Small Budget

Low-budget Twins? Not anymore

Danny Knobler, cbs sportsPosted on: February 5, 2010 1:29 pm

Do you realize the Twins now have more money committed to their 2010 payroll than the Cardinals do? More than the Braves? As much as the big-spending Mariners?


With Orlando Hudson signing a one-year, $5 million deal to be Minnesota's new second baseman, the Twins now have $93 million committed for 2010. Add in money for the players not yet under contract (and not eligible for arbitration), and the Twins are looking at about a $96 million opening day payroll, as Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune pointed out .

Sorry, but when you're knocking on the door of $100 million, we can't call you small-budget anymore.

"We like that designation," general manager Bill Smith insisted.

It's hard to tell exactly where the Twins payroll will rank, but they're basically guaranteed to be in the top half of MLB payrolls, for the first time since they ranked eighth in 1989 (they should be somewhere around 10th this year). To show how things have changed in those last 21 years, the Twins' 1989 payroll was $15.5 million, not all that much different from the Dodgers, who spent $25.6 million to rank first that year.

Ten years ago, the Twins were still spending $15.6 million, but by that point the Yankees were at $92.9. Since then, the Twins have usually ranked somewhere in the 20s among the 30 big-league teams (they were 24th last year).

Why the change? Obviously, the move to Target Field is a big part of it.

"We're in a good position," Smith said. "We have a lot of good players, we've had some success on the field, and we're moving into a new ballpark. Anytime you're on a roll, you've got to try to keep it going.

"When our payroll was low, we always said it's not about money, it's about players. That's still true."

The Twins have enough good players (and a few great ones) that they've won the American League Central five of the last eight years, even when they were being badly outspent. But as those players have gotten more experienced, they've also become more expensive, which is why the Twins payroll has risen so much without any really big free-agent acquisitions.

Of the $93 million committed for 2010, more than 40 percent of it goes to three players: Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau and Joe Nathan.

It's expected that the Twins will get Mauer signed to a new long-term contract in the coming weeks, but that won't necessarily change what they spend this year. Mauer is already signed for $12.5 million for 2010 under his existing deal.

In any case, it's hard to call the Twins cheap. It's hard to call them small-budget, whether they like the designation or not.