Joe Mauer and his home run

[Big Dave2]

Gimmick..... LOL

So......you don't think that you could find 2 - $12 mil players who could help the team more than 1 - $23 million catcher who needs to take a month of games off?

[Big Bobber]

Unless all off you are retired or own your own business, (In both cases like me)I am very glad that none of you work or worked for me. 1260 posts on meaningless drivel, a good share of which is being posted on company time. Lots of opinions, but really nothing that helps any of us. Just my opinion as a business owner and former business manager.

[Willy]

Dave, people don't care where he is from as much as you think. They like the fact that the guy is a super player and good guy off the field. Torii Hunter was well loved here also. Kirby Puckett was from all places Chicago.

Also, RBIs are a stat that are more luck than anything. Best stats to evalaute a player AVG/OBP/SLG.

Mauer has posted an OPS under .800 only once in his career at .783, averageing .892

Pierzski has never posted one above .800, averaging .745.

Looking at it that way, Mauer is a far superior hitter to Pierzinski and also a much superior fielder. That is why he makes bank and Pierzinski is middle of the road $-wise.

Also Mauer has finished top 10 in MVP voting 3 times(soon to be 4) in 5(soon to be 6) full seasons, with one MVP award 4 All star appearances.

Pierzinski did make the AS game twice in 10 years and finished 30th one time in MVP voting. He was a good catcher, but to compare him to even close to as good as Mauer is not right.

[SledNeck]

Unless all off you are retired or own your own business, (In both cases like me)I am very glad that none of you work or worked for me. 1260 posts on meaningless drivel, a good share of which is being posted on company time. Lots of opinions, but really nothing that helps any of us. Just my opinion as a business owner and former business manager.

still the most productive workforce in the world

[CodyDawg]

Dave, you cant say we have only had 2 great 1B in the last 40 yrs and not count Harmon! hello, anyone home??? Harmon Killebrew, ever heard of him? Look up most career HRs and you will find him 11th. I kinda think he qualifies. So we have had 3 in the last 40. Maybe more before Harmon, that was before my time. And most of the years in the last 40 have been played with a stud 1B. During the same time period, we have had zero stud catchers (other than Mauer). Just think if you were to name all the stud 1B and all the stud C from all the teams in the last 40 ... or even 20 years.

Bottom line is this, we need Big Dave to make the Twins personnel decisions like Nancy Pelosi needs a Halloween mask....

[Big Dave2]

Dave, you cant say we have only had 2 great 1B in the last 40 yrs and not count Harmon! hello, anyone home??? Harmon Killebrew, ever heard of him? Look up most career HRs and you will find him 11th. I kinda think he qualifies. So we have had 3 in the last 40. Maybe more before Harmon, that was before my time. And most of the years in the last 40 have been played with a stud 1B. During the same time period, we have had zero stud catchers (other than Mauer). Just think if you were to name all the stud 1B and all the stud C from all the teams in the last 40 ... or even 20 years.

Bottom line is this, we need Big Dave to make the Twins personnel decisions like Nancy Pelosi needs a Halloween mask....

OK sorry, you got me, I should have said 38 years instead of 40. The last year that Harmon Killebrew was even relevant to the Twins was 1972. Took them almost 10 years to find Hrbek and another 10 yrs inbetween Hrbek and Morneau. Yep, I guess 1st basemen that hit close to .300, have 30+ HR every season and league MVP trophies are a dime a dozen.

[genegodawa]

Yeah Sled....and even more productive when working for a boss who appreciates the workers more for what they do than what they don't do.

[Big Bobber]

All I know is that I worked for 2 companies in the last 8 years that monitored internet useage, and several people on this board would be looking for a job elsewhere with the high unemployment rate that this country is experiencing. The human resource folks at these companies monitor personal internet useage and will not think twice about terminating abusers. Most companies today are operating "lean" and want employees to be engaged 100% of the time. These HR folks tell me that they get over 100 applications for every job that comes up, (as high as 500 apps) for jobs that range from labor to management. They just terminated a 25 year manager for internet abuse.

Off the subject I know, but if we keep at it we will not be the most productive country much longer. The new generation of worker does not have the work ethic of the "Greatest Generation." Generation X and Y have a long way to go to reach those levels.

[Big Dave2]

Unless all off you are retired or own your own business, (In both cases like me)I am very glad that none of you work or worked for me. 1260 posts on meaningless drivel, a good share of which is being posted on company time. Lots of opinions, but really nothing that helps any of us. Just my opinion as a business owner and former business manager.

This is also an opinion that does nothing to help any of us.

Just so you know, during the day I am working for myself and at night I work for a boss but you won't see any posts from me while I am at that job.

[Canon Guy]

There is NO WAY the Twins would have made this contract to Mauer if he were from Mobile Alabama. They would have done the same thing they did with Yohan Santana and Torii Hunter. Hunter was one of the best outfielders in the league and Santana was a dominating pitcher, again one of the very best. Why didn't the Twins give those guys lucrative contracts?

You could not have asked an easier question. The Twins said all along that they were not going to increase their payroll until revenue started to come in from the new stadium,that's why those guys were traded away or in Hunter's case,just allowed to enter the free agent market. Regardless of what you might think the Twins did exactly what they had to do and promised to do once they got a new ball park,sign their best players. If the Twins had not signed Mauer it would have been a PR nightmare like you have never seen around here.

[Getanet]

Unless all off you are retired or own your own business, (In both cases like me)I am very glad that none of you work or worked for me. 1260 posts on meaningless drivel, a good share of which is being posted on company time. Lots of opinions, but really nothing that helps any of us. Just my opinion as a business owner and former business manager.

Bobber, if you spend enough times in these forums you'll see that some of the people that post the most also claim to be small business owners or managers. I don't think slacking off of blowing off steam is a trait solely reserved for the working class

[Coach1310]

So......you don't think that you could find 2 - $12 mil players who could help the team more than 1 - $23 million catcher who needs to take a month of games off?

Dave.... I will once again point out that you are FOOLING yourself if you think the Twins would have spent 23 million on two other players if they wouldn't have signed Mauer. A HUGE portion of that revenue is generated by Mauer.

Also, this continual comparison to AJ..... It is kinda fun to see you pull out the ONLY statistics that support your point. Do you have any idea how much Mauer's presence contributes to the success of the rest of the Twins? Have you noticed how much he is being pitched around lately? How often his patience leads to extra at bats for guys like Morneau(when healthy), Kubel, Thome, Young? I know you will never let go of your end of the argument.... but then again a captain should sink with his ship!

[SledNeck]

How do these companies monitor Internet usage on a smartphone????

[mr_jman]

How do these companies monitor Internet usage on a smartphone????

Ha ha Nice!!!!!

Hopefully EVERYONE realizes that Dave will pull ANY USELESS STAT about ANYTHING in ANY post that goes against 99% of the way people think who read these forums just to get a reaction out of them... He doesn't post to win arguments he probable sits on his computer and just laughs at the responses people give. Even though the responses legitimately have him beat most of the time! He'll just come up with some dumb stat or comment that has no merit or worth to the argument, but it will get another poster going and keep the thread from dying!

My 2 cents on this thread (which i wasted 20 mins reading through every post!)

It is often said the catcher is the quarterback of a baseball team! We pay Mauer an insane amount of money, and so what if he is from MN, he is one of the best players at his position to ever play the game. Clearly location has nothing to do with it. Are the Vikings not paying Favre an insane amount of money.... Did he not come from the most hated team to Minnesota Vikings fans (don't say the Jets either)? Yet he is st

[thatoneguy]

Now I know Dave doesn't like stats, but I'll throw one more out there.

WAR = Wins Above Replacement

It's a measure of how many wins an individual player is worth over what a replacement-level player would provide (offense and defense combined). a WAR of 8+ is MVP/Hall-of-Fame stuff; 5+ is all-star; 2+ and you're a starter; 0-2 and you're just a warm body; below zero, and you're a waste of a roster spot.

Mauer's WAR the last 5 years: 7.0; 4.6; 8.7; 7.9; and 5.0 (this year's 5.0 will be higher at the end, no doubt, as Mauer's torrid hitting continues). Mauer's 8.7 a couple years ago was the highest in the majors at ANY position.

AJ's WAR the last 5: 1.6; 0.7; 0.6; 1.3; 0.5

His career high WAR is 3.7 in 2003, and his career average WAR is barely over 1.

To sum: Mauer is (and has been) the cream of the crop; Pierzynski is (and has been) barely worth a roster spot, other than a couple of decent seasons several years ago.

Oh - and Dave's been throwing around a figure of 20-some million for Mauer, for some reason. He's actually making 12.5 mil this year. One of the best bargains in the AL.

Big Bobber - congratulations on your retirement. Come up to Leech Lake and I'll take you fishing - while I'm working, even. What a country!

[Big Bobber]

Thanks for the offer. I have not fished Leech since September 2005. Had fun the few times I have been there. Had a ball one cold late September evening over by Bear Island catching large perch and some Walleye. Retirement has been fun. I woke up one Saturday morning and decided that I was sick of corporate america and went to the office and cleaned out my desk. On Monday I went in and turned in my 2 weeks notice. Ten minutes later I was back in my vehicle headed home. I started my own business and haven't looked back. It gave me the chance to spend some time fishing with my 85 year old dad, and spend some time on the farm helping my boys, plus spend about 3 weeks a year fishing in Minnesota. That has been the real bonus. I felt that I couldn't be away from work for more than a few days. I can't make up for those days I missed, but I can try to get even.

Again, thanks for the offer. I may give you a shout sometime!

[LMITOUT]

bump for Loserville USA.

[Big Dave2]

Ha Ha, I forgot about this post from last year. I got a kick out of re-reading it.

I guess the question begs to be asked......how's that $23 mil. salary working out?

[Big Dave2]

I'll predict Joe Mauer continues to be one of the 2 "pujols" best players in MLB and his presence on the Twin's gives them a 100 percent better chance to a World Series title than your idea that we are better off not having him and his contract.

Still predicting this for this year?

[zepman]

The Twins, as a whole, need to stop treating Mauer like he's made of glass.

[bowhunternw]

I guess I never did see that much value in Mauer. Sure he usually hits over 300, but he is not a power threat. If he hit over 300 with 30 homers and was actually better than average defensivley. Then yea, but it seems like whenever I am watching he either doesn't get a throw at base stealers or his throws sail high. I see just as much value in D. Span, guy is fast, great defensively his average isn't as high but makes up for it with other assets.

[ted4887]

Bowhunter - Besides Mauer being the top hitting player at his position over the last 6 years or so, he's also a gold glove player. He has thrown out 36% of base stealers in his career, which last I heard, was the highest of any catcher in the league.

[JBMasterAngler]

He's a great player, no doubt. But his contract is going to be the death of the twins.

[brian6715]

Bowhunter - Besides Mauer being the top hitting player at his position over the last 6 years or so, he's also a gold glove player. He has thrown out 36% of base stealers in his career, which last I heard, was the highest of any catcher in the league.

It's hard to throw out base runners from the bench (but I am sure you guys believe Mauer could do it)

[Mike_Top]

You have to look at value by position sometimes, like ted is saying above. D. Span is a decent player (a .300 hitter and 30 stolen bases is pretty valuable)...but outfielders are a dime a dozen compared to catchers.

[ted4887]

It's hard to throw out base runners from the bench (but I am sure you guys believe Mauer could do it)

It's also easy to write a guy off 3 weeks into an 8 year contract.

What catcher would you rather the Twins have other than Mauer? His value to the Twins goes beyond his on-the-field contributions if you want to talk just money. He's one of the top selling jerseys in all of baseball. Also, his play puts fans in the stands and sells season tickets. Over the next 8 years, the Twins will make plenty of money off of Mauer.

[jwmiller33]

Span, guy is fast, great defensively his average isn't as high but makes up for it with other assets.

you mean like how he has a career 25% rate of getting thrown out when he tries to steal? his caught stealing % was even higher in the minors @ 34%. this guy is a little too aggressive on the bases and it hurts our teams chances at scoring runs

span's minor league numbers suggest he is going to hit for average, which he did in 08 and 09 but not last year (263). he needs to learn to be a more effective basestealer. He has great speed but needs to learn when to use it and when not to

[Duffman]

you mean like how he has a career 23% rate of getting thrown out when he tries to steal?

He doesn't get thrown out trying to steal, he gets thrown out for not paying attention....aka not recognizing what the pitchers pick off move looks like.

[jwmiller33]

He doesn't get thrown out trying to steal, he gets thrown out for not paying attention....aka not recognizing what the pitchers pick off move looks like.

regardless of the specifics, he is not the best baserunner and for a speedy/on base threat/leadoff hitting OF, running the bases is one of the most important parts of his job

[Duffman]

Just funnin ya Jake.