Mauer aims to keep playing
FORT MYERS, Fla. — The final season of the franchise-record contract the Minnesota Twins gave Joe Mauer has begun, bringing with it the inevitable questions about his future.
For now, before any such decisions must be made by the front office or the soon-tobe-35-year-old first baseman, Mauer has found himself in a reflective mood. He has started his 17th major league spring training, appreciative of how far he’s come and in awe of how much has happened since the Twins used the first overall pick in 2001 on a smooth-swinging kid from a high school just a few miles away from their home stadium.
The setbacks are well-known, but the good times are given priority space in his mind.
“I was lucky enough to be drafted by the team I grew up rooting for and cheering on,” Mauer said. “To be able to play here and win here, that’s what I have always wanted to do.”
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. New York Mets third baseman David Wright can match their 14 seasons, too, but injuries have kept him from appearing in a game since May 27, 2016.
Fresh from a 2017 resurgence both personally and for the team, Mauer has plenty of reasons to want to continue his career in 2019 even though the presence of his twin 4-year-old daughters make leaving home for long stretches of time more difficult.
After posting an .801 on-baseplus-slugging percentage and playing exemplary defense at first base, Mauer produced by far his best season since the concussion in 2013 that ended his time as a catcher.