MINNEAPOLIS -- Jim Pohlad acknowledged Friday that as a fan, he believes free-agent third baseman Joe Crede would be a good signing for the Twins.
Pohlad added that he planned to ask about Crede the next time he talked to general manager Bill Smith.
But asking about a player and ordering a move are two different things. One month after Carl Pohlad's death, the Twins have hardly been left in the hands of meddlesome owners.
All three of Pohlad's sons will continue having input, with Jim as the Twins' new point man. But the family will continue trusting baseball decisions to the baseball people, which Jim Pohlad stressed in an hour-long session with writers who cover the Twins.
"I am a fan, probably first and foremost," he said. "So I get excited about transactions. I get excited when the Vikings do a transaction, or the Timberwolves, or the Wild. So I certainly don't discourage it. Nor am I going to say, since I like that as a fan, go do it.
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"Unless you think it's in the best interest of the team."
Pohlad has the final say on all Twins matters now, but he said the team remains confident in Smith. When the Twins reached agreement with reliever Luis Ayala on a one-year, $1.3 million deal Friday, pending a physical, it marked their biggest offseason acquisition to date.
But Pohlad said there is still time to make moves, agreeing the team is under budget and saying the slumping economy has had not affected the roster choices.
"We have payroll room, and we're not done," he said. "The season hasn't started yet. Frequently, transactions occur during spring training, so it still could happen.
"I mean, there's nothing from us saying, 'Don't. We're done. Go into the season and keep your fingers crossed.'"
As CEO of Twins Sports Inc., Jim presided over the news conference in September 2007, when the Twins announced Smith was replacing Terry Ryan as GM, with Ryan staying on as a key adviser.
The Twins fell one game short of a playoff berth in Smith's first season, though some moves didn't pan out as hoped. The Twins have followed with a relatively uneventful winter.
"[Smith] was highly recommended by Terry ... and the performance of last year was, candidly, beyond our expectations. So those two factors result in a continued high level of confidence.
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"Everybody has their own style. All general managers -- Andy [MacPhail], Billy, Terry -- they all have different styles, and their styles develop over time. We're really optimistic and confident that Bill will continue to develop his style, and he'll become more successful."
By next winter, catcher Joe Mauer will be one year from free agency. As the team prepares to move into Target Field in 2010, extending Mauer's current four-year, $33 million contract is an expected priority.
"We're definitely going to look at [long-term contracts] on a case-by-case basis," Pohlad said. "And the success of the contract, the one you're coming out of, certainly will influence our feeling about going into a new one."
Pohlad cited some of the values from his father's stewardship -- loyalty, stability and a commitment to promote from within -- and said he doesn't expect the Twins to change much under this generation of Pohlads.
And the next generation -- Carl Pohlad's grandchildren -- has even more passion for baseball than Pohlad's sons, which is a big reason the family expresses no intention to sell the Twins.
Asked if he could still foresee the family owning the team in 20 years, Jim Pohlad said, "Yes ... that's certainly our goal."
