A boy grows up playing baseball, pretending that each simple game of catch in his backyard is like Game 7 of the World Series. The boy eventually grows up. He is drafted as the first overall pick by the team he grew up rooting for, and becomes one of the best players in baseball and subsequently, the hometown hero, living out his dreams. Sounds like a bedtime story from your childhood doesn't it? But really, it's just Joe Mauer's life.
Sunday night, Joe Mauer signed an eight-year, $184 million deal with the Minnesota Twins, a deal that will make him $23 million a year. Only two players in the history of baseball, Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter, have inked bigger deals - both with the in-their-own-league-market Yankees - than what the small-market Twins signed their homegrown catcher to the other day.
The only players to ever have higher average annual salaries than Mauer are Roger Clemens and Alex Rodriguez, both deals coming with the Yanks. Mauer's $23 million is tied with the current average salary that C.C. Sabathia is also currently getting from the Bronx Bombers.
The Twins are almost the exact opposite of the Yankees. The Twins had the 24th highest payroll in the league in 2009 at $65,299,267, while the Yankees, as they usually do, topped the charts with a $201,449,489 payroll. The reason I show this is not to hate on my beloved Yankees, but to show how much the small market Twins needed Mauer; so much so they signed him to a Yankee-size deal, which would have been more the one-third of their payroll from last year.
Who knows how much Mauer could have gotten had he tested the free agency market. He probably could have sat back in his recliner and allowed the Yankees and Red Sox to fight over him had he wanted to. But that's not Joe Mauer, and that is why his agent is not Scott Boras, who I'm sure almost had a heart attack when he saw Mauer signed for less than what he could have gotten. Instead he has Ron Shapiro, a well respected agent who has represented the likes of Cal Ripken, Jr. and Kirby Puckett, both of whom stayed with their respective teams for their entire careers.
There is nothing wrong with following the money; it is something you can never have enough of. But by sacrificing millions to stay with one team, his hometown team, Mauer is doing something that has rarely been seen in the uncapped-sport of baseball since free agency was established after the 1976 season. Sure, there are guys like Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera who have stayed with one team for their entire career, but those two played with who else? The New York Yankees, who could always afford them. Mauer is sticking with a small-market team who is paying him less money than he could get elsewhere.
Usually when a star outgrows their small-town team, they move onto the the big money offered by the Goliaths of baseball; David never wins when it comes to business, especially in sports. But the quiet, reserved AL MVP is not going anywhere; he is following his childhood dream of playing for the Twins.
The deal works out for both sides. Even though Mauer could have made a little more had he tested the market, he gets to stay in his hometown, and is respected everywhere for not selling out to the money. Plus, he is so loved in Minnesota, that he could probably run for governor of the state and win in a landslide. In a huge city, he would just be another star athlete, subject to harsh criticism by media outlets, out of his comfort zone, and never able to shake off the unwanted persona of the country boy in the big city. And, even though he could have possibly signed with another team for close to $30 million a year, $23 million is nothing to look the other way about.
The Twins need Mauer more than he needs them though. Had they not forked over the big bucks, and Mauer had left, Twins fans would have gone into total rebellion, the last thing a team wants when it is moving into a new stadium. Having the homegrown star on the team, increases total revenue dramatically; whether it is in ticket sales, memorabilia sales, or from televising games. The Twins are also contenders for the playoffs every year, and Mauer is a big part of that winning formula. Without him behind and at the plate it is safe to say that they would be relegated to at least the middle of their division. The Twins are making a profit off of Joe Mauer's presence; not paying him the $23 million, could have cost the team a lot more money.
Minnesota's Golden Boy is staying at home. He is passing up fame, riches, and endorsement deals for relative obscurity, despite the fact that he is arguably the best player in baseball. Whether it is because he does not like the spotlight, or just likes the feel of home, one thing is for certain: despite all of the Cinderellas that we have seen this March in college basketball, Joe Mauer signing a long-term deal with the Twins, may be the best fairy tale out there.
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