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Today's Debaters are:
Slanch, The Slanch Report
Bill Parker, The Daily Something
Today's Topic is: Should Joe Mauer be moved from behind home plate?
 Joe Mauer SHOULD be moved from behind home plate
By Slanch, The Slanch Report - Presenting the best in off-beat sports news, mainstream sports idiocy, the choicest Doppelgangers and always plenty of baseball. Oh and hot chicks, lots of hot chicks.
There is no doubt that Joe Mauer is the best catcher in the American League, but his highest value, the reason the Minnesota Twins want to make a long-term commitment to him, is for his ability at the plate, not behind it.
In the five full years he's spent in the majors, Mauer has missed a total of 146 games. As the team looks to invest in Mauer for the next decade they want to ensure they get the most out of him. At his current pace, missing one out of every 5 seasons is not a great start. Looking forward, as Mauer gets older he isn't likely to become MORE durable, particularly in such a taxing position like catcher. That's not to suggest that Mauer is a bad catcher, he is in fact a better than average catcher. The two Gold Gloves he's won in successive years are a bit deceiving though, they've been gained more thanks to his bat than his glove-work.
Last season Mauer experienced his long-awaited power breakout, he also missed the first month of the season and only tallied 109 games behind the plate, DHing another 28 games -- a career high. How are the Twins best served by having their best player missing an AVERAGE of 30 games a season? That's nearly 120 potential ABs that they are needlessly losing out on.
Having an excellent hitting catcher is an awesome luxury, having a young hitting machine is an even greater one.
In 1992, after 3 years of 100+ games played at catcher in the majors, Craig Biggio switched full-time to playing second base. Already having won a Silver Slugger and been an All Star as a catcher, Biggio made the switch. Over the next 8 seasons he averaged 152 games a season (8 games more) and an OPS+ of 130; that's really really good. Craig Biggio was one of the very good players in the league during his day. Mauer is one of the very best, certainly markedly better than Biggio, one whose talent and ability puts him in the rare stratosphere of one-name superstars, along with the likes of Albert, Hanley and Endy.
Just kidding -- making sure you're paying attention.
 Not about Mauer's skills though, he has the chance to produce Ichiro-like numbers with legit power too. That kind of potential can't be lost because he was hurt playing in the field. Switching Mauer to a less physically taxing position will allow him a minimum of 10 more games per season but even more importantly, less strenuous games. Instead of coming to the plate with his legs throbbing from thousands of squats and his hands stinging from a foul tip in the last frame, Mauer will be able to concentrate just on his at-bat and that can only help him concentrate more and hit better.
Then where does he move? First base is occupied through 2013 by Justin Morneau, and he's not about to move anywhere, so that's out. However, currently, the Twins are entering the season with Brendan Harris as their third baseman. Over the last three seasons Harris has played about 130 games, and put up OPS+ of 106, 94 and last year, 77. Essentially, his numbers equate to the average catcher in the AL.
With the way the Twins are set up now, Mauer replaces a normal productive third baseman's numbers and Harris plays the role of a "catcher" while manning third. If you're willing to make that concession already, as an organization, why not take the next step, let Mauer play third and reap the side benefits from him not having to get beat up day in and day out by such a brutal position. With less wear and tear on the body, it only stands to reason that Mauer will see an increase in his numbers at the plate.
A legit quarterback prospect -- he turned down Florida State for baseball -- Mauer is considered such a freak of athletic ability according to his teammates that he's become a verb. When told about how Mauer had recently bowled an effortless 265, Nick Punto told reporters, "That's so Mauer of him to do something like that." Presumably, after catching, the hot corner won't bother Mauer too much.
Of course, that's just assuming Mauer takes to the position, which even for a top athlete is difficult on the fly. Say he doesn't, that's fine, there's always left field, an even less taxing position that any reasonable athlete can manage. Mauer's bat is so good that so long as he isn't Ryan Braun-bad at third, his offensive numbers should outweigh any defensive inadequacies.
The smartest solution for the Twins is to have the MVP make the position switch official next season, allowing him an off season to start working on and preparing for a position change. Freed up from the pressures of catching, physically and mentally, Mauer should build on his already impressive numbers.
Staying at catcher will only lead to more injuries and longer stints on the disabled list as he ages. Catchers are like running backs, their peak shelf life isn't very long. For the Twins to make a gigantic investment in their star, they need to make sure that he is able to actually be on the field. The knee issues he's had don't just clear up and go away, they linger, they develop, they continue to cause havok; 6' 5" men aren't intended to play catcher. All that bending and crouching adds up and will directly lead to missed games and games where Mauer isn't close to his best shape. That's the toll of playing catcher.
Entering his age 27 season, where most hitters see their peak, the Twins want to have Joe on the field and in the batter's box as much as possible. Mauer's talent isn't just good, he's one of the top 3 position players in the game. No matter where he plays he's going to be far above average. Having a stud catcher is more than nice but keeping him on the field is far more valuable. With a position change, Mauer can prolong his career by a number of years and the team can see more games played per season -- everyone wins in that scenario.
 Another factor to consider is that the Twins are moving to an out-door stadium this season, 81 games in beautiful downtown Minneapolis. April, May, September, October, those months are going to be absolutely brutal to the players on the field. Exposing Mauer to those kinds of elements, and asking him to play the most physical position on the field is just foolish. Let him play in the field as the pitcher's assistant or the short center fielder if need be, so long as he gets to hit.
There's a reason there hasn't been a catcher like Mauer before, players like him, with a precocious hitting ability like his, get taken off catcher long ago in the minors. Their bats are their tickets to the majors and franchises recognize that is much more valuable and durable not playing catcher.
After he switched positions, Biggio logged 2606 hits in 16 seasons, wouldn't you like to see Mauer do better than that. If he continues as a catcher, Mauer will finish his career with great numbers for a catcher, but there will always be that caveat. His numbers won't compare with other hitters because his career will be marred with time lost from injury, it's just a fact of playing catcher, your body breaks down. Too many foul balls off the mask, stumbles into dugouts chasing a pop out, collisions at home and of course, the catching a big league staffs worth of fastballs lead to the DL, it's unavoidable no matter how finely conditioned the athlete. For one who has already had injuries in the most vulnerable place for a catcher, it just gets worse.
Moving Mauer means many more Minnesota summers where he can lead the league in hitting and add to his Hall of Fame resume. Leaving him at catcher means his potential will never truly be reached, too many games will be lost to the position. Right now the Twins have a Ferrari throttling out of control in a pickup truck's position, let the performance car out in the open and let loose the beast.
Free Joe. Let him fly free. - Slanch, The Slanch Report
 Joe Mauer SHOULD NOT be moved from behind Home plate
By Bill Parker, The Daily Something: The Daily Something is a general baseball blog (with a strong pro-Twins slant) that provides just that: something about baseball every day, or at least every weekday. It gets pretty heavily into the analytical and statistical side of the game, but the site also features plenty of commentary and analysis on the current season (or offseason), glimpses into baseball history, and miscellaneous nonsense.
You hear it a lot: Joe Mauer is too valuable to be kept behind the plate. His bat is just too good. You need him in the lineup every day.
Bad idea. Some day, maybe. Just not now, and very likely not anytime soon.
The reason that would be such a phenomenally terrible idea, or the biggest reason, is that Joe Mauer is so valuable in large part because he plays behind the plate. Moving him now might preserve his value in some sense, but there's no question that it would also destroy a big chunk of that value.
Let us count the ways...
 A Good Catcher Is Hard to Find
One of the least understood aspects of baseball among most fans today, I think, is positional value. People generally acknowledge that a catcher or shortstop who can hit is more impressive than a first baseman who can hit; they just don't seem to understand how much of a difference the player's position makes (see, e.g., the 2006 AL MVP award).
Well, it's huge. In 2009, the average American League catcher hit .254/.316/.408. That's the worst OPS of any position except shortstop (it's five points ahead of SS); the batting average is 11 points lower and the OBP is 13 lower than any other position. NL catchers didn't have the benefit of Mauer himself, so they hit .255/.325/.385, the worst position in the league in all three categories.
A great hitter who can catch is a very, very valuable thing. Much more valuable than, say, a first baseman, where the average hitter in the 2009 AL hit .271/.351/.481. If you've got a great hitter who can play catcher, it's pretty easy to find a first baseman who can hit. If you put that great hitter at first base, it's a lot harder to then go out and find a catcher who can hit.
One way to understand this is through Tom Tango's position adjustments, one component of Wins Above Replacement. Under that system, each position is worth a certain number of runs per season, to reflect the difficulty of playing that position (as it relates to the difficulty of finding an adequate replacement at that position compared to others).
A player who catches for an entire season gets +12.5 runs under that system; a first baseman loses 12.5. Just by moving a guy from catcher to first base, without regard to how he fields or anything else, you've lost 25 runs right off the bat. Of course, if he's a butcher at C and/or a gold glover at 1B, that'll swing the pendulum back, but you're starting out down two and a half wins by playing him at first. He'd better be Keith Hernandez out there if that's going to make any sense for you.
And speaking of that...
Defense Is Important
Mauer, as everybody seems to recognize, is a good catcher. He might not be great, and might not deserve those Gold Gloves he's been winning, but he's more than competent back there.
So that's one thing you're losing by moving him, but more importantly, where are you going to move him to? First base? Third? Left Field? How do you know he can handle those positions, or how well? Quality of defense, at any position, is worth runs, and thus wins. It's not as simple as deciding you're going to move him and then moving him. Most catchers, even great ones and great athletes, are disasters at other positions. There are phenomenal athletes who are terrible defenders. There's just no reason to believe that Mauer could move to even first base and suddenly be an asset out there. (I'm going to assume for the rest of this post that the position is first base, since that's the easiest one to learn, but certainly don't take that to mean I think moving him to 3B or LF makes any more sense.)
So, not only are you sapping up to 25 runs from his value at point zero just by making the move away from catcher, but you're very likely taking him from a position he plays well to a position he will play poorly, or at least considerably less well. And that's bad.
 His Bat Is Already In the Lineup Every Day!
One justification for moving Mauer (one used on this very site) is that catchers get fatigued and need to rest, and you need Mauer's bat in the lineup every day.
Well, let's not forget that the Twins can use the DH, okay? Mauer's injury caused him to miss the first 22 games of 2009. From there on out, for the team's final 140 games, Mauer played in 138 of them; 109 as a catcher, 28 as DH, one as a pinch hitter. It hurt his Wins Above Replacement total (DHes get dinged under that system even more than 1Bs do), but it was the perfect way to use him. And there's no reason he can't keep getting used that way.
It Will Never Be 2009 Again
Silly statement, but it's important to put Mauer's 2009 to one side for a bit. Mauer's 2009, of course, would be impeccable at any position - he'd be less valuable if he hadn't been a catcher, but he'd still have been awfully valuable.
As amazing as he is, though, it's highly unlikely that Mauer will ever hit .365, lead the league in all three slash categories, or hit 28 home runs again.
What if, for the next five (or ten) years, Mauer settles in to an average of the great work he's done over the last five? Per full season (660 plate appearances), that looks like this:
328/.410/.480, 34 2B, 3 3B, 15 HR, 92 R, 87 RBI, 136 OPS+.
Those are pretty numbers for anybody. Very, very good. But for a catcher, they're out of this world.
I personally believe that Mauer was the AL's true MVP not just last year, but in 2006 and 2008 as well. Catchers just don't hit like that (especially not good catchers). Only one catcher ever, Mike Piazza, has topped a 136 OPS+ for his career. Hall of Fame catcher Mickey Cochrane's best five year stretch was a 138 OPS+, as was Bill Dickey's. Yogi Berra's and Johnny Bench topped out at 136 for a five-year stretch, Gabby Hartnett 135, Carlton Fisk 131. If you're a catcher and can do for ten years what Joe Mauer has done for five, you're a Hall of Famer and one of the four or five best ever to play the position. That's all it takes.
As a first baseman, though? First basemen that have had approximately a 135 career OPS+ include Carlos Delgado (138), Dolph Camilli (136), Boog Powell (134), John Kruk (133), and Mo Vaughn (132). Good players all, but none of them was ever (for more than an isolated year or two) the kind of special superstar that Mauer is right now.
So if you think Mauer is going to hit just as he did in 2009 for the next several years, then Mauer the first baseman is going to be a special, special player (again, not as special as Mauer the catcher, but special). If you recognize that he might come back to earth a bit, then you need to acknowledge that you're taking an inner-circle-Hall-of-Fame talent and turning him into just a really good player.
 But What About the Injury/Burnout Risk?
That's the big deal, of course. Catchers get hurt more than most. Catchers wear down over time and retire earlier than most (unless their nickname is "Pudge," apparently).
But with Mauer specifically, we have no idea when (or if) he'll break down or what his particular risk is of a truly damaging injury. If, as time goes by, it becomes clear that catching is taking its toll, or he suffers an injury that puts him at risk if he continues to catch, then by all means, start taking a look at a move.
Failing that, though, I'm willing to take the risk. Aside from all that stuff above, note that for right now, at least, he's not under contract. It's cold, I know, but what do the Twins care if Mauer's knees fail him five or six years down the line, if that's going to be the problem of the Yanks or Red Sox?
So that's what it comes down to. You've got a truly great player, one of the four or five best players in baseball, with some reasonable chance of either devastating injury or sudden decline (which might not even end up being your problem).
If you move him, you lose that elite, potentially legendary player and gain a very good one (assuming, again, that he can even handle the position). I just think that you'd better have a really solid reason to do something like that. He might give them that reason someday, but it hasn't happened yet. - By Bill Parker, The Daily Something
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