Twins Break Off Gagne Talks

Posted by John on January 29, 2009 under John | 2 Comments to Read

The Star Tribune reports the Twins and Eric Gagne were exchanging contract numbers last week until the Twins suddenly decided to break off talk with the veteran reliever.

Gagne was apparently willing to accept a one year deal worth $3 million that could have added 500k in incentives. That deal actually seems rather reasonable to me for the Twins, but I can understand if they’re cautious about Gagne.

Given the market there are certainly a lot of remaining bargains to be had but it appears as if the reliever market is quite thin. The Twins have said they are exploring bullpen help through trades now, but this offseason you must take everything Bill Smith says with a grain of salt. Typically it’s well we could of, would of, should of statements to give us fans an excuse for why not and never why.

The Twins were believed to have been attendance yesterday at Joe Crede’s workout in Arizona. Perhaps they like what they saw and pulling out of the Gagne talks was in effort to redirect that money in Crede’s direction. I do believe that Crede would be a better fit for the Twins than Gagne, but I also think if the Twins could give Nick Punto $8.5 million they could afford Crede and Gagne for about $6 million.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Do you think it was a good idea to break off talks with Eric Gagne? We’ll keep you updated on the Joe Crede news right here on twinsmvb.com.

Twins Countdowns

Posted by John on January 23, 2009 under John | 4 Comments to Read

A few Friday notes here on this 23rd day of January…

• The annual TwinsFest kicks off this weekend at the Metrodome. Friday night through Sunday afternoon Twins fans, Twins player, and Twins alumni will be in attendance signing autographs, taking pictures, talking baseball, and much much more. The event is always a great time and a good opportunity for Twins fans to come out of their hibernation and dream of spring baseball. The MVB will be attending this weekend and expect some in-depth coverage of the happenings at the Dome. Any particular player I should try to talk to? Let me know in the comments section.
• Sid Hartman says the Twins are in serious talks with Eric Gagne and Joe Crede, both Scott Boras clients. Sid says only the length of the contract is what is stalling the talks. I can’t recall if the Twins have ever had a Boras client but I don’t think they have. Most teams usually walk away from a Boras negotiation with the short end of the stick. I can’t imagine though how either Gagne or Crede could justify more than a one-year deal given their injury history. As stated on this blog before, at the right price I think both of these players could be good fits for the club.
• 22 days until Twins pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training
• 73 days, 7 hours, and 12 minutes until Opening Day pitch at the Metrodome.

Get excited Twins fans!