I'm not sure why Pierzynski winds up in every conversation about Mauer. Yes, AJ has logged more innings at catcher since 2010 despite being older. A lot more. So he's tougher, one of the toughest players in baseball probably. He's also allowed baserunners to steal at will, can't frame pitches, is a poor baserunner, and isn't as good of a hitter. So, he's not as good, and hardly any cheaper. In fact on a per WAR basis since 2010, AJ's produced 1 WAR per $4.7m. Mauer? 1 WAR per $5.7m. I'm glad the Twins have the better player, even if he's more expensive. I wish they would get a whole bunch more players like that. (I shall now go to the WAR thread and try to defend WAR.) All that being said, I think a lot of the armchair doctoring about Mauer is borne out of a frustration with the fact that the lineup is almost unwatchable without him in it. If the players around him were better, and the team didn't lose 90 games a year, Mauer wouldn't catch so much heat. Maybe its kinda like KG and the crummy T-Wolves teams earlier in the 2000s. KG was among the game's best players and still people said he wasn't "clutch" or whatever. Pretty soon he had enough of it and went and won some championships in another city. We're lucky Mauer seems to like it here a little more, even if some fans don't appreciate his output.