Twins' future threatened

By David Olson
Guest Columnist

New Twins general manager Bill Smith has his work cut out for him. As he succeeds Terry Ryan, Smith has some choices that will decide the fate of the franchise for the next five years.
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Center fielder Torii Hunter’s contract expires at the end of this season, and starting pitcher Johan Santana’s contract expires after 2008. It has been widely accepted that the tight-wad Twins will not try to resign Hunter, who, despite his age, is one of the best outfielders in the game. And Santana is expected to receive bids from other teams that would amount to one-third of the Twins’ payroll.

However, the Pohlad family always allows the team’s best players to walk away from the franchise because they don’t want to pony up the cash. Carl Pohlad, who is worth $2.8 billion, is ranked as the 78th richest American according to Forbes. Yet he can’t afford to give his team a little extra cash?

In losing Torii Hunter, the Twins not only lose a precious defensive commodity, but they also lose the personality of the franchise. Who will step into Hunter’s shoes? Hometown Hero Joe Mauer, who, despite his abilities, is possibly one of the most boring interviews in all of sports? Or his good buddy Justin Morneau, who rivals Mauer in his interview skills?

The Twins’ window of opportunity to win a World Series is closing. Closer Joe Nathan’s contract is up after 2008, and to keep Morneau the Twins will have to open their wallets yet again.

The bottom line is this: if the Pohlads don’t start giving our new general manager some money to work with, Twins fans will be looking at more young prospects and washed-up veterans for years to come.

But hey, at least we’ll have a new stadium to watch our mediocre team.