Joe Mauer

[Scott M]

Yep, google "How bobby bonilla landed the luckiest baseball contract ever" His money owed plus interest! Bobby Bo can thank Bernie Madoff!

[dfv87]

They were talking on KFan this AM with Rosen (trying to get him going) but the fact that someone is even suggesting it...

"Fans" were questioning that Mauer took 6 days off for the birth of his twins... (Born 4 weeks early and each weighing 4 lbs and change, but both healthy) and wondering why he didn't rejoin the team in SEA for the last 2 games of the series after his allowed 3 days by MLB. He chose to stay home and not be paid for those 2 games. He then rejoined the team back here in MN for the KC series. They are asking if he would have done this if the team was in a playoff race or if the road trip was another week would he have missed 2 weeks instead etc... Basically questioning his commitment to the team... Rosen did not take the bait, I will!

Anybody who thinks or even suggests that a player put the team ahead of his family is just plain nuts. You should re-evaluate your life and priorities. I know no father, worth anything, that would put a baseball team ahead of his new family (wife and kids). Whomever suggested this is really a poor human being.

[nofishfisherman]

I've heard a lot of talk about that as well. In my opinion its just a bunch of bored sports writers that are tired of writing about a meaningless baseball team.

Joe did the right thing. The babies appear to be healthy but sounds like they are still in the hospital so it makes perfect sense that he wants to be there with them and his wife.

At the end of the day baseball is a job. I go to the office everyday, Joe goes to the ball park, but both of us are just going to work. There is no father worth anything that will put his job above his children and family. Doesn't matter what his job is or how much he gets paid.

My wife and I just had our first child 2 months ago and I took a week off and no one was wondering how I could dare put my family in front of my job.

[JBMasterAngler]

As a father of 2 premature babies (not twins), I can fully relate to Mauer's situation. I actually quit a job when my daughter was born 3 months early. So I wouldn't have had any problem with Mauer had he even taken another week or 2 off.

[rundrave]

I would guess that just by the weight and how early they were born that his twins were in the NICU? As a father of twins, I think everyone has a story that is unique with newborns. With that said I believe other NICU parents can find something common with their own experience.

Props to Joe for being there as a husband and father, his family needed him more than we needed him on the field.

[Big Dave2]

Anyone who thinks Mauer is overpaid simply doesn't know the game.

[greebs]

When you put it that way.....ouch

[thatoneguy]

So it's Mauer's fault that the rest of the lineup sucks, and nobody drives him in when he gets on base and he often bats with nobody on? Interesting take.

Also, what's Mauer's OPS and what's Dozier's? No single stat tells the whole story, but OPS is as good a yardstick as any. I'm guessing Mauer's is likely 140-150 points higher.

If you want to argue that Mauer is overpaid, have at it. I assume you know how much revenue he adds to the franchise in terms of ticket and merchandise sales in addition to his on-field production, and so are making an informed statement.

The thing that most people forget is that Mauer was signed to this contract after having what was one of the best seasons by a catcher in baseball history, at an age when he was coming into his prime. There is no way anyone would have predicted the effect Target Field would have on his HR numbers (which is what many hardball noobs get hung up on).

[Big Dave2]

So it's Mauer's fault that the rest of the lineup sucks, and nobody drives him in when he gets on base and he often bats with nobody on? Interesting take.

If it's just because the rest of the team sucks, why is it that Dozier has more RBI and runs scored than Mauer? For a half million? You could pay Dozier 10 million and it would be a bargain compared to Mauer. Do you think Dozier is worth 10 million?

Also, what's Mauer's OPS and what's Dozier's? No single stat tells the whole story, but OPS is as good a yardstick as any. I'm guessing Mauer's is likely 140-150 points higher.

Yes Mauer's OPS is 140 points higher but who cares about averages? That's the point of my post, to show that averages don't mean as much as real production numbers. You can have all the numbers you want but if you don't put runs across the plate you're not going to win many games. If your guy making 23 million isn't going to produce these runs, who should?

If you want to argue that Mauer is overpaid, have at it. I assume you know how much revenue he adds to the franchise in terms of ticket and merchandise sales in addition to his on-field production, and so are making an informed statement.

I'm just a fan, not a stakeholder. I don't get anything when he sells a jersey so why should I care if he can line the pockets of the owner and MLB? How many jerseys will he sells when people finally start figuring out that he and his contract is the reason the team is losing? A couple more years of this type of losing and no one will be buying Mauer jerseys or any other Twins merchandise because no one will care.

The thing that most people forget is that Mauer was signed to this contract after having what was one of the best seasons by a catcher in baseball history, at an age when he was coming into his prime. There is no way anyone would have predicted the effect Target Field would have on his HR numbers (which is what many hardball noobs get hung up on).

His home run numbers never existed except for one year. I certainly never expected him to be a perennial power house. He was signed to this contract because of all the "hardball noobs" who were "hung up" on Mauer being a home town hero.

[B. Amish]

go field a team with 9 doziers's if thats your point. the rest of us will keep our sanity.

[Big Dave2]

go field a team with 9 doziers's if thats your point. the rest of us will keep our sanity.

And you can have 9 Mauers. We'll see how good you do on a day game after a night game.

[B. Amish]

ok. that was funny.

[greebs]

go field a team with 9 doziers's if thats your point. the rest of us will keep our sanity.

just think of the $ they could throw at pitchers if this were the case.

[B. Amish]

this is dozier's 2nd year in the bigs. good for him that he's having a good year.

is it fair to compare a 2nd year player salary to a 10 year vet?

in mauer's 2nd year he was making $325,000.

how many rookie contracts are over 1,000,000? any? maybe only the foreign signed players like darvish. but , i don't think any drafted players make much more than league minumum until they are arbitration eligible.

let's go compare mike trout to anybody else in baseball salary wise. but, what's the point?

[Big Dave2]

this is dozier's 2nd year in the bigs. good for him that he's having a good year.

is it fair to compare a 2nd year player salary to a 10 year vet?

in mauer's 2nd year he was making $325,000.

how many rookie contracts are over 1,000,000? any? maybe only the foreign signed players like darvish. but , i don't think any drafted players make much more than league minumum until they are arbitration eligible.

let's go compare mike trout to anybody else in baseball salary wise. but, what's the point?

That's not the point at all.

The point of my post is to illustrate that a player hitting for a high average but doing almost nothing else is not and was never worth the cash the Twins threw at him.

I compared Mauer to a player hitting under .250. You can probably sign catchers all day long that can put up those offensive production numbers and save the big money for pitchers or position players that play every day.

It NEVER EVER made sense for a small market team like the Twins to give that kind of money to a catcher unless you have all of your other positions sewed up with all stars.

There's a reason why most clubs strive for power on the corners and defense up the middle, because that strategy usually works. Good hitting catchers are a luxury for a team that already has an all-star at 3rd and 1st. If you put all your eggs into the basket of a guy that only plays 4-5 days a week vs. a position player who can play 6 days a week or a pitcher that can dominate opposing teams every time out, you have the wrong philosophy.

[B. Amish]

last year, the giants won the world series and had the least amount of hr's in all of baseball.

[B. Amish]

and go back and look at the twins roster in 2010 (mauer's first year after signing), they were favorites in their division going into the year. but, morneau got bopped in the head, injuries piled up and the wheels fell off.

[thatoneguy]

that seems so long ago, now...

Oh well. Twins in 2016! Sano, Buxton, Rosario...good times comin'.

[greebs]

and 2016 seems so far away. I just hope all these hot prospects we keep hearing about turn out as good as advertised and healthy

[RumRiverRat]

He is hurt again.

IMPOSSIBLE!

[harvey lee]

Just the start for Mauer, many more days off in the near future. he cannot catch due to being prone to injury, so we move Joe to 1st, still issues.

The dude can still hit the ball when he can play.

I guess noone could have predicted in the future Joe would be as injury prone as he is.

If one could see in the future, it would be alot easier. Never would have given Mauer the money we did. We could have went with a couple good position players or a couple of seasoned pitchers but they also could have gotten hurt.

Just bad luck with the entire Mauer deal the past few years.

[JBMasterAngler]

I predicted he'd be hurt by the end of the 1st month of the season. At least on the bright side, he was able to hold out for an extra week

[mrklean]

[greebs]

Couldn't help but lol at that one

[Superduty]

You guys that hate on Mauer would have hated on ownership if they let him leave. He was hitting .400+ on the current homestand while getting his avg back near .300 for the season and will be in the hunt for a batting title 8 out of 10 years. There isn't a team in baseball that wouldn't want his bat in the lineup.

[JBMasterAngler]

I agree, every team would love to have him in their lineup. However, the twins were the only team willing to pay an outrageously overpriced contract for him!

[Canon Guy]

I agree, every team would love to have him in their lineup. However, the twins were the only team willing to pay an outrageously overpriced contract for him!

How can you say that? He never was a free agent. Had he become a free agent he likely would have received the same or more from another team.

[greebs]

I agree too. Am sure twins want him in lineup too rather than on sidelines. Joe would likely be thriving right now as a yankee. Their short of fence and not having to be the man would benefit him greatly in all likelihood and we'd be complaining that they let him go.

[Superduty]

How can you say that? He never was a free agent. Had he become a free agent he likely would have received the same or more from another team.

Boston would have handed Mauer a blank check. He would hit .375 playing half the season at Fenway.

[JBMasterAngler]

You guys are delusional if you think he'd put up that average in NY or Boston! The media over there would eat him alive!