Five years ago, Twins manager Ron Gardenhire called slumping first baseman Justin Morneau into his office at Safeco Field. The Twins "slugger" was having an off season yet again, and Gardenhire's patience was running thin. The message in the meeting was simple: we need you to pull your head out of your #$% if we're going to contend. (NOTE: This was the last time Gardy has called out a player...interesting...)
Morneau got the message and a couple of months later, the Twins completed a historic comeback by winning the Central division on the last day of the regular season. Another month later, Justin Morneau won the 2006 MVP award over Derek Jeter.
Three years later, catcher Joe Mauer was returning from a back injury that sidelined him for all of April 2009. The knock on Mauer was that while he was a great contact hitter, he never seemed to hit for any power and couldn't drive in runs. Then, Mauer went nuts. Already the owner of two batting titles, Mauer won a third (no other catcher had won ONE in the American League) and hit 29 home runs to boot.
Just two years ago, life was great for the M&M boys as the Minnesota media has dubbed them. Now, it seems like their legacy, which once looked like the sky was the limit, has come to a screeching halt.
It's intriguing how two players still in their prime of their careers (Morneau is 30, Mauer is 28), could take such a downturn not only on the field, but off it as well.
Let's first take a look at Morneau. Between the two players, I think that a lot of people are very sympathetic with Morneau's downturn rather than Mauer. Last May, Morneau was the best hitter in baseball. While most players on the Twins roster were complaining about the trees in center at Target Field. Morneau, calmly and quietly, had the line of .345, 18 HR, and 56 RBI going into a July 7th game at Toronto. Uh oh...
Morneau got smoked in the head trying to break up a double play, and it was almost like our Canadian Cinderella suddenly had his awesome carriage turned into a pumpkin. Yes, people were furious when update after update had Morneau still feeling the effects of the concussion several months later. Morneau eventually was shut down for the season, but came back to spring training and was pretty much banging on the door for more playing time, but the Twins, as always, were cautious about letting Morneau return.
Compared to the other player in this piece, it hasn't been about a perceived lack of desire to play. It's just been the severity of his injuries. Since winning his MVP in 2006, Morneau has endured season-ending injuries three times. Even crazier, the Twins have been to the playoffs four years during Morneau's career. He has played in seven out of 13 possible postseason games. He has suffered a broken back, a pinched nerve in his neck, a nasty wrist injury, and, as we know, multiple concussions.
I'm not writing this like a eulogy for Morneau, but you have to wonder if all these injuries have taken their toll at once, and is it to blame for his worst statistical season since 2005? You have to wonder if he can ever bounce back to his 2010 pre-concussion form again.
The other member of the downfall is much more maligned. After his 2009 season, Joe Mauer signed the richest contract in the history of the Twins. Many...no...EVERYONE celebrated like the Twins had just won the World Series. There would be no need to throw out that Mauer jersey in the closet like our Johan Santana and Torii Hunter. Nope, Joe was going to be a huge part of the Minnesota Twins for the next 9 seasons! And since then...he has done nothing but disappoint, and even anger Twins fans.
The Mauer situation could be precedent with the signing of Kevin Garnett during the 1996-97 NBA season. The Timberwolves paid Garnett with a 6 year, 126 million dollar contract. At the time, it was the largest in NBA history and eventually lead to the NBA lockout in 1998.
Garnett, like Mauer, ruled the state of Minnesota as he lead the Timberwolves to their first winning season in franchise history. He even won a MVP award during the 2003-04 season. But Garnett was almost never fully accepted because he couldn't live up to the demands people place on a player with such a contract.
With KG, everyone wanted him to take the last second shot. It's what he was paid for in their minds. Even if Garnett was passing to a wide open Wally Sczerbiak, people got mad if KG didn't take that last shot. It was always thought the Garnett didn't have the killer instinct necessary to put the dagger into someone.
There are more differences with Mauer, but people are using the same concept. Garnett never had an off year once he signed his big contracts, and Garnett virtually played every game with the Timberwolves, before finally demanding a trade.
With Mauer, it's not the fact that he's been injured. (Look at the Morneau situation.) It's been the nature in which his injuries have come. The Twins have bent over backwards to make sure this guy is the king of Target Field. They routinely have given Mauer a ridiculous number of days off, using the backdrop of "he's a catcher." It's a legit excuse, but that's what he's paid to do.
Over the past couple of years, I've seen catchers go completely "four-on-the-floor" to help their team. Jim Souhan had an article in the Star Tribune about how catchers on other teams, like the Tigers' Alex Avila who is moving to third during interleague play, will do anything to help the team.
It almost makes me throw up in my mouth to see the other teams catchers make an incredibly physical play, and then have to think as KFAN's Dan Barriero coined it, "How long would Mauer milk it?"
Many people have even speculated that Mauer's two week rehab assignment in Fort Myers was spent on the beach. It's almost gotten to the point that if they had actually built the Mauer statue before last year at Target Field, people would be trying to run up to Target Plaza and tear the thing down.
To make things worse, Mauer has looked stunningly mediocre upon his return. We hear the rhetoric that Mauer needs to get his timing back, but other great hitters who have returned from injuries, like Rangers OF Josh Hamilton (broken arm), have picked up right where they left off with ease. It's also possible that Mauer is having a bad week (He was also called out by the Gordito Burrito Jose Mijares for his pitch selection), but with the path his first season of his extension has looked like, it's possible that Mauer...dare I say it? May never return to the form that we're accustomed to as Twins fans.
There's still plenty of time for both Mauer and Morneau to return to their past successes, baseball is a funny game where some people could find themselves horrid one year, and amazing the next. But it's pretty sad to see two players who were once so great, take such a fall from glory.
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