Joe Mauer signs 8-year $184 million contract extension

• mucalum49

  

  Minneapolis keeps its favorite hometown boy
  
  http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=5016230
• Strapping Young Lad

  

  Cha-ching.....
• Lovejoy1984

  

  Good for him, bad for the Twins.
• jspitaleri

  

  I was surprised to see them sign him to such a deal. A lot of money committed to just two players now (Mauer/Morneau).
• Lovejoy1984

  

  ^^^
  
  My thoughts as well. I understand the reasoning, but a small market club can't sink 23 million a year into 1 player. Either the team will be horrible here very soon, or he's traded before the contract expires.
• mucalum49

  

  I remember hearing on ESPN not too long ago the Twins are expecting a large revenue boost from Target Field in which the team can increase the payroll for the foreseeable future. Its still a lot of money for the guy (2 including Morneau) but hopefully for them their revenue projections are accurate.
• norwalk

  It's a no trade contract. Not that some big money team can "convince" Mauer to waive the no trade clause. I too heard that they were going to get a revenue boost with the new ball field. It beats him signing with one of the NY's, Boston, Chicago or LA next season.
• wes_mantooth

  

  Wait....small and mid market teams pay their players to stay? That is a weird concept.
• Ironman92

  

  GOOD GOD!
  
  
  shocked by that number!
• j_crazy

  

  Jesus Pete. that's a huge contract.
• jordo212000

  

  Good to see a hometown guy who doesn't need the publicity about where he is going to play next year to stroke his ego.
• KnightXC1

  

  Good for Mauer. Great player with no ego or media begging him to go to a big market team. Sucks I have to watch him against the Tigers for 8 more years but good for him to stay with his hometown team.
• End of Line

  

  Good deal for him, bad for the Twins.
• Laley23

  

  If they have projected the attendance figures correctly the boost in revenue will be able to take care of this for the first 3-4 years. That is good enough and long enough for me to say great deal.
• jpake1

  

  That's a lot of bones.
• dat dude

  Bad deal for the twins? Seriously? They just inked an elite, HOF caliber player for a huge discount. Its a great deal for them. They had no choice but to aggressively pursue Mauer. They are just extrememly fortunate that he was accepting a home town discount.
• Lovejoy1984

  

  I don't really think 23 million a year is a huge discount. He wouldn't have gotten much more than that on the open market.
  
  Mauer is a great player, but unless they get a lot of money from that ballpark, which they are expecting to do, he's gonna hurt the team in the long run with that amount of money.
• Eric Taylor

  Boston would have given him 30 million per.
• Lovejoy1984

  

  I doubt they would've went that high, and if they did I can assume(You know what they say) that it wouldn't have been for more the 6 years.
• dat dude

  What is the alternative? Lose your future HOF player at the tender age of 26 because you can't afford him? Is that going to put fans in the seats? No, especially not with the opening of a new ballpark. See Cleveland's demise for example.
  
  What would hurt the team in the long run is not having a strong defensive catcher who can OPS 1.031 (2nd highest to Pujols last year). If you have a chance to sign a player of that caliber, you do it and worry about any consequences later. Albeit, I don't see the negative consequences even approaching the level of outweighing the positive.
  
  btw, Buster Olney said he would have received a minimum of 10 year $250MM.
• Lovejoy1984

  

  All I'm saying is for a small/mid market club, they've got $36 million per season wrapped up now in 2 players.
  
  Last year the roster opening day had a payroll of $58 million.
  http://www.midwestsportsfans.com/2009/01/minnesota-twins-salaries-payroll-2009-offseason/
  
  
  I understand they couldn't just let him walk, But 2 players have eaten up 62% of the payroll from last year. That's not good not matter how you look at it. This team is going be awful here soon, unless that ballpark raises revenue like they expect it too.
• Eric Taylor

  It will be real fun to watch if Albert Pujols does not reup with St Louis.
  
  He could easily get 150/5
• dat dude

  Fair enough. I understand your point, I just disagree.
• Lovejoy1984

  

  dat dude wrote: Fair enough. I understand your point, I just disagree.

  I see your point, and agree to an extent. Mauer is an amazing player, and they had to keep him, no matter what they did to keep him, their is/was a chance it cripples the team financially down the road.
• jordo212000

  

  There is no way they could let him walk. They have to pay for that stadium. Nobody in Minnesota was going to support a team who didn't resign their hometown guy.
  
  I am with a few of you guys wondering how this is a "bad deal" for the Twins. If he continues to hit as he has the past few years while playing catcher, they got a heck of a deal.