Minnesota Twins general manager Terry Ryan confirmed what we already knew: Joe Mauer’s catching days are over.
The one-time All Star at the position returning to the backstop would simply be too risky from a health perspective, Ryan said.
“If we would ever get any OK from a physician, we would consider it,” Ryan said Saturday during the team’s fan forum, via Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. “Unfortunately, there isn’t a physician, especially concussion experts, that could trust he’s not going to take another bop in the head on a foul tip or a collision at the plate, although the collisions are pretty much a foregone conclusion nowadays.
“If he took the wrong type of foul tip off that mask and all of a sudden he got knocked silly, I couldn’t forgive myself,” Ryan continued. “So he’s going to be a first baseman. I think if Joe could have stayed behind the plate he would have been a hall-of-fame candidate. He was excellent back there. Unfortunately it just wasn’t meant to be.”
Mauer hasn’t caught since 2013, and his offensive numbers have declined since his move to first full time, posting a .270/.348/.376 triple slash over the last two seasons. He’s been booed by Twins fans and criticized by his own grandfather, and moreover, he’s still owed $23 million per year over the next three seasons.
H/T HardballTalk
