It was hard to witness Joe Mauer emerge from the Minnesota Twins’ dugout in his final game on Sept. 30, 2018, and not think about what could have been. What if he had stayed behind the plate throughout his career? What if this hadn’t been the last time since late in the 2013 season that we had seen him in catcher’s gear?
Mauer was hitting .324/.404/.476 on Aug. 19, 2013, when he took Ike Davis’ career-altering foul ball off his mask. “I have every intention of coming back and catching. That’s what I do,” Mauer said after former GM Terry Ryan decided to drop any effort to return him to the lineup that season. “But right now, I have to take care of this situation.
“I look forward to getting back out on the field next year. As a catcher.”
The Twins moved Mauer to first base at the beginning of the 2014 season, and he hit .267/.353/.380 from 2014 to 2016. The concussion he suffered from an innocuous-looking foul tip had turned him into a league-average hitter at first base for three years. Worse yet, after extending Mauer for eight years, $184 million, the Twins won 63, 66, and 66 games from 2011 to 2013.
Mauer infamously suffered from bilateral leg weakness in 2011, but he hit .321/.410/.460 and made the All-Star team in 2012 and 2013. Still, the Twins couldn’t build a winner around him. Minnesota won a playoff game in 2004, but Mauer only played in 35 games that year because he tore his meniscus as a rookie.
The Twins won the AL Central three times between 2006 and 2010, and Mauer hit .334/.416/.491 during that span. He won three batting titles, made four All-Star teams, and led baseball with a .365/.444/.587 slash line in 2009. Mauer made $400,000 in 2006 and never made more than $10.5 million. But with the extension came scrutiny.
Mauer hit .327/.402/.469, and the Twins won 94 games to christen Target Field in 2010. But the New York Yankees swept Minnesota in the playoffs for the second straight year. Mauer only played 82 games the following season due to bilateral leg weakness. Mauer hit .321/.410/.460 and made the All-Star team in 2012 and 2013, but the team had deteriorated around him.
Michael Cuddyer and Joe Nathan left in free agency after the 2011 season. The Twins traded Justin Morneau to the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2013. Minnesota won 66 games in 2012 and 2013. Denard Span led the Twins with 4.9 WAR in 2012. Mauer was behind him with 4.4, and Jamey Carroll (3.4), Josh Willingham (3.3), and Ben Revere (2.8) were Minnesota’s three most impactful players after Span and Mauer. Scott Diamond (2.6 WAR) was their best pitcher.
The Twins traded Span to the Washington Nationals for Alex Meyer a year later. Mauer led Minnesota with 5.5 WAR. Glen Perkins (2.4), Brian Dozier (2.4), and Kevin Correia (2.2) were the three most impactful players behind him. A resourceful organization that won despite playing in the Metrodome with a low budget suddenly stopped developing pitchers and middle-of-the-order sluggers. The heart-and-soul players like Morneau, Cuddyer, and Nathan had left.
“We’ve talked for a long time about the importance of Target Field,” Twins president Dave St. Peter said after signing Mauer to his $184 million extension. “It really puts the Minnesota Twins in position to retain the talent that we work so hard to develop in the minor leagues.”
Minnesota had more resources because of its new park, which attracted more season ticket holders and brought in more revenue. But aside from the 2010 season, when Mauer was still on his old contract and made $12.5 million, the Twins had losing seasons in five of six years between Mauer’s bilateral leg weakness season (2011) and the total system failure in 2016.
A $23 million player is supposed to drive winning, and Mauer hit .290/.373/.405 from 2011 to 2018. But he slashed .305/.373/.405 in 2017, Derek Falvey and Thad Levine’s first season, and .282/.351/.379 before retiring after the 2018 season. The Twins only had two winning seasons between 2011 and 2018, an 83-win season in 2015 and their 85-win season in 2017, where they returned to the playoffs for the first time since 2010.
Hall of Fame voters value his .306/.388/.439 career slash line, 55.2 career WAR, three Gold Gloves, and three batting titles. Mauer hit .327/.410/.473 from 2006 to 2013 while playing catcher. Few will hold a head injury that altered his career against him. Still, Mauer took the brunt of the blame locally for Minnesota’s downfall after Target Field opened. Some felt his contract prevented the Twins from spending enough to build a team around him. But that fallacy likely stems from Minnesota’s parsimonious Metrodome years.
Last season, Byron Buxton made $15 million and hit .207/.294/.438 in 92 games as a designated hitter. Carlos Correa hit .230/.312/.399 in 135 games while playing sound defense at second. Buxton battled knee issues, and Correa’s plantar fasciitis limited him offensively. But from a bottom-line perspective, the Twins didn’t get full value on either contract.
Still, the Twins won their first playoff game since 2004 and their first series since 2002 because of their depth. Pablo López and Sonny Gray led one of Minnesota’s best rotations in years. Royce Lewis, Edouard Julien, and Matt Wallner had phenomenal rookie seasons. And Jhoan Duran locked things down as the closer. Well-built teams can withstand down seasons from their stars. The best organizations retain their best players, understanding there is risk involved with guaranteed contracts. Ultimately, the Twins had a borderline Hall of Fame catcher and didn’t build a winner around him.
