STrib: Twins' Joe Mauer to consider retiring after season

[dpodoll68]

I don't think he should get in but if he had stayed at catcher for another 3-4 years with the same numbers, I think he gets in pretty easily. I've seen voters like Jayson Stark say the same thing.

Agreed on this. But alas, he moved to 1B and destroyed his value.

 

[Gopherguy0723]

I disagree that it was a "nice" run. He was doing things that no other AL catcher had ever done before. It was a pretty incredible run IMO.

I don't think he should get in but if he had stayed at catcher for another 3-4 years with the same numbers, I think he gets in pretty easily. I've seen voters like Jayson Stark say the same thing.

Yep. Mauer, with another 2 years catching with good (not great) hitting numbers, would have been guaranteed to make of the Hall of Fame. Injuries ruined it for him, which has happened to many players before, like Tony Oliva. As it stands, he's an all-star player whose final numbers don't warrant the Hall of Fame.

 

[gopher7]

I disagree that it was a "nice" run. He was doing things that no other AL catcher had ever done before. It was a pretty incredible run IMO.

I don't think he should get in but if he had stayed at catcher for another 3-4 years with the same numbers, I think he gets in pretty easily. I've seen voters like Jayson Stark say the same thing.

I agree. After his first several years he was a shoo-in HOF fame, however his production tailed off badly as he got farther into his prime. Joe has only hit .300 7/14 full seasons. Tony Gwynn did it 19/20 times. Boggs 15/18. Mauer also has way too many strikeouts for a contact hitter, and doesn't have playoff shine like Kirby did.

 

[BleedGopher]

per Shooter:

It’s expected to take seven or eight years of National Baseball Hall of Fame voting beginning five years after Mauer retires for the Cretin-Derham Hall grad to be elected. That would make his entrance into the Cooperstown, N.Y., shrine in about 2030, when he’ll be 47 and have many years for him and his family and fans to enjoy it.

Sadly, Mauer has played in just 10 postseason games for the Twins, all without a victory.

https://www.twincities.com/2018/09/15/charley-walters-this-vikings-packers-game-is-a-biggie/

Win Twins!!

 

[howeda7]

per Shooter:

It’s expected to take seven or eight years of National Baseball Hall of Fame voting beginning five years after Mauer retires for the Cretin-Derham Hall grad to be elected. That would make his entrance into the Cooperstown, N.Y., shrine in about 2030, when he’ll be 47 and have many years for him and his family and fans to enjoy it.

Sadly, Mauer has played in just 10 postseason games for the Twins, all without a victory.

https://www.twincities.com/2018/09/15/charley-walters-this-vikings-packers-game-is-a-biggie/

Win Twins!!

Oh Charley, where do you pull this random $%^ out of?

 

[Bad Gopher]

I've owed you all a report from my recent visit with my Twins insider. He's a relative who I don't see too often and didn't get a chance to connect with at the usual time, as I missed the family reunion in July. But I saw him at a wedding over Labor Day weekend and got a chance to get a few of my questions answered, including the Mauer one. Here's a summary:

As of Labor Day weekend, the story was pretty much as reported now: he hasn't decided. At that time, my guy said he was being pretty tighted lipped about it, and I imagine Joe felt he needed to say something, so he came out now and said something, which was essentially nothing, haha. My guy's prediction is that Joe signs for one or two more years in the $10-$12 million range. That'll give him a chance to maybe contend for another playoff run but more importantly pad his stats a little bit for the hall of fame. We agree that he was deserving of a Gold Glove last year at first base. Winning one there would give him the rare distinction of GGs at two positions, which can't hurt his HOF cause.

Eduardo Escobar loves the Twins, and according to my guy he'd sign here again in the off season if the Twins want him and give him a competitive offer. That surprised me on a couple fronts: that he'd do that, and that the Twins might not offer to get him back. Again, that's just my relative's perspective from his position, and you never know if Eddie's experience away from the Twins will alter his feeling about things. I hope it's all true, though, because he's a key cog in the clubhouse.

My relative's best friends on the team were Dozier and Pressly, and he's bummed they had to go. Dozier is happy with the propsect of contending for a championship, but he and his wife are both small-town people, and LA is not their cup of tea.

Falvey and Levine are fairly tight-lipped about their feelings and assessment of Paul Molitor. It's universally understood, though, that Molitor has a good mind for the game and makes things enjoyable for the players. It's a happy clubhouse. One way or another, he doesn't need this job; he does it because he loves being around the game and the stadium, and he wants to win.

The one area where I feel I got some static is the Byron Buxton situation. When I talked to my insider on September 1st, the decision had just been made to not bring Byron up, and I asked about that. My guy said it had nothing to do with service time and that it was all about avoiding the funk Buxton seems to come down with every time he's promoted, and keeping him down would let him continue to get in his groove without that mental baggage. So just a few days after that, the Twins clumsily admit that it IS at least partially about service time. That confused me, and there are a few possible explanations why I was told what I was told; y'all can guess what they are as well as I could. I think it's possible that the top management are playing their cards close to their vest on this one...or things are at least a little confused or convluted in the front office...or...some combination of factors. At the end of the day, though, I strongly feel - as some others have said - that Bux is going to be a superstar someday; it's just a matter of the team he blossoms with. If the Twins screw this up, they'll screw themselves out of championship contention.

That's all I can think of for now. At the time I spoke with my relative I was probably 7 or 8 drinks into the thing, so I might be forgetting something. If that's the case, I apologize.

OK, my wife unwittingly reminded me last night what I heard from my relative that I forgot to write down here: the part about Miguel Sano. She did so by telling me she thinks Miguel is gaining weight again (and I think she's right, by the way). My contact - and the organization, I presume - characterizes Sano's situation as an eating disorder. Not sure what the clinical diagnosis might be, but it's basically that he eats and eats and eats. This is not a new take, but they see his eating as the key, crucial issue between him and the success he could have. He's not in denial, and his trip down to the minors was to get his eating/weight under control, and he was on board with that whole deal. According to my guy, he tipped the scales at 303 when he went down, and he came back about 30 pounds lighter.

 

[howeda7]

OK, my wife unwittingly reminded me last night what I heard from my relative that I forgot to write down here: the part about Miguel Sano. She did so by telling me she thinks Miguel is gaining weight again (and I think she's right, by the way). My contact - and the organization, I presume - characterizes Sano's situation as an eating disorder. Not sure what the clinical diagnosis might be, but it's basically that he eats and eats and eats. This is not a new take, but they see his eating as the key, crucial issue between him and the success he could have. He's not in denial, and his trip down to the minors was to get his eating/weight under control, and he was on board with that whole deal. According to my guy, he tipped the scales at 303 when he went down, and he came back about 30 pounds lighter.

If they can still get decent value, trade him. He's Pablo Sandoval Jr.

 

[BleedGopher]

STrib: Twins' Joe Mauer enters the final week of his ... season

Sometime this week, most likely Tuesday night, Joe Mauer will smack a single to the opposite field, or line a double into the gap, or watch ball four go by, and he’ll become a baserunner for the 3,073rd time in his career. On the giant scoreboard in left field, the Twins will congratulate him for passing Harmon Killebrew’s record for reaching base safely as a Minnesota Twin, and the fans in attendance will stand and cheer. Mauer will wave his cap to the crowd, and the game will resume.

And Joe Mauer Week — perhaps the final one — will be underway.

“That’ll be pretty cool to do it at home. We’ve got seven games left, I hope I can do it at home,” Mauer joked about the impending record. “The fans have given me some really nice moments this year.”

Figure on several more this week, as fans take advantage of a just-in-case opportunity to see a homegrown three-time batting champion once more. Mauer revealed earlier this month that he hasn’t decided about whether to play again in 2019, saying he wanted to make such a momentous decision outside the everyday stress of a 162-game season.

“We’re still in the grind. My body isn’t feeling too great, that’s always the case every year,” Mauer said. “That’s why I want to wait, take a deep breath, and take a step back to consider everything when it’s all over.”

http://www.startribune.com/twins-joe-mauer-enters-the-final-week-of-his-season/494181911/

Win Twins!!