Souhan Call's for Mauer Move

In an article that is sure to send Marty Andrade's heart racing in anticipation, Jim Souhan of the Star Tribune has set out what has basically been Marty's argument for moving Mauer to third base for, oh, about 18 months or so. If nothing else, this shows that at least one prominent member of the local brigade has come around to the idea of moving one of the league's best catchers to the hot corner.

While I have resisted moving Mauer both on the level of what I wanted to see happen and what I thought the Twins would do, I may be in the process of changing my mind. It's a Taylor trait to be stubborn, and perhaps I've held out on this for longer than I should have. If you haven't read Souhan's article (or one of Marty's articles, which I'm too lazy to look up right now) on this subject, please do -- they lay out the argument for moving Mauer very well, and I'm not going to attempt to rehash an already well-stated argument.

Instead, I want to make a couple of points involving why I've moved into the other camp. The biggest reason started to affect my thinking back in Spring Training, when Mauer got hurt. That injury, while never proven to be linked directly to Mauer's catching (and in fact it was probably more linked to Mauer's off-season running program), was nonetheless the kind of injury that are likely to affect catchers, and Mauer has proven he's susceptible. Nagging injuries of this type have bothered me more than anything else, and I can't deny that moving to third would reduce the strain on his legs and more than likely reduce the time that Mauer spends out of the lineup.

The other big change that has been obvious throughout the course of the year is that the Twins have no easy way to fill the hole they currently have at third base. Nick Punto is clearly not the solution. Matt Moses moved in the wrong direction this year and is back in AA. Brian Buscher had a very nice year, going from AA to AAA to the big leagues, but so far he doesn't seem ready to step in and become a productive major league regular next year. The free agent pool for third basemen this off-season will be thin, to say the least.

All of this left just two options for the Twins -- either live with a third baseman who is sub-par in 2008, or trade someone (such as Johan Santana) to try to fill a couple of big league needs. Mauer presents a third, and possibly best, option for the Twins at third base.

I still have concerns about such a move. I believe that Mauer is a brilliant athlete who is capable of picking up the nuances of third base very quickly, and capable of being a solid player at the position for years to come -- but belief is not knowledge. I've never seen him take grounders there, and I don't know whether this experiment would work or not. That's a reason for hesitation, but certainly not a deal-breaker. There's a related concern that is slightly more serious to me, involving whether or not Mauer would struggle offensively if he struggled defensively -- and that would be a true shame, considering that Mauer is capable of being a magnificent hitter for the rest of his career. While this bothers me a bit, I think the benefits (fewer injuries being the most significant) almost certainly outweigh this concern because of Mauer's athletic ability.

There is one more concern, although I dismissed it almost as soon as it came into my mind. Mauer the catcher is, potentially, a Hall of Fame caliber player. If he puts up a high batting average throughout his career, even if he never develops power, he has a chance. But what about at third base? A non-power hitting but high average third baseman making it to the Hall? My first thought was that this was much less likely. Of course, then I remembered Wade Boggs -- lifetime .328 average and just 118 homeruns. He just made it into the Hall a few years ago, so it's certainly possible. Mauer the third baseman (if he kept hitting and if he figured out how to play defense at the position) could still make the Hall.

Even if he couldn't, however -- even if the Twins knew that they'd be turning a potential Hall of Fame catcher into a non-Hall of Fame third baseman -- they shouldn't be thinking about the Hall of Fame. The Twins goal has to be to win, not to churn out Hall of Famers, and if they can be a better team with a healthy Mauer at third, then that's what they need to do, regardless of the consequences to Mauer's potential enshrinement.

One last point -- all of this is merely conjectural if Joe Mauer doesn't want to move. The Twins can't force Mauer to move, and it would be a bad idea to try. If Mauer wants to catch, the Twins should cajole, prod, and push -- but they can't force. Time will tell whether the Twins are interested in Mauer moving, and whether Mauer is receptive to the plan. Swallowing my pride, I'll now say that I think it's a conversation that the Twins and Mauer should have -- in time for Spring Training 2008.

Joe Mauer

UPDATE: La Velle Neal is suggesting that the Twins believe that Mauer will be able to get back into the lineup by next week, and should be in the lineup for opening day. This is great news (so long as it holds up), and indicates that the injury was closer to a bone bruise or bone sprain than anything more serious. Good job by Mauer of alerting the training staff immediately. For posterity sake, I'll leave the original post up so you can see my initial thoughts on this injury.

Original Post

La Velle E. Neal of the Star Tribune is reporting that Joe Mauer has been diagnosed with a "stress reaction" in his left fibula. He is set to be re-evaluated on Sunday, and will be treated with a bone stimulator and physical therapy. So, what exactly is a stress reaction, and what is the significance of the injury? Keep in mind that I'm no doctor, and that any information I have is sheer speculation aided by some light google research.

For starters, stress reactions are a kind of bone injury that fall somewhere between bone strains (which are usually non-painful) and stress fractures (which are quite painful). Untreated, stress reactions will develop into stress fractures. The most important method of treatment for someone with a stress reaction of the fibula would be to keep that person off of his leg to allow it time to heal. The fact that this injury was caught fairly early, before it developed into a stress fracture, is significant.

Every bone injury is different, so there is no way to know how long Mauer will miss while this heals. However, because of the nature of the injury, the Twins will need to be very careful and be certain that the injury has healed before they allow him to return to his catching duties. Something he's been doing has been putting undue strain on the fibula, resulting in the stress reaction. Typically, these kinds of leg injuries are the result of running on hard ground with insufficient padding in the shoes. However, I imagine there are a number of people out there who are wondering if catching could be partly to blame. If so, the cries of people like my friend Marty Andrade, who has been calling for Mauer to move to third base for some time, may be more likely to be heard.

So how long will Mauer miss? It's impossible to tell, really, but there are some possible indications available. Actual stress fractures can take anywhere from 4-12 weeks to heal properly, so I think it's safe to say that 6 weeks is an absolute outside bound for Mauer's injury, since he has the less severe stress reaction. At the worst, then, we could probably expect to see Mauer miss all of April, and possibly be asked to rehab for a week or so to get back in the groove before returning sometime in early May.

But could he be back sooner? That depends on how bad the injury really is. Once again, these kinds of injuries lie on a continuum between mere bone bruises or bone sprains, which typically heal relatively quickly and probably wouldn't keep a player out for more than a week, to the very serious stress fractures, which take up to 12 weeks to heal. If Mauer's injury is closer to a bone bruise or bone sprain, then we could be talking just 2 or 3 weeks that he'd be out.

Bottom Line: I expect Mauer to miss the start of the season, being out for at least the first two weeks. And frankly, I want the Twins to be as cautious with him as possible. Take a month if you have to, just get him healthy before he returns. And if smart people in white coats tell you that this was caused by squatting down to catch (which may or may not even be possible, so let's not jump the gun here) . . . consider buying him a third baseman's glove. It also means that Mike Redmond will be getting the bulk of the catching duties at the start of the season, and that Chris Heintz is very likely to make the big league club as Redmond's early season backup.