Twins continue to wait for word about Mauer
Posted on March 14th, 2009 – 3:54 PMBy La Velle
Twins GM Bill Smith told us a little while ago that he had not heard anything about Joe Mauer’s visit to Baltimore to see a specialist about his sore lower back.
Mauer was due back in Fort Myers this evening, so perhaps the Twins will know more by tomorrow at the latest.
Mauer has been unable to play all spring training because of inflammation in his right sacroiliac joint, which connects the lower back and pelvis. Mauer began feeling pain late last season, and a MRI revealed a kidney obstruction that was believed to be the reason for the pain. But the pain has persisted despite the kidney surgery being successful.
Smith was asked if he was getting nervous
“Long term? No.’’ he said. “No one has given me any reason to be and I hope they never do.’’
I know there’s a report out there about the Twins being interested in a certain former All-Star catcher - one who is now known for calling good games, I might add. I have not heard anything here about interest in him. That’s not to shoot it down totally, but it would make more sense for the Twins to wait to hear about Mauer’s visit to Baltimore before they start looking around for catching help.
And, as of now, there is nothing the Twins have heard that suggests Mauer will be out a long time.
29 Responses to "Twins continue to wait for word about Mauer"
La Velle,
“now known” or “not known” for calling good games?
The ticker during the WBC Netherlands-Venezuela game listed Twins as one of 4 teams interested in Pudge. Perhaps that intel came from his agent? LEN III, doubt you’ll hear anything from BS.
I know there’s a report out there about the Twins being interested in a certain former All-Star catcher - one who is now known for calling good games, I might add.
that was has a funky spin by Heyman: His source was a front office person of a club interested in Pudge. It is possible that Boras casually mentioned the Twins as an additional (albeit fictional) interesting party to FO personnel of clubs who have expressed genuine interest for Pudge.
Beisbol,
that rumor was printed first by Heyman (of SI and WFAN) and been propagated since Friday
[…] Twins Insider – […]
thry, I know that report came from SI. What I said doesn’t contradict that. In fact you said exactly the same thing that I did — it might have been floated by Boras.
Wobble,
Are you headed to Michelbob’s tonite with Reusse?
Over/under on the # of racks of ribs consumed between the 2 of you guys is 3….
What would happen to Pudge when Mauer came back two weeks into the season? come on guys……Release Reddog? Carry 3 cathers for the entire season?
I know the transaction would make absolutely no sense, but as a fan of the Twins and of the Phillies’ Chris Coste (Fargo native, Concordia grad, and lifelong Twins fan), I personally would like to see Chris filling in for Joe Mauer if any is required.
It would make sense for Pudge’s agent to make it look like the Twins are interested…and given developements with Mauer it would be believable.
That said…I would rather it not come to pass.
I know the transaction would make absolutely no sense
I think that it makes perfect sense 
I love Mauer as much as anyone. We need to be reasonable though. If we can get Pudge especially with this injury pending we should be greatful. The offensive production he offers is far greater than anyone we can plug in from the system. Mauer most likely won’t catch more than 120 games this year, we could use Pudge big time.
Please don’t sign Pudge…. I know I’m not expressing anything new when I say I hope the Twins would give one of the younger prospects (Ramos looks pretty good…) a shot alongside Redmond before they go out and spend money they don’t have.
Unless it looks like Joe is out a long time we’ve got some good prospects that need a look see. This is how the Twins roll, they first look to the system and then look outside of it. If we didn’t have two really good kids in the minors then I would give the rumor a little more credence. If the Twins landed Pudge it would really go against the grain of the Twins unless they’re getting one hell of a deal.
Signing Pudge, or any other catcher, would be a bad idea for a ton of reasons. One of this organization’s trademarks is promoting from within, and it has worked beautifully with few exceptions. What message does it send to players over in the minor league camp? Morales is a perfectly fine temporary substitute.
promoting from within is a misconception. 5 out of 9 regulars last year were obtained from other teams. while they have drafted pitching well position players have been rare of late and i don’t think many would say we are loaded with major league ready prospects. however it would seem morales would be worth a try before signing pudge who hasn’t knocked the cover off the ball for a while.
So sorry….meant NOT known to call good games. Speed typing and speed proofing not a good mix.
No BBQ tonight. Haven’t even had dinner….and Reusse is with the DA tonight..
Pudge is known for only calling fastballs to help him throw more base stealers out
Signing Pudge makes zero sense. You think Pudge would be ok with a very limited backup roll once Mauer returned? Give me a break.
ggg,
“promoting from within is a misconception. 5 out of 9 regulars last year were obtained from other teams.”
Several were obtained as minor leaguers (Casilla, Buscher) or as unproven MLB youngsters (Gomez) or homegrown (Mauer, Morneau, Span, Kubel and Cuddyer)
That leaves only Young,Harris and Punto as trade acquisitions.
ggg,
We agree on Morales and disagree on pretty much everything else in your 7:35pm post. sane covered your homegrown misconception, and I’ll cover another: the farm system is stronger in position players than in pitching. Compare team ERA’s and team OPS league averages, all the way to rookie ball, and you’ll see. And while I agree that most of the better talent will play at AA and below this season, there will be quite a few players in AAA that might hold their own in the majors before the year is done. Think about Mulvey, Hughes, Plouffe, Mijares, Tolbert, Tolleson, Duensing, Swarzak, Morales, Pridie, Martin, Macri…I’ll stop there.
[…] La Velle E. Neal III, of the Star Tribune, has not heard that the Twins are […]
Clarifying my last post.
Gomez was also a (absolutely raw) trade acquisition, but a lot of his development was accomplished real-time by the Twins in the Big Leagues and at Spring Training last year and this year.
“there will be quite a few players in AAA that might hold their own in the majors before the year is done”
bof you seem to miss the point. right now there are not many “major league ready” players in the minors is what i said. you respond “might hold there own” “before the end of the year.” the point i was trying to make is that going outside the org. is normal, weather by free agent, which we use mainly for leftovers, or by way of trades guys like young, gomez, harris/buscher (rule 5), punto, casilla all guys who played full time last year. imo if they can improve the team by going out and getting a player do it. your point seems to be we have a bunch of prospects that might be good enough at some point so don’t hurt their feelings by going outside the org.
on pudge we agree, however, not because of hurting anyones feelings but because imo pudge has little left and we probably have guys that are as good.
nice list but imo none of those guys will make a major impact this yr.
With Mijares struggling, I wonder why the Twins let Reyes go and did not seem to make any effort to sigh him. Is there more to that story?
ggg
1. “major league ready” is a prediction, not a fact, so neither of us knows how many exist in the farm system. I predicted, based on past performance, that about 15 AAA players within the organization MIGHT hold their own.
2. The team has a plan for each player in terms of advancement. It’s a motivator to know you have a shot, and to at least know where you stand in the organization. It has nothing to do with hurt feelings and everything to do with maintaining a great organizational culture.
3. I predict Morales is “major league ready” and will hold his own for the short period of time that Mauer is down. He’ll probably serve as a placeholder for Ramos’ spot and replace Redmond next year. I believe that’s the plan. We do not need to go outside for a short-term guy, especially someone who does not project to have any real future.
Probably money, weado.
[…] Heyman mentioned the Twins after talking to an NL team involved in the Pudge bidding. La Velle E. Neal III hadn’t heard anything as of […]
[…] Heyman mentioned the Twins after talking to an NL team involved in the Pudge bidding. La Velle E. Neal III hadn’t heard anything as of […]
