The Minnesota Twins did it. They kept their franchise player, Joe Mauer in a Twins’ uniform by inking him to an eight-year contract extension worth $184 million dollars.
In the past few years, the Twins have now kept a pair of MVP’s in Mauer and Justin Morneau.
Meanwhile, the Indians have had to trade Cy Young Award winners C.C. Sabathia and Cliff Lee because they wouldn’t (note the word wouldn’t not couldn’t) make a legitimate contract offer.
Both teams operate in small to middle markets, yet the Twins found a way to keep their star players, while the Indians haven’t been able to do so.
Yes, the Twins are moving into a new ballpark and are flush with revenue as a result. And there is no question that Mauer did take a hometown discount because he was worth more than the $23 million per year deal on the open market.
Still, the Twins ownership understands the impact of star players, and also the importance of not letting other teams, namely the Yankees and Red Sox, set the market on their players.
Understand that the Indians tried to keep their free agents prior to the 2007 season by inking Jake Westbrook and Travis Hafner to long-term deals. It does appear, though, that the offered deals to the guys they thought they could sign rather than going after the big fish in Sabathia.
Westbrook is a 3rd starter on a good team, and Hafner is a DH, meaning the number of teams interested in his services would be cut in half. The point is the Indians continue to let true star players go when it is time for free agency, and that hasn’t changed in the past 15 years.
Here’s a list of names: Albert Belle, Manny Ramirez, Jim Thome, Bartolo Colon, and the aforementioned Sabathia and Lee.
In the Tribe’s defense, signing everyday players is a less risky process than giving a pitcher a multi-year deal. Heck, Minnesota faced the same situation with Johan Santana, and they decided to deal the Cy Young Award winner rather than get tied up in a four or five year deal.
The reason this hits home, besides the market size and the fact that the Twins happen to reside in the same division as Cleveland, is the impending free agent status of Grady Sizemore.
Sizemore is a legitimate star player, although, he was injured last season, so most fans have apparently forgotten how good he is. He will be 28 years old this season, meaning he will be 30 when his contract with the Tribe ends in 2012.
He’s never been a league MVP like Mauer and Morneau, but that’s more a factor of the Indians’ record. Sizemore’s 2006 and 2008 seasons would have merited MVP votes had the Tribe been in contention.
Will the Indians think about trying to ink Sizemore and keep him in Cleveland long term?
Critics will contend that Sizemore is currently playing a prime defensive position (CF), and he likely will have to move to LF as he gets older. The rebuttal would be that Sizemore’s bat would play in a corner outfield spot. He can be a guy who hits 30 HR’s per year for a while.
If Sizemore returns to be the player he was when healthy in 2010, he will no doubt be looking at a mega-dollar contract when his free agent year hits. Based on the past, that means the Indians will not be players in those sweepstakes. However, they should be.
This is another situation where you can have the centerpiece of your franchise, a likely future hall of famer, in place for a long time. If the Minnesota Twins can do it, why can’t the Cleveland Indians? That’s a question president in waiting Mark Shapiro should be asking, especially since his father negotiated the Mauer deal with the Twins.
KM
Cleveland Sports Perspective 