Mauer signed to 8 year deal (1 Viewer)

[Gopher State]

Hot rumor in Fort Myers is that the Mets are working a deal for Joe Mauer before the start of this season. Hammond Stadium employees are confirming this.

First, let me say the above is typical of talk going on Twins boards. No LOCAL press is confirming this. As a Twins fan I am concerned as both Mauer and the Twins have said a new deal needs to be done before spring training is over. Things that I have read in the local press that are holding up the deal:

Mauer wants 22 - 21 M a year, Twins are stuck on 20 M-- not a big deal, but on a ten year contract it adds up

Mauer wants a opition to walk away from the deal after 5 years? Twins do not like this

Mauer wants some of the money deferred, the Twins are against this as they have the money now to pay him with the new ball park

It's been to hush in MN about the contract dealings with Mauer, as a homer I can see them making a deal. Locals will be mad, but just try to get Twins tickets with the new ball park to see, fans will get over Maurer imo.

I don't know what the Mets have to give, but they do have good a relationship with Twins G. M. Smith.

 

[ceo3west]

Joe Maurer?

 

[shadyridr]

What kind of ####in Twins fan doesnt know how to spell Joe Mauer?

 

[shadyridr]

The Mets system was barren a year ago but with their 3 hot prospects (Ike Davis, Jennry Mejia, and Fernando Martinez) tearing up spring training they have the goods to get him and they gave up less to get Johan.

 

[Limp Ditka]

I don't know what the Mets have to give, but they do have good a relationship with Twins G. M. Smith.

If the Twins f this one up, like they did the Johan deal, Twins fans will lynch this guy.

 

[Capella]

The Mets have nothing they could give the Twins for Mauer. And no team would give the guy up two weeks before opening day.

If the Twins don't sign this guy, especially if the difference is a million a year...egads.

 

[guru_007]

Mauer wants some of the money deferred, the Twins are against this as they have the money now to pay him with the new ball park

Why in the World would Mauer want some of the money deferred???? That's the silliest thing I've ever heard.

The Mets have nothing they could give the Twins for Mauer.

I would agree with this......but then again, look what they gave up to land Santana.I would think Mauer plays out this season with the Twins for sure. I can't imagine the Twins not signing him long term either....I don't know why they don't give him some type of optional walk clause after 5-6 years. I mean if the Twins are not competitive that far down the line, well, maybe that money would be best freed up for other areas - plus what they would haul in return for Mauer would be pretty good, no?

 

[dparker713]

The Mets have nothing they could give the Twins for Mauer. And no team would give the guy up two weeks before opening day.If the Twins don't sign this guy, especially if the difference is a million a year...egads.

You do realize there is a double hit in trading for Mauer. First the prospects and then the massive deal to keep him. Not alot of teams are even going to be interested, especially if he wants 10 years. I cant believe the Twins would be against deferred money. If the difference in pricing is 1-2 mil per, the could easily see the actual cost of the deal go below 20 mil per by utilizing deferred money. The opt out clause would seem to be the only real sticking point IMO.

 

[JohnnyU]

There would be riots in the streets if the Twins traded Joe Mauer. This is NOT going to happen.

 

[Consigliere]

at Mets fans living a pipe dream.

Everybody settle down

 

[Sudoku_in_the_Bathtub]

won't happen

If it does, expect an empty stadium & the franchise to move eventually.

 

[Greco]

egads is a word you rarely see used anymore.

 

[Giant Wooden Badger]

Zero chance this happens and I'm a Mets fan.

 

[Bill Brasky]

FSN just reported during the Wild post game show that Mauer just signed an 8 year deal.

 

[Wrigley]

FSN just reported during the Wild post game show that Mauer just signed an 8 year deal.

8@$184M

 

[the moops]

Link

Great news for any baseball fan.

 

[fasteddie_21]

Good for him, the Twins, and baseball!

 

[Capella]

I bet this contract is just the precursor to dealing him to the Mets.

 

[Capella]

Link

Great news for any baseball fan.

Definitely. Way to go, Twins.Sit on it, Red Sox fans.

 

[shadyridr]

I bet this contract is just the precursor to dealing him to the Mets.

Mets are still interested in Maurer

 

[avoiding injuries]

Great negotiating by the Mauer camp if they were holding out for 21-22mm per.

 

[MrPhoenix]

FSN just reported during the Wild post game show that Mauer just signed an 8 year deal.

8@$184M

Mauer: "21 mil per"Twins: "20 mil per"Mauer: "22 mil per"Twins: "C'mon, we're opening a new stadium...."Mauer: "23 mil per"Twins: "Ok, you win."

 

[Finless]

Decent deal for the Twins

 

[Wooderson]

Very nice.

 

[Gopher State]

Decent deal for the Twins

 

[Da Guru]

Decent deal for the Twins

Mauer is a very good player but his career numbers beside BA are kinda pedestrian for that kind of cash. Career: 327 BA, 13 HRs per season, 76 RBIs per season.For that money Mauer should at least be a 30-100 guy.

 

[jason12vb]

Decent deal for the Twins

Mauer is a very good player but his career numbers beside BA are kinda pedestrian for that kind of cash. Career: 327 BA, 13 HRs per season, 76 RBIs per season.For that money Mauer should at least be a 30-100 guy.

Career averages...really, that's your hang up? He's 26 years old with 5 full seasons of MLB experience, what would you expect from a 20-22 year old catcher? He just missed 30 HR/100 RBI last year and hit .365 (while missing first 20 games of season). While you'd be nuts to think he can keep up with the average from last year I'm comfortable expecting in the ballpark of 30 HR and 100 RBI.There are plenty of reasons to question this contract, but career averages is the least of my concerns as a Twins fan. How long with he hold up at catcher...the most physically demanding spot? How will spending 23M a year affect the teams ability to put talent around him? What's Morneau going to expect when his contract is up?

 

[randall146]

Decent deal for the Twins

Good deal for Mauer.Great deal for baseball.

 

[Tom Servo]

Decent deal for the Twins

Good deal for Mauer.Great deal for baseball.

Suck it Yanks and BloSox.

 

[igbomb]

Decent deal for the Twins

Mauer is a very good player but his career numbers beside BA are kinda pedestrian for that kind of cash. Career: 327 BA, 13 HRs per season, 76 RBIs per season.For that money Mauer should at least be a 30-100 guy.

He's been the third-best player in baseball over the last two years and was second only to Pujols last year. Couple that with the fact that he's only 26 and he's clearly not overvalued.I think it's likely that he'll be overpaid near the end of the deal, based strictly on performance on the field. But over these next few years he's underpaid if anything.

 

[Wrigley]

He's so good, it takes two three threads to cover this

 

[pollardsvision]

Twins probably didn't have a choice, but this feels like deal that will be regretted down the road.

It's great for fans. It's great for the league. It's great for Joe Mauer. With a new stadium, the Twins didn't have a choice.

Still, the Twins, who've never spent more than $75 mill. for a seasons worth of payroll, giving $23 mill. to an injury-prone catcher? Paying on a career year?

To justify this sort of deal, it seems like Mauer needs to do what he did last year, 8 more times, while staying a catcher. Imo, the odds of that happening are very slim.

I'd guess it's far more likely that, in about 4 years, the Twins and their fans will be cursing this deal.

You can't make $184 mill. mistakes unless you are prepared to spend your way out of them. Maybe the Twins plan on spending alot more money now (never understood how the Minneapolis/St. Paul ever became a "small market"?).

 

[shadyridr]

injury prone?

 

[pollardsvision]

injury prone?

He's no Eric Chavez, but I think there's enough to be concerned. Again, especially considering it's a team that's never committed to spending money now shelling out $184 mill for one player.-Knee injury as a rookie

-Quad injury in '07

-Back injury in '09

-Kidney surgery

If this is the Yankees, it's a risk they can afford. I haven't seen any evidence that the Twins can.

The Twins are a great organization, finding creative ways to win with a limited payroll. Buying extremely high and caving to public pressure to lock up a catcher on a massive deal seems to be break from the philosophy that seemed to be working.

I think everyone wants this to be a great deal. It feels good to see the Twins lock up the hometown hero. It (temporarily) camouflages a major problem with baseball. It even lets Yanks/Sox fans say "See, teams can retain great players if they really want to".

The problem will come, a few years down the road, when the Twins are hampered as a franchise because they "did the right thing".

 

[Giant Wooden Badger]

He also hits a lot of HR to LF and the new park is shorter to LF than the dome.

 

[Jason Wood]

I understand the need to do this deal, but ultimately this will prove more of an albatross akin to the Rockies with Helton in the out years. Mauer's offensive numbers are astounding, for a catcher. But he's going to have to move to 1B/DH to prolong his career sooner rather than later and I'm not sure the power spike last year is to be believed. If he doesn't sustain that power, the Twins are overpaying (not now, but in the back half of that deal) for a corner infielder.

 

[dparker713]

injury prone?

He's no Eric Chavez, but I think there's enough to be concerned. Again, especially considering it's a team that's never committed to spending money now shelling out $184 mill for one player.-Knee injury as a rookie

-Quad injury in '07

-Back injury in '09

-Kidney surgery

If this is the Yankees, it's a risk they can afford. I haven't seen any evidence that the Twins can.

The Twins are a great organization, finding creative ways to win with a limited payroll. Buying extremely high and caving to public pressure to lock up a catcher on a massive deal seems to be break from the philosophy that seemed to be working.

I think everyone wants this to be a great deal. It feels good to see the Twins lock up the hometown hero. It (temporarily) camouflages a major problem with baseball. It even lets Yanks/Sox fans say "See, teams can retain great players if they really want to".

The problem will come, a few years down the road, when the Twins are hampered as a franchise because they "did the right thing".

I generally agree that its a big risk, but their ownership seems to be willing to push payroll to the 100M range. So the team just needs to field a team of 24 guys for the 70M they're used to as opposed to 25. Biggest problem I see for the Twins is the contract removes all flexibilty they have, because unlike the Yanks or Red Sox they cant outspend their mistakes.

 

[Genedoc]

I understand the need to do this deal, but ultimately this will prove more of an albatross akin to the Rockies with Helton in the out years. Mauer's offensive numbers are astounding, for a catcher. But he's going to have to move to 1B/DH to prolong his career sooner rather than later and I'm not sure the power spike last year is to be believed. If he doesn't sustain that power, the Twins are overpaying (not now, but in the back half of that deal) for a corner infielder.

And only because there's no great posting icon. Can anyone point me to any 8 year, $180+ million dollar contract where in year six, everyone agrees it was a great deal because the dude would be worth $40 per on the open market? Even if you can find one or two, they're far outweighed by the Kevin Brown, Todd Helton, Barry Zito, Vernon Wells, Alfonso Soriano, Eric Chavez, etc albatrosses.

 

[igbomb]

injury prone?

He's no Eric Chavez, but I think there's enough to be concerned. Again, especially considering it's a team that's never committed to spending money now shelling out $184 mill for one player.-Knee injury as a rookie

-Quad injury in '07

-Back injury in '09

-Kidney surgery

If this is the Yankees, it's a risk they can afford. I haven't seen any evidence that the Twins can.

The Twins are a great organization, finding creative ways to win with a limited payroll. Buying extremely high and caving to public pressure to lock up a catcher on a massive deal seems to be break from the philosophy that seemed to be working.

I think everyone wants this to be a great deal. It feels good to see the Twins lock up the hometown hero. It (temporarily) camouflages a major problem with baseball. It even lets Yanks/Sox fans say "See, teams can retain great players if they really want to".

The problem will come, a few years down the road, when the Twins are hampered as a franchise because they "did the right thing".

The Twins as a small-market team is a crock. I've seen them ranked anywhere from 14-20 in market size, putting them firmly in the middle of the pack. Couple that with a brand new stadium and they can't claim the limited payroll burden any longer. Going into 2010, they rank 24th in payroll.I agree that Mauer will likely be overpaid on the back-end of this deal, but his value both from on-field performance and marketing leverage for the organization should make the overall contract a good deal for the organization.

 

[Limp Ditka]

Remember when the Twins passed on Mark Prior because he was too expensive



Cubs fans > hi

 

[shadyridr]

I understand the need to do this deal, but ultimately this will prove more of an albatross akin to the Rockies with Helton in the out years. Mauer's offensive numbers are astounding, for a catcher. But he's going to have to move to 1B/DH to prolong his career sooner rather than later and I'm not sure the power spike last year is to be believed. If he doesn't sustain that power, the Twins are overpaying (not now, but in the back half of that deal) for a corner infielder.

And only because there's no great posting icon. Can anyone point me to any 8 year, $180+ million dollar contract where in year six, everyone agrees it was a great deal because the dude would be worth $40 per on the open market? Even if you can find one or two, they're far outweighed by the Kevin Brown, Todd Helton, Barry Zito, Vernon Wells, Alfonso Soriano, Eric Chavez, etc albatrosses.

How many 8 yr, $180m deals have actually been signed?

 

[dparker713]

I understand the need to do this deal, but ultimately this will prove more of an albatross akin to the Rockies with Helton in the out years. Mauer's offensive numbers are astounding, for a catcher. But he's going to have to move to 1B/DH to prolong his career sooner rather than later and I'm not sure the power spike last year is to be believed. If he doesn't sustain that power, the Twins are overpaying (not now, but in the back half of that deal) for a corner infielder.

And only because there's no great posting icon. Can anyone point me to any 8 year, $180+ million dollar contract where in year six, everyone agrees it was a great deal because the dude would be worth $40 per on the open market? Even if you can find one or two, they're far outweighed by the Kevin Brown, Todd Helton, Barry Zito, Vernon Wells, Alfonso Soriano, Eric Chavez, etc albatrosses.

Pretty sure the Yankees are happy with the Jeter deal. The first ARod contract was actually ok as far as cost/performance goes. Manny earned his money other than a 2 month tantrum to get out of Boston. Too early on a bunch of others such as Texiera, CC Sabathia, Johan Santana. So far the Beltran contract has been a mixed bag for the Mets - not horrible, but it could be.As for Kevin Brown, the quality of that contract is really overstated. Guy averaged 154 innings per year over the life of the contract - not ideal but not attrocious since when he pitched he was mostly at an All Star level. Helton's contract is an overpay, but not drastically.

 

[Statorama]

Good grief, what the hell is Pujols going to command?

Is Mauer going to generate $184 million dollars worth of revenue for that franchise? Yikes, at that price I would have raided someone elses minor league cupboard along with that teams major league ready catcher in return (Montero AZ, Soto CHC, Suzuki OAK, etc).

 

[ceo3west]

Good grief, what the hell is Pujols going to command?Is Mauer going to generate $184 million dollars worth of revenue for that franchise? Yikes, at that price I would have raided someone elses minor league cupboard along with that teams major league ready catcher in return (Montero AZ, Soto CHC, Suzuki OAK, etc).

Pujols should get a percent ownership in MLB.

 

[dparker713]

Good grief, what the hell is Pujols going to command?Is Mauer going to generate $184 million dollars worth of revenue for that franchise? Yikes, at that price I would have raided someone elses minor league cupboard along with that teams major league ready catcher in return (Montero AZ, Soto CHC, Suzuki OAK, etc).

Pujols should get a percent ownership in MLB.

He could get MLB ownership, but there is a rule on the books preventing him from getting team ownership absent special consent of the commissioner on the books since Hornsby I believe.

 

[igbomb]

Good grief, what the hell is Pujols going to command?Is Mauer going to generate $184 million dollars worth of revenue for that franchise? Yikes, at that price I would have raided someone elses minor league cupboard along with that teams major league ready catcher in return (Montero AZ, Soto CHC, Suzuki OAK, etc).

Fangraphs calculates that Mauer has been worth $113 million over his 5.25 major league seasons. It's feasible.

 

[Limp Ditka]

Good grief, what the hell is Pujols going to command?Is Mauer going to generate $184 million dollars worth of revenue for that franchise? Yikes, at that price I would have raided someone elses minor league cupboard along with that teams major league ready catcher in return (Montero AZ, Soto CHC, Suzuki OAK, etc).

Pujols should get a percent ownership in MLB.

That will be great when he gets exposed.

 

[ceo3west]

Good grief, what the hell is Pujols going to command?Is Mauer going to generate $184 million dollars worth of revenue for that franchise? Yikes, at that price I would have raided someone elses minor league cupboard along with that teams major league ready catcher in return (Montero AZ, Soto CHC, Suzuki OAK, etc).

Pujols should get a percent ownership in MLB.

That will be great when he gets exposed.

I doubt Pujols has juiced, he's just a natural hitter. He's never hit over 50 HR's. If this guy juiced he'd hit 50-60 every year.

 

[Oh Yes!]

Remember when the Twins passed on Mark Prior because he was too expensiveCubs fans > hi

yeah i remember that

 

[pollardsvision]

injury prone?

He's no Eric Chavez, but I think there's enough to be concerned. Again, especially considering it's a team that's never committed to spending money now shelling out $184 mill for one player.-Knee injury as a rookie

-Quad injury in '07

-Back injury in '09

-Kidney surgery

If this is the Yankees, it's a risk they can afford. I haven't seen any evidence that the Twins can.

The Twins are a great organization, finding creative ways to win with a limited payroll. Buying extremely high and caving to public pressure to lock up a catcher on a massive deal seems to be break from the philosophy that seemed to be working.

I think everyone wants this to be a great deal. It feels good to see the Twins lock up the hometown hero. It (temporarily) camouflages a major problem with baseball. It even lets Yanks/Sox fans say "See, teams can retain great players if they really want to".

The problem will come, a few years down the road, when the Twins are hampered as a franchise because they "did the right thing".

I generally agree that its a big risk, but their ownership seems to be willing to push payroll to the 100M range. So the team just needs to field a team of 24 guys for the 70M they're used to as opposed to 25. Biggest problem I see for the Twins is the contract removes all flexibilty they have, because unlike the Yanks or Red Sox they cant outspend their mistakes.

If the Twins are really willing to consistently push the payroll up over $100 mill., then this makes more sense. For those that believe it's bad to have one player making 20+% of the total payroll, the Twins need a $115 mill. payroll to stay out of that category.I hope they do start to spend money. New stadium, good-sized market with people that love the Twins. They should be willing to spend money.

One thing I don't understand is why they waited until now. If they are willing to spend $184 mill, I'd assume that the fact that Mauer is a apparently a power hitter isn't a surprise to the Twins organization (if it is a surprise to them, then this screams poor decision). I would think the organization should have (A) seen a power surge coming and (B) locked him up before it actually happened.

If there's anything that costs money in MLB, it's power.

They are paying for a triple-crown threat that also catches.

I suspect they are getting John Olerud with a better batting average, but we'll see.