| Twins Move Mauer to 1st Base |
| By Sally Haase November 11, 2013 The Minnesota Twins have solved their problem at first base, but in the process opened up a problem behind the plate. The Twins announced on Monday that Twins catcher Joe Mauer will make the permanent move to first base for the 2014 season. Mauer suffered a season ending concussion late in the 2013 season and has been cleared by doctors, but the Twins and Mauer have made this decision to prolong his career. Mauer has shown that catching games has little effect on his offensive performance; he won three batting titles while catching the majority of the Twins games. Prior to Mauer’s emergence in Major League Baseball, there was only one catcher who won an American League batting title. But these batting titles were won when Mauer was in his early and mid twenties, now that he is 30, the wear and tear of spending nine innings crouched behind home plate is taking its toll. With Mauer being under contract with the Twins until the 2018 season, something needed to be done to keep Mauer healthy and in the lineup. The trade of Justin Morneau left an opening at first base for the Twins and the lost season gave the Twins a chance to test some of their young players. None of the experiments at first base panned out and Mauer really is the best in-house option at first base. Although this announcement pretty much tells me that the Twins will not pursue Morneau in the free agent market, unless Morneau is willing to become the full time designated hitter; and it is very unlikely that will happen. As for the hole the Mauer move leaves behind the plate, Josmil Pinto was one of the few who made a good impression among the Twins September call ups. Pinto showed good power and decent defensive prowess behind the plate; look for him to contend for the starting catcher position. If Ryan Doumit is still a part of the Twins roster in 2014, he could be the back up catcher and he can also play in the outfield or at DH. I know Ron Gardenhire hates to put his back up catcher in the lineup, especially if it is at DH because you lose your DH if your starting catcher has to leave the game. But if you have Pinto, Doumit, and Mauer as possible catchers, it does give Gardenhire more options to work with. If the lineup struggles the way it did last season, the Twins will want as many bats as possible in the starting nine. Many of us Twins fans and baseball fans knew this move for Mauer would be coming; he is just too good of a hitter to have his career shortened by leg injuries or concussions. His career as catcher may not be as long as the likes of Bench, Posada, Piazza, or “Pudge” Rodriguez; but Mauer has already proved that he is one of the best catchers in the game. |
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