Joe Mauer

[Canon Guy]

You guys are under the impression he would be treated like the same royalty over there that he is over here. It would be the complete opposite! By the fans! By the managers! By the media! There's no way he's a .300 hitter on those teams!

Talk about delusional.

[flipper]

It seems to me Mauer could play through some of the pain, esp with what he is getting paid. Pay should be based on performance, not just a good college record.

[CAMAN]

It seems to me Mauer could play through some of the pain, esp with what he is getting paid. Pay should be based on performance, not just a good college record.

What college record?

[Ybone]

Yeah, what college record? Mauer was drafted by the Twins right out of high school. Flipper if you ever had back spasms you would know that you can't play through the pain.

[flipper]

Excuse me, high school record. It seems he has had one thing after another wrong with him, esp since signing his last contract. Whatever.

[RumRiverRat]

I would have cheered if they let him go.

Mauer is overrated.

[corncob]

Man,so much for objectivity here!.....I mean , "off with his head" he's injured and should show superhuman recuperative powers.

[Ybone]

Let him go and replace him with who? So instead of a .300+ hitter we could get someone that hits .230 and then you'd be happy? They would still have to pay his salary so no money saved.

[Hawg]

Only in Minnesota do we complain about a perenial 300 hitter.

[RumRiverRat]

Option him to Triple A.

Or cut him.

He is terrible.

[zepman]

The success of the Twins in '87 and '91 is when they had some very tough, gritty guys playing the game. Mauer would have curled up in a corner...in the fetal position, on those teams.

THIS is exactly what this team and market needs...tough and gritty. For the last XXX amount of years, this is the type of player the Twins have shipped out. "Not a club-house guy", "doesn't fit in with the team concept", "doesn't do things the "Twins" way". Did everyone on here check out last years All-Star roster??

There is ZERO leadership on this team...everyone that was capable of "calling" Mauer out on his pussieness (new word) has been "moved". Enjoy it it Mauer backers...he's one heck of a leader in that club-house?!

[greebs]

Agree with Zepman that team lacks a tough leader both on the field and in the clubhouse. I do think joe did try to put the team on his back once ala Puckett but unfortunately that put him on the disabled list for a very long time.

Kidding aside, Mauer is who he is. No salary in the world is going to change that as much as we don't like that.

The team itself is looking much better than I expected. Maybe dozier or someone else will step up and take that leadership role they are in need of.

[gunner55]

Yeah 6 out of the last 7 on this homestand,I didn't see that coming.Dozier,Plouffe,Suzuki have been doing most of the damage with a little help from some of the young guys now & then.I really like the young catcher(Pinto)along with the young shortstop.The pitching seems to be improving too.

[rundrave]

I saw something online asking why the twins didn't give Sam Deduno a rotation spot before the season and it was because they wanted to give Mike Pelfrey $11 million for 2yrs.

But yet when twins fans complain its Mauer's contract that make them angry.

[B. Amish]

don't you get it, rundrave? without mauer's contract, they could afford 5 or 6 guys like pelfrey!!!!!!

[rundrave]

don't you get it, rundrave? without mauer's contract, they could afford 5 or 6 guys like pelfrey!!!!!!

have you seen pelfreys numbers? I sure dont want 5 or 6 more of him? That was a terrible signing, even more terrible that its a 2 year deal. He's not even going to stay in the rotation.

[thatoneguy]

Mauer's contract may be the worst in baseball right now, but that doesn't mean it was bad when it was drawn up and signed. He was coming into his prime years, coming off one of the greatest seasons IN HISTORY by a catcher, the Twins were heading to a new ballpark, and they wanted to build around the hometown hero.

Yeah, it sucks now, but they had little choice back then to avoid riots. Plus how can you foresee "bilateral leg weakness" and all the other dump

[B. Amish]

have you seen pelfreys numbers? I sure dont want 5 or 6 more of him? That was a terrible signing, even more terrible that its a 2 year deal. He's not even going to stay in the rotation.

it was sarcasm

[zepman]

Mauer's contract may be the worst in baseball right now, but that doesn't mean it was bad when it was drawn up and signed. He was coming into his prime years, coming off one of the greatest seasons IN HISTORY by a catcher, the Twins were heading to a new ballpark, and they wanted to build around the hometown hero.

Yeah, it sucks now, but they had little choice back then to avoid riots. Plus how can you foresee "bilateral leg weakness" and all the other dump

I think most people get "why" he got paid...but yes, it is NOW the worst contract in the ML's. Not even close to playing up to his contract.

The Twins went all-in on Mauer and lost....

[dfv87]

It has been said before and again... MAuer's deal while it is bad now... They paid him to be the face and sell tickets and jerseys. Local boy made good MVP, 3 time batting champ, gold glover, silver slugger etc... he got paid to make the twins money... not necessarily to win games. That would be the bonus. is he winning games? no but the twins arbitrary payroll reduction decisions from when they were competitive to now are the reason they are bad not just Mauer's contract. Many other guys were salary reduction victims that cost sus games too, placing all the blame on Mauer's deal is just jealousy of a guy getting paid.

[toughguy]

Joe is overpaid but I don't care - half of baseball is. There's no salary cap in baseball. The problem is that they've cut payroll some $20M plus over the past 3 years. The Pohlad boys should have stepped up an paid more guys to stay. Looking at last year's all-star teams proves my point. How nice would it be to have half those guys back? Problem is we have owners that are in it 100% for the money, not to win championships. Don't be a Pohlad Pocket Protector - demand more from these owners.

[dfv87]

Toughguy has the point here... Pohlads LOWERED the payroll by $20MM when they got the new stadium and increased the value of the team by .5 BILLION dollars but everybody is so worried Mauer is being paid $23MM or maybe 8MM per year more than he should be... really?? that is everybodys problem?? Pohlads need to pony up some cash and get the payroll up so we can sign more players. Mauer should take every penny they give him because if he did restructure the contract Pohlads would not spend it on players anyway... and you all know that is true... leave Mauer alone on this. NOW...Should he play better?.. Absolutely. Shoule he hit for power? Absolutely. IS the team's struggles his fault? He has some blame as a leader Absolutely. But is his contract the problem? Absolutely not.

[candiru]

The Pohlads promised they would put a competitive team on the field if they got a new stadium. Any grounds for a lawsuit? %$*@#$% billionaire welfare cases.

[fishersofmen]

Anyone seen Morneau's stats so far this year?

Looks like we kept the wrong 1st baseman.

This club for years has been known to get rid of quality players who go on to other clubs and absolutely thrive while holding onto or bringing in total incompetence. Management and everyone down needs to go pound sand.

[not_nuf_time]

Mauer duped us back in the contract year of 28 hrs and 100 some rbi's. Interesting stats: now we get 12 hrs 60 some rbis. Should try muscle sauce, , seems like worked before, oops, hard to think otherwise, just saying,