Joe Mauer's Contract Extension Seems Great ... Until It's Not

Written by Will McDonald; originally appeared here.

Reliably, the Joe Mauer mega-contract with the Twins is being reported as a perfect marriage. Mauer is an extension of the Twins fans themselves, writes Jayson Stark, and the eight-year, $184 million dollar contract “had to happen, was meant to happen.” Mauer’s remaining in Minnesota is being viewed as especially important because it would be a crime of great proportions if he was allowed to sign with the Yankees or Red Sox. That’s actually the lead angle in the local story on the contract in the Star Tribune, which is headlined, “Our Joltin’ Joe Stays.” The early response is about as balanced and objective as those montages of newspaper headlines in old movies tend to be. Our Joltin’ Joe? Really?

In the coming days, we will surely see a second wave of analysis claiming that the Mauer mega-deal is a sign that the game is still alive in the Heartland. That small-market clubs can keep their heroes in uniform. We will read about how the Mauer contract is a sign that the Twins owners care about the fans, are committed to winning, and willing to spend money. Dire and unfalsifiable claims will be made about what would have happened if Mauer had not been locked up. The arbiters of mainstream baseball opinion on ESPN’s Baseball Tonight and elsewhere will without fail talk about how tremendously important this all is to Twins fans.

And it will be all of that. On Monday. Well, and probably for 2010 and 2011. Maybe longer. What about in 2014, when Mauer will still have four years and over $90 million remaining on the contract? What about in 2017, when Mauer will be 34?

As a Royals fan, I know of at least one way this can play out, and it isn’t pretty. If Mauer’s numbers drop, as they most certainly will, the rumblings will begin. If he begins to struggle with injuries, another highly probable scenario, his time in Minnesota might become like Mike Sweeney’s in Kansas City. Sweeney went from franchise hero and baseball-in-this-town symbol when a long-term contract went into effect (2004-7) to a reviled over-paid millstone who fans mocked as “Mike Weenie” in three years. He hasn’t been the only one, just ask Toronto fans about Vernon Wells or Cleveland partisans about the Travis Hafner contract.

Mauer is a better player than Sweeney, but then again, his contract was much shorter and much cheaper. There’s so much populist sentiment infused in sports fandom that spending or making money is not a reliable way of assuring much goodwill. The same ethos that is fueling the “screw the Yankees, he’s ours” mentality can just as easily lead to resentment and too lofty expectations. For that reason, all these pronouncements about what this contract means to the fans are pretty silly. They like it today, which means absolutely nothing about how they’ll feel tomorrow.

It goes without saying that the Twins made it a top priority to keep Joe Mauer, perhaps the best-hitting catcher in baseball history, in Minnesota. On Sunday, they got their wish. Mauer has signed an 8-year contract extension.

The Minnesota Twins announced today that they have agreed to terms with catcher Joe Mauer on a eight-year, $184 million contract extension, covering the 2011-2018 seasons.

It's quite an enormous deal, but then, Mauer is a phenomenal talent. Our Twins blog, Twinkie Town, has an immediate reaction.

I can't tell you how ecstatic I am about this.  Right now, this looks like a fantastic deal for both sides.

Congratulations to Mauer and the Twins for working this out, and for working it out where it should have been worked out: behind the scenes.

WOO-HOO!!!!

For all things Twins, you'll want to check out the rest of Twinkie Town.

It’s been nearly two months since Joe Mauer and the Minnesota Twins were first reported to be “close” to reaching a contract agreement. Now, ESPN’s Buster Olney is reporting via Twitter that the two sides are once again closing in on a multi-year deal.

Ron Shapiro, the agent for Joe Mauer, was seeat the Ft. Myers airport a few minutes ago— the latest in a series of indications that Mauer and the Twins are getting closer to concluding a multi-year deal. Wouldn’t be surprised to hear an announcement any day now.

No surprises here. Despite what’s been said and reported, there was little chance the Twins were about to let their golden boy go free. And besides, try picturing Joe Mauer in any other uniform other than the Minnesota pinstripes. It’s just… no.

While he wouldn’t discuss Joe Mauer’s contract situation specifically, Minnesota Twins’ owner Jim Pohlad told reporters today that he remains opposed to signing players to contracts that defer compensation.

“There’s a ton of real-life examples of that kind of thinking,” Pohlad said. “It’s either going to be somebody else’s problem, or we’ll worry about that later. And eventually you’ve got to worry about it. And at that point, when you’ve got to worry about it, it affects your current operation. So it’s really not a good thing. You’ve got to pay the money no matter what, you might as well do it while a player’s playing for you.”

This could be a hiccup in the Twins’ goal of both signing Mauer and fielding a competitive team at the same time given their limited payroll. Without back-loading the contract, Mauer’s salary could be burdensome enough to prevent the Twins from signing other complimentary players.

The Twins expect their 2010 opening day payroll to be $96 million, which is an almost 50 percent increase from last year’s $65 million budget. If Mauer signs an extension, that number — which is already stretching the team’s limits — will only increase.

Joe Mauer and the Twins have agreed on ... something. Or maybe nothing at all.

As we mentioned earlier today, Joe Christensen of the Star Tribune was reporting that Mauer and the Twins would "soon" sign a contract extension. He said that the framework was all set, it was just a matter of figuring out the little things like deferred payments. Christensen then added, "I'm confident an extension is coming. It's a matter of when, not if."

If that was the fire for the Internet's rumor mill, then a report from Minneapolis's WCCO-TV provided the gasoline. According to WCCO, Mauer and the Twins have already reached an agreement ... for a 10-year extension. No other details were provided, just that "sources" told WCCO-TV's Mark Rosen that Mauer had come to a preliminary agreement with Minnesota.

As quickly as that report surfaced, however, ESPN Buster Olney moved even faster to say it wasn't accurate with a series of tweets. 

1. Am told by source close to the Twins that the report of a preliminary 10-year agreement with Mauer is not accurate.

2. The Twins remain optimistic that a deal will eventually get done, but a deal is not done yet.

3. Multiple sources now saying that the report on a preliminary agreement for Mauer is not accurate.

Christensen also added that there is no deal yet in place. 

So, that's where we are now. Mauer is entering the final year of current contract, and is set to make $12.5 million in 2010. The Twins probably are closing in on a deal with their catcher (where there's smoke, there's fire), but, a 10-year deal seems a bit much, even for Mauer. SI's Jon Heyman suspects it's more likely in the seven to eight year range. 

Be sure to follow SB Nation's Twinkie Town for the latest, where they are ... cautiously optimistic, and keeping the champagne on ice. 

We already knew that negotiations between Minnesota and Joe Mauer were going well. Turns out "well" may have been selling things short. Writes Joe Christensen:

Everybody I spoke with during TwinsFest believes the team soon will have Joe Mauer signed to a contract extension. Two people (on the fringes), who have their own information pipelines, claimed that the deal's basic framework -- the number of years and guaranteed money -- is already set, with the sides negotiating things such as deferred payments, etc.

Christensen makes sure later on to emphasize that this is only fringe source information, but then he adds:

Mauer said Friday he doesn't want his contract to become a distraction for the team. But there is hardly widespread panic that the Twins are going to lose him to free agency.

I'm confident an extension is coming. It's a matter of when, not if.

The Twins don't get many opportunities to act like a big-money organization. Re-signing Joe Mauer, however, would be a huge, huge move.