Q. Why don’t the Minnesota Twins try to move Brad Radke and Shannon Stewart? They make up 30 percent of the team payroll as a .500 pitcher and average outfielder.
— Joe Barron, Lackawaxen, Pa.

A. That’s something I think you could see later this summer, Joe, but only if the Twins aren’t in contention for a playoff spot around the July 31 trade deadline — which I don’t believe they will be. You also can put Torii Hunter in that category. All three are in the final years of their contracts, and as you mention, they take up huge chunks of the payroll. Hunter is the highest-paid Twin at $10.75 million, followed by Radke and Johan Santana at $9 million and Stewart at $6.5 million. Those four will make about 60 percent of a projected payroll of $55-60 million — and that’s far too big of a percentage for so few players.

Given the Twins’ financial constraints, and the advancing ages of Radke, 33, and Stewart 32, there is a great likelihood that one or both won’t be in Minnesota by the 2007 season. Hunter’s situation is a bit different because at age 30, he is in his prime production years. But his big salary — and the possibility of earning more on the open market assuming he bounces back strong from that broken ankle — also could push him elsewhere.

Q. Tony, do you think the signing of Johnny Damon was a good move for the Yankees? Wouldn’t they have been better off developing Bubba Crosby for a heckuva lot less money? Was Derek Jeter that bad as the leadoff man?
— Fred Hansen, Galena, Ill.

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A. To answer your question, Fred, I’ll repeat what I wrote in my Yankees’ spring preview, which you can find elsewhere on this site: ‘It’s not hard to make the case that with Johnny Damon hitting first in the Yankees’ lineup — instead of the Red Sox’s — the two teams will flip-flop positions atop the AL runs scored list. With Damon scoring 117 times, the Red Sox totaled 910 runs last season, or 24 more than the runner-up Yankees, whose principal center fielder — Bernie Williams — scored only 54 times. Damon also accounted for 19 of the Red Sox’s measly total of 45 steals, which the Yankees almost doubled with 84, so that gap should widen. When you add in Damon’s increased range in center field in place of Bernie Williams, there really is no immediate downside to the $52 million signing, although they may think differently by the fourth year of the deal.’ It’s not that Jeter wasn’t a good leadoff hitter; it’s just that Damon’s presence makes the lineup better. And Crosby to me is nothing more than a fourth or fifth outfielder. Remember, he’s already 29 years old, so there is no development left in him. He is what he is.

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