WAR/Games:
1. Justin Morneau 0.0083
2. Joe Mauer 0.0082
3. Orlando Hudson 0.0061 (!)
4. J.J. Hardy 0.0067
5. Jim Thome 0.0071
6. Denard Span 0.0049
7. Danny Valencia 0.0041
8. Jason Repko 0.007
9. Alexi Casilla 0.0047 (!)
10. Nick Punto 0.0045 (!)
11. Michael Cuddyer 0.0032
12. Delmon Young 0.0026
13. Ben Revere 0.0022
14. Jason Kubel 0.0016
15. Luke Hughes 0.001
16. Matt Tolbert 0.0007
17. Rene Rivera 0
18. Drew Butera -0.0006
19. Jose Morales -0.0023
20. Trevor Plouffe -0.0046
21. Tsuyoshi Nishioka -0.0057
22. Brendan Harris -0.0075
23. Rene Tosoni -0.0103

Nishi’s better than Brendan Harris!

Feel free to poke holes in this if I am way off base…

I don’t know if it’s because of Mauer’s contract per se. Cuddyer was being paid $10 million this year, Joe Nathan was making $12 million, Delmon Young is making $5.5 million, Matt Capps is making $7 million, Carl Pavano is making $8 million. I would’ve rather had Hardy than Capps or Pavano or Young. The Twins should have a budget for 24 players of around $90-100 million. If the front office cannot prioritize that money properly (e.g., overpaying for Saves, paying $8 million for a 5th starter who won’t be replacing the 5th starter, etc.) that’s on them, not on Mauer.

I think people are far too hard on Mauer, and for stupid reasons. I think that his contract is certainly a risk, but I hardly think his career is over because of a bad season, seemingly due to injury which was caused by rushing back to play instead of resting his injury.

Jason Kubel is currently worth 1.7 fWAR in 293 PA.
Jason Repko, 0.2 fWAR in 111 PA.
Alexi Casilla, 1.3 fWAR in 362 PA.
Nick Punto, 1.4 fWAR in 131 PA (while posting career-best obp/slg, by far)

If we project Kubel’s fWAR to 469 PA (same as Cuddyer), he’d be worth 2.7 fWAR (compared to Cuddyer’s 2.9). If the Twins had to keep just one guy, Cuddyer or Kubel, I’d rather see Smith sign Kubel for the next few years, and offer arbitration to Cuddyer and take the picks if he signs elsewhere.

Santana for garbage.

Garza and Bartlett for Young, rumored to be on waivers.

Hardy for garbage.

Are there no standards in that organization? The guy is a train wreck as a GM. Aaron, beat teh drum to bounce this guy out the door!

On the flip side of the argument I found it amusing that Kubel’s WAR is BELOW Jason Repko and just ahead of Lil’ Nicky Punto, and Alexi Casilla practically laps him (1.3 to 2.5). Those WAR numbers would indicate we would probably rather offer arbitration, let him walk and take the draft picks.

As for how people feel about Mauer’s toughness and heart, some of that started to come out from the clubhouse for a week or two, before the Twins crushed that coverage again. From what little leaked out, it appears this is not just a fan issue.

All that said, he’s one of the best hitters in all of MLB, and I hope he recovers his strength next year.

Not only has Mauer been the team MVP over the past 6 seasons, he’s easily the best catcher in the majors (by WAR) in that span, and he had the most plate appearances of all catchers in those years. What sort of fan or analyst wants to stick it to a guy like that as soon as he starts to struggle with an injury, and throw him over for the next personable guy who’s having a good year? To look at what some people write, you’d think that Cuddyer has always been the heart and soul of the team and Mauer was never anything but hype, a softie, overvalued “just because he plays catcher.”

I get that people are concerned about his contract. Even when he signed it, I thought there was significant risk in committing so much money over that many years to a catcher who has already had knee and back problems. So, there is a legitimate concern, sure. But there’s a difference between concern about the future and attacking your star player over something that’s not entirely within his control, before he’s had a real chance to recover from his injury and show what he can do, going forward.

Right now, NONE OF US KNOW whether or not Joe Mauer is done as an elite player. But, given all that he’s done for the team over the past several years, he deserves some benefit of the doubt. (And, if it helps, think of a portion of his current salary as back pay. Fangraphs estimates his value from 2004-10 at about $138 million, while he was paid $34 millon. If he’s just a $10 million player each year through 2018, the Twins still ought to just about break even with him on his career, then.)