The Twins have passed two of their veteran hitters through the trade waiver process, as Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press reports that Joe Mauer and Logan Morrison both went unclaimed by any of the 29 other teams. Mauer and Morrison are now eligible to be dealt for the remainder of the season.
Mauer has a full no-trade clause that he could’ve used to block a move to another team, had he been claimed and the Twins elected to let the claim stand. Still, it was a moot point since other clubs weren’t likely to make a move for a player who is owed significant money (roughly $6.92MM by Berardino’s calculation) for the remainder of the season, particularly since Mauer is hitting only .275/.357/.367 over 348 PA.
Once one of the league’s best players, Mauer has become only a decently above-average offensive contributor in the latter stage of his career, with a .277/.360/.387 slash line since the start of the 2014 season. He has consistently managed to get on base despite declining power numbers, however, and is less than a year removed from a strong 2017 season. Mauer is also a well-respected veteran who would add to any clubhouse’s leadership.
As of last week, Mauer said he hadn’t been approached by the Twins about a potential trade, and it isn’t clear if Mauer would consider waiving his no-trade clause to join a contender — he said last winter that he would find it hard to play for any team besides the Twins. Since Mauer’s contract is up after the season, however, Minnesota could look to re-sign Mauer in the offseason while giving him a shot at a championship over the last two-plus months of the 2018 campaign.
Morrison signed a one-year, $5.5MM deal with the Twins last winter with a $1MM buyout of a club option year for 2019. That option vests if Morrison reaches 600 plate appearances, though that isn’t likely to happen given that the veteran first baseman/DH has struggled to a .195/.289/.387 slash line and 15 homers over 343 PA. Morrison is just a season removed from a big 38-homer, .868 OPS season with the Rays, yet he had to settle for his modest contract from the Twins after not receiving much interest in free agency. Morrison will face another crowded market of veteran bats on the trade market, and teams aren’t likely to show much interest in his services unless he gets hot at the plate.
Yankees should consider Mauer with Sanchez out for at least another 3 weeks.
To catch? Mauer hasn’t caught in years.
Yeah I didn’t think so. I wasn’t 100% sure and I realized that after I hit post
Another dolt yankee fan. Red Sox Nation baby!!!
BANDWAGON BABY!!!
Since when is a red Sox fan a bandwagon fan? Last I checked dating back to the late 90’s aka 20 years ago the red Sox have been as consistent as they come in reaching the playoffs and have as many titles of anyone besides ny in that time frame.
Yamsi1912 “it fits my personal narrative so it must be true”. There are dumb fans everywhere.
Yeah I’m a life long Yankee fan. You cannot call a Red Sox fan a bandwagon or casual fan.
No such animal.
“I can give or take the Sox, I follow them when they are doing well.”
OMG.
“You cannot call a Red Sox fan a bandwagon or casual fan.”
Actually….you can. It has nothing to do with the BoSox franchise in particular….every team in every professional sports league has a Brinks truck full of bandwagon or casual fans. Assuming the BoSox aren’t capable of having a bandwagon fans goes to show how dense you are.
…Exactly…
Greatcereal, welcome aboard there’s plenty of room !!
Bigkempin, the worst bandwagon fan base I ever seen was the Chicago Bulls in the 90s. There was a gazillion of them.
Don’t hear about many bulls fans today whereas yesteryear there were jerseys and shirts and hats everywhere.
Gary although I certainly appreciate the invitation, I’m gonna happily decline. Go A’s!!!
Ok … go A’s…
Hope to see you in the playoffs.
See, anybody can climb aboard any wagon. GO STROS
He might not have caught in years but he still couldn’t be any worse defensively then Sanchez.
He quit catching because of too many catching-related traumatic brain injuries but maybe for Yankee roster convenience he could go back behind the plate.
It IS a safer game for catchers as of today.
He quit catching because he has weak knees… he legit almost missed a year because of it. Morneau was the Twins player that kept getting concussed.
You’re referring to his year-long bout of “bilateral leg weakness” … it got Gardenhire and the entire organization raked over hot coals because they wouldn’t tell the fans what was going on, same as with any other injury a Twins player was suffering from.
How can Monrneau keep getting concussions if he only played 1st
There are many ways in which a player can hit his head in a sporting event.
Mauer did get a concussion.
Both Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer endured career- altering concussions. Mauer’s most recent is the main reason why he now plays first, and a big reason for his offensive decline. Upon a time, it wasn’t known if he would again see well enough to perform daily functions. That he can still play at all is miraculous. He long ago caught his last, and is certainly too vulnerable to catch even in a pinch.
He hasn’t caught in like 6 years, where have you been?
I don’t watch Twins games… I only know this because of fantasy baseball. I suppose if you don’t play fantasy and you don’t watch the Twins, you might not notice things like that.
And you didn’t watch the AL wild card game last year.
“I don’t watch Twins games… I only know this because of fantasy baseball.”
– – –
Possibly the most truthful post I’ve read on MLBTR in 4-6 years.
95% of the comments I read here contradict what I see watching games on MLB Ticket. And you know I really like honestly think that like 2015 was like back in the day and even stuff after like then doesn’t like really count.
Like. You know.
Honestly.
Really.
He can’t catch
I think they’d rather have LoMo but they wouldn’t want the contract.
The Hall of Fame should consider Kenny Lofton. The writers really screwed up and he needs to be let back on the ballot.
Kenny Lofton does not and never will belong in the HOF. His career OPS+ is only 107. He doesn’t have 2500 hits let alone 3000. Only 6 AS selections and 4 GG in 17 years. Zero silver sluggers and no MVP awards. The one category where he stood out was in stolen bases and he only ended up with 622 of them. He doesn’t belong in the Hall of Fame or the Hall of Pretty Good. Heck he would barely get into the Hall of eh he was halfway decent. Now shut up about Kenny Lofton.
You’re crazy. 6 all star selections in the steroid era isn’t bad at all. You’re forgetting that he was a leadoff hitter who can play a great center field. He was a run scoring machine for 17 years. Over 1500 runs!!!
And a career .797 ops for a leadoff hitter is excellent. He wasn’t just a singles hitter, he had pop. 68 career WAR speaks for itself. That’s actually a higher career WAR than the avg CF in the Hall. Did you know that? How many better leadoff hitters were there during his playing days? Your argument is a great example of how he’s terribly overlooked by most people. People sleep on how valuable a CF leadoff hitter is to a team. You’re out of your mind thinking he wasn’t even a great player. Hall of eh? Halfway decent? You really don’t know what you’re talking about
A. Lofton was more then a ok player but B. he still wasn’t HOF worthy. First off, WAR is useless when talking about HOF, WAR is a comparison of how good a player is compared to the average MLB player at that time, so someone could have a 25 WAR and still not be as good as somone with a 5 WAR depending on the talent level of the league at that time. Lastly, 1500 runs doesn’t put him in the top 60 as far as runs scored goes.
The thought would be for 1st base for Bird since Bird is batting like 213!
The man the myth the legend! Joe Mauer places on revocable waivers!!! I totally get the business move, but damn I wonder how Joe feels about this. Born and raised and played in Minnesota. His contract expires so I guess it makes sense. Hopefully Joe finishes his career in Minnesota
This is not the first time he’s been placed on trade waivers.
Pretty much every player in the league gets placed on revocable waivers
Exactly
Mauer: Hall Of Famer?
nope
Doubtful. Good, but not good enough. Had he stayed behind the plate, probably.
Had Joe avoided the concussions and other injuries, then he makes the HoF easily. Pity. He really was amazing and a joy to watch during his early career. He’s still good at 1B and maybe should have won the gold glove there last year.
Mauer could help a contending team this year, but the Twins would have to eat his salary if they expect quality prospects back for him.
Maybe, 50/50 chance, he’s was so good as a catcher but he got concussions and had to move to first and hasn’t been the same
If he hangs around several more years grinding out decent numbers his totals might start getting close.
I bet he gets in to the HoF through the Veterans Committee, or an equivalent committee come that time.
Agree, he hit over .320 as a catcher for ten years. Will the writers remember that or will he be a case like Don Mattingly with the stats dampened in his later years?
He’ll get it. Old voters will like his batting titles while new voters will like his high JAWS score. Not a first ballot guy but he’ll get in eventually.
I think he has a good shot. Three batting titles as a catcher and his insane 2009 – 365/444/587 as a catcher, an MVP, 55 career WAR at age 35- I suppose if he continues his Wally Joyner 1B career a few more seasons he gets into reasonable counting stats. It’s all dependent, of course, on how good he was as a catcher, but he was so good as a catcher, offensively. He’s going to end up with more career WAR than Piazza, and Piazza was first ballot. And Piazza was a bad catcher.
If Kenny Lofton can’t even make it past the first ballot than Joe Mauer shouldn’t even make it to a ballot lol
Twins can trade for Justin Smoak in the offseason to replace Morrison. Contend in 2019.
Makes no sense, Twins don’t need a first basemen
Joe’s last year on contract and Morrison won’t reach 650(I believe) AB’s to vest. Twins will need a 1b in 2019
Willians Astudillo!
I would like to see him get some AB’s.
They already traded for a 1B in the Lynn deal with the Yankees
Voit will be flipping burgers next year. That was a terrible trade by cashman, regardless if it frees up some international signing money.
Sano, perhaps?
Liberalstooge: I am pretty sure he meant the Twins acquiring Tyler Austin in the Lynn deal.
Astudillo is too valuable defensively to play much of first. He has a shot to start at second or third, or split time with Mitch Garver/ Jason Castro next year. Perhaps as a utilityman, I bet he’s on the active for most of ’19 in some capacity. I think it’s likely that Tyler Austin plays first next year, possibly splitting time with Mauer, and Sano will play more as a first baseman than he did in ’18
GoRockies can go double-check on that. They will need a 1B.
Pretty sure he’s hitting like .270 something.
.239/.314/.398/.712 from 2012-2016
.246/.353/.516/.868 in 2017
.195/.289/.387/.676 in 2018
Boy was 2017 ever a fluke for Morrison. He’s gone right back to roughly the same exact stats (save for a bit of BA/BAbip loss) and similar rates to what he always produced prior
Not sure where those stats are from or what all the slashes represent but his BA from 2012-2016 was .288, which is pretty good.
Read Mauer for some reason, never mind.
ONLY hitting 275/357? The way hitters are described between articles amuses me. Seen players with 250/300 described as having a great season and then here a 357 on base isnt good…
You aware of a little thing called context?
.275/.357/.367/.725 is a full .100 ops points off his career average (.307/.389/.440/.829) and lands perfectly at the League Average for 2018 (registers 100 wRC+, 100 OPS+)
When you account for the below average Def at an easy to field position, what you end up with is a well below average player with nearly 7 million owed to him the next 2 months.
To be worth the cost he can not be hitting “only” league average – he would need to be closer to his career marks to make him remotely worth consideration
Mauer has like a .996 or so fielding percentage at 1B.
AL Average at 1B is .994.
But he also has well below average range, making him a well below average player at 1B overall
Fielding percentage doesn’t show if someone’s a good defender or not.
Mauer is an above average first baseman according to most advanced metrics. Most first baseman do not have good range, that’s why they play first.
Exactly. .367 slugging is absolutely horrible for a 1st baseman. They are usually on the team to hit for power not amass singles and walks. 0.92 ISO would get just about any other 1st baseman DFA’d. Especially with bad D as well.
Lowest ISO in 2018 (min 300 PA)
Dee Gordon (+fld 2b)
Delino DeShields (+fld CF)
Alcides Escobar (+fld SS)
Billy Hamilton (+fld CF)
Jon Jay (+fld OF utility)
Adam Engel (CF)
Matt Duffy (+fld 3B)
Victor Martinez (laughingstock)
Cameron Mayben (OF utility)
Jonathan Lucroy (+fld C)
Joe Mauer (bad fielding 1B)
I see a trend there of plus fielders and premium positions.
Again where is this “bad D” idea coming from? Mauer is a good defensive first baseman, not sure why people keep saying otherwise.
Joe Mauer is far from being a bad 1b….
I agree. Most of the writers on this site are obviously guys who never played any real competitive baseball. They just parrot the sabr rubbish that is the ” in ” thing at the moment.
I’ll take a guy hitting .275 over the guys batting in the low 200s and high 100s, of which there are a ton these days. I’d rather have a player with a .280 – .290 average and lower OBP than a player hitting .220 with a higher OBP. I think walks are highly overrated when evaluating an offensive player. Give me a guy that can hurt their opponent with a well struck opposite field, bases loaded double over a player that either walks or K’s.
“Give me a guy that can hurt their opponent with a well struck opposite field, bases loaded double over a player that either walks or K’s.”
That would not be Mauer then, as apparently you missed the part where he has a .367 SLG.
Of all qualified hitters, that puts him 18th lowest – this despite the high BA. When you account for BA you see his Isolated Power is merely .092; 7th lowest of those 152 qualified hitters. If you don’t know what ISO is, it’s one of those new “in” and “rubbish” things where you look at solely the difference between SLG and BA (literally, its just SLG-BA to isolate just the power. Hope that’s still not too far over your head)
And what does that pitiful ISO he’s putting up actually mean on the field? It means a measly 17 doubles, 1 triple and just 3 HR (all of which rank towards the bottom of qualified hitters)
He can hit singles still and walks at a good rate, but that is basically all he does anymore – get himself to 1st base
Hence context needed, least you end up arguing the greatness of a bad fielding 1B that hits more like he’s a patient Short Stop
Mauer hasn’t hit for power ever ( at least since the Metrodome)…but he does field (Gold glove levels) and hits well above the league average. He would be better the last few years if they had replaced players with some decent talent. Mauer would also have more runs and rbi’s if they could have anyone get on in front of him. He is batting over 400 with an OBP over 500 with runners in scoring position this year alone. He has 86 hits in the league which puts him at 131st in the whole MLB with 38 walks (84th) in only 83 games…Your opinion however…
Southpaw, why do you prefer player who get out more? Would you rather a player hitting .260 that draws walks and hits for power or a .300 hitting singles hitter who barely walks? Batting average is a terrible, terrible stat to use on its own. Without the other numbers it can’t tell you if a player is good at hitting baseballs or not.
Yea, would you rather have a Yuli Gurriel, who has a .289 average, but .317 OBP and .405 slugging %, or a Rhys Hoskins, who’s batting average is .263, but has a .373 OBP, and .515 slugging %.
Jose Peraza
.282 BA over 479 PA
gets on base 33% of the time and has 31 XBH in 439 AB
Bruce Harper
.234 BA over 476 PA
gets on base 38% of the time with 46 XBH in just 376 AB
southpaw2153 there is one of those smart guys who doesn’t fall for the “in” stuff that is “rubbish.” He has actually played the game before. Therefore he knows Jose is a much better batter.
All Harper does is get on base and get himself around the bases – if you’ve ever played the game before you know that stuff is useless.
Mauer could probably still be a pretty amazing pinch hitter in the NL but will need a more reasonable contract and acceptance of a bench role and a team willing enough to surrender a roster spot for a high level pinch hit only guy and those teams may be gone.
I would much rather prefer Mauer remain a Twin and just retire at the end of the year. Not as a merc for a few years for low dollars.
Mauer could have had a championship if he stuck at catcher and didn’t hog up 25% of the payroll.
He could have had a championship if the team he played for actually tried to be competitive and retained some of their players besides him when they reached free agency. Don’t fault him for signing the ridiculous contract they offered him. Don’t blame him for being human and not being able to continue playing the catcher position.
Though his contract hasn’t been a good investment of dollars in the latter years, that contract helped to get a new ballpark built in Minnesota. Though Twins management would have liked more production provided the monetary commitment they gave to Mauer, he’s done everything they could have realistically asked of him, and done everything with class.
His prime or peak was a short window compared to others, but for that time, he was one of the best hitters in the game. And being one of the best hitters in the game without much of a power stroke is saying something about his ability to put the ball in play.