3:27pm: ESPN's Buster Olney tweets that he heard from multiple sources that Rosen's report of a preliminary 10-year agreement is not accurate.
3:05pm: WCCO TV's Mark Rosen reports that Mauer and the Twins reached a preliminary agreement on a 10-year extension. Such a contract would take him through the 2020 season, at which point he'd be 37.
10:32am: Joe Mauer may soon sign a contract extension with the Twins, believes Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Two Christensen sources take the good vibes even further, suggesting the number of years and guaranteed money is already agreed upon. Christensen's take on a Mauer extension: "It's a matter of when, not if."
If Mauer is locked up, Victor Martinez will jump to the top of the projected free agent catcher class for the 2010-11 offseason.
Between this and the increased Hudson interest, Twins fans could have a pretty great week on their hands here…
Every week is a great Twins week isn’t it? You are right, this would be amazing!
I think the hudson signing is still a long shot but man if we got hudson THAT WOULD BE HUGE!
10 Years!!! YES! This is why Baseball is so great! For Every decade there are at most, a Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken Jr.. Joe Mauer falls in to that consideration as one of the rare great players of his decade. What a great move made by the Twins! This is one of the real special catchers of all time if not one of the best ever. This is a move that needed to be made and thanks to Joe Mauer and his love for the organization and City…It got done! Just a great day for Twins fans and Baseball fans such as myself!
WOO HOOOOOOOO!!!
Excellent.
Mauer + Hudson = my 20 game pack turning into a 40
for me, if I had a 40 game pack it turns into a 81 game pack! This would be AWESOME if the Twins signed Hudson and than agreed to an extension with Mauer!
There you go!
mauer is a beast twins are lucky to have him
All this positivity is making my head spin. Now hopefully it goes from rumor to fact soon.
Theres nothing but good things going on if your a twin fan right now. Not only do they have IMO a top 3 lineup. But, Their ownership is trying very hard to maintain a winning team. In the past they have just tried to crack their payroll and sell off guys like Hunter or Santana because they couldnt afford them. Ive noticed with this particular case of Mauer in Minny. That Minnys buttering their stars up and showing them they will do what it takes to win for instance getting a SS last year when the team begged them too. If im Mauer or Pujols I would be very please that the team is not just concentrating on me to sign but theyre concentrating on the team. They can also use this is somewhat of a leverage point. Not saying that Pujols isnt going to get the 250 from the Cards or Mauer isnt going to get the 150 from Minny.
Good post. The Twins did try to keep Hunter and Santana, reportedly offering 3 for 45M to Hunter and 5 for 100M to Santana. As much as I respect those guys still, thats already more than they’re worth. I gotta be honest, I’m glad the Twins didn’t try to match the offers of the Angels and Mets.
Mauer had a knee injury never back problems, he had that kidney thing but thats it, twins fans aren’t worried about injury because he will play no matter what, he loves the game of baseball and he will be a twin for the rest of his life.
Good for them. Hope I’m not saying this too early, but congrats Twins fans.
I think one of the best parts about being a fan of a midmarket team like the Mariners is the knowledge that it makes Yankee and Red Sox fans cry when another small or midmarket team extends their superstars.
It actually doesn’t make us cry, but thanks for trying.
And who are you kidding midmarket? Did you read Tom Verducci’s breakdown? The Mariners are the worst run organization in MLB last decade.
I think they are set up great this year, don’t get me wrong. But you are a 100 million dollar payroll team. I’m hardly crying about an extension for Mauer. While I’d love him, I don’t know that I trust giving him a huge multi-year deal given his history of back problems. He would truly benefit by being turned into a DH/1B in the next few years to save his bat. Otherwise you will see him take the same path as Posada and Varitek. Right down the toilet. Not saying either is a comparable hitter, but short of Piazza, there have been few able to carry the bat well after 33-35.
Haha hey man, I know as well as anybody how terrible the M’s have been run, thats why we gotta find joy in everything we can. Also, the M’s have had a top ten payroll in recent times but there is a huge drop off from the top 5. I’m just joking, its all in good fun. We’ve seen enough stars leave here in Seattle that its always exciting to see a smaller team keep theirs.
yeah, Bavasi really messed the M’s up.
And Tom Verducci`s insights are the worst in baseball so we are now back to square one. I would be more concerned about the ability of Dicek to get Major League hitting out or where Boston will make up for the loss of Jason Bay. Or the decline of David Ortiz without a few cycles of roids.At the end of the year I am sure Seattle will have a much better record then an old and injury prone Boston Red Sox team in decline.
Tell me more about Boston’s decline – that kind of stuff just never gets old!
I’m a hardcore Yankee fan, but even I would say signing Mauer to pinstripes wouldn’t be fair at all. Our farm system has a few good prospects in that area. That said, Posada is nowhere near the toilet. Varitek on the other hand is half-way down the sewage system. I’ll take Posada’s .285 BA with 22 homeruns to Varitek’s .209 BA with 14 homers any day of the week.
Nope that means the Yankees will get to see Montero, Romine, Sanchez, or Murphy behind the plate.
As a Red Sox fan and more so a baseball fan I strongly disagree.
I hope they get this done soon. It’s just good for baseball.
Agreed. But for different reasons than you probably like it for baseball. There are very few lifetime players, and I feel like Joe should be the first lifetime member of the Twins since Kirby Puckett (if I’m not mistaken). The teams that have signed most of the FA’s this year are the Twins, the Red Sox, and the Mariners… none of which are small market teams so its hardly like “keeping the talent away from Boston and New York” which is why (i’m just guessing) you say its good for baseball.
There are other life time guys. Hrbek and Radke spring to mind, for example. But it gets more relevant when the player is truly excellent.
I did mean relevant players. Lol
Like Chipper. He seems relevent.
Chipper is a class act. He’s flown under the radar a bit, at least IMO, but he’ll go down as one of the best 3B ever.
I do agree that I like the idea of top players staying with one city for their career…kinda like they did when I was a kid. I’m not saying to specifically keep him away from anyone like Bos and NY but if Mauer were to become a free agent, it’s fairly logical to assume that those two teams would be among those in line to sign him. I think the two go hand in hand. I also am a little puzzled about you saying that Minnesota isn’t a small market team…would you elaborate on that?
Well, small market teams are not building new stadiums, signing guys like Mauer to 100MM+ extenstions and committing to 85+MM payrolls for 2010.
Marlins, pirates, royals, rays ect… Those are small market teams. Twins are right there in the middle of the payroll most years in recent memory.
I’m not sure I agree with you on that one. I think there’s a difference between building new stadiums and shedding your status as a small market team. The Pirates also built a new stadium a few years back and yet they remain on your list of small market teams. I also think Mauer is the exception to the rule when it comes to signing big money extensions. He’s a hometown superstar, it would be a huge mistake to let him go…but I don’t see the Twins doing that for everyone on their roster or pursuing big name free agents.
Unfortunately I lost the link and thus have no proof of this, but I saw data last year that the Twins TV/radio market itself was ranked #8 in the nation in viewership. They have a lockdown on the upper midwest (or more specifically, MN, the Dakotas, much of Iowa, and into futher surrounding states). I don’t remember exactly which teams/regions were ranked ahead, but it was mostly the obvious like NY, Boston, Chicago, LA, Bay Area, Philly, and a couple others. As such, the Twins are a mid-market team. For years they have been mislabeled, primarily an understandable mistake by fans who see how low their payroll has been all these years. Their payroll, however, was a product of playing in the metrodome and sharing profits the MN Vikings. Now that they have their own stadium they will be raking in to the tune of $200m (or more) each season, and the payroll will reflect that of a true mid-market team.
Well, if you’re going to cherry pick a particular portion of the market (tv/radio) then you can probably find some way to call any team a “mid-market” team. But really that’s just one factor. Yet you go with that one thing and miraculously jump to the conclusion, “as such, the Twins are a mid-market team.” I’ll go with Forbes Magazine’s evaluation, (I trust they understand markets as well as anyone) and they rank Minnesota 29th . It seems trendy to find some way to go against the grain and claim that everything we thought we knew was wrong, but sometimes if it quacks like a duck…
Bah, my last post had a link in it so it’s stuck in moderation. Summary is that in 2000 our payroll was 16MM. In 2001 it was 24MM. We’ve only had one season where we touched 70MM.
You can spend money while still being small market. Our market is still small, our payroll is getting big. And when we’ve ridden this horse as long as we can, you’ll probably see us back to a more sustainable payroll in the 70’s.
Well, you do have a point, although the teams you mentions are all either have or will soon have nice stadiums. But lets not forget that only 7 short years ago the Twins and Expos were on the verge of being contracted because of lack of revenue. If that doesn’t spell Small Market Team than I don’t know what will.
What’s going on now, and I greatly commend the Twins for this, is that the organization realizes that it has a very solid and squad surrounding 2 potential HOFers who are in their prime. The time to win is NOW, and they realize it. So the pocketbooks are open like never before in Twins history.
If the Twinkies don’t win a WS in the next 5-8 years, the team will go back to small market spending after the stadium shine has worn off and M and M have passed their primes.
So, the Twins better get their butts in gear.
Brad Radke, though admittedly less glamorous than Kirby and Joe, was a career-long Twin (drafted 1991, retired 2006, career 148-139 with a 4.22 ERA, 20 wins in 1997 on a club that won 68 games*).
But he’s also my personal all-time-favorite, so I’m probably a bit keen to point him out.
*Note: I’m posting these up from memory, so cut me some slack if I’m slightly off!
Same for me. Good name drop tho!
Not only is this great for the Twins but great for baseball. Gotta love a smaller market team keep their man.
Read above. Teams like the Twins, Mariners and St Louis all of whom have spent heavily on free agents this year just like Boston this year and New York last year, are hardly small market teams. The lowest payroll among them IS the Twins, but they are set for about $85MM this year (without any extension)… Lets just not call them small market. Its nice to see a player stick it out and work out an extension to become a lifelong Twin. Why don’t we leave it at that?
Just because our payroll this year is pushing $90-100MM doesn’t mean we’re not small market. The Twins 2008 payroll was in the $58MM range which is what was sustainable for a small market team. Our MARKET is still small, but our PAYROLL is increasing. I SERIOUSLY doubt this is where you’ll see our payroll by 2015.
The twins are an up and coming team with payrolls raising, they will need to in order to compete. They didn’t build a new stadium, sign mauer to an extension, ect. Just to go back to a 60-70MM payroll team. Their payroll will only continue to rise as long as their fans respond and buy tickets.
Eh, I’m skeptical that we’ll maintain this type of payroll. The Twins “style” has changed this year to build around this once-in-a-generation talent. I think as long as he’s around and competing at this level, you’ll see our payroll keep up. But if (knocking on wood) Joe were to get hurt, or if the organization was forced to trade him away, I think you could EASILY see the Twins back down in the 60 or 70MM range. I don’t see a problem with that either.
We’ve been able to put quality teams on the field for a reasonable cost for the last ten years because we manage money well and invest in scouting and teaching good baseball. It’s because of that strategy we now field a team full of homegrown studs. And believe me, we’ll ride them as long as we can. I just don’t think this signals a fundamental shift in Twins Baseball.
Tell that to Padres fans. I was there the entire time as the team spent years getting the public to help fund Petco park. The promise of a larger payroll was a key component. The team spent money on new FA’s and kept their in-house talent. Once the stadium was built the payroll went up to the expected levels (around $80m). In 2008 it peaked at nearly $75m. Now you have a stadium that is 5 years old and a payroll that is in line with the Marlins. The ownership of the Padres took the community for a ride with their promises of being competitive. I don’t know anyone who believes that payroll will be coming back up to promised $80m range.
It will be now with Jed Hoyer taking over as GM and with stable financial situations with the team sale and such. Padres payroll will be 70+ as soon as Hoyer spots an opportunity to win, that opportunity just may be a few years away.
That 10th-24th was payroll btw
See my post above – the Twins market is not small, and the payroll is starting to reflect that. Ranked #8 in market viewership last year (man I wish I could find that article, though…)
Beckett_Lackey, I’m not sure you understand the definition of small market. The Twins could have a 300M payroll; they are still are a smaller market. Minneapolis/St Paul is only the 16th biggest metropolitan area in the United States.
Twins fans and mariners fans cover the entire NW region of the US and most west of montreal in canada… Hardly a “small market”. Pirates are a small market and are right near some of the biggest cities in the world. One has nothing to do with the other. Small market refers to fan base and payroll.
It may not be small “geographically” but it sure is population wise. Our media deals don’t TOUCH the Boston/NY/LA area deals. Sure, we got Twins fans all the way into North Dakota…except there’s only about 700k people in the entire state. There are twice as many people who live in the Bronx alone than all of North Dakota.
Not disputing that, but though miami is bigger than any Northern city, they are certainly small market
In fact not just NW… Most of north central us too
Saying the Twins market is restricted to MPLS/St. Paul is like saying the Red Sox market is limited to the City of Boston (though obviously to a different degree). While the MSP metro area is 16th in the nation, they’re market extends through the Dakotas, Iowa, and into parts of other surrounding states. This year’s payroll, which will be upwards of $90 million, reflects that, thanks to the more direct revenue stream provided by Target Field (the Metrodome severely restricted profits).
All this market talk.
Some facts:
1. Minneapolis/St. Paul is the 16th largest market in the US.
2. This doesn’t mean they’re mid-market in terms of MLB. Some markets have multiple sports teams. Chicago, NY, LA, SF, and Dallas/Houston, all have larger markets, but support multiple teams.
3. Twins might broadcast into the Dakotas, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Manitoba, but they sure don’t have alot of season ticket holders in those parts. Nor are the populations there large enough to make the media contracts particularly lucrative.
Twins are mid-market. Historically (this year aside) they’ve been mid-payroll.
Look at the Green Bay Packers. They’re in a *TINY* market, but they continue to sell out games and support a top-notch franchise because of *FAN INTENSITY* – something overlooked in market terms and missing from this discussion. It is possible for a team’s payroll to exceed their market standing, or vice versa, based on FAN INTENSITY within the market. 100,000 Green Bay residents fuel a team because a quarter of them are season ticket holders, and the rest of the stadium fills up with people willing to drive 10 hours to see a game. The Florida Marlins can’t put 10,000 people in the seats in spite of 3,500,000 in their market.
Just food for thought amidst all this “market” talk…
Exactly. Thanks
My only point is they are nowhere near “small market”
when trying to determine what kindof market a team is you have to look at the financial aspect of it. Sure Twins fans exist in the Dakotas, Idaho…etc but you don’t pay money to the organization by being a fan watching at home. The market is determined by the people at the games buying tickets, food, memorabilia, jerseys…etc. My point is, it doesn’t matter how wide your fan base is if you aren’t bringing in the money. Two examples that I am familiar with. The Braves and Phillies. For a while, the Braves were owned by one of the most successful business men in history, broadcast on national tv and based in the NYC of the south and because of this had one of the most widespread fan bases in baseball. But look at turner field during games. Not many people. Now look at the Phillies. A team who’s fan base is mostly out of the city itself but look at their crowds;sold out every game. Because of that, the Braves are mid-market and the Phillies are big market even though it looks like it should be switched
The Twins are exactly a midmarket. They are 14 in attendance, 12th in revenue and before last season, ranked as high as 10th and as low as 24th. They are the definition of a mid-market franchise. No ones comparing them to Mets/Sox/Yanks, but they are by no means a small market team. No matter how you slice it, that’s where they lie.
All MLB teams split merchandise revenue equally, so the Twins are generating as much income off of Teixeira jerseys as are the Yankees and vice versa for Mauer merchandise.
I just hope the twins can multi-task in this situation…Gaining Hudson should not be overlooked. Mauer getting extended is top priority I understand but Hudson makes Mauer and the rest of the Twins that much better. Forgive me for being greedy…I just love when we can make a run spending 1/3 of the Yankees.
You are sadly no longer 1/3 and if you sign an extension with Mauer (say 16MM for 2010 considering they will likely renegotiate his salaries??) and sign Hudson (say $6.5MM for 2010) your payroll will move up to about $100MM which is about half of NY, but far from a third.
Read somewhere that the contract would probably not renegotiate his 2010 salary, and would just start in 2011. I think it was mlb.com somewhere.
I doubt he would be ok with 12 for this year, nor do I think the twins want the deal backloaded considering injury history. I’m almost positive they would have to renegotiate 2010. Perhaps this could be part of the holdup?
I’m not even a Twins fan but this is great news for baseball and the fans in Minnesota. Mauer seems like a class act and the type of guy any team would like to build a franchise around. It’s refreshing to see that, at least for now, a talent like Mauer will stay out pinstrips. Truth is, he might be leaving some money on the table but he seems realize there’s more to life. I wish I had him on my team.
Well, Buster Posey’s no slouch. He may not be a Mauer-level player, but I’d be pretty excited if I were you. And I wouldn’t mind having Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, or Pablo Sandoval in the Twin Cities, haha.
Maybe we could merge our teams. Posey played 9 positions in college, so having Mauer on the same club wouldn’t necessarily block him.
If it’s going down this early he’s gotta be taking a big hometown discount. I’ll believe it when I see it.
Great for baseball! The fewer elite FAs that fatcats NY and Boston can gobble up, the better.
If the new stadium weren’t coming online, odds seem slim this news would have merit. Glad to see it happening. Now, if the Pirates could ever figure out that yes, Virginia, you can make a go of it in a small revenue making market, I’d truly happy.
What kind of an impact does this have on Victor Martinez’s possible contract after 2011? Mauer taking a home town discount could make V-Mart a little more affordable allowing some teams not on the coast to possibly sign him.
I’d hope that Boston extend V-Mart if Mauer is kept from the market. Why wouldn’t they?
Who is V-Mart’s agent? If it is Boras you can bet on him ‘exploring’ free agency. But I agree extending V-Mart is critical for the Red Sox if they want stability at the catching position. You have to figure Varitek is on his last year. Being a fan of a team other than the Red Sox I would hope he hits the market though haha
Would I love to have him on the Red Sox? Sure. Anyone would want him on their team, but I think the majority of baseball fans want him to stay in Minny for all the right reasons. Congrats to the organization, Joe, and Twins fans…Great news.
Am I the only one who needs to see more? Maybe I’m way off base here, but it seemed like only last offseason, all the M named catchers were considered about the same. Mauer, Mcann, Martin, VMart. No doubt Mauer had a season for the ages last year, but let’s see him do it with power again.
If they wait to see him do it with power again he’ll be on the free agent market and they’ll have very little hope of re-signing him without overpaying. Even if his power drops back down to the 10-15 homer range, he’s still a good defensive catcher who is a threat to win the batting title every year, not to mention a hometown kid and the face of the franchise.
Oh no, I totally agree with you. I’m just hesitant to anoint him the 2nd best player in baseball quiet yet.
Oh, ok. I thought you meant they should make sure his power is legit before they give him an extension.
The only thing we need to see more of is less time on the DL. Health is the only legitimate concern.
Agreed.
That’s right…Martin, Mcann, VMart all had 2 batting titles and a gold glove going into last year. Mauer’s lowest POS since he was rookie was .808 when he tweeked his knee. I’d say if anyone considered all the M catchers about the same as Mauer they were looking through rose colored glasses.
who needs power when you hit over .350? The guy has 3 batting titles. Is a season hitting .280 with 30 HR’s better than .350 and 12 HR’s?
Yes, actually. Because it’s very possible that the higher average is a result of more intentional walks (less opportunities for him to raise or lower the avg) or having more (at the time) meaningless hits, such as a base hit with no one on base.
30HRs would probably mean he would have both more meaningful hits as well as more RBIs. For Mauer being one of your two main hitters, I would think one would prefer more power numbers as supposed to a higer average.
How is hitting .350 any more likely to have “meaningless hits” than 30 HRs? Either scenario is just as likely to result in bases-empty hits/HRs, and doing so in meaningless situations.
And this whole argument is moot. The fact is he hit both .350 with 30 HRs and 100 RBIs last year. (I’m projecting ever so slightly based on him missing a month of the season)
You simply can’t find a statistic that Mauer was anything short of stellar on last year. And last year was hardly an exception – it fits in with his prior seasons and the development of power that a 26-year old kid could expect. Not to mention an adjustment to his approach; prior to last year, he never “swung hard”, and just tried for slap singles. The Twins coaches are finally getting him to actually try to swing for the fences, and we’re seeing the results.
I never said he was anything short of stellar. I simply said that, given the two choices you presented, I would take .280/30 over .350/12.First off, a HR is never meaningless. Ever. I should refine what I said about meaningless hits, such as a bases-empty single. What I should have said was that such a hit is a less useful hit, and not a meaningless one. A solo HR has immediate impact, where as a bases empty single could turn into something big, but also might not. It’s all a matter of if you prefer to take the risk of getting more men on base and going for the really big hit, or pulling your team closer/creating more of a cushion right away with a solo blast without the associated risk. I prefer the immediate results approach.If he was a leadoff hitter, I’d say .350/12. But he’s a middle of the order hitter. I think teams prefer more power from those guys.
I too would take 280 w/ 30 HR’s. That assumes normal walk rates for both players and equivalent defense. For what it’s worth Mauer’s 162 game average between 2004 and 2008 was 317/399/457 with an average of 9 HR’s).
……………………………………
Depending on the dollars this could be a great move for Minnesota. I’m just worried about the prospect of a 10 year deal with a CATCHER. Heck – I worry about a 5 year deal with a catcher.
If Mauer has to move off from catching his value plummets. A first baseman with an OPS in the 850 range (which was his average from 2004 – 2008) is hardly exceptional and absolutely not worthy of 10 years at $20m per.
Living in Chicago and being a die-hard twins fan (born in minneapolis) I don’t get to see them play too often (every game against the white sox at us cellular). However, if the twins were to sign ORLANDO HUDSON and extend MAUER I would be forced to make SEVERAL road trips up to see the new ballpark and cheer on my team in a home setting. I would gladly spend the money on this team because they did everything in their power to put out the best possible team.
I would be STUNNED to see both a Mauer extension and a Hudson signing. This would be the icing on a near perfect offseason as far as the Twins are concerned. I mean they would have pulled all the right moves – get JJ HARDY, re-sign PAVANO, move on from CREDE, sign a big bat in JIM THOME, sign O-DAWG, and extend MAUER!! As a twins fan, I couldn’t ask for more!!
Great for the Twins! Don’t get me wrong I would love to see Joe in a Red Sox uniform as I am sure any fan of any team would love to see Joe suit up for them. What he does is amazing. I hope he continues to do it for many years to come. As a fan of the game you can’t help but love him.
Word to the Sox though, LOCK UP VICTOR!
I can understand that Mauer re-signing with the Twins will be viewed as “good for baseball”, but if he doesn’t test the open market he will regret it. The Red Sox, Mets, Yankees, and Twins will all be in on Mauer and he could cash in or at least make the Twins pay more. And if the Twins don’t show more of an effort to get better, than why the hell would he stay with them?
His agent might regret it, but I’m sure Joe will be perfectly happy in Minnesota, being a wealthy, wealthy man.
He’s going to get $20+ million a year and live in Minnesota. Pretty hard to imagine him “regretting” anything about that.
It’s posts like this that make me hate Yankees fans more than anything. There’s more to life than money, and since it’s clear you haven’t been paying attention, the Twins have been making a lot of moves in the effort to get better.
haha how can you blame Yankees fans for wanting the ownership to pay great players like Mauer? I was just making a point that he could make even more money by testing the open market. Also, if the Twins don’t show a better effort to get better pitchers, I personally dont understand why the hell he would want to stay there. Its all about money and winning in baseball. I’d be fine if he stayed there though.
And it’s post like this that make me hate fans like you. We want our owners to spend money, which they do. Does the money equate to winning? Yea, it can. And I would hope every fan would want to see their team win.
I never said you weren’t entitled to wanting your owners to spend money… in fact I agree with you. That’s why I’m ecsatatic Mauer is going to sign again… the Pohlad’s are notoriously stingy. The Twins brass are ponying up the money that will be necessary to keep Mauer in Minnesota… and in case you forgot, he’s from the Twin Cities. Any one with half a brain can understand exactly why he’s resigning. He’s getting the money he wants, the contract he wants, and staying in the place he loves. It’s an easy decision. But obviously you can’t see that, because he’s not signing with the Yankees. Not everything that’s good for the Yankees is good for baseball.
Ah, there’s nothing like making generalizations about an entire fan base, is there? Never mind the 10 or so posts from Yankee fans (me included) saying they’re happy for the Twins, their fans, and baseball. Lets single out the one guy who says Mauer could have made more money elsewhere to solidify the the ridiculous image of Yankee fans you have in your mind. If you want to think all Yankee fans care about is money, then go ahead. Don’t let reality get in your way.
You clearly don’t know much about Joe.
Study up on his biography, lifestyle, and family. You’ll find he’s not a mercenary, simply looking for the highest bidder. He’s very mature in the sense that he realizes fishing with his grandpa in the summer is more important than making $26m vs. $24m a year. As he’s said, “no matter what happens, I’m going to have more money than I’ll be able to spend”.
Would he get more in free agency? Of course. But you prove right now that money isn’t everything, assuming there’s some job out in California that would presumably pay you 10% more than you’re making now, and you’re not relocating and taking it.
What are Yankee and Red Sox fans going to do with themselves. I’ve been reading “Mauer will be a Yankee (or Red Sox)” posts on this site for a good 2+ years now.
How dare Mauer do a deal like this.
They will continue beating the Twins even with Mauer.
Thank god Mauer is going to the twins, good for baseball and now he can’t go to the redsox. While some people say the yankee fans are greedy, here’s one that isn’t (me). The yankees wouldn’t of gotten him anyway, with Romine, Montero, and Posada still able to catch, it just would not have fit their needs.
Mark Rosen just reported the Twins and Joe Mauer have agreed on a 10 year deal….KFAN 1130 AM. Not a Joke.
twitter.com/wccobreaking
Twitter feed for “WCCOBreaking”.
WCCOBreaking on twitter reporting the news. I’m not sure if they’re the official twitter for WCCO but if it is, that’s pretty legit.
You can jump up and down in joy now, Twinkie fans.
Red Sox fans were zeroing in on Mauer throughout 2009. I listen to talk radio, I know. Really going to enjoy that talk radio this week!
Great job Twinkies and Mauer. Here’s to the home team, wherever you are!
Im a Tiger’s fan but happy for the Twin’s fan’s out there. Looking back it turned out to be a good thing that Santana and Hunter didn’t sign extensions which probably prevented Mauer from being able to sign.
I. Am. So. Very. Happy.
About two years more than I would like, but, with a swing like that, he should always be good?
When they said they were close to a deal this early it either meant Mauer gave them a huge discount or the Twins offer blew him away. If what Rosen is reporting is correct, I assume it was the latter.
Yankees fan here. I’m happy that the Twins can get it done. It is good for baseball. Mauer belongs to MIN.
10 years? Dayum. Lol Interesting to see the dollar amount now. Has to be over 200MM.
Btw, I’m interested in how Theo does with Victor next season.
Be careful – the locals know Rosen can be very “Sid-like” :p
…and right on cue Olney spats on it. Atta boy Rosey – you tool.
I still put it at 50/50.
Olney isn’t quite the kind of reputable source I’d like to see…
Yeah I’m not saying it won’t happen, just that this is Rosen going “First!” He’s a goof.
Hey if this is true, great news for Twins fans. Congratulations from an M’s fan folks.
Great move for baseball congratulations Twins fans.
10 years was my worst-case-scenario.
Don’t get me wrong, I love the Twins and I love Mauer.
But I don’t see how a 10-year deal can possibly work out. It’s a kid who’s missed 40% of his career already (2 seasons lost to injury). The best possible case is he’s making $20m a year to perform like, well, everyone expects him to.
The worst case is we end up dwarfing the Pavano-Yankees debacle, and are paying a guy $200m+ over 10 years, to play 6 years or less…
Terry Ryan was opposed to contracts in excess of 4 years, because he believed you always end up overpaying or underpaying for the abilities at the tail-end: neither situation works well for the team or the player.
Only 1 catcher has more innings caught than Mauer in the last 5 years. 40% my ass.
2004: 35 games played2007: 91 games caught2009: 109 games caughtYou’re comparing him to other catchers. I’m comparing him to other *players*. You might translate my concerns into “giving a 10-year deal to an injury-prone position”.
Further:
699 games played in 6 MLB seasons.
99.8 games per season average.
60% of 162 games per season is 97.2 (40% missed)
Do some math first next time. We’re potentially talking a 10-year deal to a guy who played 60% of the time.
“giving a 10-year deal to an injury-prone position”
Can’t really argue with that statement. The only thing is I feel that overpaying for Mauer (in years or dollars) is better than letting him walk… at least from a public perception/fan standpoint.
I agree with you “from a public perception/fan standpoint”.
My anxiety stems from a “franchise management” standpoint…
um… 699/6=116.5, not 99.8. You do some math first next time
Dang. My abacus is broken!
Make that 40% missed time 30% missed time.
Regardless, he’s had a substantial miniscus injury and lower back problems, and he’s only 26.
Twins have to get this done. It might be better to overpay Mauer in the future than lose him.
I’m a Yankees Fan, and I really hope this is accurate.
Twins deserve Mauer, and what else would he want? He is the Face of that Twins Franchise.
5 years or 10 years, just get it done boys.
Good post. Would like to more from Beckett_Lackey_Lester though….
Guess troll patrol is on coffee break?
Buster Olney, don’t go killing my buzz!
Olney is only shooting this report down because he’s pissed off he didn’t get to announce it. Screw off ESPN, go cover the Yankees / Red Sox.
as a white sox fan, it would suck bad to face him for the next 10 years, but i would almost hate it more to see him in a yankee or red sox uniform. Him signing would be great for baseball, you dont see many selfless guys anymore that would pass up free agency to stay with his hometown team
Olney’s multiple sources = Minaya, Epstein, and Cashman.
Rosen’s multiple sources = Sid, The Common Man, and Wally the Beerman.
Touche :-)Although wasn’t Rosen the one who broke the “Favre to Minnesota” story as well?I’m just saying… it’d be nice to get some other sources on this besides Rosen and Olney. Both leave something to be desired in terms of credibility…
EDIT: How much you wanna bet Olney comes back in three hours and “breaks” it, after having previously “debunked” Rosen’s “false” report?
Rosen did break the Favre story…which should instantly give him more cred than anyone from ESPN. I think Olney just shot the report down cause he didn’t get it first. Rosen said during the whole Favre thing he doesn’t like to stick his neck out and he will only run with a story if he truly believes his sources. Call me gullible but I believe Rosen.
Now we just need to sign O-hud or preferebly lopez and we can finally get punto’s bat out of the lineup.
Span
Lopez/O-hud
Mauer
Morneau
Kubel
Cuddyer
Young
Hardy
Harris/Valencia
Switch cuddyer/kubel
If Mauer signs with the Twins for long term that means the Yankees would go internally and give more attention to their catching prospect. Guys like Jesus Montero and Austin Romine will definitely see some action at the big level.
The Twins MSA (Metropolitan Statistical Area) population as well as their Neilson ranking are the very definition of a mid-market. Carl Pohlad spent the 90’s defining himself as a “small-market” owner because it served his interests. He himself was one of the weathiest owners; he had the financial resources to compete with virtually any team except for the Yankees.Mr. Pohlad operated under the belief that his stadium situtation severly limited his revenue – which it did somewhat – but refused to consider investing more in his “product” which would have increased attendance and interest in the team. The dreadful Twins teams of the late 90’s which resulted in significant loss of interest and attendance could have been reversed with a significant infusion of cash to acquire available talent. Had he wanted to, Mr. Pohlad could have increased his payrolls substantially because he himself had the financial resources to do so. Instead he allowed the Twins to stagnate, while along insisting that he needed a new stadium in order to be competitive. As others have pointed out, if Mr. Pohald would have personally bankrolled an additional $20 million per year between 1992-2002, the Twins would have likely been much more competitive and attendance and interest would have not have fallen off so dramtically. Even in a worst case scenario, had the $200 million additional investment in the product utterly failed to improve the team or attendance, he would have died last year with a $2.9 billion fortune instead of one estimated at $3.1 billion. It is of course, easy for me to tell someone else to spend $200 million of their money so I can watch a better baseball team. And, I well understand that a higher payroll does not guarantee success on the field. My point is simply that the size of the market alone does not dictate payroll. It is rather, the owner’s financial muscle and willingness to invest/not invest in their team that are the most important factors.
*Owner intensity* is another one of those concepts like *fan intensity*.
I think an argument could be made that an owner who is willing to run a franchise at a loss (even short-term) is more the exception than the rule. Even Steinbrenner makes healthy profits.
Most owners look at a franchise as an investment; albiet an investment they enjoy monitoring. But they expect return-on-investment that is at least equal to that they could attain from other investments. This means, generally, if they’re not running a 10% annual profit, or somewhere in that neighborhood, their not a shrewd businessman. And if they’re not a shrewd businessman, they’re unlikely to have accumulated the wealth in the first place to purchase a franchise. So a bit of a catch-22 that probably explains why it’s rare for an owner to be willing to run a franchise at a deficit…
The Twins finances are actually relatively open. They’ve pretty consistently dedicated 50-52% of their gross income to salaries. The rest goes to other operating costs, and a small profit on top. I’ll agree with TwinsVet that the Twins organization has been run by a BUSINESSMAN for quite some time. Not one to deviate from a formula that creates consistent profit from consistently low investment.
This year, the management knows that it’s a good time, business-wise, to invest in their team, so they’re doing so. I wouldn’t read any further into it than that.
Lots of people like to take easy shots at the Pohlads (and if you’ve heard any of the sons talk you understand they don’t know baseball from dryer lint) and you did a great job explaining how the old man did business.
The one thing that galls me to this day is their statement that they broke even in ’07 with their largest payroll ever, and then the next couple years – right after the stadium agreement was signed – payroll went down while ticket prices and attendance went up. Hopefully we have truly entered a new era.
I like Mauer as much as most people but 7/8 years, $21-23MM per season for a catcher that will be in his mid 30’s at the end of the contract?
Wow.
The one of the greatest catchers of all time
Even if he is it’s still too much imo.
::exhales slowly:: my first post, here we GO!
As happy as I am for the Twins in signing Mauer, I have to agree here. But, I’d like to take it one step further and say that no professional athlete (in any sport) should be making more than 10-12 million a year. Maybe 13, but that is tops. Baseball needs a cap system, and FAST. Despite what that old coot Bud Selig thinks there is no financial equality or parody or whatever you call it in baseball. The Pirates are going to finish last, the Royals might start well, but will fade, same with the Nationals, Padres, Orioles, Blue Jays, Indians, Astros, etc.
Yes we can talk about Timmy and Zack, but that doesn’t mean jack when your other 4 starters are getting blown out of the water every other start and you have no defense and a minimal offense. And the Giants and Royals probably won’t get to keep the above stars for much longer. I know that Zack signed a 4 year extension last year(?), but when that deal is up, he’s most likely off to a bigger market team, same with Timmy. (it is easy to think that Tim will command more money than Zack when he hits the market) You need a salary cap so teams can keep guys like these.
If you want proof of what I’m getting at, you need look no further than the Pirates. At one time they had Jason Bay, Nate McClouth, Adam LaRoach (who is decent), Freddy Sanchez, Jack Wilson and X-Nady, on their team, at the same time (If memory serves). But they couldn’t keep them. And now, they are going to be a HORRIBLE team this year. And horrible teams don’t bring in revenue and they also don’t bring fans or excitement to the ballpark, and that is BAD for baseball.
So, it’s either get a salary cap in place pronto, re-do the revenue sharing so that the teams who finish last year in and year out can get some help, or start thinking about ::GULP:: contraction to make the game tighter. For the record, I REALLY don’t want the last option.
OK, I’m done with my dissertation. feel free to pick apart. I hope I’m welcomed here.
– Alex.
Oh, I should clarify: When I talk about Timmy and Zack, I’m merely using them as examples to try and make a point regarding how teams can’t keep good young talented players in today’s baseball world. Maybe an example of a previous team having this happen would have been better, but I think this one fits, as these are the players that we young people (14-25, 26) hear about a lot now. I know that other teams besides the Royals and Giants have this problem, and I ALSO know that the Giants have Cain and Baumgartner, and are actually looking fairly decent this year. OK, just thought I’d clear that up some.
The problem with so-called parity and salary caps is they do *not* achieve the desired results. Look at the NFL, where parity and caps are most prevalent. The Browns and Lions have been consistently bad. The Patriots and Steelers have been consistently good. Salary caps are not the end-all-be-all for a “fair” league. In all likelihood, the Pirates and Royals would continue to stink, because they’re poorly run organizations; they don’t draft well, they don’t scout well, they don’t develop well.
Then there’s the inherent problem with parity that some of us detest; the NFL is a crapshoot. Who’s going to be in the Superbowl next year? The Pats or Steelers are definitely more likely than the Lions and Browns, but there’s such a high volume of players moving teams, such a random spread in how teams do from one year to the next, that anticipating how teams are trending, or who’s going to be good, is a bit like playing roulette. I happen to enjoy the “stability” of knowing who’s going to be good, who’s trending upwards, and who’s not. In fact, I *LOVE* the Yankees (and this is coming from a Twins fan). The Evil Empire creates great sports moments. Think 1981 Lake Placid – without the gross disparity between the USSR and USA hockey squads, the Miracle on Ice is nowhere near as magical. Likewise, when the Tampa Rays beat the Red Sox in the playoffs, that’s an absolutely magical moment. And salary caps and parity take the magic off it, because it becomes “any given Sunday” (or “any given season”).
Look at the NHL. They instituted a Cap system after the lockout, and now the small market teams are getting a chance. The Coyotes are looking like they are going to be in the playoffs, granted there is still quite a bit of hockey to be played. The Blues and Blue Jackets have a decent chance as well. The only two or three teams that don’t have a chance to crack the top 8 in either conference are the Oilers, the Maple Leafs and the Hurricanes (although some could argue that the Blue Jackets chances are slim to none right now).
How would a cap make it “any given sunday?” It seems that NOW it is “any given sunday” because you know that the Reds are most likely going to lose, same with the Pirates and the A’s, and all the usual suspects. With a cap system (if done correctly of course) it would allow for closer competition. It would add more magic. I see where you are coming from with Tampa Bay, but how do you know that there past two seasons weren’t just flukes, and that this year they will be horrible? With a cap you would get WAY more intrigue toward the end of the year because there would be no clear cut winner in any division or wild card race. All the best players would be playing, because the end of the season would MEAN something in the divisions where it is predictable.
Wow no updates?
All of you AL East droolers can suck on this one. After all of the talk I heard about Mauer leaving the Twins to go to the Yanks or BoSox for more money, it feels great to see that progress is being made in the name of good baseball and not money.
Very much looking forward to seeing you guys in the playoffs and watching Mauer beast on yall. Maybe this time the ball that lands a foot in fair territory will be ruled in play…
PS
The Pohlads are ballin’ outta control, the richest owners in baseball I believe. We should be able to maintain our payroll.