He will probably play a few games at DH but since the Twins also got Thome this year its probably not going to be a regular thing.
One hell of a deal for Mauer. Then again, as a few others have said he's one of the few players that are actually worth it. What a contract
Baseball contracts are so ridiculous. Do the Twins and Mauer not realize they won't be able to compete regularly over the long-term with this contract? I know Mauer is a stud, but it's almost sad to see this because you know they're either going to lose him eventually or just be happy with not competing.
Not really. This is from last season: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_highest_paid_baseball_players You're only seeing the "superstar" players, but the average baseball player isn't getting that kind of money or that many years on a deal. Compare that against the top players in the NBA and it looks normal.
Of course, the average NBA salaries are going to be higher when you only have 12-15 on a club versus 25. The real blasphemy is that smaller market teams don't have the opportunity to pay these kind of prices regularly. But that argument has been beaten to death for a long time now.
Exactly, as a casual Twins fan myself (not a huge baseball fan, but I do follow it in the summer because its the only thing on), the Twins had no choice but to throw Yankees/Red Sox money at Mauer. In the long run it will benefit them because it will keep the fans happy and Target Field will generate more revenue for the team to help payroll expenses. Maybe some of you don't understand but Joe Mauer is a LEGEND in Minnesota/North Dakota. He was basically a legend before he had his first major league at bat. This guy could be elected Governor of Minnesota in a landslide tomorrow. He's that popular. Ladies love him, men want to be him, etc. There was simply no way the Twins would have been able to justify to their fanbase letting Mauer walk. Now they have Morneau and Mauer locked up for a while, thats a beefy Lefty/Righty order of Mauer/Morneau/Cuddyer/Kubel for their usually power-reluctant style. Santana was a different story, the Twins have a pretty good farm system, but they made a huge mistake by trading Matt Garza for Delmon Young who has been crap. They had to decide between signing Santana and then maybe locking up Mauer while Joe Nathan and Justin Morneau would have likely walked, or they could trade Santana and get something back for him and keep 2 AL MVPs and arguably the league's best regular season closer in Joe Nathan. You do the math. It made sense at the time, but you know they are kicking themselves for giving up Garza and Bartlett for Young. They really didn't get anything for Santana either, Carlos Gomez didn't pan out, but luckily they found a gem in Torii Hunter's protege Denard Span, he's a decent contact hitter and outfielder (not as good as Torii defensively (who was?), but pretty damn good) who locks up the lead-off position for the next 5 years. The pitching staff will be filled up with young talent, guys like Glenn Perkins, Scott Baker, Nick Blackburn will continue to improve but none of them are ace material. Francisco Liriano is a sad story, that kid was out-pitching Santana back in 2006, but he blew his arm out and now he's barely clinging onto the 5th rotation spot. He'll never be what he once was. The real bummer this season is losing Nathan. Even if he comes back healthy from Tommy John's it is doubtful he'll regain his dominant form. Still the Twins will always be competitive because they are fundamentally as sound of a baseball team as there is, and they make up what they lack in talent with great hustle and team play. They are basically the Shane Battier of the MLB, which is why I love rooting for them.
Mayor of the state? Interesting! Both are lefties actually. I think the criticism is that they passed up on great deals because Smith was wringing his hands and he ended up with garbage. Anyone with brains knew Gomez wasn't going to ever be good enough to justify a Santana trade. They got so luck with Span. It would be better if he could get his SB percentages in line though. They are a great team to root for. I'm glad they kept Mauer.
Yeah I typed that up way too fast, I can't even remember if I meant to say Governor of Minnesota or Mayor of Minneapolis. But hey we're talking about a state that has a history of electing professional wrestlers as Governors. Yeah, again typed that up way too fast. Meant to mention the L/L/R/L sandwich with the whiff-king Michael Cuddyer taking hacks between them and Kubel. They also signed Jim Thome, another lefty power hitter
Gomez is like JR Towles... one amazing game out of 100 ain't gonna cut it. (He hit for the cycle last year)
That contract is simply insane. Kevin Garnett got an absurd deal from another team in Minnesota. Is there something in the water that causes this?
I never said the players robbed anyone. That's your word, not mine. I do think the size of the contracts for both players is (and was) rediculous. I don't think any player is worth that much.
KG meant that much to the Twolves, and to their credit he developed into one of the top 3 players in the NBA. They put some pieces around him over the next few years that made them a contender. Then this happened... Mauer is this important to the Twins. Just as Yao is important to the Rockets for other reasons that just what he brings as a player.
