December 26, 2007 – OK, Twins management, I give up, what is your big plan to make the Twins competitive this year? The Twins preach pitching and defense and now you sign Mike Lamb to play 3B. I can see signing a 3B that is not a strong fielder if he is going to hit 30 or more home runs and knock in 100+ runs, but a 32 year platoon player who committed 33 errors at 3B in Texas when the Rangers tried to give him a full time job back in 2000? The day before you acquired Lamb you signed Adam Everett because he was a stellar shortstop and now you plan on putting Lamb next to him? Lamb has not been a regular in the past because he has proven he cannot play 3B. The Astros were desperate for a 3B in 2007 and yet Lamb was not given the job full time, you have to ask why!
It is so frustrating for me as a Twins fan to see the Twins just like clockwork throw a few bucks each spring at several free agent players that no other team seems to be interested in. Why not pool that money, throw a little more in the pot and go out and sign a real free agent that fills a hole and can play! This year the Twins have already lost Torii Hunter and. Johan Santana will be traded soon and Joe Nathan may follow. How can you with a straight face say we are not rebuilding? The Twins have a number of good young players and should be looking to fill holes to become more competitive with teams like the Tigers who have reloaded, Kansas City that is getting stronger, and the Indians who are looking to upgrade their outfield. Sure, I like the trade with Tampa, but that did nothing to fill holes at 3B, 2B, and CF and actually created a hole at SS.
Twins ownership has been saying for years that if they got that new stadium it would generate more revenue flow and we will be able to be more competitive in signing players. Mr. Pohlad, signing the Everett’s and Lamb’s of the world does not qualify. Now as I sit here in Plymouth and look east towards downtown Minneapolis I see a new stadium going up and Twins salaries going down. Tell me sir why that is the case. You want to own a major league ball club, then start acting like a major league owner. You are the richest MLB owner on the Forbes 400 list with about $2 billion in you coffers, spend a couple million (maybe sell one of your lots on Lake Minnetonka) and make the Twins the competitive team they should be. I am a baseball fan and as pathetic as it may sound, I will still go out and buy my season tickets and keep cheering for the Twins but I gotta say this Carl, you are tearing my heart out. You keep raising the Twins ticket prices year after year and who knows what they will be in 2010 when the new stadium opens. It does however; appear that you are raising ticket prices as much as you can each year before the new ballpark opens so that when the new park becomes a reality you can do a modicum increase and tell us all how little you are raising the price of the tickets at the new ballpark. It is appropriate then at this time of the year Mr. Pohlad that you look in the mirror, and then I want you to tell me that you really are not Minnesota’s Ebenezer Scrooge.