As Joe Mauer is inducted into the Minnesota Twins’ Hall of Fame on Saturday, many will remember his career with fondness and appreciation. Ask almost any national MLB pundit, and they’ll all agree that his name belongs in Cooperstown, among the best in the history of the game. They’ll be shocked to hear that there is a loud faction of fans in Minnesota who are disappointed with his illustrious career.
Was he a perfect player with wall-to-wall elite production? Of course not. But his body of work was extensive enough, with an incredible peak and a handful of standout moments, that his candidacy for the National Hall of Fame should be a lot simpler than many make it out to be.
It’s reasonable to expect a debate about whether any player deserves to be in the Hall of Fame, especially for the traditionalists that will cling to the idea of a “small Hall” until their last breath. But as the game grows, so should its hallowed halls of the sacred museum that honors the game’s best and most-noteworthy characters.
A privilege of this magnitude extends far beyond the numbers in a box score, or on a player’s Baseball Reference page. Being named to the baseball Hall of Fame is an honor because it tells the story of a legend. And Joe’s story is unique, decorated and prestigious enough to be told despite the disappointed minority that insist he shouldn’t make the cut.
Before getting into that all-important story that makes Mauer a slam-dunk Hall candidate, it’s vital to know that his numbers alone make him worthy of a nod. His career .306/.388/.439 (.827 OPS) was roughly 23% better than league average, and is one of the better offensive lines for a full-time catcher. I can already hear the jabronis coming out of the woodwork to moan about his career post-concussion.
But he wasn’t a full-time catcher throughout his career!
That’s fine. If they want to play it that way, it’s rather interesting to split his career into two compendiums. One from his debut in 2004 until his injury-shortened 2013 campaign when he was a certified full-time backstop, and another chapter that spans his years as a first-baseman/designated hitter from 2014 to 2018.
For the first 10 seasons of Mauer’s career, he displayed some of the best numbers ever put up by a catcher in the history of the game. He won an MVP award, was named to six All-Star games, took home five Silver Slugger awards and was awarded three Gold Gloves. And oh yeah, he secured three batting crowns — more than all other catchers in the history of the game combined.
In that nearly 1200-game span, Minnesota’s native son had an elite clip of .323/.405/.468 (.872 OPS), with more walks (616) than strikeouts (564). Putting that incredible bat into perspective, it falls almost perfectly in line with current All-Stars Luis Robert Jr. (.871 OPS) and Corbin Carroll (.880 OPS). Each of those star players have a wRC+ of 134, meaning they’ve been 34% better than league average. That’s the exact same score as Mauer between 2004 and 2013, and he was playing the most-grueling defensive position for most the time in those 10 seasons.
That stretch alone warrants entry into the Hall of Fame. But pessimists like to think his five seasons after his transition to first base should detract from those incredible numbers. First of all, if BBWAA voters are expected to discount a player’s overall numbers based on a post-peak drop off, then the entire exercise becomes moot rather quickly. Additionally, Joe’s numbers from 2014 to 2018 were better than many seem to remember.
While he still saw a significant drop off when compared to his numbers as a catcher, he still performed at a slightly-better than average rate, with a .278/.359/.388 (.764 OPS) overall clip that was worth 103 wRC+. That’s not going to win any MVP awards, but is it really so low that it should blind anyone from seeing his brilliant career until the switch?
That level of production lands right in between two key players in 2023. Julio Rodriguez has a .251/.313/.419 (.732 OPS) and Austin Hays is hitting .280/.322/.437 (.759 OPS), and they were both named All-Stars this year. Of course, that doesn’t mean that post-peak Mauer was some borderline superstar player, but it does paint a different picture when determining if that chapter of his career should tear down everything he had built until then.
As Joe gets his flowers this weekend, it’s clear that he deserves every bit of praise that his former-team will give him. His legacy is that of one of the game’s best, and it doesn’t need to be as complicated as many try to make it out to be.
