Twins Fans: Sit Back and Relax

If you are a Twins fan, you can get off the edge of your seat now.  Red Sox and Yankees – you can just give up hope!  Why?  Simply, because, Joe Mauer is staying with the Twins and does not plan on going to any other team in the foreseeable future.  This means that he won’t be entitled to free agency this coming fall; therefore, he cannot sign with another team including the Yankees and Red Sox.

Twins fans have all been waiting to hear whether or not Mauer was leaving the team and on Sunday, they finally heard the news they had all been waiting for and thankfully, it was good news!  The Twins and Mauer reached an agreement for an eight-year extension at $184 million.

Joltin’ Joe was born and raised in St. Paul while becoming a high school legend.  He was the first 2001 draft pick and grew to become the AL’s (American League) Most Valuable Player.

It is being said that if Mauer had become available on the open market this fall that there could have been deals worth about $30 million on a yearly basis.  It has also been implied that if Mauer wasn’t resigned with the Twins before opening season that he would become harder and harder to sign the further the season went on.  Whether or not this is true remains to be seen, or the truth in regards to this may never come out.

$30 million per year would have been good if he had made it to open market, but his current agreement with the Twins isn’t all that bad either.  This particular deal between the catcher and the Twins will pay $23 million to Mauer each year between the years of 2011 and 2018.  In addition, this agreement also holds Mauer to the Twins team without having the ability to be traded without his authorization throughout the term of his contract. 

The $23 million seems pretty good seeing as how in the first six years of major league play, he has only made a grand total of about $21.5 million.  So, I’d say that this young catcher, who turns 27 next month, has it pretty much set for him.  When his contract is up with the Twins, he will have reached age 35 and every single penny of this agreement is guaranteed. 

Moreover, he has had quite some success in his baseball career thus far, which will only grow within the next eight years of contract with the Twins.  He currently is a three-time All-Star, has three American League batting titles (and until Joe Mauer, no other catcher had been able to even achieve one!), as well as two Gold Glove Awards that he received consecutively for being the best defensive player in his position in the league. He has also been voted the Fan-Friendliest Athlete in America.

Once this deal is made official, he will become tied for second in the highest paid baseball players.  He will be tied with CC Sabathia, the Yankees pitcher, who also makes $23 million on a yearly basis and will come behind Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees who currently is making $27.5 million in his 10-year contract deal.

This deal between the Twins and Mauer is planned to be made official with the signing of the agreement in Fort Myers this evening at 6 p.m. CDT at a news conference.