As Mark Twain mentioned, "there's 3 kinds of lies; lies, damn lies, and statistics." This falls under the last. When the Twins were a perrennial playoff team, it wasn't because Mauer wasn't a large portion of their payroll, it's because they were all young, and playing well, in a bad division. Mauer's contract certainly hasn't helped matters since, but I don't believe you can blame him. Morneau's injuries, the pitching staff falling completely apart, bad trades, and the right free agents not retained, and a dearth of talent in the minors have brought us to this 4 year low point.