Article: Mauer Outage

[Deduno Abides]

I remember earlier in the season he was trending towards earning a gold glove at 1B. Is that still the case? It's disappointing that Joe's bat has disappeared lately, but there must still be some value in the glove.

For the duration of his contract, IMO he should be a consistent starter at 1B again next season, then transition to DH and a part-time role for 2018.

The Giants won the WS with Lincecum making a little less than Mauer, because they bit the bullet and buried him in the bullpen. Obviously, they had better players, but it seems the Twins wish to take the opposite approach and still expect Mauer to perform like he used to, as if his playing time should be determined by a contract, instead of building the best team for the future. He is what he is, but he is not what he was. Even on this team, he should be a part-time player and defensive replacement, instead of someone repeatedly put in the position of a key cog.

 

Degrading his role would be a positive statement about looking to the future.

Edited July 27, 2016 by Deduno Abides

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

 

Think lower....

9th?

[twinsnorth49]

9th?

What number does page 2 start on?

[Mr. Brooks]

What number does page 2 start on?

If you are willing to weed out the standard throwaway nonsense (from both sides), there is actually some pretty good discussion in this thread.

[twinsnorth49]

If you are willing to weed out the standard throwaway nonsense (from both sides), there is actually some pretty good discussion in this thread.

As per usual in a Mauer thread.

[USAFChief]

Personally, "What, if anything, should/could be done about Mauer" seems like a pretty important topic.

 

 

[Linus]

Personally, "What, if anything, should/could be done about Mauer" seems like a pretty important topic.

It actually seems like the most trite beaten to death topic in the history of the internet. There is literally nothing new to discuss on this topic and hasn't been for about three years.

[Mr. Brooks]

It actually seems like the most trite beaten to death topic in the history of the internet. There is literally nothing new to discuss on this topic and hasn't been for about three years.

And yet you still find yourself opening the thread.

It's almost like there should be some way to know which thread is which so that you can ignore the ones that have nothing new to offer.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

 

What number does page 2 start on?

was originally trying to make a joke about moving Mauer 7th in the batting order

[LaBombo]

 

It actually seems like the most trite beaten to death topic in the history of the internet. There is literally nothing new to discuss on this topic and hasn't been for about three years.

Three years ago Joe Mauer was an .880 OPS catcher and arguably still one of the 10 best position players in baseball.

 

Two years ago Joe Mauer was recovering from his brain injury and playing his first ever full season at first base, where he proved much less valuable than he had been at catcher.

 

One year ago, Joe Mauer played a full, mostly healthy season at first in which he consumed over 20 million dollars of payroll and played at the level of a replacement player at age 32.

 

This year he appears to be establishing that last year was very likely his true level of value as a player, meaning we know now for the first time that the Twins will almost certainly play the next two seasons with roughly twenty percent of their projected payroll committed to a player who will do almost nothing to help them win.

 

While I can certainly see not wanting to talk about that, it seems at least somewhat relevant to me when discussing how one of the worst teams in baseball is going to go about attempting to turn things around.

 

Edited July 28, 2016 by LaBombo

[Otto von Ballpark]

was originally trying to make a joke about moving Mauer 7th in the batting order

I got what you were laying down! One of the few subtle jokes I have ever picked up on around here...

[twinsnorth49]

Personally, "What, if anything, should/could be done about Mauer" seems like a pretty important topic.

Agreed, and one that has been beaten, flogged, maimed and dismembered to death at least 80 times over in the past 2-3 years, without much new to offer.

 

Sorry, I know it's only my prerogative but nothing is lamer than the same old, predictable Joe Mauer thread imo.

[twinsnorth49]

was originally trying to make a joke about moving Mauer 7th in the batting order

Wait, wut....I can do that?!!

 

Damn, here I was thinking you were referring to something I could actually do.

[Mr. Brooks]

Agreed, and one that has been beaten, flogged, maimed and dismembered to death at least 80 times over in the past 2-3 years, without much new to offer.

 

Sorry, I know it's only my prerogative but nothing is lamer than the same old, predictable Joe Mauer thread imo.

Perhaps you should just ignore the thread then?

Rather than jump into a thread and tell everyone in it how lame and pointless their discussion is?

[Mike Sixel]

 

It actually seems like the most trite beaten to death topic in the history of the internet. There is literally nothing new to discuss on this topic and hasn't been for about three years.

 

Funny, there are about 10 new members this week, from what I can tell on other threads. Maybe not everyone has talked about it enough. Who gets to decide when it is enough?

[twinsnorth49]

Sorry, just yearning for something new to read and discuss. Moving into the dog days of Summer I guess.

 

Oh well.

[Squirrel]

Funny, there are about 10 new members this week, from what I can tell on other threads. Maybe not everyone has talked about it enough. Who gets to decide when it is enough?

New members? How many are duplicate accounts? Hmm ...

[Winston Smith]

 

New members? How many are duplicate accounts? Hmm ...

Why would anyone want to double the pain of being a Twins fan?

[Mike Sixel]

New members? How many are duplicate accounts? Hmm ...

I have no idea. Either way, coming into a thread to say, so talking about this, is silly and rude, imp.

[Halsey Hall]

Got a chuckle out of Ruesse yesterday. They were talking about AJ, his longevity et al, and it was noted AJ has over 2200 hits. At 39 years old, he's liable to play one more year. So Ruesse says AJ will probably be on the HOF ballot for a number of years, and wouldn't it be funny if AJ made it and Joe didn't. That would be classic!

 

On a side note, AJ had Sano totally confused as to what pitch was coming last night. He just toyed with him.

[Mike Sixel]

Like him or not, AJ is tough, and AJ keeps on playing.

[jimmer]

AJ will never make the HOF and will be off the ballot after the first shot.

[70charger]

 

Got a chuckle out of Ruesse yesterday. They were talking about AJ, his longevity et al, and it was noted AJ has over 2200 hits. At 39 years old, he's liable to play one more year. So Ruesse says AJ will probably be on the HOF ballot for a number of years, and wouldn't it be funny if AJ made it and Joe didn't. That would be classic!

 

How in the holy hell would that be funny and/or classic?

 

Besides, Joe Mauer was twice the catcher AJ has been in half the time. Whatever.

Edited July 28, 2016 by 70charger

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Of course Mauer was twice the catcher and AJ will never get more than a single vote or two, if any. But it is an interesting contrast that we traded AJ for Mauer, Mauer went on to have a borderline-HOF career, and yet AJ caught almost twice as many games (guesstimating). I think the key word in Halsey's post was "chuckle". ... Which may or may not be to your taste in wry humor...

Edited July 28, 2016 by Hosken Bombo Disco

[Minniman]

 

OK, I was misinformed regarding the NHL buyout process. I'm amazed that the players agreed to that. They must have an incredibly weak union.

 

Think again.

 

A player retains 2/3 of his salary for doing NOTHING. He can sit at home and watch games for millions of dollars, or he can sign with another team and feed off two salaries.

 

Some players do retire, while other, like Thomas Vanek, sign with another team.

 

Expect both Parise and Suter to get bought out before their contracts end, as much of their payments are already made in the first ten seasons. The last three seasons are used to spread out the cap hit. One or both of them may even retire rather than play for the relative chump change at the end of their contracts.

 

Buyouts do help, but they won't solve those six year $100 million or more contracts that the MLB has. Even under the NHL system, a lot of money would have to be paid.

 

[twinsnorth49]

Whoops, took a wrong turn into Wild Xtra I see, what the hell?