Read the post, or read this summary: Minnesota Twins fans are tired of seeing 'St. Joe/Baby Jesus' sidelined for the $23 million a year he gets paid. Further, they are tired of seeing his barely-over .200 batting average for the same $23 million a year. The post talks about this frustration and how the long term value of Mauer is in question by fans, teammates and Joe himself.The ESPN post brought to the attention a recent posting on Wikipedia that a possibly best summarizes the thoughts of MN Twins fans: "Joe Mauer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Joseph Patrick Mauer (born April 19, 1983) is a semi-committed, lazy Major League Baseball catcher for the Minnesota Twins. Mauer is regarded as one of the … "
What do you guys think?
I've written a few post about Mauer and his large contract-small performance 2011 season. I've also noticed, with many other writers and fans, the absence of Joe when the cameras come 'round. He is a franchise player while not being the face of the franchise. There is a contradiction there and Joe is living it. Should we care? We didn't so much when he was playing (or should I say batting) like a champ, but now that he isn't batting over .300 (which was the reason we signed him in the first place) fans, myself included, are disgruntled.
I liked the part in the ESPN post where the writer, Johnette Howard wrote: "Part of the Twins' proud franchise identity is a whatever-it-takes ethic." It is not uncommon for this to go unnoticed, but I am proud of the Minnesota work ethic and results that normally stem from such ethic. Clearly this season isn't 'normal'.
Rarely are the Twins featured in an ESPN article. We are a small market team that tends to go unnoticed. That being said, this post is completely accurate -- I only hope we don't have to read the same thing for the next 8 years...
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