Finally! Today the news broke that the beloved, hometown boy Joe Mauer will be wearing a Twins uniform for eight more years. The Twins and Mauer agreed to an eight-year, $184 million deal (which works out to about $23 million per year).
The deal also has a full no-trade clause attached. According to local news station KARE 11, Mauer's contract is the fourth largest in the history of Major League Baseball. Meaning? We're not in a small market anymore, Toto.
Breathing a sigh of relief
This bit of news is a huge weight lifted off the shoulders of Twins fans everywhere. He's an All-Star, MVP, batting champion and one of the best players in the American League. Plus, he's a hometown hero playing in his own backyard. What more can you ask for in a baseball idol?
Mauer's current contract is up at the conclusion of the 2010 season, after which he would become a free agent. The bidding wars between the Yanks and Red Sox would have been fun to watch.
Avoiding baseball suicide
It was widely known that the Twins needed to lock up Mauer before this season got underway, therefore eliminating any contact/trade talk distractions during the season. And of course, letting Mauer walk as a free agent just one year into the Target Field era would have been baseball suicide on the part of the Twins organization.
This deal had to get done. It just had to. So, in one of the most positively-productive offseasons in quite some time, the Twins were proving to fans that they were trying to do everything possible to put a world-series contender on the field. See J.J. Hardy, Orlando Hudson and Jim Thome.
I wasn't worried about the Mauer deal until spring training started. Yes, the regular season wasn't underway yet, but with each passing day, the prospect drew some uneasiness from local media members and social media fan bases. I mean, I feel like the rest of the positive moves this offseason would be forgotten if the Twins went back to their old ways and let Mauer walk. See Torii Hunter and Johan Santana.
According to some sources close to me, if Mauer was not signed by the start of the regluar season, it would be time to say goodbye to him at the end of the 2010.
Hearing the news
Now, I am usually quite "plugged in" these days. In an age with Facebook, Twitter, email and blogs, it's hard to stay away from all the social media sometimes. But today was a beautiful day outside, so I went for a nice long walk with a friend. Afterward, we decided to go out to dinner, so I hopped in my car and pulled out of the driveway.
Star Tribune Preps Leader Michael Rand had been hosting a sports-focused radio show on KSTP1500 that afternoon, so I tuned in on my drive. When the commercial break ended, Rand came on the air and said, "it's a good day if you're a Joe Mauer fan or a Twins fan." (Or something like that.)
I was pretty much speechless. No, really. I was just so surprised that the deal was done, I didn't know what to say (to myself, alone in the car). It was a great feeling knowing he was going to be sticking around for years to come.
Nathan's overshadowed news
This Mauer hoopla positively overshadows the earlier news of the day that everyone was expecting: Joe Nathan is done for the year. No one following his recent injury saga should be falling out of their chairs at this announcement.
Nathan tested his arm today while playing catch with pitching coach Rick Anderson. After just 10 minutes, Nathan made the decision to have season-ending Tommy John surgery to repair the injured ligament in his right elbow.
He is the Twins closer who leads the majors with 246 saves since 2004. The void he leaves will be big, and now we will wait to see if the Twins decide to replace him with a current member of the bullpen, or look elsewhere and make a trade.
We'll have to see how the closer situation plays out, but right now, all the focus is on Mauer. This St. Paul native, Cretin-Derham Hall graduate and phenomenal baseball player will be a Twin through 2018. How cool is that?
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