Twins lock up Mauer for 4 years

[browntown653]

MINNEAPOLIS -- AL batting champ Joe Mauer and the Minnesota Twins agreed Sunday to a four-year contract worth at least $33 million, avoiding salary arbitration and ensuring one of the team's young stars will be in uniform for the long term.

Mauer, 23, batted .347 with 84 RBIs in 2006 to help the Twins rally from a 12½-game deficit in the division race to win the AL Central on the final day of the regular season. He played in his first All-Star Game last summer.

The first pick in the 2001 draft out of Cretin-Derham Hall High School in St. Paul, Mauer was eligible for arbitration this winter for the first time. He became the first catcher to lead the majors in batting average and the first AL catcher to win the batting title.

"We're extremely happy, because there is not a player who belongs with the Twins more than Joe Mauer," his agent, Ron Shapiro, said in a brief phone interview Sunday morning.

Mauer didn't immediately return phone messages.

Shapiro represented two Hall of Famers, Baltimore's Cal Ripken and Minnesota's Kirby Puckett, who spent their entire careers with the same team. While Mauer most likely has several years left, this was a move in that direction. The deal will keep Mauer with the Twins through at least 2010, the year the team is scheduled to begin playing in a new Minneapolis ballpark.

That didn't mean Mauer gave Minnesota a hometown discount, however.

"This is a market deal," general manager Terry Ryan said. "Don't worry about that."

The contract takes the Twins through Mauer's first year of free agency.

"This is a good day for this organization, and I feel like it's one of those deals which is going to work for both sides," Ryan said. "You have to be comfortable with how a player's going to respond to security. I don't think there's any question how Joe's going to respond to that."

Mauer's rookie season, 2004, was cut short by a knee injury that raised some questions about how his body could handle the physical demands of his position behind the plate. But he has been fine ever since.

"That's one of the good things about this situation," Ryan said. "He is in awful good shape and showed it last year."

Twins pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report to spring training in Fort Myers, Fla., by next Sunday. Ryan has one more player left in arbitration, right fielder and cleanup hitter Michael Cuddyer.

Another good move by Terry Ryan. Now if he can only miraculously heal Liriano

[mntwinsfan]

Polad dusted off the checkbook and did something right finally! Great move for the Twins.

[brewersfan19]

Con grats Twins fans!!! You deserve it!!! Nice job Twins ownership. Not only is it awesome for all, but he is a MN native too, right? Even better if so!!!

[redsrbetter]

Well looks like Terry Ryan is still making good decisions. Beautiful signing. Mauer would have charged far more than that on the FA market. The dude can flat out hit and the Twins need to focus on keeping the lineup productive. Great news Twins!

[mntwinsfan]

now all that we need to do is get Morneau Nathan and Santana signed to long term deals. I am excited over the signing.

[Fishercat]

I doubt Mauer could go anywhere anyway, with arbitration and all

[Lynch]

now all that we need to do is get Morneau Nathan and Santana signed to long term deals. I am excited over the signing.

That's what NEEDS to be done, but we'll see if it actually happens.



Glad to see the Twins lock up Mauer. If they hadn't, it would have been an insane public lashing that the team would have gotten. Especially the hometown Mpls homers we have around here.

[mntwinsfan]

with the new stadium being but this must happen. With Polad spending would make ticket sales go crazy and the better fan base of course put money (more) in that cheap SOB Polads pocket. Spend Carl spend!

[Retro16]

I'm happy with the signings. He has became one of my local favorites along with Santana and Hunter. Well done! He is turning into one of the best catchers today.

[Lynch]

And on top of being a hell of a catcher, the guy can hit for average. When he gets a bit older, you'll be seeing a lot more HR's out of him I think. When he was in HS, the guy could hit for size on a regular basis. Obviously, that's not the same thing, but he's an incredibly smart batter with a great eye. I'd expect him to have a hell of a career at the plate, maybe not so much in monster ball crushing, but in average for sure. Year in and year out, I think he'll be contending for the batting title.

[Timberwolf]

Carl Pohlad gets it. He signs his hometown players who deserved it.

[catman]

I think Torii Hunter and Justin Morneau would sign similar deals.
This said, I am very pleased to have this guy locked up for a while. He should continue to improve his defense and his power will develop as he matures a bit more. He looks like a potential .300/25/100 guy to me, and as long as the team has a capable back-up that can give him a day off once in a while, he should be able to play about 150 games a season, with 600 ABs.
This is a step in the right direction as far as I am concerned.