Report- Twins Re-Sign Mauer to 10 Year Contract?

[TwinsBrewersWorldSeries]

http://wcco.com/sports/tw...minnesota.2.1462891.html

 

There appear to be a few conflicting reports on this, but this is a pretty big news outlet reporting it.. This would be a huge "win" for small market teams everywhere. Maybe a "blueprint" on how to get Prince to resign? The moment this deal is officially inked, it will bring great joy to my heart and sadness to the teams i love to hate (New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox)

[Invader3K]

This really isn't a done deal yet, apparently. Buster Olney has a contradictory report out. It sounds like they are working on something, though.

[PeaveyFury]

Moving this to rumors until this is done.

[pingman]

this is the classic hometown discount....

 

....no way Prince's agent would do this for the Brewers

[Invader3K]

Has there been any more talk about this lately? I haven't seen much reported on Mauer's situation in the past few days.

[TooLiveBrew]

Latest I can find (via MLBTradeRumors) is this --

 

"We're all driven," Pohlad said of the club's effort to sign him to a long-term contract. "We want Joe Mauer as part of the Minnesota Twins."

 

But when it comes to shedding light on how close the two sides are to a long-term agreement, Pohlad politely declined to discuss the issue.

 

"We've said to both Joe and Joe's agent [Ron Shapiro] that we weren't really going to talk about any negotiations," Pohlad said.

 

Pohlad, who said he has not been involved in the negotiations with Mauer, has in the past mentioned that the organization would consider "legacy contracts" for special players. It would seem that Mauer would fall into that category. Asked to elaborate on the potential term, Pohlad said that it's a contract that would basically take a player to the end of his career.

[JohnBriggs12]

this is the classic hometown discount....

 

....no way Prince's agent would do this for the Brewers

Twins are in better position to sign Mauer for two reasons. One is he is from there so he's certainly more amenable to staying there than a guy who wasn't playing in his home town. Of course, his agent knows this puts some pressure on the Twins too. Imagine the uproar if they let the hometown hero walk.

 

But secondly, of more relevance to Fielder's situation, the Twins have been proven consistent winners in Mauer's time there. For guys in the upper echelon, winning does matter.

 

Boras is going to look at any offer from the Brewers, no matter how large, as one from a small market team that could be topped by a larger market in the open market. Prince will get paid handsomely wherever he goes including if he stayed. What the Brewers need to do is what Adrian told Rocky in the hospital room after she emerged from her coma: "Win".

 

Prove to Prince that the Brewers are winners and a winning organization, and he'll want to stay.

[Oldcity]

My Twins fan friend who follows the team very closely expects this to be done before Spring Training. I'm definitely rooting for it.

[TwinsBrewersWorldSeries]

Update on the Mauer Negotiations...

 

Minneapolis Star Tribune has started to speculate about the Twins maybe trading Joe Mauer. Just about all information up here is speculation, but the word on the street if that the two sides are about $5 million per year apart (Twins offering 10/200, with Mauer wanting 10/250). Again, this is just pure speculation in the media, but emotions are running really high right now as most fans (including me), thought the deal was done in early February after those early reports, and now a signing seems less likely.

 

The next 2-3 years could be really rough on small market teams in baseball. If Mauer leaves the Twins and Prince leaves the Brewers, i'm going to be extremely angry at the economics of baseball and will probably lose some interest in the game. I equate this development as similar to if the Packers had not resigned Brett Favre after the 1995 NFC Championship loss to Dallas.

 

For the sake of baseball, i hope the Twins offer the money, and Joe takes it. If Mauer leaves for New York or Boston next year, that is bad for the Twins, and bad for baseball.

[804Sox]

There's no way Mauer is worth 10/250. He likely won't be a catcher for 10 years.

[TooLiveBrew]

If Mauer leaves for New York or Boston next year, that is bad for the Twins, and bad for baseball.

 

It's really not bad for baseball. It's bad for the Twins & bad for fans of the Twins (& maybe other small-market teams)

[Invader3K]

If Mauer leaves for New York or Boston next year, that is bad for the Twins, and bad for baseball.

 

It's really not bad for baseball. It's bad for the Twins & bad for fans of the Twins (& maybe other small-market teams)

i.e. really great if you are a fan of a big market team. i.e. if you are a fan on easy street.

[TooLiveBrew]

My point is that the "it's bad for baseball" line just isn't true. MLB's doing very, very well.

[Invader3K]

Doing well right now, but long term if smaller market teams can't keep their stars unless they sign them to suicidal and irresponsible contracts, then inevitably only the big market fans will be left and the game will suffer both financially and in terms of overall popularity.

[TooLiveBrew]

Doing well right now, but long term if smaller market teams can't keep their stars...

 

But that's been the case all throughout MLB's rise to this state of wealth & prosperity. Don't get me wrong, as a smaller market fan I'd like to see some changes, but smaller markets have been losing their stars for over a decade now as MLB has risen from the ashes of the '94 strike.

[tyguy20204]

But who's to say that it wouldn't be doing even better with an increased attention to parity?

[Invader3K]

But that's been the case all throughout MLB's rise to this state of wealth & prosperity. Don't get me wrong, as a smaller market fan I'd like to see some changes, but smaller markets have been losing their stars for over a decade now as MLB has risen from the ashes of the '94 strike.

Well, it definitely isn't anything new. It's just frustrating that the situation isn't being addressed. It's just like the recent debates that basically center around "The Red Sox and Yankees dominated the AL East, so what can we do to fix the problem without actually addressing it?". Small market fans are second class citizens in MLB-dom, and it sucks. Big market fans don't generally have to worry about losing their home grown stars. We do. All the time.