AbeVigodaLive wrote:One of the most classic and obvious contract year guys of all time?
Yet that still gets overlooked.
Mauer was pretty damn good before his contract year as well, not sure what your referring to
True. But he was never as good as that season. His contract year remains the outlier... and he got paid HUGE based on his MVP season with a lengthy contract because the team thought he could continue to be among the best players in the game.
He's never even hit 1/2 as many HRs as that season. It was his best season for BA, OPS, SLG, RBIs, OBP, WAR et al. And he hasn't come close to replicating any of those stats in almost every category.
Oh well yea, if that season was his norm, we'd be talking about the greatest player of all time, I'm not quite sure that's fair. Before that season though, he was still considered the best catcher in the league and one of the top players in baseball.
So yea he had an historic season, but even if he was still around his normal production, he would of probably still got the same deal
Maybe. Maybe not. But I do know his production has plummeted since and that he's averaged only 8 HRs since that anomaly of a 28 HR season.
Whether his previous track record was worth the contract... at the very least, I think we can agree that Mauer rested on his laurels after getting that big contract much like NBA guys like Vin Baker. and Glenn Robinson. Right?
[Note: Slightly facetious... while pointing out the obvious white-washing the media gives certain players. Literally.]
Mauer got his deal for 2 reasons
1. He was a top player in baseball
2. He was Minnesota born and the Twins were moving into a new stadium. To be cheap with Mauer's contract would of got them destroyed by the fans.
If he wasn't getting that deal from the Twins, a team like the Red Sox would of gladly of given him that deal.
Guys like Vin Baker just got fat and lazy. I think injuries just did him in for the most part. I think his MVP year was just a a time where he got super hot and played the best he could possibly play. Kinda like Joe Flacco in his Superbowl run.
Mauer's personality certainly doesn't help him seem like a guy who works hard which also hurts him. Kinda the anti-Rubio in that aspect.
I'm not saying he didn't deserve it at the time. I understand those factors.
But other guys get ripped more nationally after seeing such a drop in production as soon as they start getting paid big.
JasonIsDaMan wrote:I can absolutely see him hitting .300 again...with a .300 slugging percentage. And if he walks enough to get to a .400 OBP, that's a .700 OPS, which is awesome if you are a 2nd baseman or backup catcher, but horrible for your primary first baseman.
There is a belief in the Twins F/O that fans have a special attachment to Mauer. I am not in MIN, but the people I talk to back home have no such attachment, especially after he blocked that trade to BOS.
I don't remember this. Refresh my memory for me.
PS: Joe Mauer, along with Torii Hunter, is a huge reason why I'm even a Twins fan, and I'd like to see him finish his career in Minnesota, but I'm not as attached as I once was. He's easily the most overpaid player in the league, IMO, and he's never going to be anything close to what he was before.
I might have to eat some crow on this one. I could have sworn there was a trade in place in Nov.2012, after he led the majors with a .416 OBP, but I can't find a link of either the Twins announcing/denying a block, or the Red Sox pissed about the block.
Let it never be said that I can admit an error. My apologies.
JasonIsDaMan wrote:I can absolutely see him hitting .300 again...with a .300 slugging percentage. And if he walks enough to get to a .400 OBP, that's a .700 OPS, which is awesome if you are a 2nd baseman or backup catcher, but horrible for your primary first baseman.
There is a belief in the Twins F/O that fans have a special attachment to Mauer. I am not in MIN, but the people I talk to back home have no such attachment, especially after he blocked that trade to BOS.
I don't remember this. Refresh my memory for me.
PS: Joe Mauer, along with Torii Hunter, is a huge reason why I'm even a Twins fan, and I'd like to see him finish his career in Minnesota, but I'm not as attached as I once was. He's easily the most overpaid player in the league, IMO, and he's never going to be anything close to what he was before.
I might have to eat some crow on this one. I could have sworn there was a trade in place in Nov.2012, after he led the majors with a .416 OBP, but I can't find a link of either the Twins announcing/denying a block, or the Red Sox pissed about the block.
Let it never be said that I can admit an error. My apologies.
Pretty sure you might be thinking of the Johan Deal with the Red Soxs. There were rumors they were offering us ellsbury but not Lester. http://espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3138088
But if I remember right Johan had a no trade and didn't want to go to Boston. Also the twins wanted to trade Johan to an NL team because they were still playoff revelant back then.
Could be. When I google searched, I found a lot of Mauer trade talk from Nov/Dec of 2012, and I might have "misremembered" (keeping with the Red Sox theme) that there was an actual trade in place when there wasn't.
I will say, even if the Twins and BOS could have agreed to a framework, I think Mauer would block it. He wouldn't be on every other commercial no matter how good he was, and if it went south, there are a lot of "southies" (no pun intended) who would have made it their business to make his life difficult.
And I do stand by my belief that Mauer can still hit .300 and it still would result in a terrible season.
To be fair Vin Baker had some real issues to deal with. Last I heard he was rebuilding his life working at Starbucks and it sounded like he was getting back on track. I do think Abe makes a good point though but I thought pointing out Vin Baker's issues was worth mentioning. Plus he helped me win some money in fantasy basketball (he was listed as a center) one of the years he was playing really well. Lol
So how do people feel about The comments Mauer made that he has had issues with blurred vision at the plate the last couple years? I'm not at all surprised. It would be great if all the stuff he is doing now takes care of that problem and he can get back to being a pretty good hitter. We will see. I am not being too optimistic though.
