Article: TEX 4, MIN 1: Twins Struggle to Score Without Sano, Mauer

[Squirrel]

 

I don't think anyone is blaming Joe Mauer just because we wonder if he could have been more aggressive in voicing his ability to play despite a tough lefty on the mound.

It's also not unusual for EVERY poster on this site to speculate and form opinions without knowing 100% if they are right. I mean that's kind of the point of the message boards.

Why is speculation about why Colon is still in the rotation, or Dozier trade rumors not castigated like this?

Nobody in this thread took a personal shot at Mauer.
Leadership is a perfectly in bounds criticism of a pro athlete.

 

Speculation is one thing, and yes, that is what message boards are for. But the following quoted comment was not speculation; it was flat out saying Mauer wasn't in the line up because Mauer didn't want to play. 

 

And people wonder why Joe's leadership gets questioned.
An embarrassing lineup because our 23 million dollar veteran doesn't want to face a "tough" lefty.

 

That goes beyond speculation to me and every poster who responded to it. And you doubled-down by saying the following:

 

"Is Mauer not capable of telling Mollie that he's available despite the tough lefty?"

 

And another poster suggested Mauer needed to 'Man up.'

 

Again ... these comments go beyond speculation to accusation in how they were stated and perceived. Why not just say, then, "I wonder, when these lineups are made, how much the players react to them, and actively try to have Molitor go a different direction? I mean, it would've been nice if Mauer could be stronger and assert himself with Molitor because we could have use him.' And who knows what was said or not by whom, as we don't know. No ... it's all directed at Mauer, and Mauer specifically, and never another. Seriously. It's Mauer baiting and nothing more. And I'm not even a big Mauer fan, not at all, but this one-sided kind of scapegoating gets old.

[Mr. Brooks]

Speculation is one thing, and yes, that is what message boards are for. But the following quoted comment was not speculation; it was flat out saying Mauer wasn't in the line up because Mauer didn't want to play.

 

 

That goes beyond speculation to me and every poster who responded to it. And you doubled-down by saying the following:

 

"Is Mauer not capable of telling Mollie that he's available despite the tough lefty?"

 

And another poster suggested Mauer needed to 'Man up.'

 

Again ... these comments go beyond speculation to accusation in how they were stated and perceived. Why not just say, then, "I wonder, when these lineups are made, how much the players react to them, and actively try to have Molitor go a different direction? I mean, it would've been nice if Mauer could be stronger and assert himself with Molitor because we could have use him.' And who knows what was said or not by whom, as we don't know. No ... it's all directed at Mauer, and Mauer specifically, and never another. Seriously. It's Mauer baiting and nothing more. And I'm not even a big Mauer fan, not at all, but this one-sided kind of scapegoating gets old.

In my opinion, with that embarrassing lineup Molitor had to run out there in this game, he's tripping over himself sprinting to fill out a new lineup card the second Joe says he wants to play.

 

I guess I don't understand why every opinion has to come with a disclaimer here.

Nobody here thinks I have access to Mauer or Molitor. Of course my comments you quoted are opinion and not meant to be passed off as fact.

In fact, the second post you quoted was a question, so by definition can't be accusatory.

It gets cumbersome having to always attach a disclaimer to every post, but I guess it has to be done.

 

As for Mauer, I get why you are sensitive, but

A) I'm not someone who goes around nitpicking everything Joe does. I'd say I'm close to 50/50 on him around here. So it's a little insulting to me to invalidate my opinion here as Mauer bating and nothing more.

 

And To whom much is given, much is expected.

That might not be fair, he shouldn't turn down the money or apoligize for taking it, but nothing ever is fair and its natural that he's going to be more scrutinized as both the highest paid (by a mile), and longest tenured Twin.

Edited August 7, 2017 by Mr. Brooks