Open Letter

[photo caption] 23 year-old catcher Joe Mauer anchors the Minnesota Twins offense today, and for the next decade. (photo courtesy TheOaklandPress.com)


An open letter to Tom and Jeremy:

Our Joe Mauer conversation from last week just popped into my head. By the way, Mauer leads the Twins with a .338 average and is on pace to threaten 100 RBIs. His career batting average is .304.

He's only 23 years old. A hitter of his caliber could easier play until ages 36-40 if they desire. He probably won't end his career as a catcher, but it probably won't matter -- especially if the DH position still exists.

If he plays through age 36, based on his current pace, he would finish his career with approximately 3,122 hits. Based on the same projections, if Mauer played through age 40, on his current pace he'd total 4,014 hits -- #3 All-Time, behind guys named Rose and Cobb and ahead of a guy named Aaron. Just thought you'd like to know that.

Here's the batters that compare with Mauer based on his age (coming into the season). Info is courtesy of BaseballReference.com.

Benito Santiago
Bill Freehan
Shanty Hogan
Joe Torre
Derek Jeter
Milt May
Ed McFarland
Al Lopez*
Rich Gedman
Joe Sewell*

* = Hall of Famers. Add Jeter to that list, and possibly Torre (via Veteran's Committee).