Mauer faces questions in last season of Twins deal
The final season of the franchiserecord contract the Minnesota Twins gave Joe Mauer has begun, bringing with it the inevitable questions about his future.
Without an extension in place there’s no guarantee he’ll still be with the Twins beyond 2018, as jarring as the sight of Mauer in another uniform would be.
Only St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina has spent as much time with the same team among active players in the major leagues.
Mauer is coming off a strong 2017 season, where he posted an .801 onbase-plus-slugging percentage and played exemplary defense at first base. It was by far his best season since the concussion in 2013 that ended his time as a catcher.
He also returned to the playoffs for the first time in seven years, a surprise trip to the American League wild card game following a 59-103 season in 2016 that opened many eyes in the clubhouse.
“We ran up against two buzz saws, but there is no excuse for some of the things that are occurring, like the turnovers (17 against Fresno State).”
Time is running out in the regular season for UNLV (19-9, 8-7 Mountain West), which has three games remaining to make the top five in the conference and avoid the first-day play-in games of the league tournament. The Rebels are tied with Wyoming and San Diego State for fifth, and they will need to rediscover the level of play that led to five victories in six games before these back-toback setbacks.
“I feel like they’re playing a little harder and little smarter than us,” UNLV forward Shakur Juiston said. “The turnovers definitely show that. It’s not end of the world. We’ll definitely get back to where we were.”
Fresno State (20-8, 10-5), which beat UNLV for the sixth time in a row, is alone in third place. The Bulldogs usually play their best at this time of year, and they now are doing just that with having won five consecutive games.
UNLV never got its offense going, shooting a season-low 29.8 percent. That included going 2-of-16 (12.5 percent) from 3-point range.
Two Rebels, however, recorded double-doubles, with Brandon Mccoy finishing with 12 points and 11 rebounds and Juiston going for 11 and 10. Jordan Johnson led UNLV with 13 points.
Deshon Taylor led Fresno State with 22 points, and Jaron Hopkins and Bryson Williams each scored 20. Terrell Carter II, who often saves his best games for UNLV, scored only two points.
The Bulldogs took control early in the first half, going in front by as much as 37-22 with 3:51 left. On one UNLV offensive sequence, Mccoy missed a layup, Juiston’s follow dunk clanged off the rim and Jovan Mooring air-balled a 3-point attempt.
Fresno State wound up taking a 43-30 lead into halftime, and built on it in the final 20 minutes, twice leading by as many as 22 points.
“We’ve just got to get better,” McCoy said. “We’ve got to limit turnovers and want it more.”
Contact Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @markanderson65 on Twitter.