Joe Mauer and the Minnesota Twins reached an agreement on an eight-year, $184 million contract:
Mauer, 26, will make $23 million each year from 2011 to 2018. The deal includes a full no-trade clause.
He is under contract for $12.5 million this year in the final year of a four-year, $33 million deal. Mauer, a three-time batting champion and reigning American League Most Valuable Player, could have become a free agent after the season.
This is a fantastic deal for the Twins and for Mauer. The Twins lock up one of the game’s great catchers and home town hero. Even if at some point he can no longer catch, he hits well enough to be worth the money. Mauer gets guaranteed wealth, especially important for a catcher. The position tends to wear out players early.
The two sides seemed to compromise on price. I had seen Mauer asking for $25 million per year, the Twins offering $21 million. Obviously, Joe wanted to stay with the Twins, and Minnesota didn’t want to face the public relations fiasco of letting him go. It’s a happy day in the land of 10,000 lakes.
I am a Yankee fan and would have loved for Mauer to hit the free agent market. That said, this is good for baseball, the Twins and the the Twin Cities
i actually dont think this is a great deal for the twins. yeah, they keep their guy, but this contract isn’t exactly “club friendly” (apx. 25% of payroll in one guy, with no trade clause). the press releases all say that this is an example of how small market teams can keep their homegrown talent, but that was never really the problem; one big contract isn’t generally a problem for these teams. instead, it will be surrounding that one big contract with other good players. the twins probably have as good a shot at that as any small market team as their player development is second to none, but i cant help but think that before long we will be reading stories about how this contract is as much “in the way” as it is ‘helpful.’
@benjah: You could be right, Benjah. However, I believe the Twins are in for revenue growth, given their new stadium and what looks like a very good team. Also, baseball revenue tends to grow at a pretty steady pace over time. In eight years, revenue could easily double for MLB, making this contract look very good.
Morneau, Span, Kubel, Cuddyer, Baker, Slowey maybe Liriano again-they could be a very interesting team
@david: i understand your point, but i disagree. revenue has gone up for mlb over the last 10 years and we’re still singing the same payroll/parity song. when the twins get to $200mil, the yankees will be at $500. and since cheap young talent has never been more valued, even if another half-dozen guys join the “$20mil/yr club,” the realities will still be the same.
the twins had to do this, no doubt, but if mauer is such a “hometown, down to earth guy,” why didnt he take major deferred money?? that would have made it work for everyone.
I agree with Benjah. The Twins can’t afford to pay anybody this large a percentage of their payroll, especially an oft-injured catcher that might not continue catching.
A DH with a .483 career slugging percentage that makes 25%(ish) of the team’s payroll is going to be tough to overcome.
MH: A DH with a .483 SLG % and a .400 OBP isn’t going to hurt any team.