Joe Mauer

[Mike Sixel]

 

There's no rule that says a team's power must come from the corner infielders and the corner outfielders. The team as a whole seems to get enough home runs. His defense is adequate and his hitting productivity is far from being our most glaring offensive weakness. I catch myself getting annoyed with him at times just like a lot of people do though.

 

He plays first, he should be compared to first basemen, right? That's all most people are doing.

[darin617]

Is there a reason why this anti-Joe Mauer thread isn't just included in one of the 59 others in the forums? Did it need it's own for some reason?

 

To answer the original poster, TK and Joe work a ton together in spring training. He also puts in time during the season and has become a solid guy at first base.

Mauer looks solid in the field, and while his bat hasn't been great, he has been pretty "clutch" which helps. He definitely is one of the best 9 on the Twins currently, talking him retiring is just foolish. 2018 may be a bit painful if he regresses more, but we always knew that could be the case with any long term deal.

I don't feel the same about his work in the field. He looks like he doesn't know to position himself at times and just does not rate very high by me. Call it anti Mauer all you want. People would get off his back if he could hit .300 at least. 33 extra base hits in 122 games is just sad. Sano 44 games 23 extra base hits.

[Dr. Evil]

 

He plays first, he should be compared to first basemen, right? That's all most people are doing.

Yea, I get that. I'm just sort of saying that it's maybe a little more about the productivity of the team as a whole and pointing out that power can be spread out over the entire team if it adds up to the same total.

[darin617]

Yahoo fantasy rankings 34th best first base men in the majors. Not bad when you consider there are 30 teams. 239th overall.

[jimmer]

Most Fantasy sites use the most basic of offensive stats and defense is mostly ignored (except for the good old error stat).

 

Compared to other 1Bs, overall, Mauer is well below average.  No doubt about that.  There are some good points (how he does with RISP, with men on, etc), but his overall dropoff is big.  24th out of 29 with 1Bs that have 300 or more PAs.  

 

Even if he was still at catcher, the OPS he has put up would rank him 13.(250 or more PAs).

[dougkoebernick]

 

If I already had loads of money (check), was now being widely criticized where I was once universally praised (check) and realized my game had declined past my own standards (not sure on this one) - yes, I would. 

 

I would go to that nice cabin in the woods in the summer and hang out with my wife and kids. Check on my investments from time to time. Accept that ceremonial front office position the Twins will offer me to show up for a few functions each year. Fund some scholarships for Cretin kids. Open an instructional hitting camp in Fort Myers...

If I was Joe Mauer I'd probably be working my tail off to try to get back to where I was and would be mad as hell that I wasn't performing to my own expectations, let alone the expectations of others. With that said, i would bet a lot of money that he has the same thoughts. 

[Teflon]

 

He isn't being widely criticized, only a small number of rubes are the ones booing him. Also there are other people who are reliant on him while he continues to play: His agent, obviously, PR Team, etc. NTM the entire MLB players union.

 

Of course, then there's this.

[stringer bell]

If you buy what Teflon is selling, perhaps Mauer might cut his career short voluntarily. Besides the concussions, Mauer has had knee issues and a back issue. While he's been able to play, perhaps one or both of the injuries is effecting his game. If either of those injuries is chronic, perhaps that would push Joe toward early retirement.

 

I thought Mauer would be a better, more powerful, hitter moving away from behind the dish, but it just hasn't happened. If it isn't injury(and maybe even if it is), it might be that we'll not see batthing champ Joe Mauer again.

 

Regarding Mauer's defense. He's really sure-handed and covers a lot of ground side-to-side. He has seemed to hesitate before making throws and sometimestruggled whether to go unassisted or flip the ball to the pitcher (better at that this year). In sum, he's pretty good, but not instinctive.

[theBOMisthebomb]

Bench him or drop him to the bottom third of the order. I'd like to move Joey back to catcher but that seems off the table. Where would we be if we had made room for Sano sooner instead of sticking with Mauer no matter what. Loyalty becomes stupidity at some point.

[SwainZag]

 

Bench him or drop him to the bottom third of the order. I'd like to move Joey back to catcher but that seems off the table. Where would we be if we had made room for Sano sooner instead of sticking with Mauer no matter what. Loyalty becomes stupidity at some point.

 

Joe in zero way, shape or form was blocking Sano from coming to the majors.  Sano is the only Twin on the roster getting on base at a higher clip than Sano is, isn't a guy you would want hitting in front of Sano....?  What good is your best on pace threat going to do hitting 8th?  I understand he isn't what he use to be, but he still has value for the Twins.

[woody knows all]

Joe does well as a Defensive player at first, saving many an errant throw.  Lets just realize that he is not a power hitter, but a controlled player.  I do believe he will hit more consistently then the last year.  But i know everyone gets on Joe, just like I do, but he still is one of the greatest Twins of all time. And he continues to have a high batting avg with RISP.  Joe had a rough last few years, lets give him the benefit of the doubt and be true Mid-Westerners and cheer him and the Twins on to a play-off push. Certainly that is what we all wanted at the beginning of the season.

[theBOMisthebomb]

It might be too easy to be critical. Let's hope he bounces back and has some good baseball left in him. It very possible.