I never understood the salary aspect of it all. What does a player's salary have to do with results?
Not a damn thing. No professional athlete has ever given back part of their salary because fans or ownership don't think their performance results were worth the money.
Interesting Stat: Now that Mauer is in there are only 11 catchers in MLB history who have entered the HOF through the normal voting process. There are 8 catchers who got in the HOF through the Veteran's Committee or the Negro Leagues Committee.
Here are four reasons why Mauer belongs in Cooperstown.
(1) Mauer has cleared the performance bar to be a Hall of Fame catcher
Using JAWS, Mauer ranks seventh among catchers (47.1) and is surrounded by Hall of Famers. JAWS measures a player's career
WAR averaged with his seven-year peak WAR.
-- The six catchers ahead of him are all enshrined in Cooperstown: Johnny Bench, Gary Carter, Ivan Rodriguez, Carlton Fisk, Mike Piazza and Yogi Berra.
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-Just behind Mauer are Bill Dickey, Mickey Cochrane, Gabby Hartnett and Ted Simmons, all of whom are also in the Hall of Fame.
(2) Few catchers in MLB history have approached Mauer's level of offensive success
Mauer's .388 OBP trails only two players (Cochrane and Wally Schang) who logged a majority of their games behind the plate and had at least 5,000 plate appearances.
His .306 batting average ranks fourth, while he trails only 11 catchers with his 124 OPS+.
From 2006-13, when Mauer was a full-time catcher, he was one of the top hitters in the Majors.
- During that time, Mauer had a .327 batting average that trailed only Miguel Cabrera's .328 BA (min. 3,000 plate appearances),
- His .410 on-base percentage trailed only Joey Votto (.419).
- Mauer's 139 OPS+ was easily the best among catchers and only trailed 10 hitters.
- In five of those seasons, Mauer had a 140 OPS+ or better, meaning he was 40% better than the league-average hitter.
Mauer also won the 2009 AL MVP Award and took home the AL batting title three times (2006, 2008-09).
(3) Three-time batting champions are near-locks for the HOF
Mauer is just one of 29 hitters in MLB history to win three times, with Josh Gibson (in the Negro Leagues) being the only other catcher to pull off the feat.
Among that group of hitters, 22 of them have made it into the Hall of Fame. Two of those who aren't there -- Cabrera and Jose Altuve -- should make it one day, while Pete Rose is not eligible.
(4) Mauer was one of the best players of his era
Mauer racked up 40.6 WAR, seventh-best among all players. Ahead of Mauer in that stretch was Albert Pujols, Utley, Cabrera, Beltré, Robinson Canó and Justin Verlander. Outside of Canó -- who was twice suspended for using performance-enhancing drugs -- all of these players are either likely or possible Hall of Famers.
For eight seasons, Mauer was not just the best offensive catcher in the sport -- he was one of the best players period, grouped with names like Pujols, Cabrera and Verlander.
Joe Mauer is in his first year of eligibility on the Baseball Writers' Association of America's Hall of Fame ballot, joining other newcomers including Adrián Beltré, Chase Utley and David Wright. The longtime Twin could be one of the most fascinating Hall of Fame cases in recent memory. Few catchers
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