Crisis Averted

We're going to jump in the time machine for a second. It's December 2010 and we're at Target Field, the new gem of downtown Minneapolis. The ballpark just got done with it's first season hosting the Minnesota Twins. It's a shame that it will be the only season.

Thousands upon thousands of fans have traveled to Target Field to give the Twins a piece of their mind. Joe Mauer, the hometown boy wonder who is sometimes referred to as "Baby Jesus", just signed a 10 year, 250 million dollar contract with the New York Yankees. These fans aren't mad at Joe though, they're mad at the Twins.

They're breaking off the head of the Mauer statue on the plaza. They're raiding the suites and ripping up the clubhouse. Soon, Patrick Bakker, a friend of the Crishad Experience and visiting clubhouse tennant for the Twins, is being carried out by an unruly mob. Then...the alarm clock sounds.

The radio offers the good news. After months of negotiations and a very uptight fan base that has offered suggestions as far as trading Mauer, Mauer has agreed to a 8 year, 184 million dollar contract extension, which will put him in the same tax bracket as Scrooge McDuck...well that is if he was an actual person.

At first, it may not look like Mauer gave the Twins a hometown discount, but if he had hit the market, he would have gotten A-Rod money. Instead, Mauer chose to stay where he grew up and became a superstar and it's not like he's only getting a ham sandwich and a bad of Lay's. No, Joe can enjoy his pre-game Jimmy John's sandwich every day and not have to look constantly at his checking account.

Of course, with deals like this, there are many pros and cons. The pros obviously is that Twins Territory doesn't go into riot mode against the front office. Love Bill Smith or hate him, BS has made plenty of moves during his tenure that Terry Ryan wouldn't think about making. Let's see...

- Smith orchestrated the Johan Santana trade, which believe it or not is looking better by the day. Originally, the Twins received Carlos Gomez, Kevin Mulvey, Phil Humber, and Delois Guerra. Fans wanted all four to play ASAP, but the Twins were very cautious. Especially with Guerra, who's a promising prospect with a nasty changeup in AA right now. Also, Gomez was traded to Milwaukee for J.J. Hardy, and Mulvey was traded to Arizona to get Jon Rauch, who will probably be the Twins closer this season. It still doesn't make up for it, but the Twins are trying.

- Smith traded for Rauch, Orlando Cabrera, Carl Pavano, and Ron Mahay when the Twins needed help last season.

- Smith has signed quality players to fill holes such as Jim Thome and Orlando Hudson.

And now Smith got the Joe Mauer deal done. But this isn't about Bill Smith, it's about the fans. The fans can look at this and know that the Twins are trying to build not just an American League Central Champion team, they're looking for bigger and better things.

The cons are there too, such as Joe Mauer's peppered injury past and the concern that last year's power surge was a mirage, but it's really not that bad. Worst case scenario? The Twins move him to the outfield or third base. Mauer should be productive no matter where he plays, and the Twins made the right decision by signing Mauer.

The biggest beneficiary of this is Mauer himself. Yeah, he's getting paid, but he also has this giant monkey off his back. To compare, Cal Ripken Jr. was the AL MVP in 1991. He put up revolutionary numbers for his position. The next season the Orioles were moving into Camden Yards while Ripken was one year away from free agency. Ripken didn't get the deal done and had a horrible season.

To compare, Mauer won the AL MVP in 2009, put up revolutionary numbers for his position, and the Twins were moving into Target Field. This will probably help immensely. So sleep well Twins Territory, as this may have been the only thing that may have made today better after losing Joe Nathan for the season.