Morneau contract talks end with no deal

Twins first baseman Justin Morneau said talks of a multi-year deal came to an end last weekend when his agent, Mark Pieper, was in Fort Myers.

Morneau said he was "kind of" surprised that no deal could be reached and that the Twins' offer during this round of talks was "not really different" than when talks broke down during the offseason.

"I don’t know what we were really trying to do," Morneau said. "It never got to the point where we were even considering it, so in that sense it was kind of frustrating because we didn’t go to them saying we wanted a long-term deal. They came to us, and it didn’t work out, so it’s kind of frustrating that way.”

Twins general manager Terry Ryan declined to comment, citing the club's policy of not discussing contracts in public.

The reigning American League MVP avoided arbitration during the offseason by accepting a one-year, $4.5 million deal. He will be arbitration-eligible again in 2008, 2009 and 2010 before becoming a free agent in 2011.

It was believed Morneau would agree to a deal similar to the four-year, $33 million deal Joe Mauer signed in the offseason.

"I figured when my agent came down here that if we talked in person it might make a difference, but it didn’t," Morneau said. "So we’ll just go and play this year and maybe revisit it next year. Who knows."