Twins future still murky despite success

? Enjoy Torii Hunter, Doug Mientkiewicz and the rest of these Minnesota Twins during their remarkable playoff run.

They might not be together for much longer.

The next time some of the Twins’ stars play on a national stage in October, they could be wearing New York Yankees pinstripes.

Without a new stadium that includes lucrative luxury boxes, or a new owner who’s willing to spend some of his own money, many Twins players might be forced to look to baseball’s big markets to get the salaries they deserve.

“This is a great moment for this team, and we ought to enjoy it. With the kind of young club they have, they’re going to have a lot of these moments in the years to come,” said commissioner Bud Selig, whose attempt to eliminate the Twins during the offseason was blocked in court.

“The question is, how long can they keep those players?”

General manager Terry Ryan and his staff have done an impressive job developing the young talent that has the Twins tied after two games in the AL championship series against the Anaheim Angels.

The Twins’ players have been developed through the draft, picked up as minor league free agents or acquired in smart trades like the one that brought shortstop Cristian Guzman and lefty Eric Milton from the Yankees for Chuck Knoblauch in 1998.

If this year’s postseason has proved anything, it’s that a big payroll isn’t necessarily the key to winning.

“I think it’s great for baseball, but I think also it shows that if you use your resources wisely, you can build a team that can contend,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. “We’ve certainly done it. The Twins have done it.

“I think the challenge is not so much keeping them together for one year or building them, it’s keeping them together for a period of time so you can really reap the fruits of the team.”

That’s where things get difficult for Minnesota.

While none of their key players will be eligible for free agency until after the 2004 season, the Twins will have some difficult decisions to make in salary arbitration this winter.

Hunter, Mientkiewicz, Jacque Jones and A.J. Pierzynski will be eligible for arbitration this offseason. It will cost much more than $3.25 million the amount the four made combined this season to keep those players in Minnesota, sparking speculation that Mientkiewicz or Jones could be dealt to cut costs.

“I don’t want to go anywhere,” Mientkiewicz said. “We have a lot of special individuals. The reason we didn’t want to get contracted is because we have great guys in this room, from the general manager to the equipment manager.”

The Twins began the season with the 27th-highest payroll in baseball, at about $40.2 million less than one-third of what the Yankees paid their players.

While increased revenue sharing and a postseason run should make Minnesota more money and boost the season-ticket base for 2003, the Twins aren’t sure how much they will be able to expand their payroll.

Plans for a new stadium have stalled in the state legislature, and no potential buyer for the team has been found.

“We aren’t thinking about next year yet,” team president Jerry Bell said. “We just want to enjoy this run right now.”