Taylor's Twins Talk

Focusing on the Twins, with a few ramblings on other things that catch my attention

Thursday, February 15, 2007

No More Arbitration!

JUST when I was getting ready to brag about my skills at prognostication, with all signs pointing towards my prediction of an arbitration hearing for Michael Cuddyer, the Twins and Cuddy came to an agreement - and made me look worse by having it be for less than the midpoint, indicating that Cuddyer's agents weren't quite as confident as I had thought they were.

I'm glad this deal got done - it means that the Twins somehow, incredibly, pulled off avoiding arbitration with 6 players, 5 of whom are significant contributors to the team. That's an incredible accomplishment, and Terry Ryan deserves credit for his hard work. I know the Twins ostensibly tried to sign both Morneau and Cuddyer to multi-year deals, and couldn't make it happen; but that's not a failure. Neither of those guys is going anywhere soon, as they aren't eligible for free agency for several more years.

Now, who won this deal? Well, I find it hard to come to any conclusion other than that the Twins won, big time. I fully believed that Cuddyer would have won his hearing - then again, it hasn't been a very succesful season for players who have gone to hearings, so maybe Cuddyer's chances weren't as solid as I thought they were.

Now, the Twins can turn to trying to sign Johan Santana and Joe Nathan to multi-year deals . . .

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posted by JST @ Thursday, February 15, 2007  

6 Comments:

  • At Thu Feb 15, 07:16:00 PM , Blogger WV said...

    I wonder if Cuddy's agents failing earlier with John Patterson had anything to do with them agreeing below the midpoint.

     

  • At Thu Feb 15, 11:55:00 PM , Blogger JST said...

    I have to think that it had something to do with it. Either way, glad it got done.

     

  • At Fri Feb 16, 09:28:00 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

    I think the fact that no player had won a case yet had to factor in. With John Patterson, the numbers were $750,000 and $1.85 million. That's a huge discrepency relative to each other.

    Note - Cuddyer's agent is Casey Close, right? His wife is former Miss Minnesota AND Miss America Gretchen Carlson.

    Anyway, the deal is for less than midpoint now, but with 650 plate appearances, he will get the $50,0000 to bring him to midpoint. Basically that means that if he stays in that 4-spot the whole season (which means he's contributing), he should have no problem meeting that.

    SethSpeaks.net

     

  • At Fri Feb 16, 09:36:00 AM , Blogger JST said...

    You're right - it can become a midpoint deal. 650 is in reach - 55 major leaguers did it last year - but I wouldn't call it a guarantee. To reach it, a player has to average 4.01 plate appearances over 162 games. Cuddyer played in 150 games last year, which means averager 4.333 plate appearances per game. Again, it's definitely something that can be done, but it's not a shoe in.

    That being said, I sure hope he gets there, because Seth is absolutely right that if he does, it means he's contributing. So, let's hope Cuddy gets his extra 50K!

     

  • At Fri Feb 16, 02:13:00 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

    Like Justin Morneau, Michael Cuddyer was a given in that four-spot once he got there. There is really no reason to think that he won't play 155-160 games during the season, unless there is an injury. But you're right. It's not a given, but assuming health and productivity, he should.

    SethSpeaks.net

     

  • At Fri Feb 16, 09:14:00 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

    Yeah I'm happy that the Twins were able to avoid arbitration with all of their players this year. It means they both are opening their pocket books and getting things done faster.

     

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