The local kid stays home. That's the best part of the news that the Twins and Joe Mauer reached a deal that will keep the superstar in Minnesota. It's great news for the Twins, for their fans, for Mauer and for baseball.
Twins fans were probably getting nervous as the negotiations seemed to stall, but in the end things worked out exactly how they should have. The local kid obviously wanted to stay in Minnesota, but that had no impact on his negotiating leverage. He held out and got the deal that he wanted and deserved. That's because the Twins need him badly. Could you have imagined the mutiny that would have happened in Minnesota if the team hadn't signed him to a long-term deal?
After years of fighting to get a new stadium and get out of that terrible Metrodome revenue deal that kept them pinching pennies, the Twins were finally able to spend some cash. And they are spending it on the right player. Mauer is one of those once in a lifetime guys. If he stays healthy, he's going to put up numbers that rival some of the greats in the game.
The deal doesn't guarantee that Mauer will be with the Twins for life. It's entirely possible that his $23 million per year salary will eventually become too much for the Twins to handle and they will have to trade him. But it gives him a chance to be like Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera and have a Hall of Fame career playing for one team.
Home sweet home indeed!
Thanks to Keith Allison via Wikipedia for the photo.
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