I disagree with those who believe that Mauer's contract prevented our ownership from signing free agents. However, that's not even relevant to the 2019 team. If Mauer had played this year, it would have been for somewhere around $5 million, not $23 million. There is not a single player on this roster that we couldn't afford while paying $5 million to Mauer. In my opinion, if Mauer were on this team and if Cron was outplaying Mauer at first and Cruz was outplaying Mauer for DH ABs, Mauer would be getting less ABs. He wouldn't be holding anyone back, and he'd probably be contributing to this great season. But that's all opinion and all hypothetical. That Mauer would not be making $23 million if he had played this year is an absolute uncontrovertible fact. To believe anything else would be an insult to the FO's intelligence.