The American League Most Valuable Player Award hasn’t been handed out but we already know the winner. The New York area will try to hype up Derek Jeter or Mark Teixeira for the award but the catcher in up in Minnesota is by far the most deserving player in the league.
Joe Mauer, the catcher for the Twins, didn’t catch a whole bunch of attention in 2009 but he had one of the best seasons ever for a player at his position. He hit .365, had an on-base percentage of .444, a slugging percentage of .587 and an OPS of 1.031. …read more

Joe Mauer, the star catcher for the Minnesota Twins, could soon be ready to play for the first time this season. According to various reports, Mauer could return as soon as Tuesday. He has been on the disabled list due to a lower back injury.
Getting Mauer would undoubtedly be a huge boost for the Twins. At 9-9, Minnesota is currently fourth in the AL Central.
Mauer is a two-time All-Star who also won two batting championships and two Silver Slugger awards. Last season, Mauer also won his first gold glove.
Though Mauer’s injury was mysterious for much of the last few …read more

Like the National League Gold Glove winners, the American League Gold Glove winners feature a lot of young faces. Apparently, the best fielders in 2008 were young players who had never won this award before. Here is a look at the 2008 AL Gold Glove award winners:
Pitcher – Mike Mussina, New York Yankees – 8th Gold Glove
Catcher – Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins – 1st Gold Glove
First Baseman – Carlos Pena, Tampa Bay Rays – 1st Gold Glove
Second Baseman – Dustin Pedroia, Boston Red Sox – 1st Gold Glove
Shortstop – Michael Young, Texas Rangers – 1st Gold Glove
Third Baseman – Adrian …read more

Today’s question is pretty straightforward. If you could choose one catcher for your big-league team, would it be Joe Mauer or Russell Martin?
Look, don’t talk to me about Victor Martinez, Brian McCann, or whoever else. They are fine catchers, but the guys I’m interested in are Mauer and Martin.
I have a slight preference for Mauer (yeah, the comp to Jason Kendall at the same age is a little disturbing), but I could see it going either way. In fact, the Hardball Times writers recently had their fantasy baseball draft, and I evaded the question by grabbing ‘em both.
So, …read more

The Atlanta Braves have given catcher Brian McCann a six-year contract extension worth $27.8 million. Six years is a long time for a catcher, but at the ripe old age of 23, McCann may still have room for improvement. That’s a scary proposition considering he hit .333/.388/.572 in his first full big-league season.
If you look around for decent comps for McCann, you won’t find any. The closest probably is Minnesota’s Joe Mauer, and he also happens to be at a similar stage in his career, so we can’t look to his numbers for guidance.
I will say that I’m extremely leery …read more