Minnesota Twins: Joe Mauer Needs to Find a Different Position
The Minnesota Twins are doing a poor job of protecting the investment they made in catcher Joe Mauer.
The eight-year, $184 million extension Mauer signed with the Twins last season places him fourth among the highest-paid position players in Major League Baseball.
Mauer, who will turn 28 on April 19th, has a trophy case full of accolades that positions him on the precipice as one of the all-time great catchers when accounting for both his offensive and defensive abilities: three batting titles, three Gold Gloves, four Silver Slugger awards and an American League MVP leave no doubt that Mauer is not only one of baseball's best catchers, but one of its best players.
The problem is the toll the catching position takes on the body, and the effect it has on the longevity of a player's career.
Having already missed one of the team's first seven games puts Mauer on pace to play only about 138 games—missing 15 percent of the schedule.
Here are five reasons the Twins need to find another position for Joe Mauer.
Joe Mauer Misses 100 At-Bats Per Season
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Excluding his rookie season when he only played 35 games due to a knee injury, Mauer averaged 133.5 games per season from 2005-2010.
Last year, he played in 137 games: 112 at catcher, 22 as designated hitter and three as a pinch-hitter. This placed him fifth on the team in appearances behind Michael Cuddyer (157), Delmon Young (153), Denard Span (153) and Jason Kubel (143).
In his career, Mauer has averaged 3.7 at-bats per game. If he were to play in all 162 games he could add another 107.3 at-bats per season, potentially a 21-percent increase from his average of 497.5.
Joe Mauer: Top Four in Salary, Ninth in Games Played
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Joe Mauer's $23 million salary places him fourth among baseball's position players.
However, his average of 133.5 games per season since 2005 places him ninth, ahead of only first baseman Ryan Howard of the Phillies among those with top salaries.
Detroit's Miguel Cabrera leads the list, playing in an average of 157.6 games. Over Cabrera's nine seasons he has played an equivalent number of games at third base, first base and outfield.
There's the adage of the best players—play. That being the case, the Twins should try to play Mauer more.
By finding another position for Mauer the Twins would be able to increase the number of games he plays each season and his number of plate appearances, ultimately increasing his impact on the team's success.
Here are the top 10 salaries for position players in 2011 and their average number of games per season:
No. 1: Alex Rodriguez—$32 million, 153.8 games.
No. 2: Vernon Wells—$26.2 million, 148.4 games.
No. 3: Mark Teixeira—$23.1 million, 152.2 games.
No. 4: Joe Mauer—$23 million, 133.5 games.
No. 5: Todd Helton—$20.3 million, 145.7 games.
No. 6: Miguel Cabrera—$20 million, 157.6 games.
No. 7: Ryan Howard—$20 million, 122.3 games.
No. 8: Carlos Beltran—$19.3 million, 134.3 games.
No. 9: Carlos Lee—$19 million, 149.8 games.
No. 10: Alfonso Soriano—$19 million, 143.8 games.
Interestingly, Albert Pujols, who without question will become one of the top paid players in baseball, has averaged 156 games each season since be broke into the Cardinals' starting lineup as a rookie in 2001.
The fewest games Pujols has played in his 10-year career is 143, more than Mauer has averaged per season in his career.
Catchers Play the Fewest Games of Any Position
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Using the 2010 data from baseball-reference.com for the starting lineups of all 30 major league teams, catchers averaged 105.1 games played last season—the lowest of any position.
Starting catchers averaged more than 10 games fewer than the average for American League designated hitters, which was the next lowest at 118.4 games.
In 2010 Joe Mauer played in 137 games, catching 122 of them. While this was the second-most of any catcher in baseball, it was only 110th among the 254 starters for all 30 teams.
Catching Is Limiting Joe Mauer's Career
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After being drafted No. 1 overall in the 2001 amateur draft, Joe Mauer made his highly anticipated debut with the Twins on Monday, April 5th, 2004.
The very next day, he suffered an injury to his left medial meniscus that required surgery and sidelined Mauer for over a month.
He attempted a return, but pain and swelling to his knee would limit his rookie season to only 35 games.
In May of of 2007 a strained quadriceps landed Mauer on the disabled list. He would be limited to catching only 91 games that season.
Due to lower back pain, in 2009 Mauer missed the entire month of April before joining the Twins on May 1st. Even though he missed the first 22 games of the season, 2009 was Mauer's finest offensive campaign, as he led the league with a .365 batting average and hit 28 home runs and drove in 96 RBI—all career bests for the Twins' catcher.
Offseason knee surgery in December of 2010 limited Mauer to only 20 at-bats in spring training.
Look for Ron Gardenhire to limit Mauer's play throughout the 2011 season in an attempt to preserve the Twins' best hitter for the end of the season, and hopefully a long postseason run.
The Twins Can Get More out of Joe Mauer
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Between 2005 and 2010 Joe Mauer had 978 hits, more than any other Twin over those six seasons.
During that span Mauer has played in 801 games, second to Justin Morneau, who has played in 834, and tied with Michael Cuddyer.
Mauer's .328 average over those six seasons is best on the team. His 193 doubles and 455 RBI are also second to Morneau, who has 194 doubles and 605 RBI.
Increasing Mauer's 137-games-per-season average by 13.5 would lead to another 81 games—an increase of one half-season overall.
Based on Mauer's average contribution, this would result in another 98 hits, 49 runs scored, 46 RBI, 20 doubles and eight home runs.
It would be like adding the contribution Danny Valencia made in 85 games in 2010: 93 hits, 30 runs scored, 40 RBI, 18 doubles and seven home runs.
What Might the Future Hold for Joe Mauer?
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Currently, there's no other place for Joe Mauer to play.
Minnesota's outfield is deep, with Delmon Young, Denard Span, Michael Cuddyer and Jason Kubel.
With Kubel and Jim Thome taking the most swings as the designated hitter it makes little sense to increase Mauer's workload at DH when it limits the power that Thome and Kubel provide.
However, Young, Cuddyer and Kubel are all signed only through the 2011 season. The timing is ripe for Mauer to either make a position change or add another position to the Twins' arsenal.
A good example could be that of Yankees great Yogi Berra. While he spent the majority of his career behind the plate, in 19 seasons Berra played 260 games in the outfield, approximately 13.2 percent of his career.
The Twins need to get as many plate appearances as possible for their best hitter, who has a career .326 batting average.
