The Twins are having the best season they’ve had in as long as nearly anyone can remember. This is because of the rapid development of some of the game’s best prospects, some improved pitching and some great bargain finds by the front office.
Oh, wait, Jim Souhan has a different factor. Joe Mauer isn’t on the team anymore! Joe Mauer, of course, was one of, if not the best Minnesota Twins of all time. He signed the largest contract the Twins have ever paid, and then he got a brain injury and was never really the same. Many people like to attribute this as some sort of character flaw with Mauer, and his contract akin to grand theft. If you follow the Twins at all, you know this. He’s retired now, but Jim Souhan isn’t ready to give up whining about a man earning a paycheck.
All that said, it is a holiday today, and in that spirit, I’m going to just regurgitate some previous talking points. First, from this very website:
Joe Mauer wasn’t holding anything back. The payroll this season was about $113mm, versus last year’s $132mm, a difference of $19mm. The Twins are winning, and they didn’t replace his salary. He wasn’t holding anything back. Further, that 4 million difference between what Mauer made and the 19 million dollar gap in year over year salary is entirely accountable in the raises given to Max Kepler and Jorge Polanco, salary bumps that were not forced on the team. In other words, the payroll could be exactly the same as last year, maybe even less, even if Mauer was still on the roster at last year’s salary.
The funny thing is, the preamble to this point was that there wasn’t a reason to lambast Joe Mauer anymore. Jim Souhan is out there proving me wrong. Good for him, I guess.
Dork.
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