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With star catcher Joe Mauer taking a beating behind the plate currently, the Minnesota Twins have put him on the 7-day disabled list for concussions. They are not messing round, given the organization’s bad luck with mind trauma. Slugger Justin Morneau, though he has recovered from his concussion in 2010, nonetheless hasn’t regained his previous kind on the plate.
Mauer’s concussion just isn’t anticipated to be like Morneau’s, but it does trigger a question to be raised once more about Mauer: How long will his career as a catcher final? When will the Twins transfer him to another place in an effort to protect his offensive capabilities? Mauer is 30 years old, and has logged almost 7,900 innings behind the plate. Catchers, as hitters go, are inclined to burn out after age 30. Even the great Johnny Bench modified positions, finally. Yogi Berra did, too.
Twins supervisor Ron Gardenhire, a visitor on SiriusXM satellite tv for pc radio Tuesday with Mike Ferrin and Cliff Floyd, addressed Ferrin’s query: Have the Twins talked about moving him permanently?
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“Properly, not but. And the one thing you always must do is.. talk to the participant, see what his thoughts are. Clarify what’s finest for the group. I imply, you’re talking about one of the best catchers in baseball, All-Star, the entire bundle and making an attempt to fill that gap.
“However.. it’s necessary that we keep him on the field. That was my objective, from spring coaching on, was to maintain Mauer and Morneau on the sphere. We always really feel we now have a greater probability when those two are out there. And now this concussion stuff brings one thing else into play here. So, we’ll speak to Joe, set again and see where we go — especially the remainder of this yr and then the longterm future.”
(Getty) A few week ago, coincidentally, San Francisco Giants supervisor Bruce Bochy stated his star catcher, Buster Posey, would make “a very good third baseman.” Sometime, however not imminently, the Giants will discuss transferring Posey from behind the plate to a different place as a way to protect his offensive abilities.
Posey, at age 26, has logged 2,914 profession innings as a catcher, not counting 200-plus more within the playoffs. He isn’t on the crossroads Mauer is, however he might come upon it shortly.
It sounds like Gardenhire is about to have that dialog with Mauer, who probably will resist, contemplating how a lot he loves enjoying defense. The same most likely will happen with Posey. Posey and Mauer are elite catchers as a result of additionally they can hit properly. However even when Mauer were to move to first base, he’d still be among the finest sluggers at that place:
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Some Twins fans (media too) do not like Mauer’s game because he does not hit numerous residence runs, has by no means pushed in a hundred runs and makes $23 million a yr. Despite him being imperfect and costly, the Twins nonetheless are getting worth out of Mauer, and doubtless would even if he wasn’t a catcher anymore. The identical will not be stated if he breaks down physically. And it will be particularly laborious to take if the Twins might have lowered a number of the danger. Gardy higher convey it in that speak.
When will Twins catcher Joe Mauer change his position permanently?
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