Originally Posted by
StormJH1
I was of the opinion that Morneau should be traded if you could get even a B-minus level prospect for him and clear the money for next year, BUT...
It is only one season's worth of salary, and knowing and listening to Terry Ryan, I'm not so sure we can assume that $14 million would go towards free agent players of any substance, and especially rotation guys. If they did trade Morneau for a borderline prospect, and it turns out that they sign one Jason Marquis-type starter for next season and then either sit on the rest of the money or do something like picking up Matt Capps' option or doing a one-year deal with Baker, how would you feel about giving up Morneau then? Because I think any of those are more likely than seeing the Twins commit more than $30 or $40 million to any starting pitcher. Plus, of course, Morneau's contract being traded only clears up a small portion of that salary, and only for one year.
It's likely this team cuts salary even more next year, based on performance and attendance declines.