Joe Mauer retires after 15 seasons of MLB

Joe Mauer, the face of the Minnesota Twins franchise since his debut in 2004, officially retired after 15 seasons in Major League Baseball.

According to Phil Miller and The Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the decision was made to bring Mauer's body wear and the risks associated with a new concussion. Mauer saw his career come to an end after a concussion in the 2013 season. He also had a concussion on May 18th of last season, which sidelined him for almost a month. Mauer has signed a $ 184 million, eight-year contract at the end of the 2018 season.

"After a lot of thinking, I decided not to play baseball anymore," said Mauer in his retirement announcement. "The decision came from my health and my family. The risk of concussion is still present, and this has been reminded me this season after missing more than 30 games due to diving for a foul.

"Thank you, Minnesota Twins, and thanks to you, fans, for making my career so special and memorable. Thanks to you, I can leave the game that I love with a full and grateful heart. "

In the Chicago White Sox Twins game on September 30, there was a feeling that Mauer was about to retire. Mauer took over the advantage during a match, which seemed to put an end to his career. In the same match, Mauer has doubled in what will be his last match of the MLB.

Attention is now turning to the next stage of Mauer's life in baseball, and it's whether he deserves a place in the Hall of Fame.

Joe Mauer Hall of Fame Case

Mauer certainly checks a lot of boxes needed as Hall of Famer. His career, with $ 54.9 billion, ranks seventh best receiver of all time. Each receiver before him is in the Hall of Fame. On the JAWS list of the Hall of Fame expert, who analyzes and dissects the Hall of Fame ranking, Mauer also ranks seventh among the best receivers in MLB history.

Mauer had a strong, extended spike. From his rookie season in 2004 to 2013, when injuries really began to affect his career, Mauer hit .332 / .405 / .468. The batting average was only exceeded by Miguel Cabrera during this period. Mauer also did not play Power, but he scored 29 homers in his only season in 2009, winning six All-Star selections.

Mauer's corpus is very solid. He finished with a batting average of .306 and a .388 in base. He finished with 2,123 career successes, which is an important step to his credit. And do not neglect his defense. Mauer has the sixth best start-up percentage for all the catchers and the fifth best for all first baseman. He never had a problem with the glove even though his health was beginning to limit it.

Nevertheless, Mauer is far from locked because his career path has not followed that of other Hall of Famers, especially those who have been hunters.

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Case against Joe Mauer in the Hall of Fame

Many experts believe that if Mauer had finished his career as a receiver and had posted the same career number, he would be a Hall of Fame lock.

Unfortunately, his injuries forced him to go to first base in his last five seasons, which could prevent him from getting enough support.

Defense aside, Mauer has never been considered a better-than-average player at first base. The question then becomes whether he should be judged according to what he was, an excellent receiver, and what he should have continued to be before concussions. do not derail his career, or he must be judged to become a first-baseman who rarely gave his team an edge at the plate.

In his last five seasons, Mauer has hit 0.28 / 0.39 / 0.38 while he was mostly on first base. There is not a lot of trouble with that. But again, we're doing a Hall of Fame case, and voters may need more weight to pass Mauer. The good news for Mauer may be that he intends to stay on the ballot for a long time, even if he does not return right away. This may allow time to change perspective or even change the Hall of Fame vote.

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