Minnesota Twins, Joe Mauer Agree to 8-Year, $184 Extension
Monday, March 22nd, 2010 | Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins, MLB, Sports
Joe Mauer will be in a Minnesota Twins uniform for a very long time. The Twins and Mauer agreed upon an 8-year extension that will keep the best hitter in baseball in Minnesota through the 2018 MLB schedule. The extension kicks in in 2011 and is worth $184 million. It contains a no trade clause as well.
The average annual salary comes out to $23 million. Only 2 other players – Alex Rodriguez ($27.5 million) and CC Sabathia ($23 million) of the New York Yankees – have greater annual salaries. It is also the largest contract ever signed by a catcher, crushing the 7-year, $91 million deal that Mike Piazza signed with the New York Mets in 1999.
Mauer is a stud that has delivered for the Twins at the major league level each and every season. He is a career .327 hitter with a career .408 on-base percentage. 2009 was clearly his best year – .365 batting average, .444 on-base percentage, 28 HR’s, 96 RBI’s and only 63 strike outs in 523 at-bats. WOW!
At the ripe young age of 26, Mauer deserved the deal and the Twins are lucky to have him as their back-stop for the foreseeable future.
