Joe Mauer

[Whisp]

who do you guys think is a good replacement???

-mike piazza
-jarrod saltalamacchia
-kenji johjima
-bengie molina (omg kenji and bengie)
-a.j. pierzynski
-ron karkovice

[ceLpH]

any idea when he'll get taken off the cant cut list on yahoo?

Im done with him, he'll probably hit the DL again

[Whisp]

not sure but my league commissioner did away with the can't cut list

[Jimbo OZ]

What a predicament this creates for me. Here is my situation:
* I am currently in 1st position in a 14 team H2H league and am almost guaranteed a top 2 finish. This would give me a bye in week one of the playoffs.
* I have only two moves left that I can make.
* I have Howie Kendrick & Hunter Pence still occupying DL positions.
* There is one more week of "regular season" matchups. Therefore two weeks before my playoff action begins.

If Mauer goes on the DL, do I:

1. Pick up Salty or others from the FA to cover Mauer? This will mean I also have to drop Iguchi and Hart to allow Kendrick and Pence to come off DL.

OR

2. Leave the C position empty and hope that Mauer is back for the 2nd week of the playoffs thus leaving me with 2 moves for the playoffs and the option of seeing who is the best option out of Kendrick/Iguchi & Hart/Pence.

What do you guys think?

[StringerBell]

Ive had this situation before when Ramon Hernandez went down late in a season. I opted to just leave the Catcher Slot alone. Sure , I took a little hit in Run production, but I think being totally safe on the Batting Average end made up for it.

In our league there is real slim pickins in the Catcher Department. All 11 teams have 2 Slots to fill.

[Whisp]

i made the mistake of leaving the C spot open before. it really ended up hurting but i realized it too late.

[StringerBell]

i made the mistake of leaving the C spot open before. it really ended up hurting but i realized it too late.

I can see that. It really all depends on where you are in the standings and how long the player will be out.

I was weak in BA, but very strong in Run Production. I went up in BA and didnt loss ground in RP that year. Then Ramon Hernandez came back after a week and a half and hit a Grand Slam for SD. It was luck, for sure.

[Jimbo OZ]

i made the mistake of leaving the C spot open before. it really ended up hurting but i realized it too late.

Given that I will likely finish 1 or 2 regardless of next week's matchup I think I will leave the spot open until I play in my first matchup of the playoffs. I can then make a better analysis of the Mauer situation to decide if I should replace him or not.

Thanks for the replay though.

[Grounded Polo]

hopefully its ok but
i hate to say this but mauer is starting to develop as an injury prone player. he has got injured for a significant amount of time last 3 yrs.

???

Catchers usually play around 130 games per season. Since Mauer is in the AL, he can also DH for 10-15 games, then get another 20ish off if the team chooses. Mauer did not get hurt in 2006 or 2005. He hasn't battled injuries since 2004, when he was dealing with a surgically repaired left knee. I watch the NL so maybe Mauer was day to day a few times during those years but hardly anything significant enough to slap him with the unwarranted "injury prone" tag. Maybe I'm forgetting about something bigger but I can say that if you're basing your accusation on games played, that's extremely ignorant, and I'm satisfied with 130-140 games out of my starting catcher.

I own Mauer in a keeper myself and I found this encouraging:

Reigning AL batting champ Joe Mauer pulled up lame Saturday night, suffering a significant hamstring injury – a 15-day DL stint appears likely. Prior to the injury, Mauer complained on Friday that he's dealt with "general fatigue" at the plate stemming from a previous quad injury. His confession obviously explains his lack of power at the plate this season (1 HR per 72 at-bats).

I was expecting something close to .320/20/100 this season because Mauer is such a gifted hitter and he's also too large not to hit at least 20 home runs per season. The RBIs may be generous because the Twins offense is useless and Mauer has a better chance at 100 runs with the hopeless revolving door at leadoff and second until Mauer started hitting there recently because they had no production from that slot when Mauer is clearly a #3 hitter. Alexi Castilla usually bats leadoff now and his OBP is a putrid .272.

My keeper team was rebuilding this season anyway so I can take the lumps during this season and be encouraged that his injury is causing his sudden zap of power and batting average, not he's the most overrated player ever like most people call him now. I'm just hoping that he can fully recover in the offseason and become a gifted hitter again. I also hope that the Twins sort out their mess at the top of the order so Mauer can get some RBIs.

Mauer is also killing my midseason team so this post isn't entirely bias, I entirely regret drafting him there.

[Jimbo OZ]

According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Joe Mauer (hamstring) is "likely" to miss the Twins' three-game series against the Indians that begins Monday.

Mauer is listed as day-to-day, but may still end up on the disabled list. "It's pretty frustrating," Mauer said. "I've never really been healthy the whole year. Especially this time of the year, when we are trying to make a run. I'm trying to get back out there. I just hope it doesn't take too long." Mike Redmond will see most of the playing time in his absence.

From a selfish fantasy point of view, I now hope he takes the week off and gets himself fit enough to perform better for the playoffs.