Pohlad Opening Up the Pockets?

After much ado (20-some odd years worth) is Carl Pohlad finally seeing the personal benefit in spending money on his best players?

The Twins and AL Batting Champ, Joe Mauer, agreed to a four-year, $33 million contract on Saturday while Mauer was on his way to Arizona for his arbitration hearing scheduled for today. Mauer hit .347 last year with 84 RBI and became the first AL catcher to win the Batting Crown as well as the first catcher to lead the Majors in Batting Average. He earned a trip to the All-Star game and was being talked about in many MVP discussions at the ripe old age of 23. I can see why the Twins wanted to get this wrapped up before arbitration.

ALSO! On February 2, the Twins reached a one year deal with raining AL MVP, Justin Morneau, worth $4.5 million. Morneau hit a healthy .321 last year with 34 Home Runs (first Twin to eclipse 30 in more than a decade) and 130 RBI, a pretty good year I'd say.

It's good to see Carl finally spending his money on the players who deserve it. After many years of cheap-skating and letting quality talent leave, the Twins' front office is apparently recognizing that the Cy Young, MVP, and batting champs are deserving of his "hard-earned" millions.

I like it.

See you on the field,
NAG