The Minnesota Twins and Autographs

I have to admit, being "afar" from the Twins wasn't the best thing this past weekend. I enjoyed reading all the posts re-capping Twinsfest, and also the Star Tribune coverage of some of the new players that made the trek for our fan fest. But I was a little jealous. Yes, other organizations have similar fan fests, but the Twins do it the right way. Going back a couple decades to when I was a kid, even the great Kirby Puckett would always make an appearance to sign autographs. No Twin was immune from the requirements that: 1) they travel from wherever great location they live to the cold, Minnesota tundra during one of the coldest times of year; and 2) that they converse with fans and play the role of "hero" for a weekend. It's a great tradition. And the money goes to charity. It's hard to complain.



I remember attending Twinsfest after the 1987 World Series. I would have been 6, I guess. I still have a Twins hat that Tony Olivia signed from that year. That next summer, Dan Gladden signed my baseball glove and a 1987 Topps card at an youth baseball clinic at the Maplewood YMCA. My dad also surprised me by mailing a 1987 Homer Hanky to Frank Viola (who was my baseball hero back then), who promptly signed it and sent back for me. It's still in a frame in my parents' house. Long story short, the Twins make it pretty easy for fans -- especially kids -- to get autographs and mingle with players.



Minnesota's sports hero signs for fans on the road



As an adult, I wouldn't say that I'm an autograph hound by any means. I don't really have a great place in my house to display sports memorabilia (no room for a man cave yet), so there's not much of a point in collecting stuff that will just have to go in storage. When possible, though, I have tried to take advantage of a couple opportunities for autographs. Back in 2009, my wife was able to get Joe Mauer to sign the back of my #7 baby blue throwback jersey when we were in Baltimore. I have a case for the jersey, so it just has to be ironed and put in there. I also have a goal of getting signed MLB baseballs from the "retired number" crew. So far, I have Puckett, Killebrew and Hrbek. So there's a little work to be done there.



Eventually, I imagine putting some of this stuff in a boy's room, or even a girl's room; she's probably predestined to be just as much a Twins fan as a boy would be, anyway. My goal for this April, when we will go to the final 2 games of the first series of the year at Camden Yards, is to get Justin Morneau to sign a Metrodome banner that I purchased from the Twins Pro Shop a couple years ago. I'm sure you can picture these -- they hung either outside the Dome on flag poles, or inside the concourses at the Dome. It's about 6 feet tall, has a full-body likeness of him swinging a bat on one side, and the Twins and Star Tribune logos on the other. I've been toting this thing every year to Camden Yards, but he has yet to play when I'm there. Maybe this year will be different.

I would never personally sell any autograph. I even have a Jose Mijares autographed regulation MLB baseball. Sadly, the ball might be worth more without Mijares' autograph. But it -- like my other autographed items -- is tied to a good memory, namely, a hot summer afternoon in Baltimore, when at least a dozen or so Twins players were nice enough to step out of the clubhouse into the 110 degree Inner Harbor heat and mingle with Twins fans for a few minutes, even though the weather was so awful that batting practice had been cancelled. Every little piece of memorabilia I own has a nice story behind it. The Twins may not win 95 games this year, but they are very, very good in the community.

2012: Who Stays and Who Goes?

The coming offseason is shaping up to be very interesting, at least from the standpoint of Twins fans. Howard Sinker from the Star Tribune posted today on the subject of Michael Cuddyer's future, and other bloggers have begun to turn their attention to 2012. I guess this is what happens when your team has settled comfortably into 4th place and looks like it's not going anywhere. For what it's worth, here's my take on a few moves the Twins should make, and not make, during what will likely be one of the most interesting and active offseasons in recent memory.

Michael Cuddyer: Keep him if you can. Boy, he started off slow. Painfully slow. But he really has turned it on, and, as in past seasons, has filled in admirably at other positions. The Twins decided not to trade Cuddyer at the deadline, despite interest from teams such as the Phillies and Giants, and thereafter indicated that they would like to re-sign the "Magic Man." What will it take? I wouldn't pay more that $8-9 million a year for 2-3 years. Despite the fact that Cuddyer is leading the Twins in many offensive categories, his career has peaked. We have been fortunate that he has not been injured this year, but that will not necessarily be the case as he continues to age. If Cuddyer gets an offer of $10-15 million on the open market, and if he elects not to give the Twins a "discount," then he should take the larger payday and I wish him well. If he will forgo some money in order to finish his career in Minnesota, then I would like to keep him around. On the subject of Cuddyer, I'll close with this, which is something I have mentioned before: If Cuddyer stays with the Twins, and if they are fortunate enough to win a World Series during this time, I would not be at all surprised to see the #5 retired. The Twins reward loyalty, and Cuddyer's career (with a World Series ring) would be, in many respects, similar to that of Kent Hrbek's.

Delmon Young: A corollary to Cuddyer staying in Minnesota is that there would exist a surplus of outfielders. Delmon should go. Yes, this has the potential of being another David Ortiz situation, but I wouldn't bet on it. Young has shown nothing this season to suggest that 2010 was anything but a fluke and career year. And aside from 2010, the Twins have little to show from Young's four seasons here. Letting Young walk will give the Twins an opening in left field, which could be filled by Ben Revere, if the Twins do indeed believe he is a part of their future plans. It will also free up significant payroll room.

Matt Capps: Have a clubhouse assistant help pack his bags, hail him a taxi, and call it a day.

Jim Thome: Barring further injury, he will hit his 600th home run in a Twins uniform this season. Hopefully that will propel him to retire. Last year, Thome was a great deal financially for the Twins, and stayed remarkably healthy. This year, not so much. Not that he has been bad, but he simply hasn't stayed healthy enough to be able to make as significant of contributions as he did in 2010. Let me state, though, that I have thoroughly enjoyed watching him in a Twins uniform, and I think that the decision to re-sign him in 2011 was correct, especially considering the glut of injuries the Twins faced this year. I hope Thome retires after this season, but if he elects to play another year, I would expect him to sign elsewhere.

Joe Nathan: This is a tough one. He has looked very good the past several weeks, and is on the cusp of breaking the record for saves by a Minnesota Twin, a record he absolutely deserves and has earned through years of consistent great performance. The first question is should the Twins exercise his 2012 option for $12.5 million? I think the answer there is a clear "no." If the Twins agree, and buy out his option for $2 million, where do the parties go from there? Should they try to negotiate with Nathan to have him come back at a reduced rate? Should they just let him walk and thank him for his fantastic career? The fact that the Twins were trying to deal for Nationals' closer Drew Storen suggests that the front office may believe that Nathan's days in Minnesota, at least as a closer, are coming to an end. In my heart, I'd like to see Nathan and the Twins reach a compromise that would allow him to stay in MN, for something around $5-6 million (plus the $2 million the Twins would pay to buy out his option). My brain suggests that, if Nathan continues to pitch well the rest of the season, some team, somewhere, will take a chance on him as their closer. As we have seen this year, though, a quality bullpen is not a given, and the front office has some work ahead of them to re-construct the Twins' bullpen.

There are many more decisions that must be made, and I'm sure I'll get to those in due course. As you can see, the 2011 offseason will present a headache for the front office. I wish I had more confidence in Bill Smith to make "correct," or at least intelligent decisions, but what can you do as a fan sometimes besides hope that Smith reads Twins blogs?