Twins lock in Morneau and Cuddyer January 26th, 2008 at 4:59 pm
The Twins on Friday made the decision to bank their future largely on Justin Morneau, who was given a franchise record 6-year $80 million deal. Half the the contract will cover his remaining arbitration years, and the rest will span what would have been his first 3 years of free-agency. He will make $7.4 and $10.6 million, respectively over the next two years and in 2010 when the Twins enter their new downtown stadium, he will level off at $14 million per season for the remaining 4 years of the deal.
Is Morneau worth $80 million? He definitely a fan favorite, he’s a former MVP and he broke the Twins out of their 30 home run slump, but he also plays at a position where quality bats are relatively easy to find. Regardless, it’s nice to see the Twins commit money to their young stars.
Michael Cuddyer, finally got a long-term deal, with a 3-year $24 million contract. There is a 2011 club option for $10.5 million. Cuddyer made about $3.5 million last season, so he’ll see a nice raise over the next few years. Nevertheless, it’s still a good contract for the Twins that desperately need to hold onto any potent bat they can.
With Matt Guerrier agreeing to a 1-year $950,000 contract on Thursday, the Twins have signed all arbitration-eligible players.
How does this deal impact the Santana talks? With the $104 million committed to Cuddyer and Morneau over the next 6 years, it makes it less likely that the Twins could commit $120 million to just Johan Santana. With potential trade partners at a max of 3 teams, the Twins are in somewhat of a lose-lose situation. They have to trade him, but it’s unlikely they’ll get the return that they should from him.
Morneau and Cuddyer now join Joe Mauer as the players that are signed through at least 2010, when the new stadium opens (though several others are locked in via arbitration). Joe Mauer, signed a 4 year $33 million dollar deal last offseason that runs through 2010.
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