As Joe Mauer chilled at his log cabin in the woods an hour north of the Twin Cities over the weekend, presumably, the squirrels sat outside his window and squeaked the question.
When, Joe, when?
|
|
| 'I'm under contract for next season and I'm excited about that,' Joe Mauer says. (US Presswire) |
When, Joe, when?
And if I may speak now for a moment on behalf of the good people of Minnesota themselves:
This first MVP award is nice and all, and congratulations.
But when in the name of Lake Minnetonka are the Twins going to sign Mauer to a long-term contract extension?!
"I knew I'd probably run into a question like this," Mauer said Monday afternoon, shortly after learning he easily out-distanced the Yankees' Mark Teixeira for the award. "I've always said that it will be taken care of when it needs to be taken care of. This offseason has been crazy for me. It's probably a good thing, because I haven't had time for distractions. I haven't been too worried about it.
"It will happen when it's going to happen."
When, Joe, when? Once you get past all things Brett Favre, such as what he had for breakfast and what color of underwear he's donning under his Wrangler jeans today, it is the overriding question in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.
Mauer, due to make $12.5 million in 2010, is eligible for free agency one year from now. The Twins have every intention of attempting to keep him. A source close to the situation confirms that extension talks between the MVP catcher and the club have not yet started.
It is impossible to picture Mauer leaving the Twins because, well, he's more Minnesota than ice fishing. He's more Upper Midwest than 20 below in January. He grew up in St. Paul, he was a high school star there and his family remains so tight that his grandparents attend every Twins home game.
And yet ... more and more in this crazy, whacked-out sports world, in so many areas, the only things that speak louder than money are the hometown hero's footsteps echoing in the distance as he's departing for richer pastures of gold. There's a reason why Minnesotans to this day still fondly recall the time Kirby Puckett left money laying on the free agent table to re-sign with the Twins.
Those memories are relevant in one important area today: Mauer retains as his agent Ron Shapiro, the same man who represented Puckett and Cal Ripken. Each of those players, of course, became iconic, one-team players.
Nevertheless, in jittery Minnesota, where they've watched Johan Santana and Torii Hunter depart in recent years, there are some who think that if the Twins don't sign Mauer by the time spring training begins, it's curtains.
There are others who think that if the Twins don't sign him before next season begins, it's sayonara.
When, Joe, when?
Might he give the Twins any sort of contract deadline before breaking off talks (once they do start) so as to avoid outside distractions once spring training begins? Or, the regular season?
"Not really, to tell you the truth," Mauer said. "I've always said it will happen when it needs to happen, and I truly believe that."
Mauer says this in the same sort of cheerful, maple syrup-coated voice with which he discusses everything from mowing the lawn to how to approach a Zack Greinke slider.
"I'm under contract for next season and I'm excited about that," he continued. "And I'm excited about Target Field opening next year.
"I'm not the kind of guy who says it needs to happen by this date. It'll happen when it needs to happen."
In the Twins' perfect world, the opening of their sparkling new stadium next April 12 will come accompanied by an announcement that they've locked up their MVP catcher for a lifetime -- and beyond. Heck, in the Twins' perfect world, an announcement that they're retaining Mauer would come at any point before he hits the free agent market next winter.
He is only getting more expensive. The guy now owns three batting titles, won over the past four years. In 2009, he became the first catcher ever to lead his league in batting average (.365), on-base percentage (.444) and slugging percentage (.587).
He also became only the 13th player in AL history to do it, and the first in nearly 30 years, since Kansas City legend George Brett in 1980. Of the 12 AL players to accomplish the feat, 10 are in the Hall of Fame: Brett, Fred Lynn, Carl Yastrzemski, Frank Robinson, Jimmie Foxx, Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth, Tris Speaker, George Stone, Napoleon Lajoie (twice), Ty Cobb (three times) and Ted Williams (five times).
This year, he added power to his repertoire, smacking a career-high 28 homers, more than double his previous career high (13), and knocking in a career-high 96 runs.
I'll repeat: It is more impossible picturing Mauer leaving the Twins than it is any other player in the majors leaving any other team, this side of Derek Jeter and the Yankees.
If he does, then baseball -- not just Minnesota -- has a significant problem, because part of the spin for the new stadium boom throughout the majors has been that smaller-market clubs in particular needed the new parks so they could retain their stars.
If Mauer is wooed elsewhere after Minnesota plays only one season in a new park for which it's been fighting for more than a decade, then that will be the surest sign yet that the game's economic system is irreparably broken and in need of overhaul.
While talks with the Twins have not yet begun, the informal recruiting elsewhere started months ago. An American League All-Star told me a couple of the Red Sox representatives were all over Mauer in St. Louis in July, telling him why he should sign with the Sox. Of course, that doesn't mean they were speaking for Boston management, and the Sox since have acquired Victor Martinez (who also is a free agent after the 2010 season) since then.
But you get the point.
For his part, Mauer says he believes the Twins can win a World Series despite the current economic inequities, and he says he'll be thrilled to get to Target Field because the Metrodome turf "does a number on you."
Two reasons, among many, that fall in favor of the Twins keeping Mauer.
But until the numbers are agreed upon and the deal is signed, the fear of losing the newly minted AL MVP will continue to coat Minnesota this winter like ice over the lakes. Mauer himself admitted Monday that he's pretty much asked about it by fans whenever he does venture out in public.
"A little," he said. "You go out to eat, stuff like that. But all of my encounters have been great. People are excited with the year we had. And they're excited about the new stadium."
And above all, they all want to know, today more than ever:
When, Joe, when?
The_Game_MGH 
