Ken Rosenthal writes that, despite the fact that things have been quiet on the Joe Mauer front, negotiations are still progressing and that the lack of any public talk about it doesn’t mean that there’s an impasse or anything close to it, as some have suggested.
There was some chatter in the press box at the Phillies-Twins game the other day about how the Twins are finding time to do things like extend Denard Span and Nick Blackburn contracts while Mauer remains in limbo. One thought — and this is my own thinking, not anything I heard — perhaps Mauer has suggested to the Twins that he’d like to see long term commitments to the supporting cast before he goes all-in, lest he find himself the only established player on the team one day a la Adrian Gonzalez or someone.
Other possibility: the Twins are simply trying to give themselves cost certainty with respect to Blackburn and Span on the theory that once they pull the trigger with Mauer, there’s not going to be much room for uncertainty in the arbitration process.
I realize that neither of these are the deepest thoughts in the world, but it seems like some Twins fans’ nerves get a little more frayed every day we get closer to Opening Day without Mauer being signed. My view? Nothing that has happened yet should give anyone cause for concern.
