I can't decide which is more repulsive, Minnesota Twins owner Carl Pohlad volunteering his organization -- once one of baseball's most respected -- for euthanasia, or Pohlad and his son Jim asking Twins front office employees to stick around through a "Pay to Stay" program they instituted last week.

Carl Pohlad once said he would sell the Twins to an out-of-state owner in a ploy to get a new stadium. (AP)

As if anyone in that organization owes even the slightest bit of loyalty to Contraction Carl, the most untrustworthy owner in baseball.

No, deciding which is the more repulsive of those two scenarios is like picking which you'd rather have, dog feces on the bottom of your shoes or smeared on your blue jeans.

Go ahead and say that the Metrodome is an abomination of a stadium (it is), that the Twins missed on some crucial No. 1 draft picks in the 1990s that helped set them back (they did) and that even with a terrific young nucleus, they aren't exactly in position to splurge in this winter's free-agent market (they aren't).

What really has crippled this organization during its steady decline since winning the 1991 World Series is Pohlad.

A multibillionaire banker whose prime reason for being appears to be simply to cut deals, the way Pohlad has allowed this organization to wither on the vine for the past 10 years borders on criminal negligence.

When the baseball people needed a clear vision and a long-term plan, the best Pohlad could do was offer foggy short sightedness. Case in point: The Twins lost their then-regular shortstop, Pat Meares, for nothing when, just before the 1999 winter meetings, Pohlad suddenly reversed course, lowered the budget even more than anticipated and told general manager Terry Ryan of the plan less than a week before the winter meetings.

Ryan quickly attempted to trade Meares, but word was out that the Twins were going to non-tender him, and they ended up losing him for, literally, nothing.

That's only one of many examples on the baseball side of things.

And Pohlad's behavior during the Twins' endless campaign for a new stadium has been even worse.

During one of his first attempts at convincing Minnesotans to kick in for a new stadium in 1997, Pohlad completely misrepresented himself by announcing that he was going to make a cash contribution of $82 million.

Except that, the very next day, word leaked that, whoops, according to the deal Pohlad had struck with the state, he would be getting most of his contribution repaid. It was nothing more than a glorified loan that he would be getting back -- with interest -- and, worse, he brazenly misled Minnesotans.

From then on, there was no way the people of Minnesota were ever going to approve public funds to help this con man get a new stadium.

Things deteriorated from there, particularly in 1998 when Pohlad found a stooge in North Carolina who claimed he was all set to purchase the Twins and move them to the Triad region of the state. What it was was simply another stadium plan -- Pohlad thought that by threatening to sell the Twins to out-of-state interests, he could extort a new stadium.

Wrong.

Not only did the Minnesota legislature call his bluff, but when they did, it turned out that the North Carolina group didn't have enough money to buy the Twins. What a surprise.

With that, though, came one of the most pathetic moments of any new stadium campaign anywhere. One of Pohlad's sons, Bill, is a no-talent Hollywood wannabe who directs commercials.

Well, as the old man was playing on people's fears in threatening to move the team to North Carolina, ol' Bill Pohlad was in charge of producing television spots to help the cause. One of them showed then-outfielder Marty Cordova visiting a children's hospital and tenderly chatting with an ill, bed-ridden kid.

The voice-over went something like this: "If the Twins leave town, a youngster from Waconia won't be able to get Marty Cordova's autograph.''

Touching, sentimental, emotional ... except for this:

The kid had died a few months earlier.

It was utterly appalling. As the commercial was being plastered on local television, someone recognized the kid and put the notice out. The Twins quickly pulled the ad. Cordova, rightfully so, was livid.

I could go on, but you've got things to do and, besides, by now you're probably wondering:

Why shouldn't baseball contract Carl Pohlad right out of his pants?

Here's why:

• Because if baseball is so dysfunctional that it can allow one owner to run a franchise into the ground, then shame on baseball.
• Because in posting their first winning season since 1991 last summer, the Twins drew 1,782,926 million fans -- an increase of 732,927 over their 2000 attendance. The only club in baseball with a bigger increase in attendance was Milwaukee, and that is attributable to the Brewers' new stadium. Even Pittsburgh, with its new ballpark, didn't increase its attendance as sharply as the Twins. Moral of the story: Even in the Metrodome, give Upper Midwest baseball fans a decent product on the field, and they're interested.
• Because while you can wipe out the Twins, you cannot erase their rich history, and each time it arises, it will serve as a reminder of another black mark for baseball. From 1979 through 1995, the Twins won more world championships than the New York Yankees, and from 1988 through 1994, they out-drew the Yankees.
• Because baseball has a moral responsibility toward its fans, and those who have stayed with the Twins through the tough times over the past decade shouldn't be screwed by one man's greediness.

Since '91, Pohlad has barely invested a dime in the club. And yet, thanks to revenue sharing, the guy has made money for the past three seasons.

In a letter to some 70 front-office employees last Friday, Pohlad's son Jim wrote: "Our willingness to go along with contraction, if the commissioner so decides, has come from a feeling of hopelessness. Within the context of baseball's commitment, when we are posed the question, 'Why should the Minnesota Twins not be contracted?' we are unable to find a plausible answer."

The vote for contraction was 28-2 in favor -- with the Twins and Montreal Expos voting against. Commissioner Bud Selig limply claimed that, golly gee, baseball has yet to decide which two clubs will be contracted.

And yet, Jim Pohlad writes, "Our willingness to go along with contraction...."

This has been a dirty deal from the get-go between Pohlad and his buddy Selig. Forbes magazine valued the Twins' franchise at $89 million in April, and reports are that baseball will pay Pohlad somewhere between $200 and $250 million to fold his team and go away.

Meanwhile, who stands to benefit the most if the Twins are wiped away like so much alley graffiti? Why that would be ... Selig's Milwaukee Brewers, of course, who stand to benefit from increased attendance and broadcasting packages.

No, this ill-conceived contraction plan stinks from every angle, but most especially from Minnesota's. Pohlad, who just sold the rest of his banking interests for nearly $1 billion, is an embarrassment as an owner. And for baseball to turn around and reward his negligence by paying him double what his team appears to be worth?

Unbelievable, even by the severely low expectations we have of the owners cartel.

You can bet that if the manager of a McDonald's franchise was negligent and didn't produce the revenue he or she should, then McDonald's would replace the franchise manager before simply closing shop.

Not only is baseball abdicating its responsibility in the most despicable, cynical and irresponsible thing the owners have plotted in their long and shadowy history -- trumping even collusion in the late 1980s and replacement players in the spring of '95 -- it is doing so in disgustingly transparent fashion.

To say that this isn't a negotiating ploy is ridiculous. What it is is a suicide mission designed to have negotiating ramifications.

"This isn't a sad day," Selig said at his Chicago press conference last week, wondering why someone would even ask such a question.

That is such a shameful statement that we don't even know where to begin. But beginning by explaining why it isn't a sad day to the receptionists and ticket sellers and others attempting to support families and hold onto their small little pieces of baseball would be a start.

By the way, in the Pohlads' "Pay to Stay" program, they are promising those who remain with the Twins three months' salary, plus regular termination pay, if the franchise is folded, according to Jim Pohlad.

One week before Thanksgiving, the generosity of some never ceases to amaze.