Article: It's official: Twins announce Joe Mauer move to first base

[Mike Sixel]

McCann would be great. Catcher and DH and 1B covered by Pinto, McCann, and Mauer, with Willingham at DH also (until he's gone).

[Wookiee of the Year]

Wow--it's the right move, I think, even if (as Zephrin points out above) it hurts a little emotionally.

 

But mostly, I'm surprised they're announcing it now. I guess it makes sense if they're looking at adding a veteran catcher this offseason, but I didn't think we'd hear anything definitive until Spring Training.

[Squirrel]

I wasn't a huge fan of moving him, but whatever; not my decission. I'm glad it's done now so they can move forward. McCann would be great; better than Saltalamacchia, imo.

 

AJ, anyone? (kidding)

[Pius Jefferson]

Just a heard a quick comment on 1500 that I believe said Mauer won't even be an emergency catcher.

[JB_Iowa]

I'm glad this decision was made. And have to believe that not only a concern for Joe Mauer's future but also a cost/benefit analysis played into this move. While he was uniquely valuable behind the plate, that value was only there if he stayed on the field.

 

After the Morneau saga, I would expect the Twins to be somewhat cautious with their most valuable (and most expensive) player asset. First base was open -- and while it may have been somewhat easier to fill, keeping Joe Mauer on the field while acquiring a catcher with, perhaps, better defensive skills, makes sense. (Now let's just hope they can also sign someone who can hit because I, too, hope that they don't go with the current roster at this position).

[James]

McCann is probably a pipe dream. Salty might be too. A.J. would actually not be all that bad. You could sign him for a shorter contract, allowing Pinto to learn some things. I'd probably have to stop booing him at games then (for the record, he is the only player that I actively boo at games). I doubt he would sign here though.

[pierre75275]

Some thoughts on this...I wonder if Mauer and Morneau talked about this before joe said he would do this as this almost guarantees Morneau wont be back. And I wonder if that means AJ might come back and if that happens does Doumit get released

[Halsey Hall]

I think if Mauer was still single, he would of stayed catching. But with a wife and little one's his health is more important. I know he'd like his buddy Morneau back. He probably made sure the Twins weren't planning on that before deciding the move. He'll be very good at first base.

[MileHighTwinsFan]

It was likely that the next competitive lineup for the Twins was going to have Mauer at 1B and/or DH. I expect the team will consider a veteran option (AJ?) to allow Pinto to mature into the position. AJ strikes me as a player who could be a positive addition to a clubhouse full of very talented, but not MLB savvy players.

[D. Hocking]

In Mauer's teleconference, he said he did talk to Morneau prior to making the decision. Sounds like he was still having symptoms well into October. I am guessing he has had a number of undiagnosed concussions. The reason he went in for a test this time was he was dizzy enough he was missing ground balls in fielding practice. It would not shock me if he has ignored lesser concussion symptoms in the past.

 

I read a comment about someone complaining that his .324 average would be average for a first baseman. I am thinking half of the first basement were not batting above .324 last year.

[Physics Guy]

Building off, Jay's sentiment - As a catcher he is a perennial all-star, and arguably the best at his position in the game. (instinct was super-star, but realistically he hasn't been at that level for a couple years.) His 2013 .880 OPS was about 50 points higher than the next catcher. Huge. There are 5 1B with .900+ OPS (ok, I'm cheating a bit 'cause Freeman was only .897, but all signs point to him still entering his prime.) He gets a 2014 All-Star invite because MN is hosting, but beyond that?

 

Doesn't anybody else think that his offensive production (and I don't mean counting stats) will improve when he isn't subjected to the grind of catching? I used to think that he was Mark Grace if he played 1B, but I think his numbers improve because he will be physically less worn down.

[JB_Iowa]

• Mike Berardino ‏@MikeBerardino 14m
  Mauer said he "probably had several (concussions) that went undiagnosed. I was just wired to play through it."
  
• Mike Berardino ‏@MikeBerardino 15m
  
• Mauer: "What concerned everybody involved was how long it took me to be symptom free." Took until late October, he said
  

[Mike Sixel]

Like I said on the thread on this.....they aren't winning the WS next year probably, so why risk his long term health back there? It makes 100% sense to me to move him now.

 

His pay isn't really relevant at this point, imo. They have plenty of money to sign other players. I would hope this means he gets more ABs over the year, somewhat making up for his moving positions.

[Kwak]

This answers the age-old question: "Who's on first?" Clearly, Mauer must be in the line-up, so he has to play someplace. Pinto's audition last year showed he has major-league ability. Now he just needs to show he can make the continuous adjustments to stay successful. It matters not what is Mauer's salary with respect to where he plays--the die is cast. This change also eliminates the wasting of money signing a veteran 1B-man so all FA dollars can (and should be) focused on starting pitching. As before, the executive committee will do their job and set guidelines for spending--hopefully all spending will be toward solving the starting pitching problem.

[amjgt]

I think most people aren't looking at this quite right...

 

Of course it's not a positive for the team. One of the best hitting catchers ever, moving to a position where his talents aren't a ton better than his peers is OF COURSE a bad thing.

 

BUT....

 

This isn't a "well what do you think... should we move him or keep him at catcher" decision. This is a necessary move to ensure than Mauer doesn't suffer a career ending injury. What were the chances of that happening? Based on like a third of the catchers in the league going on the 7day DL last year, I'd say chances are pretty darn good that he'd get another concussion in the next few years.

 

The Twins can't risk having a $23M door stop. The Twins can certainly handle having a $23M above average hitting, highly marketable firstbaseman, who will likely be in the lineup every day and perhaps just tick up a little at the plate because of the less wear and tear on his body.

[zchrz]

Doesn't anybody else think that his offensive production (and I don't mean counting stats) will improve when he isn't subjected to the grind of catching? I used to think that he was Mark Grace if he played 1B, but I think his numbers improve because he will be physically less worn down.

 

This is what I have been thinking as well. Now he is going to have his legs under him, get less banged up, and have a heck of a lot more time to just focus on hitting since he presumably won't be going to all the catchers meetings and what not. Sure he might not have the prototypical power for the position but he is still a hitting machine and Sano will be providing a lot of power from the other side of the infield soon enough.

[Guest USAFChief]

Whether this decision came now, during spring training, next winter, or some time even later, it was coming. It was, in fact, long overdue IMO.

 

I'm glad they finally made it and can now move forward with the "Mauer out from behind the plate" decision in the past and as part of the planning process going forward. Furthermore, I hope this is just the first of many smart and reality-based moves this winter that address the crux of the situation and at least get a good start on putting the next good Twins team on the field sooner than later.

[Zephrin]

I'm more sad from a legacy standpoint than a stats standpoint. Mauer could have gone down as a top 5 catcher all-time. Right up there with Berra and Bench. I think Mauer will be fine playing 1B. Maybe even all-star level. But he doesn't have a chance of being one of the greatest 1B of all time. As a lifelong Twins fan, I like to see our players remembered through the ages, and not just in Twins Territory.

[amjgt]

Part of me wonders if Mauer will go down as one of the last all-around great catchers. Unbelievable offense (for a catcher) as well as really good on defense.

 

As concussions become more and more of an issue, I think that players with Mauer's offensive abilities are going to be ushered to other positions. Organizations will tell themselves that it's just not worth the risk to keep that player at a high risk position.

 

In that regard, Mauer could be highly regarded over future years, especially since it's the very injury that teams are worried about that forced Mauer to make a switch from his "natural" position.

[Knotholemike]

So Parmelee, Colabello and possibly Plouffe fight it out for right field/DH. At least one, and most likely two of them are gone by the end of 2014 unless Willingham bounces back and is traded before the deadline.

[Knotholemike]

The Twins can't risk having a $23M door stop. The Twins can certainly handle having a $23M above average hitting, highly marketable firstbaseman, who will likely be in the lineup every day and perhaps just tick up a little at the plate because of the less wear and tear on his body.

 

Exactly. At this point all the Twins are trying to do is to get something out of the $23M per year. The rest of it is a sunk cost; water under the bridge.

[spideyo]

I would be willing to bet money that this really was a situation where they said "Joe, it's your decision, but here's a deadline we'd like to know by so we can adjus our offseason plans accordingly"

 

I do think Morneau probably was a bigger influence on this than anything, both because of his history with concussions, and if this switch was made while Morneau was still with the team (or had entered FA straight from the Twins) it could have looked like Mauer was pushing Morneau out the door, and I don't think Mauer would have been willing to go along with that.

 

I do think he has more worth as a Catcher than a first basemen, and it does sadden me to see him walk away from a position where he arguably was one of the best ever. Maybe this is what takes though, for them to finally make serious improvents to catcher's safety and better concussion protection and treatment.

 

From an organization standpoint, it does work out for the best I think. While I like Collabello and Parmelee, I think they've bother missed their window at being MLB superstars (or even regular starters on competitive teams). Pinto's future on the other hand, is very bright. On top of that, if you are going to bring in a FA for one of those spots, there is a MUCH better crop of catchers than 1B.

[Shane Wahl]

It isn't clear why the Twins should sign another catcher unless it is to go big with McCann or Salty. How isn't AJ a waste of time given the Twins aren't going to be legitimate until 2015 anyway?

 

By the way, I bet McCann goes to Red Sox or Rangers, and Salty goes to the Rangers or White Sox.

[diehardtwinsfan]

I'm not sure this is the right decision. I still think he should get some reps back there. Pinto looks like he can be a decent catcher... not Mauer good, but good.

[TheLeviathan]

I understand this but I still don't like it. I think this is a bigger blow to the rebuilding process than most seem to think. It would've been nice to have him at a premium position in the early stages of our hopeful resurgence.

[drivlikejehu]

I think this will be good for Mauer's value overall. It reduces his ceiling, since a good-hitting catcher is so valuable, but playing first should allow him to play more games and decline more slowly in general as he ages.

 

Mauer could easily be a 4 WAR first baseman initially, which would basically 'earn' his salary from a production standpoint.

[Benchwarmerjim]

maybe a discussion for another day, but the broader issue here is (and Minnesota Twins fans are aware of this with past injuries) that concussions are not limited to the football field and hockey rinks. And you gotta wonder if the MLB and the MLBPA and the equipment manufacturers are doing anything to improve catching equipment to reduce the chances for concussions.

[Oldgoat_MN]

maybe a discussion for another day, but the broader issue here is (and Minnesota Twins fans are aware of this with past injuries) that concussions are not limited to the football field and hockey rinks. And you gotta wonder if the MLB and the MLBPA and the equipment manufacturers are doing anything to improve catching equipment to reduce the chances for concussions.

 

They are. They came up with the new titanium mask.

From what I've read, nearly every catcher who got a concussion last year was wearing one.

Apparently they need to try again.

 

Well, Mauer was a really fun catcher to watch.

And fortunately, as raindog said, "His bat plays everywhere".

[D. Hocking]

I was kind of wondering if the new "better" mask they gave him last year might have actually contributed to his getting the concussion.

 

Reading some of his quotes from the press conference, it sounds like there were days post-concussion where he could barely function. Shockingly, I think they downplayed how he was actually doing making it seem that he could come back anytime and he was probably not even close to being able to play. I did hear one audio clip from the press conference, and not surprisingly he sounded pretty down about it (well - as much you can determine Mauer's emotion from his sometimes less than expressive voice?).

 

It is kind of a bummer to his catcher career end, but realistically, even without the concussion this day probably was not that far down the future. Too bad it had to happen like this, and that Joe did not have more control over his transition.

[mikecgrimes]

It sounds like this has a lot to do with the concussion so really thats the end of the discussion. I know he won't be dinged up often and his legs will be stronger, but this idea that means he will be a better offensive player I think is asking to much. It's asking an awful lot just to equal his 3rd best season at this point. Yes he is still in the end of his prime, but the years of catching don't go away. If he can equal last year plus 30 more games thats about all you can expect, he might hit 20 points higher he might hit 20 points lower, and at this point age could catch up with him at any point so dipping below .300 from this point forward would be no shock. If he finds a way to hit .350 with 20 HR great, but I don't expect it.