Nathan Locked Up

The last bit of offseason business was wrapped up by the Twins on Monday, as they extended Joe Nathan through at least 2011. The deal will pay Nathan between 11 and 12 million annually over the course of the next 3 seasons and includes an option for a fourth year in 2012. Nathan has been one of the league's most dominating closers ever since assuming the position for the Twins in 2004, a time in which he has amassed 160 saves, posted a 1.94 ERA, and dominated hitters with a 355/80 strikeout to walk ratio. The move seemed to be a popular one in the Twins clubhouse as many were pulling for Nathan to get locked up after seeing extensions for both Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau earlier in the offseason. The signing virtually eliminates any trade deadline deal involving Nathan, a topic which was sure to surround the team had the closer not been under contract going into 2009. Nathan will once again anchor a fantastic Minnesota bullpen that enters the season as the team's strength.

It is a risky move for the Twins, a lower budget team who has to be wise in how it allocates its resources. Nathan has been dominant, a linchpin of the Twins pitching staff, but allotting about 15% of the team's payroll to a guy who pitches 70 innings a year could handcuff the organization as Joe enters his mid-30's. The Twins have taken underwhelming talents such as LaTroy Hawkins and Eddie Guardado and turned them into effective closers, begging the question of whether the club needs to spend a lot of money at the position, especially considering that Pat Neshek or Jesse Crain may both be capable of doing an admirable job in the role. But Nathan's popularity in the clubhouse seemed to win out and he is going to be a Twin heading into the new stadium. The deal comes with a lot of risk, but if it is a sign that Carl Pohlad is loosening the purse-strings it could also pay huge dividends.