Joe Mauer agrees to extension with Twins (8 yrs $184 mil)

[Brickowski]

I don't think the Twins as presently constituted have a snowballs' chance in hell of winning a World Series, or even getting to one.  The Red Sox and Yankeees will not allow it.  I don't care how good the Twins' farm system is.

[Donoghus]

I don't think the Twins as presently constituted have a snowballs' chance in hell of winning a World Series, or even getting to one.  The Red Sox and Yankeees will not allow it.  I don't care how good the Twins' farm system is.

I certainly wouldn't go as far to say they have "a snowball's chance in hell of winning a World Series".  Let's not forget that they did win the AL Central last year and were in the playoffs.  The AL Central is certainly a division that is up for grabs and very winnable from a Twins' standpoint.

It's a matter of if their pitching and/or hitting can get hot in the playoffs.  We've seen it in the past where a team's pitching staff can get hot and the team rides it to a World Series.  The loss of Nathan is definitely huge but I wouldn't write off their season quite yet because of it.  The Twins have some decent starting pitching in guys like Liriano, Slowey, and Baker.  One or two of those guys get hot in the playoffs, I can definitely see the Twins taking down the likes of a New York or Boston in a 7 game series.

My bigger concern with the Twins will be what the affect of moving outdoors and playing in this new ballpark will have on them after years of playing "ping-pong" in the BaggyDome. 

[freshinthehouse]

I don't think the Twins as presently constituted have a snowballs' chance in hell of winning a World Series, or even getting to one.  The Red Sox and Yankeees will not allow it.  I don't care how good the Twins' farm system is.

I don't see them ever being a pre-season favorite for the World Series, but they're definitely going to contend.  Their division is usually pretty winnable every year. They'd have to be playing out of their minds to win it all, but luckily for Twins fans (and all other smaller teams) baseball is a sport where the best team doesnt always win.  teams get hot all the time and take a series from a team that, on paper at least, should beat them.

[Brickowski]

Now that he has signed the extension, Mauer is much more tradeable, not less. Now a team wishing to acquire him doesn't have to negotiate an extension.  The work has already been done.

There is no way he's getting traded.  Dude is beloved here.  He would have to completely fall apart for the Twins to think about moving him, and if that were the case, no team would would want him at those kind of dollars. 

I don't think people outside this area have any idea what he means to this area.  I can't think of any player that is more beloved by his local fans that Mauer is.  The love for the guy verges on creepy.  If he left, attendance would plummet, even if the team was still good.  He brings in so many fair-weather fans that otherwise would have nothing to do with baseball. 

This would have been true whether he signed an extension or not.

Now his value is fixed.  He reportedly has a no trade clause, but I have no doubt he would approve a trade to the Red Sox or Yankees for a chance at a ring.

Wll MN ever trade him?  Who knows.  It depends on what is being offered.  If the Sox offered Lester, VMart and Papelbon (just as an example) the Twins would have to consider it.


The Twins' pitching is not championship caliber, especially with the loss of Nathan. If they traded Mauer and the result was a championship team, the fans would come.

[freshinthehouse]

Now his value is fixed.  He reportedly has a no trade clause, but I have no doubt he would approve a trade to the Red Sox or Yankees for a chance at a ring.

Wll MN ever trade him?  Who knows.  It depends on what is being offered.  If the Sox offered Lester, VMart and Papelbon (just as an example) the Twins would have to consider it.


The Twins' pitching is not championship caliber, especially with the loss of Nathan. If they traded Mauer and the result was a championship team, the fans would come.

The Twins would never trade him, unless the franchise went into a complete tailspin (not going to happen), or Mauer demanded a trade (can't see it happening anytime soon).

Again, I don't think people outside this area understand the kind of goodwill generated by this dude.  Look at the crowd.  It's filled with teenage girls in Mauer jerseys.  They wouldn't care if a Mauer trade made us a better team.  They are there because they think Mauer is dreamy.  Same goes for middle aged women as well.  They like him because he's one of us and he's polite.  Trading Mauer would get rid of a significant portion of their fan base.

[nickagneta]

Now his value is fixed.  He reportedly has a no trade clause, but I have no doubt he would approve a trade to the Red Sox or Yankees for a chance at a ring.

Wll MN ever trade him?  Who knows.  It depends on what is being offered.  If the Sox offered Lester, VMart and Papelbon (just as an example) the Twins would have to consider it.


The Twins' pitching is not championship caliber, especially with the loss of Nathan. If they traded Mauer and the result was a championship team, the fans would come.

The Twins would never trade him, unless the franchise went into a complete tailspin (not going to happen), or Mauer demanded a trade (can't see it happening anytime soon).

Again, I don't think people outside this area understand the kind of goodwill generated by this dude.  Look at the crowd.  It's filled with teenage girls in Mauer jerseys.  They wouldn't care if a Mauer trade made us a better team.  They are there because they think Mauer is dreamy.  Same goes for middle aged women as well.  They like him because he's one of us and he's polite.  Trading Mauer would get rid of a significant portion of their fan base.

Lots of us get it freshinthehouse, it's just some people will always look at things from a stickly limited viewpoint and not take into consideration the big picture.

Mauer got that no trade clause because he wants to control not being traded away from Minnesota. That's his boyhood home and his boyhood dream was to be a Twin. He is a god amongst the Minnesota fans like Kevin Garnett never could be because he wasn't from Minnesota. He wants to ensure he is a Twin forever and he isn't going to agree to be traded elsewhere simply because somewhere else is where a title could be.

Mauer is the type of guy that would rather work his whole career working to get a title to the place he loves than go chasing a title for his own satisfaction. There's very few of those guys left in sports.