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The face of the Minnesota Twins is staying at home. Joe Mauer, the pride of St. Paul, agreed Sunday to an eight-year contract extension worth $184 million that begins next season and runs through 2018. The deal includes a full no-trade clause. The Twins will officially announce the deal Monday night at a press conference in Fort Myers, Fla.
Mauer's new contract will be the fourth-largest in major league history in terms of total value, trailing only Alex Rodriguez's two mega-deals ($252 million with the Rangers, $275 million with the Yankees) and Derek Jeter's $189 million contract that expires at the end of this season.
Mauer will make $12.5 million this season, the last in a four-year extension he signed in February 2007, before his new contract kicks in.
The move represents a major commitment for the small-market Twins, who as a rule haven't been in the same league as the game's financial behemoths and have gained respect for staying in contention nearly every year despite their financial constraints.
But it would have been a public relations nightmare on top of a huge downgrade on the baseball front to lose Mauer after this season, the Twins' first in a new open-air stadium they expect to generate plenty of new revenue in years to come.
The 26-year-old was named the American League's Most Valuable Player last fall after becoming the first catcher in AL history to lead the league in batting average (.365), on-base percentage (.444) and slugging percentage (.587) in the same season.
Since making his major league debut in 2004, Mauer's .327 average ranks behind only Ichiro Suzuki (.335) and Albert Pujols (.334) among big-league hitters.
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