The Minnesota Twins have signed catcher and local Joe Mauer to a massive eight year, $184 million contract, which includes a full no-trade clause. The contract is the fourth largest in Major League Baseball history in both value and average salary.

Mauer, who was entering the final year of his current contract with the Twins, got the new new deal that will cover him through the 2018 season, when he will be only 34.

In this final season of his current $33 million, four-year contract, Mauer will earn $12.5 million then under the extension agreed to yesterday, he will earn $23 million in each of the next eight years of his new contract.

Even Mauer’s teammates were impressed with the deal. Twins center fielder Denard Span reportedly tweeting, “184 million for Mauer! Wow.”

Mauer, 26, has won three American League batting titles and was last year’s American League MVP. He is considered one of the best defensive catchers in baseball.

The only contracts bigger than Mauer’s deal are the $275 deal Alex Rodriguez signed with the Yankees in December 2007, the A-Rod $252 deal he signed with Texas in 2000 and a $189 deal signed by Derek Jeter in 2001 with the Yankees. Roger Clemens’ $28,000 prorated deal in 2007 with the Yankees in which he actually received $17, 443, and the $25.2 million Rodriguez deal with Texas are the only two higher average salaries than Mauer’s. CC Sabathia, now with the Yankees, also has an average salary of $23 million.

This signing makes Mauer the highest-paid catcher, surpassing Jorge Posada’s four year $52.4 million with the Yankees.

Mauer was the Twins’ No. 1 overall pick in 2001. After sitting out the first month of last season, he hit 28 home runs and had 96 RBIs, helping propel the Twins in the AL Central Division champs.

A press conference will be held at the Twins spring training facility in Fort Myers, Florida, at 7pm this evening.

In addition to writing her Chicago Cubs column for Examiner.com, Miriam Romain has been published in several Cubs annuals by Maple Street Press and is a contributor to SportsClimax.com . She is also writing a book with the working title “Summers at Wrigley with my Dad.”

Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax™

NEW YORK – The botched call left field umpire Phil Cuzzi made last night during the New York Yankees 4-3 victory over the visiting Minnesota Twins is sending shock waves through the baseball world, especially in Minnesota where the Twins return home down 2-0 in their five-game series against the New York Yankees.

Detroit Tigers fans may be referring to this call as justice. Just days earlier, home plate umpire Randy Marsh missed Tigers third baseman Brandon Inge getting hit by a pitch in the 12th inning with the bases loaded in crucial Game 163 against these same Twins.

Like the Twins, the Tigers should have been guaranteed at least one run and both went on to lose in the bottom of the same inning the botched calls occurred.

In the top of the 11th inning of last night’s game, Twins’ catcher Joe Mauer ripped a line shot down the left field line that glanced off Melky Cabrera’s glove in fair territory then clearly landed fair, several inches inside the left field line.

Mauer should have been awarded a ground rule double but instead, Mauer was given a single, the Twins followed with two singles loading the bases with no out but failed to score. Cuzzi’s call took a run from the Twins as Mauer would have crossed home plate on one of those hits.

Like Tigers Manager Jim Leyland a week earlier, Ron Gardenhire did not directly blame the outcome of the game on the call considering their teams had plenty of other opportunities to win the games.

Crew chief Tim Tschida admitted seeing the tape of the Mauer hit after the game and admitted it was a blown call then offered this comment, “There’s a guy [Cuzzi] sitting over in the umpire’s dressing room right now that feels horrible. Nobody feels it worse than the umpire.”

Don’t be so sure about that.

Sports Climax received several emails from our readers slamming this call. One reader asked if that were a case of a “Jersey Ump on the Take?” The email continued, “I would check his [Cuzzi’s] bank account today to see if the bookee’s [sic] check has cleared. He was less than 20 feet away, staring right at it and missed it twice. Yankee Magic! Yankee Cheat!!”

Not sure about bookies or payoffs but after viewing the video of the play, a visit to his optician should certainly be recommended.

Copyright © 2009 – Sports Climax