Judge Harry Crump ruled Friday that Major League Baseball and the Twins will have to turn over the documents being requested by the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission. Crump is the same judge who issued the injunction forcing the Twins to honor their lease this season, which ultimately led to the delay of contraction. The Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission is the group that runs the Metrodome and who filed the first suit. They are now alleging that the lingering threat of future contraction damages their prospects of negotiating a new lease with the Twins.

The documents in question include information on the Twins' finances, including information on the loans between Twins' owner Carl Pohlad and Commissioner Selig that caused eyebrows to lift across the country when they were uncovered in January. All requested documents are to be turned over to the MSFC within 60 days. The Commission hopes to use the information to construct an argument that would make contraction of the Twins impossible for the foreseeable future.

I'm not sure this ruling will withstand appeal. However, I had doubts about the last one as well, and it made it through the process. Most believe that the Twins are already safe from contraction next season, because of their likely sale and the recent baffling support in the state legislature for a new stadium, but it would set an interesting precedent if the MSFC is able to prevent their departure without the aid of a lease.

Teams are 2-0 against players in arbitration this season, as Neifi Perez became the second player to go lose in arbitration this season. Perez will make $4.1M next season, as opposed to the $5M he requested.

While they may have won the case, Kansas City will still be paying Perez somewhere in the neighborhood of twice what he'll likely be worth. Perez's salary became inflated during his time in Coors, so now that he's left Colorado even a cursory raise serves to increase the gap between his price tag and his performance.

Between Perez and Roberto Hernandez, overpaying players acquired in bad trades may cost the Royals Mike Sweeney. Rey Sanchez could provide at least as much production at SS while costing significantly less. Perez definitely deserved to be among the players non-tendered this season, but now KC must explore another trade to make room for a more cost-effective option like Sanchez while giving Angel Berroa the time he needs in the minors.

Pete Harnisch agreed to a one-year contract with the Rockies on Tuesday. I delayed commenting on this because I was waiting to see what happened with his physical, but yesterday was a rather slow news day so I wanted to include it in today's article. The outcome of his physical will determine whether the contract is a major or a minor league deal.

Colorado should hope that he doesn't pass the physical, because they have pitchers much more worthy of a 40-man roster spot than Harnisch, not to mention better suited to pitch in the Rockies' rotation. Mike Hampton and Denny Neagle will be in the rotation unless traded. That leaves three slots to be filled by Shawn Chacon, Scott Elarton, Jason Jennings, Denny Stark, and John Thomson.

To begin, Harnisch is a flyball pitcher, which obviously won't mesh well with pitching in Coors, or even AAA Colorado Springs. He's also a finesse pitcher who relies heavily on a curveball and placement of an average velocity fastball. He has a fairly good changeup, but Dan O'Dowd's "Pitchers with great change-ups succeed in Coors" theory hasn't worked out too well for the Rockies so far. His injury history is also a problem in that even if he's healthy enough to pitch, the injuries have affected the command upon which he thrives.

Shawn Chacon pitched well for the Rockies last season in the 27 games he started. He just turned 24 in December and should continue to improve in his second year in the majors.

I'm tempted to place Elarton as an automatic in the rotation, but his salary is only $100K more than John Thomson's $1.3 million, and even though Thomson has been with Colorado for several years, I'm not guaranteeing him a rotation slot. Elarton's a flyball pitcher and has had injury troubles, which led to him spending much of last season on the DL. However, he has a fairly respected history, so he's likely a favorite for a position. Elarton actually pitched very well out of the bullpen when Houston was using him as their setup man, so the Rockies should seriously consider using him as their closer, although I doubt they will.

Jason Jennings only started 7 games for Colorado last season, but he pitched just as well as Chacon. He's 23, a groundball pitcher, and should only improve; Colorado should make every effort to keep him in the 2002 rotation.

Denny Stark is a flyball pitcher, a few years older than Chacon and Jennings, and doesn't really have a history with the club or in the majors, so he is a very long shot to even make the team. However, he'd still probably be a better choice than Harnisch as Stark at least isn't on the downside of his career.

John Thomson only started 14 games for the Rockies last season because of lingering troubles following shoulder surgery in October of 1999 that caused him to miss all of the 2000 season. He's not significantly better than any Chacon or Jennings, but he does appear more suited to a Colorado rotation slot than Elarton, Stark, or Harnisch. He could get squeezed out, though he is among the most expensive of the group.