Mauer

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

I've enjoyed watching this guy for over a decade now, but I can't help thinking how much his inflated salary compared to his meagre hitting stats have held back this franchise since his MVP season. His stats this season aren't much different than they have been in every season since that one great season that earned him his millions....275 BA, 5 HRs, and 39 RBIs. Let those stats sink in for awhile, and realize they make him easily the least productive starting first baseman in the league...while all the while being paid more than almost all other first basemen! Only driving in 39 runs at this stage of the season with 422 plate appearances is startling, and a big reason why our offense has lacked productivity this year.


So, what happens going forward? Austin's 6 HR's in his first 42 ABs with the Twins (yes, more homers than Joe has had in almost 400 ABs!) gives some indication that our lineup may be much more productive with him replacing Joe, especially if we can get a full season of Sano and Polanco too. If Mauer wants to come back at the league minimum and we can find no better options, I might be open to bringing him back as a vet pinch hitter...after all, he still leads the team in OBP this year. But OBP is not what defines first basemen on winning teams...HR's and RBIs do. Why not dedicate Joe's $23 million to the best power hitter available in free agency? Maybe a right fielder to replace Kepler or a 1B/DH to replace Morrison. He's having an off-season, but how good would Bryce Harper look next to Sano and Austin in the middle of the lineup?

Buxton
Rosario
Harper
Sano
Polanco
Austin
Kepler
Garver/Castro
Gordon/Forsythe

I would roll with that lineup. Let's hope the front office spends that available $23 million wisely.

[bleedspeed]

I always wondered home much the Metrodome inflated Joe's numbers. I looked at his last 2 years at the Dome and he hit over .5 better there than on the road. That tanked when he moved to Target field in 2010.

I would love to have him back at a lower team friendly contract, but would love to replace him at 1B. I always wondered why he was not at 3B. The guy was a great QB so I would think he would have the arm.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Good point about Mauer and the Metrodome, bleed...he landed a lot of balls in the bleachers in left center his MVP year that are now outs in Target Field. And defensive shifting has hurt Mauer about as much as anyone.

People often talk about how productive he could be in Fenway with the short left field fence. The Red Sox know they have to win a title this year and could be interested in adding one more piece. Adding Mauer at DH to the lineup in place of Bradley Jr. (one of the other OFers would have to prove they could play center) could really help them. Maybe they would be willing to give us a nice prospect...I'm pretty sure no other team would block the Red Sox if they tried to pick him up on waivers.

[Coolbreeze44]

I always wondered home much the Metrodome inflated Joe's numbers. I looked at his last 2 years at the Dome and he hit over .5 better there than on the road. That tanked when he moved to Target field in 2010.

I would love to have him back at a lower team friendly contract, but would love to replace him at 1B. I always wondered why he was not at 3B. The guy was a great QB so I would think he would have the arm.

Bleed, I too thought he would have made a great 3B. In fact i was surprised he was never given the opportunity over there.

[bleedspeed]

Was he good at throwing out runners? (It is not all on the catcher that is for sure)

It just seemed like he was meant for 3B.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Was he good at throwing out runners? (It is not all on the catcher that is for sure)

It just seemed like he was meant for 3B.

Without looking it up, my recollection is he was very good at throwing out runners. He's such a good athlete, I also think he could have been a good third baseman. The problem is his bat production would have been almost as substandard at 3b as 1b. Once they moved to TC, his value to the team was only if he could have remained a catcher.

[Monster]

I haven't seen any real evidence that Mauer's contract has held back this team from spending money the last 3 or so years maybe even longer. The problem has been more about being so bad that it's difficult to find top end guys to take the money.

It's not fair to discuss Mauer's hitting and leave out his OBP (top 50 in all of MLB the past 3 years) as part of the equation. To me Mauer has added value with his bat the last 3 years in a lineup with a bunch of guys that strike out a lot and playing next to a power hitting 2nd baseman helps even things out. There have simply been way too many other things hold this team back than single out Mauer who is actually a good hitter as a problem. Where is the post about the money we can spend now that we don't have Phil Hughes around who basically gave us nothing the past 2 years?

As for Mauer playing 3b that's an interesting thought. I'd guess 1b just made more sense for a guy that quit catching because of concussions and I believe there has been talk about Mauer having other various dings and stuff over the years. Looking back he started playing 1b full time in 2014. Sano who was a top prospect in the organization who made his major league debut at 3b the following season. Plouffe was a decent starter there and had 40 doubles in 2014. I don't remember there being a no brainer option at 1b in the organization and certainly nobody has emerged to this point. He had to play somewhere 1b likely made the most sense and imo still does.

To me Mauer has been an obviously overpaid but still effective player the past 3 years. He was a sunk cost years ago but after looking like he might not be very effective he has returned to become a solid all around player. A few local media members say they are now more unsure if he is coming back (wanting to play) or not at this point. Everyone says that if he does it will be with the Twins. Personally I'd like to see him come back for another season. I'm not dying to see it happen either though.

[AbeVigodaLive]

We all know about contract year guys. For example, NBA history is littered with them.

But how many other guys earned THAT large of a contract for THAT much of an anomaly season? Joe Mauer should have received more criticism for this.

But he's nice. And non-threatening. And local. And Twins fans are provincial rubes. Et al. I know he's taken some heat here and there... but there's no way that guy would have fulfilled that contract without being pariah #1 in any other city I can think of.

[bleedspeed]

I don't know. I think Mauer has not really held the team back. I think he has gotten his share of bad press over the years for his contract and it seemed fair. I think the concussions were huge for him. We will never know exactly how bad they were. He kept coming to the ballpark and being productive. His contract is up and he is second in all-time hits for the team. I always hear about the lack of HRs and it reminds me of when people wanted Puckett to hit for more power.

The 3B thing for me is just about him bringing more value with position flexibility. It would certainly help next year if we had him as a DH/1B/3B. He could easily get into 3-4 games a week as a backup that way.

[Monster]

We all know about contract year guys. For example, NBA history is littered with them.

But how many other guys earned THAT large of a contract for THAT much of an anomaly season? Joe Mauer should have received more criticism for this.

But he's nice. And non-threatening. And local. And Twins fans are provincial rubes. Et al. I know he's taken some heat here and there... but there's no way that guy would have fulfilled that contract without being pariah #1 in any other city I can think of.

Abe I've seen plenty of people over the years ripping Mauer for that contract. There were Twins fans wanting to flat out cut him 4 years ago and have been even when he has been productive the last few years. As for it being a contract year...Mauer had won 3 batting titles and 3 gold gloves already and was about to turn 27. He was gonna get paid a lot of money (and earned it I've previous seasons) regardless of the HRs. I had some optimism about him making some strides there I always thought it was kind of a bonus for him as a player.