Quote: Originally Posted By skonley on 3/21/2010
We'll agree to disagree about him remaining a C. And 28 HR's for a C is not out of the ordinary (See Jorge Posada), hell Miguel Olivo hit over 20 and didn't play every day. $23m is what, 1/3 of their payroll? I just don't see paying that kind of money for a line-drive hitter like Mauer.
After the Hudson signing, the Twins payroll was at $96 million...not exactly 1/3. And in the next few years that number is expected to head in the $120-$125 range. Yes its alot to pay one player, but even if he's only a catcher for 4 of those 8 years, its well worth it purely based on his offense. He led the league in average, on base and ops....those guys just don't grow on trees.
The Pohlads are one of the richest families in all of sports, and now that the sons are in control and there is a brand new ballpark, money will no longer be that great of an issue. Mauer is the face of the franchise, a home grown kid...even if you have to pay him $30 million, its just something you have to do. Just in ticket numbers/tv ratings with him on the team compared to him being somewhere else...and then jersey sales etc...he'll pay for quite a bit of that contract himself.