Minnesota Twins: Joe Mauer would have to be a super super-utility guy
Is Jim Souhan on to something? That’s a question I’ve never really wanted to ponder or really had the need to ponder, but Souhan did his job of getting hits on the Star Tribune website. Souhan proposed a solution to the Joe Mauer issue for the Twins and 700 comments later, here we are. Seriously, as of late Friday evening the column had over 700 comments.
So what is Souhan’s genius solution to the Mauer problem? Souhan wants to make Mauer a super-utility player making Mauer play third, first, the corner outfield spots and at DH.
My initial reaction is that no one would go for this idea. I was wrong.
The Star Tribune has a poll where you can vote and say if you like Souhan’s idea… It’s 70% yes Joe Mauer should be a utility player.
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I forgot for a bit that there is so much hate for Joe Mauer.
I don’t want to be a Mauer apologist, but there still has to be something wrong, right? How can someone go from being on pace for the Hall of Fame to going to a .265 batting average in a year that should still be in his prime? It’s just mind-boggling to me.
Now the main issue is that Jim Souhan is actually on to something, but his reasoning differs from mine.
The super-utility plan for Souhan is a way to have Mauer only play once a week. I still want Mauer to play more than that, even a bad Mauer is better than one night a week. Play him multiple times a week at various positions giving the regulars a breather when needed, but also keeping Mauer as a quasi-regular.
It’s a double-edged sword that I find. I think Mauer can still be in an MLB lineup, but not over Trevor Plouffe or Miguel Sano. Mauer doesn’t fit full-time in the outfield, it’s way too crowded without Torii Hunter.
Mauer shouldn’t be hitting third and playing over Sano and Plouffe, but he still is good enough to contribute to a team. Mauer had a WAR of 1.5 this past season, so he’s still above average. Mauer can be a super-utility guy, but he’s still a little more ‘super’ than your typical super-utility guy.
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