Batting champion Mauer near-unanimous pick as AL MVP!

Minnesota Twins catcher Joe Mauer more than made up for a late start to his 2009 season, first by winning his third batting championship and on Monday when he won the American League Most Valuable Player Award.

Mauer got 27 of 28 first-place votes and 387 point overall, beating New York Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira with 225 points. Detroit Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera finished fourth with 171 points and got the other first-place vote. Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter finished third with 193 points. The top five was rounded out by Los Angeles Angels first baseman Kendry Morales who had 170 points.

SABERMETRICS: Stats redefine award winners
OUR TAKE: Who deserves the hardware?

Mauer, despite missing the first month of the season with back problems, hit .365 to win his second consecutive batting championship and became the first major league catcher to lead his league in hitting three times.

The 26-year-old, a St. Paul native and former No. 1 draft pick of the Twins, also led the AL in slugging percentage (.587) and on-base percentage (.444), and hit 28 home runs, more than double his previous high of 13.

Adding to Mauer's credentials was his team's late-season run to the American League Central championship, which the Twins won in a one-game playoff with Detroit after making up a seven-game deficit in September while Justin Morneau, Minnesota's other top hitter and the 2006 MVP, was missing the final three weeks with a back injury.

Other previous Twins MVPs were Rod Carew in 1977, Harmon Killebrew in 1969 and Zoilo Versalles in 1965.

USA Today

:toast:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...s-reach-preliminary-10-yr-extension-agreement

Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins Reach Preliminary 10-Year Extension Agreement

by Bob Warja http://bleacherreport.com/users/2175-Bob-WarjaBob Warja


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Written on February 01, 2010


NOTE: Per MLBTradeRumors.com, Buster Olney tweets that he heard from multiple sources that Rosen's report of a preliminary 10-year agreement is not accurate.
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WCCO TV's Mark Rosen is reporting that catcher Joe Mauer and the Twins have reached a preliminary agreement on a 10-year extension. According to MLBTradeRumors.com , "such a contract would take him through the 2020 season, at which point he'd be 37."
This is the final year of Mauer's current contract and stood to become one of the most highly sought after free agents in MLB history. Not surprisingly, both the Red Sox and Yankees were believed to have very strong interest if Mauer was on the open market.
As Rosen points out, "Mauer became only the second catcher in 33 years to win the coveted AL MVP award, finishing first in an almost unanimous vote in November. (Mauer) set a major league record for highest batting average by a catcher and won his third batting title, becoming the first repeat batting champion since Nomar Garciaparra in 1999-00."
This is a feel good signing for the Twins and major league baseball, as a home grown talent apparently stays with his original team, despite that team being a so-called small market club.
No terms have been reported and no confirmation of this deal has been communicated by the Twins or anyone else. But if true, it would mean that the Red Sox' Victor Martinez would become the top catcher on the market after this season.
Mauer was drafted as the overall No. 1 selection in the draft, one pick ahead of Mark Prior. Joe was born in St. Paul, so he is a local product as well.
Team officials had expressed optimism over the possibility of an extension with Mauer at the Twins annual fan festival this past weekend.
Mauer is making $12.5 million this year. My guess would be that a 10-year extension could be worth in the neighborhood of $220 million.