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Mauer will get his 20M and stay home.

I was perusing through a couple Boston forums last night and reading Mauer discussions, which got pretty heated between optimists trying to come up with scenarios to get Mauer to Boston (essentially, give MIN the entire team this offseason) and fatalists resigned to the fact that the Yankees will simply outbid the Sox and there's nothing that can be done about it. Few of them were level-headed enough to point out that Mauer will never be a FA. He will likely have a new contract, or at least an extension, by the time he reports to spring training. I don't even think it'll be $20M either; he deserves more, but don't be surprised if it's 17 or 18 for eight or nine years. Joe Mauer does not have dollar signs instead of pupils; he is playing for the team he grew up rooting for and his only condition for staying is that they commit to building a winning club around him. They'll probably work out a deal with him that will set aside money for Morneau too...the more money Mauer gets, the less will be available for Morneau and the more likely the Twins will be to trade Morneau (and hopefully get more than they got for Santana). Mauer's agent is Ron Shapiro, the guy who represented Puckett and Ripken. You know, the nice quiet guys who, if not the greatest of their era, were certainly the most beloved, and played their entire careers with one team. And that's Joe Mauer to a tee. He is the last player to wear #7 for Minnesota, and Minnesota will be the only team listed on his plaque.

My favorite player is now the league's Most Valuable. I may very well get to say that a few more times, but I will never take it for granted.