Hooligans Sportsbook

Minnesota Go All In On Mauer

Follow
Polaroid

Polaroid

I need a tittle
Since
Jan 21, 2010
Messages
2,890
Score
3
Tokens
0
On Monday, the Minnesota Twins took an eight year gamble as they announced they tied up their hometown boy Joe Mauer with a $184 million contract extension keeping him in Minnesota until he is 35 years old. Mauer was due to become a free agent at the end of the 2010 season which, in the absence of a deal with the Twins, would have started a bidding frenzy involving both the Yankees and Red Sox who could both use a long term catcher. Although the contract is the fourth biggest in major league history both in terms of annual salary and total value, Mauer allowed Minnesota a hometown discount as it is markedly less than analysts expected the current AL MVP to get on the open market.

ealooaacg.jpg

The Wins Above Replacement (WAR) is a sabermetric measure giving a ballpark adjusted number which represents how many more wins a player can earn his team over an average MLB player; the WAR can then be monetised at $4.5 million per win in order to assess the worth of a contract. Mauer had a WAR dollar value of $36.6 million last year and predictions for 2010 are close to $33 million inferring that the Twins are getting value on the contract even without considering his above average defence.

As well as tying up their prize asset, and arguably the best player in the American League, it also signals a change in direction for Minnesota who in the recent past have transformed 9 time Golden Glove Award winner Torii Hunter and 2 time Cy Young winner Johan Santana into All Stars only to see them leave in their free agent years. The Twins' 2009 payroll started out at $65 million which will rise to $95 million this season and then in 2011, when the Mauer $23.5 million a year deal kicks in, they will be in a position where they will have over $70 million of payroll across 8 players. For a small market team, that's a big commitment and a big expectation that the revenue from the Twin's new home at Target Field will be enough to cover the bulging payroll.


.
 
I don't want to be negative but all I can think about is when the Blue Jays had Carlos Delgado hanging like an anchor on the whole team with his salary which was, like 25% of the whole payroll.

Mauer is a very good player and the fact he is a hometown boy makes even better from a PR point of view. But unless, the Twins are making a commitment to huge payroll - which I doubt - I don't see this being a good move competitively. There will be only breadcrumbs for supporting players.

My impression is that when small-mid market teams do compete, it is not through the single superstar approach. It is usually a bunch of modestly priced young players catching lightning-in-a-bottle at just the right time.

Which brings us right back to the issue of salary cap.

Anyway, we'll see about the Twins.
 
Are the Twins getting a new ballpark?

Twins have never had a problem with scouting, drafting and devloping players over the past 10 years or so, so why should that change now. There have been a lot of terrible deals out there lately (VERNON WELLS) but this is not one of them.
 
Mudcat
Mauer is a very good player and the fact he is a hometown boy makes even better from a PR point of view. But unless, the Twins are making a commitment to huge payroll - which I doubt - I don't see this being a good move competitively. There will be only breadcrumbs for supporting players.
Click to expand...

I think contract itself is the commitment to a huge payroll (not Yankee proportions, but at least a significantly higher payroll). Going from $65-$90 million in one season and certainly hitting over $100 million in 2011 with the Mauer deal (which is ~$15 million higher than his current contract) is something the Twins didn't do lightly. And although his 2011 wage will represent around 25% of the total payroll, that still leaves $75 million for other players - they managed to win the AL Central last year on $57 excluding Mauer's pay.

Here are my reasons why it was a good deal.

1) He could have got $30+ million on the open market and probably got a 10 year deal - he's arguably more valuable than A-Rod's $275 million deal in 2007.

2) Neither the Yankees nor the Red Sox got him which is good for baseball - and it he went to free agency, one of those would have grabbed him and jacked up the price. The Yankees have an ageing Posada and the Red Sox still have no long term catcher.

3) The Twins have a decent catching prospect, 22 year old Wilson Ramos, who can come up in a year or two and take the pressure of Mauer (he generally plays 140 games a year due to the physical toll of catching) who could see some time at first/third base/DH.

4) It really nice when a player realises that $180 million playing for the team you want to play for is so much better than $300 million to sell your soul to the pinstripes

Having said that, if the Twins have miscalculated the revenue streams for their new stadium then it will be a disaster.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.