[SeaDogStat]

Joe Mauer is scheduled for an MRI and is out indefinitely...per ESPN text

Link to follow

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/spring...ory?id=3965542

[joncarlos]

Still experiencing difficulty in his lower back, near the kidneys I guess (per ESPN bottom line).. not good news.

[sfenty]

First Ervin Santana and now Mauer. This is going to be a long season for me, I think. Beyond him being on my fantasy team, I will miss watching him if he's out for long. I love his overall game. I hope this is nothing too serious.

[amcg]

Damn, damn, damn....

[Funkley]

Except for being made of glass and no power he's a heckuva superstar.

[Hornsby]

Originally Posted by Funkley

Except for being made of glass and no power he's a heckuva superstar.

Man, the guy is 25 years old and has won 2 batting titles, and people in this town ride him like a rented mule. He's a GREAT defensive catcher, works like a dog, and is a hell of a teammate, according to everything I've heard. If I was him, I'd play out my contract, sign a mega deal, and tell everyone in this town to kiss my ass.

And BTW, the last four years his at bats were 489, 521, 406, and 536. So he was basicly healthy for 3 of those seasons, and played most of the other.

[Funkley]

Originally Posted by Hornsby

Man, the guy is 25 years old and has won 2 batting titles, and people in this town ride him like a rented mule. He's a GREAT defensive catcher, works like a dog, and is a hell of a teammate, according to everything I've heard. If I was him, I'd play out my contract, sign a mega deal, and tell everyone in this town to kiss my ass.

And BTW, the last four years his at bats were 489, 521, 406, and 536. So he was basicly healthy for 3 of those seasons, and played most of the other.

I was promised superstar.

[TS Garp]

Originally Posted by Funkley

Except for being made of glass and no power he's a heckuva superstar.

Look on the bright side -- many people thought the Twins should've drafted Mark Prior ahead of him. Speaking of being made of glass...

[The Antijordan]

Originally Posted by Funkley

I was promised superstar.

Delmon Young's not cutting it?

[Hornsby]

Originally Posted by Funkley

I was promised superstar.

And you got one...you just don't appreciate it...

[Funkley]

He's a nice player...an allstar but I'd have a real hard time spending Yankee/Red Sox money on a guy who might have peaked at 23. I admit it, I expected more.

[Hornsby]

Originally Posted by Funkley

He's a nice player...an allstar but I'd have a real hard time spending Yankee/Red Sox money on a guy who might have peaked at 23. I admit it, I expected more.

You buying into that Barreiro "Baby Jesus" crap. The kid is 25, he's one of only 3 catchers in history to win a batting title, and he's won two of them. The other guys who won (Ernie Lombardi who won 1 during the war years, and Bubbles Hargrave) didn't even have the 3.1 per game at bats that's required today. He's had 2 OBP's of over .400 in the last 3 years, and as I already said, he's a great defensive catcher.

You may think that he's already peaked, but you really have nothing to base that on...what did you expect out of the kid anyway?

[TS Garp]

Originally Posted by Funkley

He's a nice player...an allstar but I'd have a real hard time spending Yankee/Red Sox money on a guy who might have peaked at 23. I admit it, I expected more.

Whether or not he deserves the money/number of years that he will/could command on the open market is debatable, but to label him merely a "nice" player is pretty harsh. As Hornsby said, two batting titles, a .400 OBP, excellent defense and great leadership and community presence from your catcher -- all before he's turned 26 -- is pretty impressive. If you took a poll of major league GM's and asked them who they'd want to build a team around, I think he'd be near the top of many lists.

[TS Garp]

This is an aside, but I never realized exactly what a great football prospect Mauer was. I'd heard that he had a chance to play at Florida State but check this out:

Mauer also had an extremely accomplished high school football career. During his senior season as the Raiders' quarterback, Mauer completed 241 of 288 passes for 3,022 yards, 41 touchdowns and three interceptions. Joe Mauer finished his two-year career as a starter with 5,528 yards and 73 touchdowns.[2] Mauer led the Raiders to two consecutive Class 5A state championship game appearances and won the title in 1999. Mauer once threw seven touchdown passes in a playoff game against the Hopkins Royals. Mauer was named the Gatorade National Player of the Year, Parade's and USA Today's Player of the Year and a Reebok/ESPN High School All-American. Mauer was also named "National High School Quarterback Of The Year" in 2000 by The National Quarterback Club

Hey, maybe the Vikings could use him!

[Funkley]

Expect? Improvement, not regression. If he didn't peak in 2006 then he's due for a damn nice season soon because the last two have been clearly a step down from 06'. And now with injury concerns already for 2009 he'll be lucky to not give back the slight improvement from 07'. Put it this way...I'd have thought you were nuts two years ago if you'd have told me that Pedroia would blow by him as a dangerous hitter.

[TS Garp]

Originally Posted by Funkley

Put it this way...I'd have thought you were nuts two years ago if you'd have told me that Pedroia would blow by him as a dangerous hitter.

Pedoria's OPS was .869 last season. Mauer's was .864. Pedroia hit .307 with RISP. Mauer hit .362 (and .361 with RISP and 2 outs and .500 with the bases loaded). I can't think of any GM in the game who would choose Dustin Pedroia over Joe Mauer.

[Funkley]

Don't recall arguing what a GM would do....just that Pedroia has managed to not just catch him but pass him. Unthinkable two years ago. Even Baseball Prospectus dropped the hint this year that he's got some work to do to avoid being a lefthanded Jason Kendall. Through age 25 they are basically the same guy with a bat. Inconclusive as to what direction Mauer goes from here.

[amcg]

Originally Posted by Funkley

Don't recall arguing what a GM would do....just that Pedroia has managed to not just catch him but pass him. Unthinkable two years ago. Even Baseball Prospectus dropped the hint this year that he's got some work to do to avoid being a lefthanded Jason Kendall. Through age 25 they are basically the same guy with a bat. Inconclusive as to what direction Mauer goes from here.

Funk, take a look at Kendall's career. Saying a guy was basically the same as him through age 25 is actually not a bad thing at all, in fact it's a pretty awesome thing. Hitting about .320/.400/.475 or so as a catcher is pretty rare. Of course maybe you were expecting Piazza mkII, but then Mauer can actually catch.

[Funkley]

Agreed. I think the point though is that expectations of "greatness" might have to be replaced with expectations of very good with premature cratering like Kendall the longer he catches. And you're right, I think some of "us" expected Piazza-ish seasons at some point. Another test subject to help prove that darn few players actually develop power just because they project to have it down the road.

[Hornsby]

Originally Posted by Funkley

Agreed. I think the point though is that expectations of "greatness" might have to be replaced with expectations of very good with premature cratering like Kendall the longer he catches. And you're right, I think some of "us" expected Piazza-ish seasons at some point. Another test subject to help prove that darn few players actually develop power just because they project to have it down the road.

Love ya Funk, but you're just plain wrong here...