DrNeau

Please take Nolasco out. He is terrible.

Take Nolasco out.

One of my favorite players. He deserves the job. Happy for him. We're in a good position - having Polanco as a backup option.

Baseball is finally back! So happy. Great starting lineup tonight.

Nope!

I have great interest in Mauer performing better, and honestly hope he turns things around. I watch every game and personally am rooting for Joe. These things being said, I am frustrated. I wish for the team to ultimately perform well. I have also admittedly ripped Gardy, Punto, Delmon, Slowey, Mijares, Perkins, Capps, and others for various reasons. Right now, it's Mauer's turn, and I'm sorry if you feel the need to insert your idea of my reasoning for this into the equation. Again, here's hoping he'll turn things around.

I am not asserting Mauer can not lift more than 55 pounds. You, however, are asserting that by lifting more weights, Joe would hit worse. I'm not sure that is possible right now. Again, no one is expecting him to be the Incredible Hulk. ---------------------------------- BrianTrottier, on 24 Feb 2016 - 06:40 AM, said: I'm not sure what point you're trying to make in this thread. Are you saying that if Mauer was power lifting he'd still be winning batting titles? ---------------------------------- Mauer has spoken directly in the past about his weight-lifting habits. His quotes are well-documented. He stated in 2014 that all of his leg workouts came by catching bullpens in the past, and knowing that his career began in 2004, he effectively stated he had not lifted weights with his legs in 10 years. Simply put, the guy has made some extremely odd statements over the years, and people are not letting these weird quotes slip by right now. You act as if I'm the one who is saying these things. He has said them. In the past, he was given the benefit of the doubt. That's not happening right now. He has made a lot of statements in the past of how he hasn't lifted, and how he has delayed off-season training (and even picking up a bat) until February, and how he needs to "take things slow", etc. He is under scrutiny right now, and the quotes are simply being documented. That's all. Here's to hoping he will turn things around. ---------------------------------- BrianTrottier, on 24 Feb 2016 - 06:40 AM, said: It seems like your sole interest in this thread is just to take personal jabs at Joe Mauer without any larger point. ---------------------------------- That's an ad-hominem argument. You are turning the discussion on to me, personally. Again, Mauer has made many odd quotes, and most recently, he made a few that have completely had the Twins' fan base and media up in a frenzy. Unsure if you're aware of what's going on? I'll spell it out for you. Current situation: * After consecutive spring trainings in 2014 and 2015 where Mauer reported feeling "good", he stated in 2/2016 that he has been suffering all along (since his 8/2013 concussion) from blurred vision, and has cited that as the reason for poor production in the past 2 years. When asked if he ever told the team at all during that two year span, he said no. Terry Ryan confirmed later that he had never heard of that, and that he thought Joe was "fine". TR also followed up, saying that Joe now says his comments are being blown out of proportion. There are clear communication issues, and it seems Joe, who is a grown man now, is having difficulty clearly saying what he means. It's problematic, and many people feel the same way. If you don't agree, that's fine, but it's no reason to attack me. http://postimg.org/image/8bybbxhin/

Let's see what Joe HIMSELF has said on the topic: Mauer stated in March of 2014 (when transitioning to 1B) that ALL of his leg workouts in the past came from catching bullpens. http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2014/03/07/joe-mauer-moves-to-first-base/6167525/ Now we're up to 55 lb. squats. Yippee!

There are some very odd facts coming out recently about the team's star player, and we are discussing. You act as if we don't have the right. What do you think these forums are for? Lifting more than 55 pounds, swinging the bat before February, and reporting major injuries to the team are all things that do not take a brain surgeon to believe are helpful.

Haha

He won't manage again.

*****

Joe said in 2014 and 2015 spring trainings that he was feeling "good". We heard countless stories of pull power and gained strength. Joe said he didn't pick up a bat last year until February. Fast forward to February 2016, and Joe suddenly states he's had blurred vision since 8/2013, and stated it has adversely affected his hitting. Terry Ryan recently said he's never heard a peep from Joe about this, and he thinks Joe is "fine". TR also said that Joe now states his comments about blurred vision have been made too much of. Recap: * Joe says he's feeling great, but actually he's really not feeling great... he's hiding an injury. Oh wait he didn't mean exactly to call it that. Then the GM says he's never heard anything and that Joe is fine. All the while, Joe is squatting 55 lbs and not picking up a bat until February. Are they in bizarro world? Honestly, this is absurd. For some reason, there is a complete overload of confusion about a pretty straight forward issue, and it's an issue that needs to be figured out now.

As weird as this all is, it's even more weird that the media is not demanding answers on this.

No one demands he looks like the Incredible Hulk. Some noticeable strength at all should be evident, though. We don't see that. 55-lb. squats are typically done at the end of a "burnout" session. Two spotters on each side; taking off the 45s first, then 35s, then 25s, then 10s, then 5s. Not the case here. Joe's legitimately working out 55 lb. squats. That's 10-year-old kid weight.

Terry Ryan responded today on Joe's "revelation" of blurred vision from the other day. * Ryan confirmed today what Mauer said the other day, that Mauer had never informed the Twins about "blurred vision", that he has reportedly had for 2.5 years. (Concerning he elected no to report a huge issue like blurred vision to the team, but reported to the media instead.) * Ryan said "It has never trickled up to me. It still hasn't, so I'm thinking that he's fine." (Despite Joe's claims, Terry says he thinks Joe is "fine".) * Ryan said he was told Mauer claims the language used in the interview was "stronger than intended". (It seems Mauer is having difficutly saying what he means.) So, you've effectively got your star player saying he's had blurred vision for 2.5 years, and the GM is saying the player is fine. Ryan made a point to say that it still hadn't "trickled up to him". This is all very interesting.

Apparently, Joe was interviewed last week, and has clarified a few matters. Please see links to Mauer interview and summary below. ------------------------------------------------------------ Interview with Joe Mauer - 1500 ESPN Radio - "Sportswriter's Roundtable" 2/17/2016 Link to article: http://www.1500espn.com/sportswriters-roundtable-2/2016/02/ep-2-chuck-fletchers-plight-byung-ho-park-joe-mauer-zach-lavine/ Link to report on the interview: https://soundcloud.com/1500espn/ep-2 Brian Murphy (Pioneer Press) revealed he had spent the day with Joe Mauer last week. Some noteworthy quotes from that report: 1:50 Murphy: "Mauer revealed concussion symptoms continue to affect him at the plate, how his fatherhood and two seasons of declining production have also affected him. Later in report... Murphy: "No one has understood the level to which concussions has affected Joe Mauer." 22:10 Murphy: "Have the concussions inhibited or affected your ability to track pitches?" Mauer: "Absolutely." Murphy: "He had never revealed that before." Interview took place at workout facility in Mauer Chevrolet, then back at his house. Murphy: "I kind of pushed him on it a little bit and said in what way? Have you even really talked to Paul Molitor, Tom Brunansky (the hitting coach) or the front office about that? He said 'no, I should probably do a better job about that.'" Mauer went on to say the "glare" in the day is a problem, that the vision issues "come and go". 23:32 He went on to ask Mauer, "Is this an anomaly, or is somewhat of the new world order for you?" Responded Mauer: "I've got some new techniques and exercises I've been working on, some neck stretching routines that I've been doing... it's arrested that a bit, I haven't had any symptoms at all this winter – where as I have working out in the past 27:00 "Not catching bullpens have affected Mauer's ability to see the ball." "Not knowing the umpire has affected Mauer's hitting." Summary of new info revealed from this interview: * "Fatherhood" has affected Joe Mauer's production. * No one has understood how much the concussions have affected Joe Mauer. * The concussions have affected his ability to track pitches. * Joe Mauer has never reported the vision issues to the Twins. * The sun's glare is a "problem" for Joe Mauer. * Joe Mauer has had "no symptoms" whatsoever in all of his workouts this winter. He revealed in this interview that he did experience symptoms in past off-season workouts, despite reporting in both 2014 and 2015 spring training that he was feeling "good". So, effectively, he is claiming to have a clean slate from this now. * Not knowing the umpire has affected Joe Mauer's production. So, it is now clear that Joe has not mentioned any of this to the Twins at all. That is simply stunning.

Hope he mashes. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks so much for posting this. It's great.

Fair enough. I just think that if a player is claiming to be injured, there should be some discussion about playing time - at a minimum. In fact, after an injury, the first questions you ask are: * Can he physically play? And * Can he play well? If either of the answers are "no", then discussing playing time certainly is not silly.

So it is out of the question to limit Joe's amount of playing time, given that he has stated he is still suffering from a physical injury? That's an interesting position to take. So from what I read on this forum, the affects from the concussion are a good basis to accept poor production, but at the same time, his playing time should not be limited. Roger that.

When pitchers are coming off of an injury, they are often limited in terms of innings pitched. As Joe is claiming to still be adversely affected by injury, is "silly" really appropriate verbiage here? Especially since his production is near the lowest of qualifying 1B in all MLB? I do, however, agree with having optimism and seeing how things play out.

When comparing him with other 1B, 2015: .265 BA, 10 HR, 66 RBI, .718 OPS There were 31 first basemen with at least 400 plate appearances in 2015. Mauer ranked 27th. For Joe's safety, the Twins should give Mauer an 81 game limit, and cite his comments on his own physical condition as reasoning.

A fair response to this by the Twins would be to limit Joe to 81 games, and directly cite his comments on his own health as reasoning.

Hope this is finally the year he overcomes whatever the heck it is that's holding him back.