The Twins have misallocated funds, and there's no question about this. Mauer deserves some of the blame, as he's playing more like a 15M/year catcher right now than a 23M/year catcher. Then again, that money was getting spent regardless, as the Twins would have been run out of MN had they not locked up Mauer after getting a public stadium... The real question is whether Mauer would have gotten more on the open market... I suspect he would have, and I certainly don't blame him for maximizing his income. The question will be how he performs in the next few years. Even this year he doesn't seem 100%, but he has plenty more prime years on that deal.... Hopefully, next season looks like something a bit closer to 2009 where he at least is a lock for 10-20 home runs to go with the BA...