Kelsie Smith wrote last week about  present owner of the Twins, Jim Pohlad and his thoughts on signing Joe Mauer.  Its an interesting piece for anyone not close to Minnesota because it speaks a bit to how the business has been run. Pohlad, who inherited the team from his father, Carl Pohlad, has continued the policy of setting the team payroll at 50% or team revenue.  The reason the payroll has gone from $69 million to $96 million in a year is that the team expects that much of a difference in revenue due to the new stadium- one where they don’t have to share the cost of doing business with the Vikings.

So, why make that big of a jump of you can make the playoffs without that extra $30 million?  Well, spending the money wisely certainly makes the worry decrease quite a bit.  But why would you spend that money when you know that you still need to sign Joe Mauer?  My guess is that the pot isn’t close to dry.  Joe Mauer already makes $12.5 million.  Adding $8 to $10 million to that for the next however many years shouldn’t be hard.

And while most teams with the small market mentality shy away from giving one player a large portion of the payroll, the Twins have worked so effectively at producing fresh young capable talent for very little cost, that keeping a guy like Mauer alongside Morneau and Joe Nathan should not be hard.

The only factor that could change the game is if an outside company, a Nike or another shoe company wants to pay Mauer a lot of money but needs him to play in a big market.  Its the LeBron James factor of baseball.  Alex Rodriguez could have the same contract in Texas as he does in New York, but he makes more money in New York because he provides a brighter spotlight for marketers.  Joe Mauer, while a very well-known name in baseball circles, can’t shill goods in the Twins Cities like he could if he played in New York.

Now I know Mauer has said if the contract isn’t done by opening day, he isn’t talking about it again during the season.  That doesn’t mean anything.  His agent can do all the talking and then it can get signed at the end of the season.  Mauer plays a tough position.  He needs to be focused and so he is right to cut himself out of the negotiating once the season starts.  But a catcher can’t afford to be a martyr of any kind, and if he can get the deal he wants- which he should be able to- then the deal will get done.  Only Derek Jeter has this kind of power to nearly write his own contract- and look for Mauer’s numbers to be very similar to the deal the Yankee Captain signed coming out of free agency.