I really don’t think they’ll rush out to trade anyone for the sake of saving a few million, so i’m not worried about that. I am slightly worried about them giving up on Granderson because he “can’t hit lefties” or about them trading one of the wrong guys to plug a couple short term holes.

At least Dombrowski’s being diligent and exploring his options. I’ll give him that.

At least they’re giving me reading material with all the trade rumors that (in all likelihood) wont amount to anything. There’s no way Mike Illich is this desperate to cut 3 or 4 million off the payroll after letting Ordonez’s option vest just a couple months ago.

The Metrodome effect — I really only noticed this year against, I believe it was the Pirates, where it was truly a huge issue. I know some of your younger Tigers struggled with it too. However, I don’t think it was a HUGE factor. If you build your team around the premise that the Dome’s ceiling will create troubles for opposing teams, then you’re going to have other issues. Then again, Terry Ryan did an amazing job building a team that utilized the domes astroturf and its new grass too. Truthfully, Bill Smith has ginormous shoes to fill. Granted, he already has all of Ryan’s player development, scouting, and team building in place, but Smith still hasn’t called any shots that have helped the team yet. Specifically noting how the Young – Harris for Graza – Bartlett trade hasn’t panned out (YET), he signed over-the-hill veterans, and is winning with Ryan’s talent pool. It will be interesting to see the next few years when Smith’s “players/prospects” start playing a more predominant role. One plus that Smith has is a larger payroll than Ryan ever was allowed.

Also, are you at all worried about losing the Metrodome effect? I know i can’t say anything objective in support of this theory, but i think that dome provided more value (in terms of balls lost in the roof, misplayed balls through the infield, etc) than just about any player on the Twins not named Joe Mauer. Of course, that’s probably just me being a bitter Tigers fan, and to be fair, Terry Ryan always did a fantastic job of tailoring his team to the ballpark. It’ll be interesting to see if Smith can sustain the low payroll success.