Thread: Gammons: Red Sox called about Mauer monthly

https://mobile.twitter.com/pgammo/st...12712636989441

They were repeatedly told it was not going to happen.

Should it?

No, but I really think Mauer would hit .350 if he had the monster to slap a bunch of hits off of. So part of me would like to see that. But it's a small part. Glad he's staying.

I just don't think it makes sense for the Twins under any realistic scenario. The club is a business and the move would alienate a lot of customers. There is no way the Red Sox or any other team would offer enough talent to make up for off-the-field negatives. Even coming up with a trade on purely baseball terms is hard to imagine, because Mauer's contract isn't exactly a bargain.

If teams are calling, it's because they think/hope the Twins want to be rid of the contract. But I think that's a bridge too far even for the family that tried to delete the team.

Only if they gave up 4 top prospects!

I don't think BOS would ever offer enough to make it worth the Twins while--and if they did, they would have weakened themselves so badly that Mauer would refuse without a "sweetener" for himself.

Originally Posted by gunnarthor

No, but I really think Mauer would hit .350 if he had the monster to slap a bunch of hits off of. So part of me would like to see that. But it's a small part. Glad he's staying.

This is my view EXACTLY. I would love to see that. He would pull more homers and hit 50 doubles by going the other way. It is VERY smart for the Red Sox to try that.

I wonder if Mauer would be willing to waive his no trade restriction.

Originally Posted by Kwak

I don't think BOS would ever offer enough to make it worth the Twins while--and if they did, they would have weakened themselves so badly that Mauer would refuse without a "sweetener" for himself.

The Twins could throw in Morneau, then, that might sweeten the deal and keep Mauer off of 1B full-time, to boot. The Twins should be able to get 4 legit prospects on that deal plus John Lester (team-friendly contract with team option for 2014).

Originally Posted by jokin

Originally Posted by Kwak

I don't think BOS would ever offer enough to make it worth the Twins while--and if they did, they would have weakened themselves so badly that Mauer would refuse without a "sweetener" for himself.

The Twins could throw in Morneau, then, that might sweeten the deal and keep Mauer off of 1B full-time, to boot. The Twins should be able to get 4 legit prospects on that deal plus John Lester (team-friendly contract with team option for 2014).

The rebuild from the ground up group has appeared and send the Twins on the path of the Pirates and Royals. Red Sox probably do not have that many super prospects. The ones they got from the Dodgers were like at highest 3 on down and that is generous, it was more like a 5 and lower.

Originally Posted by beckmt

Originally Posted by jokin

Originally Posted by Kwak

I don't think BOS would ever offer enough to make it worth the Twins while--and if they did, they would have weakened themselves so badly that Mauer would refuse without a "sweetener" for himself.

The Twins could throw in Morneau, then, that might sweeten the deal and keep Mauer off of 1B full-time, to boot. The Twins should be able to get 4 legit prospects on that deal plus John Lester (team-friendly contract with team option for 2014).

The rebuild from the ground up group has appeared and send the Twins on the path of the Pirates and Royals. Red Sox probably do not have that many super prospects. The ones they got from the Dodgers were like at highest 3 on down and that is generous, it was more like a 5 and lower.

The Red Sox still have great prospects in their system and seem desperate to make this deal- which means- Xander Bogaerts is likely on the table, along with 5 good-to-very-good SP prospects, at least two of whom are major-league ready. Can you imagine the Twins solving their MI for the next 15 years by acquiring both Bogaerts and Jose Iglesias....?....along with 2 SP prospects with Hi K/Low WHIP histories.....AND Jon Lester????

That's nothing close to a Pirate/Royal-type deal and probably is too rich for the Sox to give up, but they do have other near ML-ready prospects as well, at Catcher, 3B and MI.

A payroll-cleansing move like this obviously opens up other non-Pirate/Royal options for further bolstering for another starting pitcher and position player- and getting the timing right for the top farm prospects to fill the open spots in 2014 and 2015.

Originally Posted by John Bonnes

https://mobile.twitter.com/pgammo/st...12712636989441

They were repeatedly told it was not going to happen.

Should it?

Absolutely!!!! Needs to happen. If the Twins aren't going to sink the money into putting a quality supporting cast around him when he is in his prime, they should re-tool and free themselves from the 23M a year commitment

When you lose 95+ games in consecutive seasons, nobody should be off the table. It all depends on the return. If the pitching staff isn't instantly improved by trading Mauer, no dice. The team can't take the PR hit of having two awful seasons and then trading their homegrown face of the franchise. Trading Mauer needs to bring back both immediate help and several high upside prospects.

These rumors just make minimal sense to me. Jarrod Saltalamacchia was solid (albeit not spectacular) last season, David Ross reportedly went to Boston on assurances that he'll be able to start 1-3 times per week behind the plate, and Boston's best pure hitter in the minors is a catcher (though only by name, not defensive ability). That the BoSox are so strongly associated with Mauer currently doesn't seem to me to make sense as they shouldn't be offering much to bring in Mauer as they already have a decent catching situation, and it'd be like going from a B to an A, and the Twins wouldn't move Mauer without a monster return. I just don't get it.

To me this just smacks of east coast arrogance. They won't offer enough and they'll think the Twins will still do it because they are the Red Sox. Yeah, I know ... there is no logical thought in that reasoning, but still. East coast arrogance.

Rumor is the Red Sox want Mauer to play first base, not catch. http://espn.go.com/boston/mlb/story/...boston-red-sox

If holding on to Mauer means going after the Brett Myerses and Francisco Lirianos in free agency, I say trade him.

Trade anybody if it will make the team better today and down the road!

Originally Posted by biggentleben

These rumors just make minimal sense to me. Jarrod Saltalamacchia was solid (albeit not spectacular) last season, David Ross reportedly went to Boston on assurances that he'll be able to start 1-3 times per week behind the plate, and Boston's best pure hitter in the minors is a catcher (though only by name, not defensive ability). That the BoSox are so strongly associated with Mauer currently doesn't seem to me to make sense as they shouldn't be offering much to bring in Mauer as they already have a decent catching situation, and it'd be like going from a B to an A, and the Twins wouldn't move Mauer without a monster return. I just don't get it.

Perhaps when BOS realized that a Mauer wasn't in the cards that an offer was made for Ross?

Originally Posted by Shane Wahl

Originally Posted by gunnarthor

No, but I really think Mauer would hit .350 if he had the monster to slap a bunch of hits off of. So part of me would like to see that. But it's a small part. Glad he's staying.

This is my view EXACTLY. I would love to see that. He would pull more homers and hit 50 doubles by going the other way. It is VERY smart for the Red Sox to try that.

Sorry, guys. Apparently you haven't heard. You see, because he's hitting the ball to the opposite field, he necessarily hits it softly. He probably couldn't even reach The Monster most of the time. (OK, now how do you turn off the "sarcasm font?")