Minnesota Twins: Are the Best Days Behind the M&M Boys?

Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau have been playing together on the Minnesota Twins since 2004. From 2005 through 2009 they played in a combined 1,417 games averaging 142 games each season with a combined batting average of .284.

In 2006 Morneau won the American League MVP with a .321 batting average, slugging 34 home runs and driving in 130 RBI. Three years later Mauer would be named league MVP winning his third batting title with a .365 average, and career highs with 28 home runs and 96 RBI. 

The Twins sure seemed to have the cornerstones for long term success of franchise with the M&M Boys. With the signing of Mauer to a long term contract extension before the 2010 season everything was looking up for the Minnesota ball club. 

Oh, but how the worms turns.

First it was the concussion on July 7 of last year that ended Morneau's season with him on another MVP pace—batting .345 and leading the team with 18 home runs and 56 RBI in 81 games.

The Twins were extremely careful with Morneau, bringing him back ever so slowly in order to make sure the effects of the concussion were gone. Because of this he would only play in 11games with only 33 at-bats during the spring. 

Currently on the 15-day DL, Morneau has only played in 55 of the Twins 74 games this season. His batting average is currently at .225, almost 60 points below is career average, and hit only four home runs.

Prior to the 2011 season Morneau was hitting a home run every 19.2 at-bats. So far this season that has increased to one for every 53.3 at-bats. 

Prior to Friday's game in Milwaukee the Twins announced that Morneau would have surgery on his neck to remove herniated disk fragments. This will keep him out of the lineup until at least mid-August. 

For Mauer it was minor knee surgery in December of 2010. In an interview with a local Twin Cities television station in January, Mauer himself assured us he was on track and would be ready for the season opener.

When the season opened reality set in and after playing in just nine games Mauer was placed on the 60-day DL with bilateral leg weakness. Since his return, Mauer has played in six games, going three for 21—a lowly "un-Mauer" like .143 average. 

As the Twins approach the half-way point of the season it would appear unlikely that Mauer and Morneau will spend 100 games on the field playing along side each other in 2011.

So far this season neither of this dynamic duo is playing up to their past performances, and it is quite possible that they may never return to the form that earned them MVP accolades.

For Morneau he may never fully shake the effects of the concussion from last July, and for Mauer perhaps the grind of being a major-league catcher has taken its toll on his 6' 5" frame.

This season Twins fans might be seeing a changing of the guard from the M&M boys—the problem is who will step up and take their places?