What’s Mauer thinking long-term? Morneau offers clues
Posted on November 24th, 2009 – 10:56 AMBy Joe Christensen
One thing that struck me Monday at Joe Mauer’s press conference was the deepness of his friendship with Justin Morneau. We’ve written volumes about the M&M Boys’ friendship, but this was cool because they’d barely seen each other since the season ended, so this was one celebratory reunion. It’s hard to say who was more happy, the 2006 MVP or the 2009 MVP?
Morneau and his wife, Krista, planned to be in Minnesota for Thanksgiving, but they arrived early to celebrate with the Mauer family. Mauer was at the Metrodome, doing a national teleconference, when the Morneaus arrived with a bottle of champagne.
“I got the news right after he did,” Morneau said. “I was pretty excited. I was smiling. I was grinning ear-to-ear. I was thinking about how great of a day this is for him, how crazy it’s going to be. I kind of went back to what it was like [in 2006], and now he goes down in the books as the Most Valuable Player in the league for 2009; that’s something that never goes away.”
Morneau, 28, has repeatedly said he hopes he and Mauer wind up spending their whole careers with the Twins, but Mauer, 26, will be eligible for free agency next fall if the Twins don’t sign him to a contract extension.
“We’re going to do everything we can to keep him as a Minnesota Twin,” Morneau said. “He’s still going to be here for next year for sure, and after that, it’ll take care of itself.”
In late September, Morneau expressed confidence that a deal with Mauer would get done and casually mentioned a six-year extension. In this story, I estimated that Mauer’s next deal will average about $20 million per season, so a ballpark estimate could be a six-year, $120 million extension.
“You know, the biggest thing now isn’t the money,” Morneau said Monday. “It’s not going to be that. It’s going to be whether or not he feels we can win everyday with the talent we have the players we have.”
Do the M&M Boys really believe they can win a World Series with the Twins? Yes, Morneau said, answering his own question.
“We’ve made the playoffs five times in the last eight years,” Morneau said. “As a player, that’s all you can ask for. You don’t want to go in feeling like you don’t have a chance of making the playoffs and we’ve got that here, and hopefully that’s what keeps him here.”
Morneau, 28, has four years remaining on his six-year, $80 million contract. He has said he doesn’t want to imagine what it would be like playing here without Mauer. Another question came about maintaining the team’s chemistry, and he gave another telling answer.
“That’s something that makes this organization special,” he said. “When you’re drafted as an 18-year-old kid, coming out of high school — playing together in rookie ball, and rooming together in A-ball, Double-A — you make it to the big leagues, and you see your buddy make up the next year, and you’re pulling for each other to do well.
“You have that opportunity in this organization. That’s something that everybody loves, and when everyone leaves, they always say how much they miss it, how much they miss being a Twin. You ask Torii, you ask Johan — they left, but they still miss it here, and that’s something that we have that other teams don’t have, and that keeps them wanting to stay.”
Note: After missing the season’s final month with a stress fracture in his lower back and undergoing surgery to remove a bone chip from his right wrist, Morneau said he feels good. “I started working out a couple weeks ago,” he said. “My back feels good. I’m slowing getting into it, trying not to push it too fast and should be full-go by January, 100 percent.”
76 Responses to "What’s Mauer thinking long-term? Morneau offers clues"
If there is one player that IS really worth the money that would be Joe Mauer. I think some of the contracts that have been given out in the last few years are ridiculous. Like in Detroit who may be looking to trade Miguel Cabrera but the money owed to him may prevent that. I do hope that someday there will be some sort of salary cap in baseball and the union doesn’t cry foul if the free agents have to take less this time around. And speaking of Cabrera, he isn’t half the ballplayer that Mauer is and Joe has the 10 times the character that Cabrera has, something more players need to have. In that regard Mauer reminds me of Harmon Killebrew who didn’t get to finish his career in Minnesota, so Twins get Joe Mauer signed!
Twins do have a shot to succeed in the playoffs. They just need a few more things to go right than some other teams. This year it seemed more things went wrong for them and the breaks went the Yankees way but the Twins were still close. Breaks go the other way and the Twins win. Even the great teams need things to go their way to win it all or the Yankees would have more WS rings this decade. I promise you that having an “ace” or great power hitting 3rd baseman, etc does not guarantee that the Twins might still not get swept by the Yankees or anyone else in a short series
Twins have the advantage of being a good team in the worst division in the American League so they will get their chances more often. I will take playoffs every years with an 8% chance of winning it all to playoffs every 3 years with a 15% chance of winning it all. I am glad to see that Morneau recognizes that just because the Twins haven’t been successfull in the playoffs lately doesn’t mean they won’t be in the future.
87 team had no playoffs at all much less success in them in previous years. And then they did. Give these guys the same chance and eventually they will reward the faith.
Good to hear from Morneau- glad that he’ll be ready to go next Spring Training. With all of the focus on Mauer, let’s not forget about the other MVP in the lineup. If the Twins can get the rotation straightened out (they’ve already shored up the bullpen), 2010 will be a great first season for the new ballpark.
A-Rod makes $33 million per year. Johan and CC make roughly $27 million per year. Jeter and Manny make $20 million a year. There’s just no way Joe doesn’t command $25 million per year. No way. It’s a cute story to think he’ll sign for less, but even $25 million is a relative bargain when you realize what an icon he is to the nine million people in the Upper Midwest. From a marketing standpoint, Joe Mauer is more important to the Twins than any player on any team in any other major league. He, more than anyone in sports, is the face of his franchise, and with a team looking to exceed $250M in gross revenues next year–no less than 20% of that coming from the brand Joe Mauer itself–he’ll get the $25 mil per year. Mark my words.
Great news on Justin thanks Joe.
I don’t think Morneau’s statements indicate Mauer will for surely sign a long-term extension. If he’s thinking about where he has the best chance to win a World Series, I have to think New York and Boston would be atop his list.
The Pohlads haven’t proven they’re willing to surround their top talent with complimentary players that will help them win championships. Instead, they’ve surrounded them with old, cheap talent (Lamb, Everett, Cirillo, Castro, Batista, Hernandez, etc.)
If they Pohlads want the M&M Boys to play their entire careers here, go out and get a Chone Figgins or a John Lackey. Spend some money and prove your in it to win and not to make a pretty penny!!!
Morneau is right. As a player, all you should really be able to demand of your organization is that they put together a team that can and should make the playoffs (and that includes making roster adjustments in midstream, when necessary).
Once you’re in the playoffs, it’s up to the players to perform.
Do the Yankees have more talent than the Twins? Sure. But did they win that playoff series simply because of their talent advantage? No. The Twins had players fail to perform and that played a major role in the results.
Not to say roster improvements aren’t necessary. An organization should always do what they can to improve every off season. But with the exception of 3-4 franchises, no organization has the luxury of assembling virtual AllStar rosters that are built to not only win most of their 162 games, but also have the potential to also give them distinct talent advantages in the postseason.
Baby Jesus I hope he stays here.
The Twins will open their checkbook
and have Joe fill in the numbers!
It is totally unthinkable that the
Twins would move forward in a new park
without their local hero. The
anger that his not signing with the
Twins would be something this state has
never seen before!
Love it that Morneau likes it here, but it takes more than a fun clubhouse with your “buddies” to win a title….think these seemingly upbeat quotes belie a lack of professionalism in this organization that will forever hinder them
Thanks Joe, great insight. It’ll be a good day with the news breaks of the deal. I’ll predict right before Twins Fest.
Could we please stop referring to Mauer as the “Baby Jesus”. Whoever started that and those who follow are complete idiots.
Wow wade. By that logic, we should go out and assemble an outfield of Milton Bradley, Lastings Milledge and Elijah Dukes who wouldn’t get along with anyone, in order to be more “professional”.
Congratulations Joe! Take some credit man! It’s OK. You are good - we know it!
bufftwins - I agree totally - stop calling Joe “Baby Jesus” - it’s disrespectful on so many levels to him and to Jesus Christ. It’s great to hear such positive statements coming from Justin and it was great of him to be in Minnesota for Joe’s big day. He’s a great friend and I think he has some insight into what Joe is thinking and hopefully the front office will pay attention to that and make a decent and fair offer. We need the M & M boys to stay with the Twins and take us to the World Series.
Dang it, Steve H. WHY did you have to mention Killebrew in a Royals uniform. That old wound still hasn’t closed apparently. And Carew as an Angel … Argh!!! These things never heal. I still hate the Dodgers for ‘65.
Maybe I should let some of this stuff go, but just don’t let it happen to Joe!
stop calling Joe “Baby Jesus” - it’s disrespectful on so many levels to him and to Jesus Christ.
Are you saying Christ is a Derek Jeter fan?
As a replacement for the Baby jesus moniker, I suggest Super Joe ™ Mauer
They are not the M&M boyus they are the M& B-J boys.
They are not the M&M boys they are the M& B-J boys.
As for the question is Mauer going to sign. We must ask ourselves WWBJD (What would Bayb Jesus do).
John P….If Gilliam didn’t stab that Versalles liner down the third base line in Game 7….
But Koufax was just unbeatable that day. At least Harmon and Rodney are still doing things for the organization. Anyway, I feel your pain.
MoJoe Mauer
OR
Joe MVPauer
Lala72,
I like your inflated numbers. Here are the actually numbers:
ARod - Averages $27.5M, Peaks @ $32M next season the declines.
CC - $14M last year $23M the rest of contract.
Texiera - $22.5M
Jeter - Averages $19M, Peaks @ $21M next year (last year of contract)
Johan - Averages $23M, Peaks @ $25M
Manny - $25M last year, $20M next.
You were pretty close with Jeter and Manny, but fairly high with the rest.
Pohlads have no choice. Sign Mauer, and get the players to go with him, or shut down the team. Yes, that will require an investment far beyond what they are used to. Thems the breaks. You have a new stadium, you have two elite players. Five years from now you can be content to contend for the division. Now you have to break the bank to go fot it al.
“Pohlads have no choice. Sign Mauer, and get the players to go with him, or shut down the team.”
Not dramatic enough.
Try again.
What is the guess on what the Twins will have to pay to keep B-J and what is the guess on a dollar amount that the Yankees or Boston would offer B-J.
I think we will offer 18-20 mill a year and the Yankees and Bostonn will offer 30 a season.
^anything less than the Texiera deal and that’s a crime.
But the thing is that he would have to wait until this time next year to negotiate with the Yanks and Sox…if he were to get hurt this year and not play a full season at this year’s level, I don’t see those teams dropping 30M. The Twins just gotta get something done this offseason so we don’t have to worry about it!
“bufftwins - I agree totally - stop calling Joe “Baby Jesus””
Count me in as hating this term. They’ve coined the same thing to Tim Tebow. I would venture to guess it annoys the unsolicited recipients as well.
I agree totally - stop calling Joe “Baby Jesus” - it’s disrespectful on so many levels to him and to Jesus Christ.
People realize that “Jesus” was a name before he came around right?
The Pohlads haven’t proven they’re willing to surround their top talent with complimentary players that will help them win championships.
Joe Crede, Orlando Cabrera, Carl Pavano, Ron Mahay, Jon Rauch, JJ Hardy…
Hell, throw out Crede and the rest of those guys have been in the past 6 months.
not sure T if your examples help make your point or discredit it
how many championships have the Twins won under Gardy again?
FVG,
Please, don’t start with the get rid of Gardy line. It’s a well-worn path and it still leads to the same place.
Being a Minnesota native and having lived in different parts of the country…no one is prouder of home grown talent like Minnesotans. So memo to the Pohlad’s: The sooner you sign Mauer…the sooner there will be a collective sigh of relief and all parties can move on. Letting Mauer go would be 10x worse than if the Twins had let Puckett leave…believe me. Sure, everyone will continue to rant and rave about signing other players…but all will be well once Joe signs on the dotted line…and for the people of the state of Minnesota, the sooner the better!
FVG:
What do you mean? We won the WS the first year Gardy was 3rd base coach in 1991…and some people think thats no coincidence.
ES16 I was using Gardy’s tenure as a timeline not as an idictment against him
it’s not his job to sign players
Congratulations to Joe Mauer for winning the Most Valuable Player award. He now becomes the most expensive player in baseball as well.
Paying one player 30% of the teams payroll is ridiculous. Time for Joe to move to the big city.
FVG,
I guess I was distracted by your moniker. A timeline of what?
The Pohlads have an interesting problem with Mauer. I mean, if you’re going to have a problem, Joe Mauer is the problem to have. Consider this: Joe signs for $25,000,000. The Twins shoot for a payroll of $90,000,000. That leaves $65,000,000. Well, Nathan takes 12 of that. And, Justin takes another 13. So, now we’re down to 40,000,000 for about twenty guys. That’s plenty of money, sure, but considering how our pitching is really our problem, it’s not that much money.
Mauer brings in too much revenue to place a payroll at $90,000,000. Not only does he sell seats, he sells jerseys, hats, balls, sweats, baby stuff. He sells a ton of stuff. Heck, my little ones love Joe Mauer.
Now, consider what happens if we don’t sign Mauer. You’re thinking, “That frees up five players at $5,000,000 apiece.” Wrong. Because of the merchandising and branding and ticket sales that Mauer brings, there’s no way they could have a similar payroll without Mauer without subtracting from the bottom line.
The job, it seems, is to figure out how, exactly, to sign Joe while making sure that he sells — tickets, jerseys, hats, television advertisements — everything Twins. That’s the job. I’m sure that there is a way to do it. As the franchise, Joe sells. Consider the Yankees before Derek Jeter.
Put me down for predicting:
Four guaranteed years for a total of $95 million, plus an option year at $25 million, with a $5 million buy-out (making the total guarantee $100 million) that automatically vests if Mauer plays a certain minimum number of games.
Mauer sells a lot of crap
“We’ve written volumes about the M&M Boys’ friendship…”
I said this before, but why hasn’t anyone written a book or something about that year that these two lived together? Musta been something in the water of that townhouse, since it produced and MVP and a batting champ. Quite the story.
All I know is they watched the Animal Planet together a lot.
I meant the Animal Planet cable channel.
Someone missed a great opportunity for a “reality tv” show.
T says:
November 24th, 2009 at 2:30 pm
“People realize that “Jesus” was a name before he came around right?”
And you realize that “Baby Jesus” only refers to Jesus Christ and none of the Jesus’ that came before or after him right?
of course… from what I remember… most of their down time was spent watching TV and going to JimmyJohns.
Not exactly “Must See TV”, I guess.
M&M reality show would stink. They are to clean cut and not disfunctional like what all the other popular reality shows are like. Watch old episodes of the Osbourne’
“markominne says:
On November 24th, 2009 at 12:37 pm, morkominne said:
“Wow wade. By that logic, we should go out and assemble an outfield of Milton Bradley, Lastings Milledge and Elijah Dukes who wouldn’t get along with anyone, in order to be more “professional”.”
Could you imagine that clubhouse? Yikes!
“Mauer brings in too much revenue to place a payroll at $90,000,000. Not only does he sell seats, he sells jerseys, hats, balls, sweats, baby stuff. He sells a ton of stuff. Heck, my little ones love Joe Mauer.”
I recall longer lines for a Carlos Gomez autograph than a Joe Mauer autograph.
Fans are fickle. They flock to see Punto and loved Lew Ford.
Signing a guy because he might draw fans makes no sense. Lots of players are good draws.
The only reliable consistent draw is winning. Can you win more games with Joe or without? If he is playing in New York, the answer is with. For the Twins after 2010, the answer is probably without. Having one player soak up a third of the teams total salary will mean having to go cheap and lean elsewhere. You end up with a team full of holes.
People talk about the Puckett signing. When Puckett signed his big (at the time) contract the team soon went downhill. His contract ate up too much payroll.
Puckett was soon complaining that he was alone in the lineup. The fans stayed home.
I always thought the Twins should have signed Gagne and let Puckett go, instead of the opposite. They could have signed a decent hitting outfielder plus a pitcher with the money they saved, and would have had a better team.
^blasphemy…
Teo is right on. The Pohlads do have a problem. They need to sign Mauer. They cannot sign Mauer without adding a couple of solid players (yes, we know they signed Hardy, but a couple more) to prove to him they are serious. However, to do that, and to give Mauer even a reasonable offer, they go way over their limit. If they do not sign Mauer, their revenue and PR goes WAY down. The only solution is for the next five years, they abandon their limit and shoot the wad. When Mauer and Morneau are out of their prime, you go back to just competing for a divsion. Having two elite players at one time comes along maybe once in a generation.
Cricket, I believe that even with a home town discount, your 95 for five years is way low. That is basically waht Torii makes.
cricket, never mind, my bad, you said 95 for four years
Joe may well go down as the best catcher EVER. Is is entirely possible.
Front Office needs to be proactive now!!! Now between Dec and Feb.
Front office made some good moves the 2nd half of the year but that was to cover up for their lack of good work last dec-feb..
Sheets or Harden and 3rd baseman would be fine with me.
Red Sox are the team to throw $$ at Joe Mauer… NYC aint Joe Mauer
I think Mauer would look good in Dodger blue, hanging out in his beach pad on off days and escorting starlets
Would it be legal to give Mauer $15M per year & 1% ownership in the team? Or how about $15M per year & his brother gets to be on major staff as 3rd base coach & dad as area scout? or How about $15M 10 year contract & Lifetime $5M per year after he retires for promotional appearances? Just wondering if it would be possible to “think outside the box” & do something NEVER done before to keep his yearly salary at more “reasonable” levels?
Original Kevin,
I think Joe is one of those guys who can do anything he wants. He’s already one of the greatest catchers in the history of professional baseball, he could easily have been the starting quarterback on a NFL team, I wouldn’t be surprise if he could be the front man in a rock band, and is probably a good dancer as well. I would hate to see him on an LA beach since LA seems to suck the life out of otherwise wonderful people. I just hope the Twins find a way to keep him close to home, at least during the season.
I’m going with JimCrikket’s prediction…4 years, 95 mil, 25 mil option. Joe will be happy, the union will be happy, and we will all be happy.
New nickname for Mauer - Joey Ballgame. He’s not a baby anymore and he’s really more like Ted Williams than a, well, you know, deity.
Original Kevin is right - signing Mauer requires other talent and will stretch the payroll. We’ll have to see how Billy makes that work. It seems that the bullpen is too expensive (Joe’s earlier blog with projected salaries). What’s the answer to that? I like Nathan and am glad they extended him - but is trading our closer the only realistic answer to resigning #7 plus upgrading pitching and the infield?
One other thought - the Manny, ARoid, and Jeter contracts are not necessarily indicative of the current market. A lot of teams have started cutting payroll in response to expected lower revenue (especially CK and perhaps DET).
Think about it in terms of the economy - if the autos, beerz and other major advertisers decide to cut ad spending, the TV contracts will have to come down as well. People with limited income will be less likely to go to games and buy merchandise. The Twins are lucky in that they have a new stadium and have playoff potential. But even with new stadium revenue, the lost revenue sharing and risk of loss of other income is a concern.
J Crikket-This board is a perfect example of unreality TV!
The whole talk about Mauer needing to be shown the Twins are serious is just a lot of posturing. And Joe got his buddy Morneau in on the act. He isn’t going anywhere, even if they don’t add another player this offseason. Joe sells tickets and he can do that whether the Twins win or lose. So, the Twins will pay him a c-load or a s-load of money, maybe not Yankee money, but a lot of money.
Posturing? Mauers gonna get $20 Mill+ no matter what happens..
Mauer’s demand wont be obnoxious and the Twins offer wont be insulting… Pretty easy negotiation
Signing Joe needs to get done. JC’s 4 year + option sounds pretty realistic.
THe next step will be to put even more into scouting. Because if Mauer and Morneau are making that much, its a neccesity to suround them with pre arbitration players to make payroll work. These pre-arb players need to be bona fide up and comers, not Matt Tolbert types. (This is not a nock on Tolbert - he’s a fine utility player, but I’m quite sure there is no chance we’ll see him in, say, the 2012 All Star game).
This can all work - provided we get ood work from the front office & scouting department.
Walter, you are wrong. Mauer DOES want to be on a winner. I see him giving on his salary demands a little more rather than giving on his desire to see a compeititve team. Why would he want to stay here and at best win a divsion year after year during his prime years?
not sure T if your examples help make your point or discredit it
how many championships have the Twins won under Gardy again?
Just as many as the Tigers under Leyland and one less than the Yankees under Girardi…
Alexi is really on fire in the DWL. He’s currently at .212/.293/.269. I wouldn’t be putting any money on him being the Twins’ solution at 2B in 2010.
Interesting note: Go-Go is at .333/.520/.556 in the DWL, but he only has 18 AB.
“Alexi is really on fire in the DWL.”
Is there any corelation between DWL performance and MLB performance?
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http://www.operationsports.com/forums/members/snepp-albums-sports-picture2381-baby-jesus.jpg
I am amused at how many people on this board have more insight on Mauer than Morneau does. How many bottles of champaign did Mauer receive?
