Mauer Deal is Good Business

Last week the Minnesota Twins signed All-Star catcher Joe Mauer to an eight-year $184 million contract extension that ensures he will remain a Twin for the rest of his career. It was the richest contract for a catcher in MLB history and in my opinion one of the most important of the past decade.

A lot of people were ragging on this deal because its such a large sum of money to spending on a player that doesn't play in every game and for a position that doesn't have a long shelf life. Many catchers reach their peak in their early 30s and this deal will ensure that Mauer is making over $20 million when he is 36.

Normally I would agree with this statement but these critics seems to be forgetting one thing: this contract was given out by the Minnesota Twins. The Twins are one of the thriftiest teams in baseball and often have a payroll in the bottom 1/3 of the league. They are a "small market" team and in the past have opted to let big name players leave in free agency rather than paying them (Johan Santana and Tori Hunter). But with this contract that all changes.

The Twins are showing their fans that they are committed to winning and committed to fielding a competitive team and anytime you can show your fans you're committed to them that is a positive thing. It gives Twins fans renewed hope and will no doubt win over some new fans who may have given up on the franchise due to their frugal ways.

So what makes Mauer so special?

Well there are a lot of factors that went into this decision. Mauer is young, only 26, and extremely talented. Last year he won the AL MVP and led the league in batting average (.365), slugging (587), on-base percentage (.444) and OPS (1.031). He also showed that he could hit with power as he knocked out a career high 28 home runs. He is a Gold Glove winning catcher and does a great job managing the pitching staff.

To put into perspective how good Mauer is statistically check out this fact: In a span of 4 years Mauer has won as many batting titles as every catcher in MLB history combined.

Besides his statistical merits there is also the fact that Mauer is from Minnesota. He was born and raised in Saint Paul and grew up as a Twins fan. He has strong ties to the community in Minnesota and lives there in the off-season surrounding himself with friends and family. Basically he is the perfect guy to sign to a big contract. Not only is a once in a generation player but he is a hometown kid, it is a match made in heaven.

Finally there is the Target Field aspect. Target Field is the new stadium the Twins are building and will call home when the 2010 season starts in a few days. The new stadium should increase the Twins overall revenue and a the new stadium will now be synonymous with the Mauer deal as the new stadium symbolizes a new direction for the team.

This contract is important for another reason though. During the season there was endless talk about Mauer leaving the Twins to sign with either the Red Sox or the Yankees. Baseball fans everywhere were pissed because this just symbolized how the Sox and Yankees buy their teams. By signing Mauer the Twins showed that they won't be bullied around and that they are going to keep their big talent.

Hopefully this will inspire other teams to do the same. Rather than complain about not being able to keep up with the "Super Powers" they will fork over the money and stay competitive. I love it.

Everything about this deal is good. Mauer is a great player who deserves to be paid as such and Twins fans don't have to sit back and watch as another All-Star leaves with nothing coming back in return.

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March Madness Preview: South Region

Tomorrow March Madness officially begins. To say I am pumped would be a massive understatement as I plan and waking up and spending the entire day on the couch watching college basketball until my eyes bleed.

So far I have covered the West, East and Midwest Regions which means only the South remains. In case you haven't been paying attention my picks to advance to the Final Four so far are Syracuse, West Virginia and Kansas. Not going out on a limb there by any means but you the point is to pick the teams that are going to win.

The #1 seed in the South is Duke. Why is Duke a #1 seed? Because the selection committee wanted to ensure that Duke would remain in the tournament as long as possible to increase ratings because like it or not Duke = ratings. Jason Whitlock wrote an awesome column about this if you want to read more.

Of all the #1 seeds Duke definitely has the easiest route to the Final Four as their bracket contains the weakest #2 seed in Villanova, the weakest #3 seed in Baylor and the weakest #4 seed in Purdue. Basically Duke can walk to the Final Four.

Nonetheless here is my sleeper, player to watch, potential upset and bracket winner:

Sleeper - Louisville

The Cardinals were the only team to beat Syracuse twice this year (one of those wins was on the road). They are led by Senior guard Edgar Sosa who is a great playmaker and also have Samardo Samuels who is a strong presence inside. While the Cardinals have the talent on the floor their biggest asset is their coach Rick Pitino who has been there before and knows what it takes to win.

If the Cardinals can get past Cal in the opening round they have a serious shot at knocking off Duke in the Round of 32. Look for Louisville to blow up a lot of peoples brackets as they are being severely underestimated by quite a few experts, well except me of course.

Potential Upset - 13 Sienna over 4 Purdue

This is hardly considered an upset by most people as no one has any faith in the Boilermakers right now. Since all-star forward Robbie Hummel went down Purdue is 3-2 (they were 24-3 with him in the line up) and have looked awful. In their Big Ten Tournament game against Minnesota they managed only 11 points in the 1st half.

Sienna is no joke either as last year they knocked off Ohio State in the first round of the tournament and in 2008 they beat Vanderbilt as a 13 seed. Sienna will probably continue their giant slaying trend as they take advantage of a wounded Purdue team with their up-tempo pace and crazy athleticism.

The only thing I worry about is Purdue playing the 'no one believes in us' card and going on a crazy run to silence all the critics. But that probably won't happen. Forget I mentioned it.

Player to Watch - Scottie Reynolds of Villanova

To quote a line from the Simpsons Scottie Reynolds is, "like a flower that grew out of a pot of dirt." His supporting cast is lackluster to say the least and yet the Wildcats somehow managed to go 24-7 in the Big East and earn a #2 seed in the tournament. Reynolds did this pretty much by himself scoring 18 ppg and hitting big shots when it mattered.

Reynolds has proven in the past that he thrives on the big stage. Remember his crazy shot to beat Pitt and send Villabova to the Final Four last year? I didn't until I saw this Youtube video. The kid can flat out play and he has no problem being the guy everyone is counting on. I think he might be the best leader of any player in college basketball and the kind of guy that will do anything to win.

A lot of people see Villanova as a weak team but I think as long as they have Reynolds they will be competitive and will be a tough out. By the way Reynolds is a 40% 3-point shooter and hits 82% of his free throws, so yeah he has that going for him too.

Bracket Winner - Villanova

I hate Duke and am 99.99% positive they are going to choke early on like they always do. Villanova on the other hand is a mentally strong team that has shown that when they play their best basketball they can't be beat.

I already mentioned Scottie Reynolds so I won't repeat myself there but he isn't a complete 1 man team. Junior guard Corey Fisher is a solid player who can hit the outside shot and is no slouch at the line. Actually Villanova is one of the better free throw shooting teams in the country as 4 of their starters shoot better than 75% from the charity stripe.

Villanova also benefits from having a terrific coach in Jay Wright. Wright is one of the best coaches in the NCAA and is an expert at causing match up problems for other teams with his 3 guard offense. Since 2004 Wright has failed to make it to the Sweet Sixteen only once. He is a proven winner and can make the difference late in games.

I am mostly going to go with Villanova because of the 'no one believes in us card.' Everyone has Duke penciled in to walk to the Final Four but it seems people are forgetting one major piece of information. Duke sucks. They always find a way to lose. Villanova on the other hand finds ways to win and any team with Scottie Reynolds on it can't get knocked out by Baylor or Richmond.

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This why you suck Duke!

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March Madness Preview: West Region

Tonight is the play-in-game to see who will be the 64th team in the tournament and earn the right to lose to Duke. That means March Madness has officially begun. I have 2 more regions left to do and I will start right now with the Western Region.

The #1 seed in the West is Syracuse who dominated during the regular season, winning the Big East title and going 11-1 on the road, but look vulnerable right now having lost to Louisville to end the season and Georgetown in the Big East tournament. They also suffered a big hit to their Final Four hopes when power forward Arinze Onuaku went down with a quad injury. His injury is significant as he averages 10ppg and 5 rpg.

Will it be enough to bring down the Orange and send them packing early like in 2005 when they lost to Vermont who was a 13 seed? I don't think so but if he doesn't come back I don't see Syracuse getting past Kansas.

Here are is my pick, sleeper, potential upset and player to watch for the West region:

Sleeper - BYU

Th Cougars have the 2nd best offense in the NCAA scoring 83 points per game and have the ability to score quickly. They have 6 players on their team that average above 40% from 3-point land and 4 players that average at least 10 ppg. They are also one of the best free throw shooting teams in the nation and boast 4 players who shoot better than 80% from the charity stripe including Tyler Haws who shoots a godlike 90.9% from the line.

I think BYU will get past Florida no problem and may even be able to knock off a Kansas State that has shown it doesn't like to show up for big games. If the Cougars are going to advance deep into the tournament then they will need Junior guard Jimmer Fredette to continue his monster play. Fridette is averaging 21.7 ppg and is one of the best pure scorers in the tournament. In his last 2 games he dropped 45 points on TCU and then 30 on UNLV and he is deadly from outside and the free throw line. Basically he can hurt you from anywhere.

Potential Upset - 12 UTEP over 5 Butler

The Miners of UTEP are the 14th best defensive team in the country and have two players in Derrick Caracter and Arnett Moultrie that can cause match up problems for Butler. Butler likes to dump the ball inside to Junior forward Matt Howard but Caracter and Moultrie will make that difficult with their size and length. They play smothering defense and if they can get Howard into foul trouble early the Bulldogs will struggle.

While UTEP did lose their conference championship game to Houston they are far and away the best team from Conference USA. Plus remember UTEP has won it all before in Glory Road when Josh Lucas led his all black team to a memorable victory over the racist Jon Voigt and his all white Kentucky team. So there is history to consider.

Player to Watch - Wes Johnson from Syracuse

With the injury to Onuaku there will be added pressure on Johnson to carry the Orange. During the regular season he was a beast averaging 15.7 ppg and 8.5 rpg. He isn't as flashy as a John Wall or as well rounded as an Evan Turner but he is a great player and he will have to be if he wants to ensure that his Orange don't make an early exit. He is an average 3-point shooter (39.1%) and a decent free throw shooter (78.1%) and does everything good but nothing great.

Bracket Winner - Syracuse

Hard to pick against a team that lost only 4 games all season while playing in the toughest conference in the NCAA. Even with the injury to Onuaku the Orange have depth and have a loaded roster of guys that can score and rebound.

They have 5 guys who score at least 10 points a game (Johnson, Onuaku, Joseph, Jackson and Rautins) and they are a good 3-point shooting team. I do worry about them when it comes to free throws as besides Rautins no one really excels at the line. As we saw with Memphis a few years back being able to hit free throws late in the game is so crucial.

Having said that I don't see anyone being that close to them at the end of the game as more often than not Syracuse has a big lead and doesn't give it up. That might have something to do with the fact that they have the best 2-point field goal percentage in college basketball.

The injury to Onuaku is devastating but there is talk he will make it back in time for the Elite Eight and a possible match up with Kansas State. So while the injury is big I can't pick anyone else from this bracket except Syracuse especially since Kansas State already lost to Kansas 3 times this year. Who wants to see another beating?

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March Madness Preview: East Region

The #1 seed in the East Region is the Kentucky Wildcats who went 32-2 this season winning both the SEC regular season and also the SEC tournament. Much hyped freshmen John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins and Eric Bledsoe all lived up to the billing and had impact years helping the Wildcats return to their former glory.

The East region is by far the most interesting as it boasts not only Kentucky but also former #1 seed Texas, Temple, everyones Cinderella Cornell, a tough Marquette team, New Mexico and Big Ten powerhouse Wisconsin. The path to the Final Four definitely won't be easy for coach Calipari and company.

Here is my sleeper, player to watch, potential upset, and bracket winner:

Sleeper - Cornell

They were the Ivy League champions this year and are the best 3-point shooting team in the NCAA which means they can pull ahead quickly or get back into games. The Big Red are lead in scoring by Senior Ryan Wittman and the team has 4 guys who shoot 45% or better from beyond the arc. Cornell also shoots free throws well which is always a key aspect of tournament play as games often get close and hitting free throws becomes clutch. 7 guys on the team average 75% or better from the charity stripe.

Cornell did have an unfortunate draw in the 1st round having the face Temple but if they can get by them then they get to play a Wisconsin team that has looked beatable at times this season. I also think that teams will underestimate Cornell because they are an Ivy League school known more for graduating class acts like Andy Bernard than for winning in basketball.

Potential Upset - 11 Washington over 6 Marquette

March Madness is all about momentum. If you go into the tournament on a high it usually bodes well for your team but if you go in struggling then its more often than not an early exit. If my suspect logic holds up then look out for Washington who has won 7 straight including 6 on the road. They are a balanced team that is led by two premiere players in Quincy Pondexter who averages 19.8 ppg and 7.5 rpg and Isiah Thomas who has some of the best vision of any guard in the tournament.

As for Marquette well they are the opposite of Washington. 5 of their last 6 wins were by four points or less and 3 of those games went into overtime. The Golden Eagles have done well this year considering that they lost 3 guards from last years team but it will all be for not when they get bounced out in the 1st round.

Player to Watch - John Wall of Kentucky

This will be Wall's chance to showcase his talents for the whole nation and prove once and for all he deserves to be Player of the Year instead of Evan Turner. Wall is an athletic freak who can seemingly do anything you can imagine on as basketball court. At least 2 or 3 times a game he makes a play that makes you say, "wow." He may not always be dominant for a whole game but he is dominant when it matters.

His numbers are decent 16.9 ppg and 6.4 apg but its his intangibles that make him such a superstar. He spreads the defense with his speed and creates looks for his teammates due to his creative passes and ability to drive the lane at will. He has shown at times that he can be immature and careless but when the game is on the line you want the ball in his hands.

I personally think Wall isn't the best player on his team, DeMarcus Cousins is more valuable, but he will get his chance to prove me wrong. If you haven't seen Wall play before you are in for a treat and you need to make sure you watch every minute of every Kentucky game.

Bracket Winner - West Virginia

The Big East is far and away the best conference in college basketball. Therefore the team that wins the Big East tournament has to be pretty damn good. That team is West Virginia. They had a few bumps in the road this season (losses to UConn and Notre Dame) but they also had some monster wins (Georgetown x2, Ohio State, and Texas A&M).

In order to make it to the Final Four they will have to beat Morgan State (easy), Clemson or Missouri (easy), New Mexico or Montana (fairly easy), and Marquette or Washington (already beat Marquette this year and Washington will be dead tired from tough games).

In order for Kentucky to make it to the Final Four they will have to beat Texas or Wake Forest (tough), Temple or Cornell (both solid teams), Wisconsin or Wofford (the Badgers are no joke) and E Tenn State (joke).

I like West Virginia's path a lot more and I think Kentucky will blow a game early on due to their lack of experience and desire to allow teams to stay in games when they should put them away. I can just see DeMarcus Cousins losing his cool and getting ejected or Wall going cold at some point and bricking shot after shot.

Therefore West Virginia is the pick to advance to the Final Four.

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March Madness Preview: Midwest Region

Today was selection Sunday and that means that the brackets are officially set for March Madness which begins Wednesday night with the play in game. I am pumped for the tournament to start and love the fact that every team seems vulnerable.

Kansas is the #1 overall seed and is the #1 seed in the Midwest bracket which is where I will begin my preview. While they were given the #1 overall seed they were not given an easy path to the Final Four as they will have to get through Michigan State, Maryland, Georgetown and Ohio State. If Kansas can get through that minefield then they should be one of two things by the Finals. They will either be 1) battle tested and ready to go or 2) exhausted from playing consecutive tough games.

This is the toughest bracket by far. It features my favorite team and 3 of the teams I had picked to make it to the Final Four. Here are my sleepers, potential upsets, players to watch and prediction for who will make it out alive.

Sleeper - Tennessee

Hard to pick a sleeper in this bracket but if there is one then it has to be the Volunteers. During the season they beat Kansas and Kentucky and also had wins over Mississippi State and Ole Miss. They have an experienced team and a coach in Bruce Pearl that has been to the Sweet Sixteen twice in the past 3 years.

If Tennessee wants to advance deep into the tournament they are going to need Wayne Chism to prove himself. He has been inconsistent at times this season and has shown a tendency to lose his temper. If he can keep his emotions in check the Volunteers have the potential to make some noise and bust some brackets.

Potential Upset - 10 Georgia Tech over 7 Oklahoma State

Now I know picking a 10 over a 7 isn't a huge upset but in this bracket its as big of an upset as we are likely to see. Georgia Tech is a solid team as proven by their run in the ACC tournament and has wins this season over Duke and and Maryland.

They are led by junior Forward Gani Lawal who averages 13.3 ppg and 8.8 rbg. If Georgia Tech can get by Oklahoma State then they provide a tough match up problem for Ohio State.

Player to Watch - Evan "the Villain" Turner for Ohio State

Turner missed 6 games this season due to a fractured back but since returning has been destroying teams and filling up the box scores. He averages 19.7 ppg 9.2 rpg and 5.9 apg and is a constant threat to go for a triple double. His length gives him a great advantage on defense as he fills passing lanes and con block and alter shots making it difficult for shooters.

His biggest advantage is that he can play any position on the floor. he is 6'7 but plays more like 6'10 allowing him to play center. He has a sweet handle and great speed/vision which allows him to play the point and run the offense.

I think he should be the Player of the Year instead of John Wall due to his supporting cast, which while decent is nowhere near the caliber of Wall's. Turner is a for sure top 5 pick in the NBA draft and a real fun player to watch. Hopefully he can lead OSU to a few victories and maybe even a Final Four birth to show the nation his true potential.

Bracket Winner - Kansas

Hard to pick against a team that never dropped below #3 in the polls and went 32-2 during the regular season including 15-1 in conference play. They were 5th in the NCAA in scoring averaging 81.8 point per game and play solid defense.

They have one of the most talented rosters in the game and have two top 10 draft picks in Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich as well as some great complimentary players like Xavier Henry and Tyrel Reed who is a major threat from outside.

This season they beat both Kansas State and Texas multiple times and beat 10 teams that are in the tournament including #3 Baylor and #5 Temple. They played in one of the toughest conferences in the NCAA and at times made it look easy.

Their two losses on the season were to Tennessee and Oklahoma State (both of which are in their bracket) and were on the road. Of all the teams in college basketball this year they have looked the most dominant.

My Dad is in a pool at work where each person gets to pick 4 teams to win it all. There are 2 rules. 1) Everyone has to have their picks in by Monday with their money and 2) you can't pick Kansas.

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