Twins Extend Joe Mauer, 8 years $184 million

[FishFF]

Mauer 8/$184

[Chewford]

Time to go buy a Hawaiian island.

[Party]

Associated Press / March 22, 2010
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Joe Mauer is staying home.
Discuss
COMMENTS (8)

The American League MVP agreed to an eight-year, $184 million contract extension with Minnesota yesterday that includes a full no-trade clause, a massive deal that shows the Twins are no longer spending like a small-market club.

The deal covers the 2011-2018 seasons and is the fourth largest — both in total value and average salary — in major league history. Starting next season, the All-Star catcher will make $23 million a year.

The agreement came just hours after the Twins received bad news. They learned they would be without the services of closer Joe Nathan for the 2010 season because of a right elbow injury that will require surgery. Nathan, who leads the major leagues with 246 saves since 2004, shut it down after playing catch with pitching coach Rick Anderson for 10 minutes.

Nathan, 35, hopes to have Tommy John surgery within two weeks to repair the torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. He was injured March 6 during a 20-pitch outing in a spring training game against the Red Sox.

As for Mauer’s new contract, the team scheduled a news conference for 7 p.m. today at the team’s spring training facility in Fort Myers, Fla. Mauer, 26, who has won three AL batting titles and is considered one of the best defensive catchers in the game, was entering the final year of his current contract.

The $184 million total worth is fourth behind two deals signed by Alex Rodriguez — the $275 million deal with the Yankees signed in 2007 and a $252 million contract signed with Texas in 2000 — and Derek Jeter’s $189 million deal signed with the Yankees in 2001 that expires after this season.

Mauer, the St. Paul native, was the No. 1 overall pick by the Twins in 2001 and quickly emerged as a fan favorite. The 6-foot-5-inch former star quarterback at Cretin Derham-Hall High School receives marriage proposals by the dozens at every home game.

Last year, after missing the first month of the season with a back injury, Mauer hit .365 with 28 home runs and 96 RBIs to help the Twins win the AL Central division.
© Copyright 2010 Globe Newspaper Company.


http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/articles/2010/03/22/twins_lock_up_mauer_with_184_million_deal/

[PitchingWinsGames]

I audibly said "Holy jeez"

[Bobbob1313]

If there's one guy that's worth it to one team.

[Party]

Twins payroll is $94 million this year. :o

[Branch]

Was kind of hoping they wouldn't do this, just to see if the Sox could outbid the Yankees this offseason. Oh well, good for him.

[Fritz]

I wonder what the Yankees would've given him.

[kylekash]

I saw somewhere, where a couple "mlb experts" said he probably left 40-60 mil on the table by signing now. They said he could have got around 30M a year most likely.

[Party]

Awesome!

[wanks1212]

Uh, am I the only one who thinks it may not be the smartest thing to devote 25% of your payroll to one player? Especially when Morneau is on the books for $15 mil through like 2014, and Nathan is on the books for just over 11 mil in 2011.

Hell, Mauer and Morneau are going to be about 40% of Minnesota's payroll in the near future, and they don't have cheap, young talent comign through the minors in positions of need (2B, SS, SP).

The Twins had to make this deal, because of the PR angle, but it's going to handcuff them eventually.

[Bobbob1313]

He's the face of the franchise, and I could see him, in the later years, doing something like what Helton did, where he restructures the last 30 mil or so to increase flexibility while on his retirement tour.

[Swifty]

They could also just end up spending more than they have in the past and not end up handcuffed.

[Bobbob1313]

I think that is likely, though their stadium is, to me, a question mark.

It is, by all means, a game changer.

But let's see how the April and September attendance is before we get ahead of ourselves.

[wanks1212]

They've already bumped the payroll up to ~$95 mil. I'm not sure how much more room they have to go up. Some people say they're streched to the max, others say they could possibly go up to like $105-$110 next year.
--------------------

But let's see how the April and September attendance is before we get ahead of ourselves.

Weather won't be a factor in September. It's fine to sit outside at a baseball game then.

Normally I'd say April attendance would suck, but with how warm it's been this winter, they may not have any problems there, so long as this winter is indicative of future winters (which, obviously, it may not be, and since I'm not Cape I have no idea of the future weather patterns).

[Swifty]

MLB could also throw them a bone schedule wise and give them a light home-slate in April (if weather proves to be a consistent issue for attendance / PPDs).

[Party]

I think that is likely, though their stadium is, to me, a question mark.

It is, by all means, a game changer.

But let's see how the April and September attendance is before we get ahead of ourselves.

Attendance isn't going to matter in April if you have 20,000 season ticket holders. Ticket sales in MLB are not a big a factor in determining payroll as hockey.

[Flum]

Not bad for someone who has only played 80% of his team's games in the last 5 years.

[Bobbob1313]

He should be a two time MVP award winner.

<- became less and less of a fan of Pedroia winning the MVP as time went on.

[nny]

Not bad for someone who has only played 80% of his team's games in the last 5 years.

Same thing I was thinking. He's average ~130 games a year. Hanley, Pujols, and Utley (Those four rounding out the top 4 of most valuable players) play in 155+.

The counter point is certainly that catcher is more valuable, and that if he played in those 155 games, his value would be greatly over the other three.

[Bobbob1313]

Also, one of those seasons he only played 110 games or so.

He's been right around 140 for the other 4 seasons, and when you consider that most C don't even play that much, he's extremely valuable.

[kylekash]

I know he was hurt last season, but what is the reason for him only playing 130g a year? He's a catcher... but can't he DH instead of completely taking a day off? You'd have to think they would want his bat in the line-up as much as possible.

[FishFF]

Samson with his usual take on large contracts



Jim Duquette of Sirius XM’s MLB Home Plate posed that question to Marlins President David Samson Tuesday during a live broadcast of the “Power Alley” show from Roger Dean Stadium. It’s certainly not a front burner issue for the club since Ramirez is signed through the 2014 season, but when the time comes the Marlins will have to make a big decision. Mauer signed for eight years and $184 million.

Ramirez can qualify for free agency going into his age 31 season. Assuming he remains one of the game’s top offensive players and can remain at shortstop over the next five years, that’s plenty young to cash in on another huge contract. A starting point might be five years at $20 million a season, and that’s a conservative estimate. Even if the Marlins go the Twins route and have a $100 million payroll at some point — can you imagine? — Samson cautioned against investing such a high percentage of the total outlay on one player. Here is his exchange with Duquette:

Duquette: “When I saw the Joe Mauer signing the other day one of the places my mind went was right here because of your shortstop. At some point you’re going to be faced with that difficult decision. Were you surprised at Minnesota’s ability to go that far?”

David Samson: “It’s funny. When I saw the signing the first thing I did was call [Marlins president of baseball operations] Larry [Beinfest] and started doing the math and talking about Hanley because Hanley’s the type of guy we’d like to have retire as a Marlin and be the first Hall of Famer who spends his entire career with the Marlins. He’s obviously got a long way to go but that’s where I think he’s headed. Having said that, when you’re paying one player that much money it’s tough. That’s such a high percentage. Even if at a $100 million payroll, you’re paying one guy 23 percent, that’s not always a great formula for success. But, of course, the Twins have been so good they know what they’re doing. It’s something, obviously, we’re going to have to worry about but thank god not until 2015.”


http://blogs.sun-sentinel.com/sports_baseball_marlins/2010/03/florida-marlins-will-joe-mauer-contract-ripples-reach-hanley-ramirez.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+marlinsblog+%28Florida+Marlin s+|+Sun-Sentinel+Blogs%29&utm_content=Twitter

[Flum]

Same thing I was thinking. He's average ~130 games a year. Hanley, Pujols, and Utley (Those four rounding out the top 4 of most valuable players) play in 155+.

The counter point is certainly that catcher is more valuable, and that if he played in those 155 games, his value would be greatly over the other three.
Given the same dollar-per-game ratio that Mauer is getting, someone who plays 155 games per season should make 26.5 million per year or an extra 28 million over the course of the contract. That would make the total value of his contract at 8 years/$212 million dollars. Compare that to Utley's 7 years/$80 million and Hanley's 6 years/$70 million. Obviously this isn't apples to apples, because Utley and Hanley had more years of arbitration factored in. Even on the open market, though, I can't honestly envision either one making $26.5 million per year and certainly not as part of a buyout.

This contract takes the already overvalued concept of positional scarcity and turns it into an absurdity. Catchers are valuable, but not that valuable.

[Swifty]

If you made Hanley a free agent this offseason, he'd get $26.5 mil / season easily. (Not sure if that's what you were getting at).

[Flum]

The most Teixera was able to get was $22 million, with the the next-best offer at $21 million as I recall. I'm just not certain that teams would pony up $4.5 million extra for Hanley.

As an aside, what really shapes the outcome more than anything is what the next-highest bidder is willing to throw down, because the Yankees would just one-up the competition.

[PitchingWinsGames]

The most Teixera was able to get was $22 million, with the the next-best offer at $21 million as I recall. I'm just not certain that teams would pony up $4.5 million extra for Hanley.

As an aside, what really shapes the outcome more than anything is what the next-highest bidder is willing to throw down, because the Yankees would just one-up the competition.

As cool as Texeira is, Hanley really is more valuable than he is, so yeah, I think a few teams would pony up that extra 5 million or so to get him, especially given the what... 5 year age gap between the two?

[nny]

Why do you think position scarcity (or more correct, defense ability) is overvalued?

Numerically speaking, the difference between 1B and C in the course of a full season is 25 runs (2.5 wins). Even with his low games played, Mauer has still averaged 6 wins per year in his career.

[Swifty]

The most Teixera was able to get was $22 million, with the the next-best offer at $21 million as I recall. I'm just not certain that teams would pony up $4.5 million extra for Hanley.

As an aside, what really shapes the outcome more than anything is what the next-highest bidder is willing to throw down, because the Yankees would just one-up the competition.

The Yankees need a Jeter replacement, the Red Sox need a SS period.

Plus you figure someone Tom Hicks the bidding for a super duper dynamic player.

As awesome as Teix is (and don't get me wrong, I think he's top-8) the words dynamic and 5-tool don't jump to mind describing him, plus, he is a 1B.

To look at it another way, the hypothetical dollars thrown around for Mauer settled somewhere around $30 mil a season. Hanley's in the same stratosphere, so $26.5 isn't a stretch, heck, $30 mil a season as a FA right now wouldn't be a stretch.