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11/16/2003 10:06 am

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So what is everyone's thoughts on the loss of A.J.? I think that the first Twins game we go to, we boo who ever takes his place (prince?) and then boo the new pitchers they got for him. Sounds good? AJ was such a clutch player, he seemed like he hit a homerun whenever we needed it. Let's hope no one else goes. (Denny Hocking we barely knew yee.)

	Matt - 3875 Posts 11/16/2003 @ 11:42:33 AM
Well, we could boo Tom Prince but I don't think it would work seeing as the Twins released him in July.		Rate this comment Yours: Rated 0 times.

	Scott - 6225 Posts 11/16/2003 @ 11:42:36 AM
The Twins should be pretty fine without AJ. It hurts, but they guy they get to replace him (Joe Mauer) is pretty good. He his .339 with 5 homers and 85 RBIs in the minors last year. The Brewers make me sad.		Rate this comment Yours: Rated 0 times.

	Matt - Nutcan.com's MBL 11/16/2003 @ 11:59:10 AM
I agree with Scott. A.J. is arbitration eligible this year and would have cost the Twins about $2.5 - $3 million more this season than last. In an ideal world I think the Twins would have waited on Mauer and kept A.J. another year, but the Twins need to keep the payroll low, and they obviously feel that Mauer is ready, so they pulled the trigger. By trading him they got back a reliever (Joe Nathan) who had a huge season last year, and is a year away from arbitration, so he's cheap for at least one year. I really don't think that Hawkins will be back next year so Nathan can plug the hole there. We also got two above average prospects, and the money we save by not paying Pierzynski's raise, should help keep Guardado and/or Stewart.		Rate this comment Yours: Rated 0 times.

	Andrew (Guest) 11/17/2003 @ 04:16:42 PM
A guy on the tennis team went to school w/ Mauer. I guess he's pretty good, plus wasn't he the AA player of the year? He should be aight, and get better. Watch out for Lew Ford, he's good.		Rate this comment Yours: Rated 0 times.

	Matt - 3875 Posts 11/17/2003 @ 05:11:26 PM
Mauer was Minor League Player of the Year. I agree, Lew Ford (The Sponge) is a good player.		Rate this comment Yours: Rated 0 times.

	Sarah - 4605 Posts 11/18/2003 @ 09:00:14 AM
We gotta make the Sponge know about his nickname somehow!		Rate this comment Yours: Rated 0 times.

	Jeremy - 9475 Posts 11/18/2003 @ 09:06:27 AM
He might be offended.		Rate this comment Yours: Rated 0 times.

	Matt - 3875 Posts 01/01/2008 @ 04:11:34 AM
I like how Sarah was against us being on the winning end of one of the most lopsided trades in recent history. Of course she couldn't have known how the trade was going to play out at the time, but it's still kind of funny, especially the part about booing the new catcher (Mauer) and the pitchers (Nathan, Liriano, Bonser).		Rate this comment Yours: Total: Rated 2 times.
Matt messed with this at 01/01/2008 9:37:10 am

	Sarah - How do you use these things? 01/01/2008 @ 09:51:57 AM
I see we are going way back play back. I wonder, did I boo Mauer and was it before or after he hit his double? I will have to check that out in our superbly written article about the 2004 Twin's opening day. Now I boo AJ 'cause he's a jerk. I'm allowed to flip-flop. I can only hope Liriano comes back and pitches as beautifully as he did his first season.		Rate this comment Yours: Total: Rated 1 times.

	Sarah - How do you use these things? 08/31/2015 @ 09:44:45 PM
Matt Wrote - 01/01/2008 @ 04:11:34 AM I like how Sarah was against us being on the winning end of one of the most lopsided trades in recent history. Of course she couldn't have known how the trade was going to play out at the time, but it's still kind of funny, especially the part about booing the new catcher (Mauer) and the pitchers (Nathan, Liriano, Bonser). I've gone back on this one again. I think long long long term, we get the raw end of this deal. Never made it to the world series with these guys. All these guys are gone, Liriano has turned it around and has been really good for the Pirates this year but Boof has been out of the Bigs for awhile and Nathan gets booed wherever he goes. Plus he had the Tommy Johns and maybe will retire (has he retired?). AJ is still catching and Mauer is now just a ho hum first baseman that's never going to be as brilliant as he once was. Have I mentioned that the Giants have won 3 world series in like the last 6 years???? WTF. We got totally screwed. Plus, AJ got to win one with the White Sox and he was instrumental in it. I'm totally bummed just thinking about how this trade didn't work out at all for the Twins.		Rate this comment Yours: Rated 0 times.

	Jeremy - 9475 Posts 08/31/2015 @ 09:52:21 PM
Well, let's not revise history here. The fact that it isn't still paying dividends over a decade later does not a bad trade make, though I think it might be fair to say maybe it isn't AS lopsided as once thought. Besides, if the Twins wanted AJ back I think they've had their chances. Mauer is still a good player, just not 23 million a year good, which he was almost certainly never going to be. He was a must sign guy at the time. Even this year, most certainly a down year, he has the best OBP of any qualified player on the team, bested only by Sano if you allow for "not technically qualified but doesn't have 3 PA's either". His batting average is down, his slugging is poor, but he's hardly an actual liability. There's little reason to think the budget is maxed out, so he isn't really hurting anything, and Mauer is worth more to the team than a random player. (If he brings 7 million of marketability to the team than anyone else then that's really only 15ish million to spend on other players.) Also, for whatever it's worth, maybe the Giants didn't need the 3 guys the Twins got, or you could make some kind of "addition by subtraction", "made room for the prospects", whatever, type argument, but AJ was there one year, and they didn't even make the playoffs. So even if you want to make the case that, in the end, AJ was indeed the best player in the trade, the Giants got mostly nothing out of the deal directly.		Rate this comment Yours: Rated 0 times.
Jeremy perfected this 4 times, last at 08/31/2015 10:10:22 pm