like these owners.

[Musky Buck]

I wouldn't have been in an uproar, I remember Tim Laudner putting a world series ring on his.181 finger. Was it Brian Harper who grabbed the other ring ? Actually all I know for sure is we've been in the basement of the American league the last 2 seasons even with Willingham's offense last year, a somewhat return of Morneau, a dumping of Nishi, a healthier Joe, it's pitching or SF wouldn't sniff a ring, we better copy that model asap, it's why we were tough pirranha like for awhile, good pitching, good D and decent speed. We've known the recipe for years, just the wheels fell off. It's like the vikes, we need to first handle GB or we're nowhere and now it's Detroit in baseball at least for now, we need to close the gap there. We could have 9 Mauer's and still finish 3rd in the division, the other teams are just overall better and much of it a lot of it starts with the starters. Look at how like Span,Carroll,Butera, and others look against good pitching, that's a quick 1,2,3 inning right there. Who gets the white ball opening day ?

[DonBo]

...but then again they are facing our pitching staff.

kinda had to giggle a little bit about that.

[Musky Buck]

Other teams love our pitching staff, here's a ? What is Carl Pavano up to ? Is he out east hunting down the guy that said they were boyfriends ? Is Carl crackin the mid 80's, where's waldo where's Carl ?