Former Minnesota Twins first baseman Justin Morneau is in the news a lot lately, and likely will stay on the collective baseball mind for quite some time as a part of a playoff-contending team.
All the Morneau chatter and the fact that his current stint with the Twins is over got Yahoo! thinking; with the big names that have played first base for the Twins over the years, where does Morneau rank among the Hrbeks, the Killebrews, the best of the best that have worn a Minnesota uniform and played the one bag.
Some think the list shouldn’t be limited to first basemen, but that Morneau is an all-timer across all positions in the Twins organization.
Still, you can’t help but stop and wonder what could’ve been without this injury.
With Morneau gone, is the next great Twins first baseman Joe Mauer? Moving Mauer to first is an understandable position to take with Joe missing time because of a concussion (speculation says he sustained it in the video below), and the obvious wariness surrounding concussions with Morneau going through what he did and public opinion putting a microscope on head injuries in the past few years.
Extending Mauer’s career and not putting him in harms way is on everyones mind around the Twins, and it makes perfect sense, at least for the rest of the season, as a trial run. Mauer wouldn’t be at a huge risk for another concussion, the team gets more of a look at Josmil Pinto behind the dish, while also getting Mauer more experience at first.
It’s a win-win-win, one that could put years onto Mauer’s career.
