Justin Morneau

[DTro]

Hate to break it to you but this is not limited to the Twins or even Minnesota.

Its much easier to say you are done with pro sports altogether. Or better yet, don't rely on pro athletes, their teams, and their winning/losing to provide you happiness or allow them anger you.

[CaptainMusky]

You can be angry at the twins for not going out in the off season and getting viable starting pitching which ultimately put them in the position we are presented with where morneau is traded. But to be angry at them for this trade considering all the circumstances is completely ignorant. Would you rather he stayed the remainder of the year playing meaningless games and the twins get nothing? Perhaps think of morneau for a second he has been a class act since day one and the twins did him a huge favor by trading him to a contender.

[Big Dave2]

I certainly wouldn't say I'm done with the Twins. I watched them win 2 world series in my lifetime, that's more than the fans of some other teams can say.

[Kyhl]

Good Riddance

Really, you wanted to see the player with the third most home runs as a Twin leave.

I am happy to have been in the stadium when the fans game him a standing O' when he surpassed Tony Oliva in home runs. And we are giving him away because he's washed up?

Sad.

Let's look at the tape.

HR's Per Year.

Pucket 19

Oliva 21

Morneau 28

RBI's Per Year

Pucket 99

Oliva 92

Morneau 109

Slug Percent

Pucket 477

Oliva 476

Morneau 485

Yeah. You are right. Morneau sucks. And if he sucked, then Pucket and Tony O were horrible.

It's a sad day for the Twins.

[Big Dave2]

You do know morneau is Canadian right?

You do know I wasn't talking about the Canadian, right?

[thatoneguy]

Quote:

Let's look at the tape.

HR's Per Year.

Pucket 19

Oliva 21

Morneau 28

RBI's Per Year

Pucket 99

Oliva 92

Morneau 109

Slug Percent

Pucket 477

Oliva 476

Morneau 485

that's some gorgeous cherrypicking, right there.

[B. Amish]

good grief. they still have the same chance of resigning him next year as they did about 7 days ago. instead they traded him to a contender and got two bodies in return.

and you guys are mad cause they should've done what exactly?

the of'er they got doesn't appear to be great, but i will say it's hard to get a shot in the majors if the guy playing in front of you is a perennial mvp candidate.

[CaptainMusky]

Last I checked Mauer was a catcher who played first base on occasion. So to call him and overpaid first baseman is a stretch at best. It just may happen he ends up there due to his injuries but he is a catcher.

[CaptainMusky]

and you guys are mad cause they should've done what exactly?

yeah most of these are are reacting to this most likely because of their overall frustrations with the decisions made by the front office over the course of years versus this individual trade. IMO this was a great move forall parties. Morneau can play with a ccontender twins get something in return and still have a shot to resign him. If they didn't do the trade he could be gone next year and received nothing. It wasn't doing the twins or morneau any good by keeping him here through the rest of this pointless season.

[RumRiverRat]

Washed up and has a brain made of jello.

In 20 years he will not remember his own name.

[Big Dave2]

Last I checked Mauer was a catcher who played first base on occasion. So to call him and overpaid first baseman is a stretch at best. It just may happen he ends up there due to his injuries but he is a catcher.

You must be missing the point then.

Where do you think Mauer will be playing next year? Do you honestly think he will be the regular catcher next year? THIS is the main reason Morneau was traded and not signed.

You make it sound like the reason Morneau was traded was so HE could play for a contender. I doubt the Pohlad's had that on their mind when they made the deal.

[CaptainMusky]

Yes I do believe he will be the regular catcher next year. He may not finish the year there but I don't think they are happy with their other options at catcher to make a switchat this point.

[milkingman]

Washed up and has a brain made of jello.

In 20 years he will not remember his own name.

His stats this year show he is not washed up. Maybe not mvp stats from years ago, but hardly washed up. He will proably bat 270 with over 20 home runs. 70% of mlb players would love to have them stats.

[aanderud]

Yes I do believe he will be the regular catcher next year. He may not finish the year there but I don't think they are happy with their other options at catcher to make a switchat this point.

I agree with you that they don't like their other options, and if this was timing of their own choosing, they wouldn't be pushing him to first already. But this isn't just the management timeline at play. This is an unforseen medical issue, so they have reacted accordingly (and I guess as appropriately as they could).

The twins saw what happened to Koskie and to Morneau. These concussion injuries can take forever to get better (if they ever do). Football players can get away with them, because they don't have to hit MLB pitching. It's about the only way that baseball is 'faster' than football, but it's a big way. Do you think they're going to gamble on having him get a recurring concussion when they owe him another 100 million or so? Catchers can count on getting hit basically daily by foul tips into the mask. There's no way.

Mauer won't ever catch again, at least not for the Twins. He'll be their first baseman, unless something whacky happens and they sign someone else at first and he ends up in a full time DH role instead.

[greebs]

I think aanderud is right about joe moving to 1b next year. that is going to make him really really overpaid. much of his value was that he was a catcher putting up outfielder types of numbers but his power and rbi numbers are going to be dismally low for what should be expected of a 1b making that kind of money. kind of a rich man's version of mark grace.

and getting back to the topic of this thread, I wish the best to morneau and hope the pirates have a nice playoff run in them that he can participate in. more importantly, I hope he doesn't have too many long term effects from those concussions. until the concussions he was the mvp of this team much moreso than mauer and was having the early stages of a career that could have possibly landed him in the argument of best twin ever.

[Hoyt4]

Mauer will be our regular catcher still next year. He is not the only player out with concussion. Cannot give hime too hard of time for this injury like some in the past. As of last week 7 players out with a concussion 6 were catchers and one 3rd baseman. Joe will still start out next year behind the plate. He might play first base to end this season but he will do what he can to catch again.

[nofishfisherman]

Its hard to say where Mauer will play next season. If he moves to first then the opening day catcher is likely not on the roster at this point. If he stays at catcher then the opening day first baseman is probably not on the roster at this point either.

Either way they have a hole to fill with Morneau gone.

[CaptainMusky]

They should consider signing this Justin morneau guy who is a free agent at the of this season to fill that first base hole.

[pegleg]

They should consider signing this Justin morneau guy who is a free agent at the of this season to fill that first base hole.

I doubt if Morneau will give a hometown discount to play for the Twins again. He hopefully will get a taste of the playoffs with Pittsburg and will see the Twins are years away from that ever happening here in Minnesota.

[B. Amish]

i highly doubt morneau will be signing any sort of a 'big' contract anywhere next year so it may as well be with mn.

i'm just guessing but he's probably looking at a max length of 3 years. money wise, it will be less than 10 million per year and could it be less than 5 million per year?

and even if joe goes to first, i doubt he does it full time. meaning, he's still going to catch some just because he can and he's still really good at it. also, why not park him in right field or left field. he can't be any worse than willingham. in fact, joe would probably be pretty dang good out there.

and it's not like every first baseman that has played the game has to be a masher. rod carew anyone? HOF'er rod carew...

[pegleg]

i highly doubt morneau will be signing any sort of a 'big' contract anywhere next year so it may as well be with mn.

i'm just guessing but he's probably looking at a max length of 3 years. money wise, it will be less than 10 million per year and could it be less than 5 million per year?

and even if joe goes to first, i doubt he does it full time. meaning, he's still going to catch some just because he can and he's still really good at it. also, why not park him in right field or left field. he can't be any worse than willingham. in fact, joe would probably be pretty dang good out there.

I would guess Morneau would get a contract similar to Willingham... 3 year $21 million. Morneau is younger but with his health issues I don't see him making Cuddyer type of salary - 3 years $31 million as a free agent.

and it's not like every first baseman that has played the game has to be a masher. rod carew anyone? HOF'er rod carew...

I doubt Morneau would get Cuddyer type of an offer in free agency at $31 million for 3 years. He would be more in line with Willingham at $21 million for 3 years. He is younger but with his health issues I think teams will not go after him much.

[thatoneguy]

I agree that Morneau will likely get 3 yrs and 21-24 million. Maybe a bit more if his September is as good as his August.

I think that long-term the Twins will keep Mauer behind the plate as much as possible (he's still an elite defensive catcher), and maybe prep Sano to man 1B as there are some questions about his glove at 3B. He's still a couple of years away, though, so I suppose they'll sign a washed-up journeyman to man the position in the interim.

[aanderud]

Mauer will be our regular catcher still next year. He is not the only player out with concussion. Cannot give hime too hard of time for this injury like some in the past. As of last week 7 players out with a concussion 6 were catchers and one 3rd baseman. Joe will still start out next year behind the plate. He might play first base to end this season but he will do what he can to catch again.

So, to recap what you're saying here, if you are out with a concussion, there's an 85% chance it was gotten while you were catching. That was precisely my point when I said they'll move him. People with a past concussion already have a higher probability of getting them in the future, so to protect him from that higher probability, management will do what they can. In this case, that means move him to where he will have a lower probability, and based on your numbers above, that means anywhere besides catcher.

If he is behind the plate on anything other than a sporadic or emergency basis next year, I'll be eating a plate full of crow I guess.

[rundrave]

Chris Colabello will be at first for the twins next year not Mauer

[blue_healer_guy]

Hes hitting 197? He will fit right in. Perfect for the pohlads.