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Minnesota Twins 2010: The Return of Outdoor Baseball

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Re: Minnesota Twins 2010: The Return of Outdoor Baseball

Handyman said:
I like Blackburn a lot, I think Slowey is a bit overrated. I like that they have kept the staff together though :D
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I don't think any team has as many guys that could be impact starters this season on their roster.

Baker
Liriano
Blackburn
Pavano
Slowey
Perkins
Duensing

I think that Duensing and Perkins are the ones that will be left out, but I really liked what I saw from Duensing last year, so who knows. Perkins should be trade bait at this point, if they can get anything for him.
 
Re: Minnesota Twins 2010: The Return of Outdoor Baseball

Ladies and gentlemen, we got him! Mauer agrees to a 8 year $184 million contract.
 
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Re: Minnesota Twins 2010: The Return of Outdoor Baseball

Which Mauer is managing the Fort Myers Miracle? That one.
 
Re: Minnesota Twins 2010: The Return of Outdoor Baseball

$23 million per year from 2011 to 2018 and a no-trade clause. Mark Rosen will be so proud.
 
Re: Minnesota Twins 2010: The Return of Outdoor Baseball

I'd have no problem with the money, but that's an awful long time to lock up a catcher, especially when he's about to turn 27 and catchers generally start to go off the cliff at age 32. And when catchers burn out, they burn out fast.
 
Re: Minnesota Twins 2010: The Return of Outdoor Baseball

Hammer said:
I'd have no problem with the money, but that's an awful long time to lock up a catcher, especially when he's about to turn 27 and catchers generally start to go off the cliff at age 32. And when catchers burn out, they burn out fast.
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I agree, but I'm sure Mauer wanted a longer contract and there was really no way the Twins could have got him for a 5-6 year contract. And could you imagine this fanbase if the Twins couldn't come to terms with Mauer?
 
Re: Minnesota Twins 2010: The Return of Outdoor Baseball

Hammer said:
I'd have no problem with the money, but that's an awful long time to lock up a catcher, especially when he's about to turn 27 and catchers generally start to go off the cliff at age 32. And when catchers burn out, they burn out fast.
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True, but the Twins really did need to lock him up for (pretty much) the balance of his career as I don't think they want to go through negotiations again and I don't think Joe wanted to doom Billy's fancy new Chevy dealership. :)
 
Re: Minnesota Twins 2010: The Return of Outdoor Baseball

Hammer said:
I'd have no problem with the money, but that's an awful long time to lock up a catcher, especially when he's about to turn 27 and catchers generally start to go off the cliff at age 32. And when catchers burn out, they burn out fast.
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There is talk of moving him to another position. We already have good catcher in the minor league system.

Great to lock him in. I know the team and players didn't want to deal with Joe Mauer questions all year.

Feels so good!
 
Re: Minnesota Twins 2010: The Return of Outdoor Baseball

Hammer said:
I'd have no problem with the money, but that's an awful long time to lock up a catcher, especially when he's about to turn 27 and catchers generally start to go off the cliff at age 32. And when catchers burn out, they burn out fast.
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We have two pretty good catchers waiting behind him. Once the wear and tear starts to take its toll it won't be difficult to move him to a place like 3rd as has been mentioned for a while.
 
Re: Minnesota Twins 2010: The Return of Outdoor Baseball

dxmnkd316 said:
We have two pretty good catchers waiting behind him. Once the wear and tear starts to take its toll it won't be difficult to move him to a place like 3rd as has been mentioned for a while.
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Well, once it starts to take its toll, it might be too late.

He's going to be one helluva catcher for the next 5 years or so. No question. I would expect his numbers to be nothing less than top-notch for that time frame. However, once catchers hit 32 years old, the years of wear and tear will rear their ugly head, and the production will drop off, and do so quickly. The closest example I can find is Johnny Bench, and he broke down even earlier. In a previous thread I posted a link to his career. His numbers started to decline at 29, they moved him to 3B in 1981 (when he was 33 or 34) and he retired at age 36 after the 1983 season. The man was not productive at all the final 3 years of his career, after being the pre-eminent catcher of his era, something that Joe Mauer is at this point in his career.

It's not the man, it's the position. If he played anywhere else on the field I would have no reservations whatsoever about his contract if I were management. I would feel quite comfortable about his production at age 34 in year 8 of this contract. However, there should be huge cause for concern about the last two years of this contract. That's $46 million on your payroll, guys, for what could be a broken down catcher at that point.

I speak from experience. My team found out the hard way when we went through Pudge's final two years of his contract.
 
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Re: Minnesota Twins 2010: The Return of Outdoor Baseball

Hammer said:
Well, once it starts to take its toll, it might be too late.

He's going to be one helluva catcher for the next 5 years or so. No question. I would expect his numbers to be nothing less than top-notch for that time frame. However, once catchers hit 32 years old, the years of wear and tear will rear their ugly head, and the production will drop off, and do so quickly. The closest example I can find is Johnny Bench, and he broke down even earlier. In a previous thread I posted a link to his career. His numbers started to decline at 29, they moved him to 3B in 1981 (when he was 33 or 34) and he retired at age 36 after the 1983 season. The man was not productive at all the final 3 years of his career, after being the pre-eminent catcher of his era, something that Joe Mauer is at this point in his career.

It's not the man, it's the position. If he played anywhere else on the field I would have no reservations whatsoever about his contract if I were management. I would feel quite comfortable about his production at age 34 in year 8 of this contract. However, there should be huge cause for concern about the last two years of this contract. That's $46 million on your payroll, guys, for what could be a broken down catcher at that point.

I speak from experience. My team found out the hard way when we went through Pudge's final two years of his contract.
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Well, there was a lot of speculation about pudge and steroids (but it is just that at the moment, speculation). If it was true about the steroids they significantly shorten careers.
 
Re: Minnesota Twins 2010: The Return of Outdoor Baseball

Hammer said:
I'd have no problem with the money, but that's an awful long time to lock up a catcher, especially when he's about to turn 27 and catchers generally start to go off the cliff at age 32. And when catchers burn out, they burn out fast.
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Easy solution: when he starts to wear down, move him to DH (i.e. at age 31 for the back half of his contract).
 
Re: Minnesota Twins 2010: The Return of Outdoor Baseball

No, catcher's careers are shortened by their position:

Yogi: 32 in 1957
Bench: 32 in 1979
Ellie Howard: 32 in 1961
Fisk: 32 in 1980, the exception to the rule
Lance Parrish: 32 in 1988
Mike Piazza: 32 in 2001

Fisk is obviously the exception to the rule. And while Elston Howard was the 1963 AL MVP, his numbers were still inferior to the years prior to his 32nd birthday.

Bakunin: The Reds did that with Bench. It was too late.

You're going to need to get him out from behind the plate before he's 30.
 
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