Joe Mauer is the face of the Minnesota Twins. His list of credentials is impressive.
In six full seasons of Major League Baseball he has earned three batting titles, three Gold Gloves, four Silver Slugger awards, four All-Star game appearances and was named league MVP in 2009. He's been featured on the cover of Sony's PlayStation MLB the Show for 2010 and again this year.
Still, something is missing that sets Mauer apart from the rest of the league and makes him great.
This week on ESPN's Mike & Mike In the Morning radio show there was a discussion about Detroit's Miguel Cabrera and his recent DUI arrest. They referred to him as the American League's equivalent to Albert Pujols.
I was intrigued by this comparison. Pujols is considered to be not only the best player in the National League, but in all of baseball. While Cabrera is a tremendous player, only once in his eight year career has his team made it to the postseason. That was in 2003 in his first year in the majors with the Florida Marlins. That season he didn't exactly lead the Marlins to the World Series, only playing in 87 games and batting .267.
In comparison, Mauer has led the Twins to three division titles. The problem is they are 0-9 in those three playoff series.
Since 2005 Mauer has the best batting average in the American League at .328. The problem is he ranks 21st in slugging percentage and 18th in RBI.
Sure, he's a great hitter for average, but as the third hitter in the Twins lineup his performance is lacking. In 2010 he finished with the third best average in the league, yet his teammate Delmon Young, who led the team with 112 RBI, received more mention as a possible MVP candidate late in the season when his average was hovering around .300.
Another issue that Mauer will have to overcome is his performance in the postseason.
With having to face stiffer competition and better pitching it is expected that his average would be lower, however Mauer's post season batting average drops by 41 points to .286, and his playoff slugging percentage, average at best, drops 167 points to only .314 with only one extra base hit in nine games. These are not numbers that strike fear into opposing managers, causing them to consider pitching options when he comes to the plate.
Compare that to Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame outfielder Kirby Puckett who twice led the Twins to a World Series Championship. Where Mauer has struggled in the post season, Puckett flourished.
With a career batting average of .318 over 12 seasons, Puckett's average would only drop to .309 and his slugging percentage would increase from .477 to .536.
Puckett was able to elevate his game and will the Twins to victory, something Mauer has yet to demonstrate.
Joe Mauer is a talented player, and the Twins may not have won the last two AL Central division titles without him, but until he leads the Twins to a World Championship he will not be considered a great, game changing player like Puckett or Pujols, or for that matter it would seem, Miguel Cabrera.
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