Tag Archives: A game where it could be legitimately argued that Joe Mauer is not worth the money it takes to sign him

2023 Twins Game Logs

2023 Game 111: AZ at MN; Celebrate Good Times

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Come on!

This weekend the Minnesota Twins will be inducting Joe Mauer into the Twins Hall of Fame, and the celebration starts tonight with some stuff, I assume. The induction happens on Saturday (and I'll be at the game!). So this weekend isn't so much about the 1st place* Twins, as it is about one of the best catchers to ever play the game. And we get to claim him. So that's fun.

Tonight Merrill Kelly pitches against Bailey Ober. Who wishes Joe Mauer was catching him.

Games, MLB

Off-Day Distractions: The $700 Lineup Game

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I'm stealing this from Sean McInhoe at The Athletic, but he did it with hockey, and I'm suggesting that we do it with baseball, so it's totally different.

We'll need a slightly bigger team, and a bigger budget due to the longer seasons, but we can make this work.

  • 10 players needed
    • 2 pitchers
    • 1 catcher
    • 1 first baseman
    • 1 second baseman
    • 1 third baseman
    • 1 shortstop
    • 3 outfielders (any combination of right/center/left)
  • $1 per game appeared in for whatever team you are signing the player to. (Example: The Phillies can sign Pedro Martinez for $9)
  • The team gets the full career WAR of that player (Pedro's 83.9 bWAR for $9 is a pretty good steal)
  • You can spend up to $700.

Here's my sample Phillies team. They're pretty stacked (Ryne Sandberg's 68 WAR for $13 didn't make the cut)

Pos Player Cost WAR
P Pedro Martinez $9 83.9
P Kid Nichols $21 116.1
C Benito Santiago $136 27.3
1B Jimmie Foxx $89 96.6
2B Joe Morgan $123 100.6
3B Tony Perez $91 54
SS Julio Franco $16 43.5
OF Hack Wilson $7 38.9
OF Hunter Pence $155 30.7
OF Hugh Duffy $34 43.1
TOTAL $681 634.7

Who did I miss?  What franchise would run away with this?