There’s no question that Joe Mauer will be remembered as one of the greats to ever wear a Twins uniform, but there are plenty of questions about how much longer he’ll wear a uniform at all.
Mauer spoke Wednesday night about his possible retirement after the season.
“Try to enjoy the last couple of weeks of the season and just take a deep breath and go from there,” he said. “I want to enjoy coming every day and competing, and taking time once the season ends and kind of go over the year like I normally would and go from there.”
Mauer, in his 15th MLB season, is hitting .274 with six homers and 43 RBI in 112 games.
“It’s tough. It’s a tough decision,” Mauer said. “There are a lot of factors that will go into it. Right now is probably not the right time to decide either way. I want to make sure I’m 100 percent confident and be 100 percent behind it.”
Highest career AVG with RISP in the past 50 years (min. 2,000 PA):
.349 Tony Gwynn
.347 Rod Carew
.334 JOE MAUER
.328 Miguel Cabrera
.327 Manny Ramirez
.326 Paul Molitor
.324 Wade Boggs
.324 Todd Helton
.322 Kirby PuckettCarew, Mauer, Molitor, and Puckett all make the top nine.
— Aaron Gleeman (@AaronGleeman) September 13, 2018
Joe Mauer's career batting averages:
Runners on base — .327
Runners in scoring position — .334
Runner on first — .320
Runner on second — .327
Runner on third — .343
Runners on first/second — .301
Runners on first/third — .355
Runners on second/third — .383
Bases loaded — .378— Aaron Gleeman (@AaronGleeman) September 13, 2018
Mauer’s future is also clouded by his contract situation. This is the final season of the eight-year, $184 million deal he signed in 2010, meaning the Twins would have to offer him a new deal for him to come back.
If he does continue to play, it’s all but guaranteed that he won’t make near the $23 million annually he’s been making the last eight seasons.
