RealGM

Who would you rather have on your team and why?

Mauer, he is everything you can ask for from a cather, good hitter, good defensive player. And he is only like 23 yrs old.

McCann just turned 23, hits for more power and is good defensively.

edit - Mauer turns 24 this month

Mauer, no question.

The thing that gives McCann the edge is his power. You can't go wrong with either, though. Mauer is fortunate that he gets a chance to DH.

Mauer without question.

Mauer is easily the better hitter, although McCann has a good amount of more power.

Also Mauer is one of the top defensive catchers in the game, McCann isn't.

bigboy1234 wrote:Mauer without question.

Mauer is easily the better hitter, although McCann has a good amount of more power.

Also Mauer is one of the top defensive catchers in the game, McCann isn't.

Mauer was the slightly the better hitter because he's ahead of McCann as far as plate discipline, (too early in the season to tell if that's changed) but you're fooling yourself if you don't think McCann is one of the best defensive catchers in the game.

Mauer by far....He can easily develop power....He took the right progression starting with hitting for avg than moving to power, but it will come mark my words

High 5 wrote:-= original quote snipped =-
Mauer was the slightly the better hitter because he's ahead of McCann as far as plate discipline, (too early in the season to tell if that's changed) but you're fooling yourself if you don't think McCann is one of the best defensive catchers in the game.

McCann isn't one of the best defensive catchers in the game, thats the problem. Mauer is pretty much on the level of Pudge and Yadier. I wouldn't even say McCann is a top 10 defensive catcher, and I would say that with a ton of confidence. I was actually wrong about the Mauer being easily the better hitter, because there almost equal. Also I don't expect either to be as good as last year, just a hunch.

bigboy1234 wrote:-= original quote snipped =-


McCann isn't one of the best defensive catchers in the game, thats the problem. Mauer is pretty much on the level of Pudge and Yadier. I wouldn't even say McCann is a top 10 defensive catcher, and I would say that with a ton of confidence. I was actually wrong about the Mauer being easily the better hitter, because there almost equal. Also I don't expect either to be as good as last year, just a hunch.

I was going to say McCann is easily top 5, but you say not even top 10? You're extremely misinformed on his catching abilities.

I was going to say McCann is easily top 5

One word: WOW

Mauer brings a bit of everything to the table. i'll take him on my team anyday.

McCann longterm because I think Mauer will be moved from C pretty shortly.

Bleeding Green wrote:McCann longterm because I think Mauer will be moved from C pretty shortly.

Any reason for that, or just throwing it out there?

He's like 7 feet tall and has already had knee surgery. Show me any 6'6" catchers.

Mccann. More power, can also hit for average, and pretty good defensively.

Mauer is a better pure hitter.

McCann for my fantasy team. Mauer in real life.

Bleeding Green wrote:He's like 7 feet tall and has already had knee surgery. Show me any 6'6" catchers.

I took this from aarongleeman.com




Joe Christensen had an interesting article in the Star Tribune about Joe Mauer's unexpected growth spurt:

The Twins catcher, who was 6-4 last season, has pushed past 6-5 and is approaching 6-6. The team lists him at 6-5 in the media guide, but Mauer acknowledged that he is actually 6-6 "wearing shoes."

"I've been growing ever since last year," he said Wednesday. "I don't want to get too big, or I might have to move [positions]." Mauer, who turns 24 on April 19, wishes this unexpected spurt would stop. "Hopefully I'll grow the other way," he said. "I'd like to get a little stronger, but I don't know about taller."

There's a relatively large segment of people who're itching to bring up a position change with Mauer and take everything involving him that's not 100 percent positive as an opportunity to do so. If his batting average dips or he needs a day off like all catchers do, some people start talking about a move to third base. If his legs are sore or he grows a couple inches, some people start talking about a move even further down the defensive spectrum.

The whole thing is frustrating, because I see a guy who's clearly one of the best all-around players in baseball, in large part because of the important defensive position he's able to thrive at. Unless you think moving out from behind the plate is going to significantly improve Mauer's hitting--which seems pretty unlikely given the numbers he's put up over the past year-plus--catcher is where he's most valuable. The long-term impact is a different story, but I don't think you can cross that bridge yet.

Will Mauer still be catching as a 30-year-old in 2012? Perhaps not, but plenty of players at premium defensive positions are forced to move down the defensive spectrum as they age. As of right now he's been healthy while playing at an extremely high level both offensively and defensively for going on three straight seasons. The growth spurt is interesting, but let's not pretend that it signals some sort of guaranteed disaster down the line should Mauer remain behind the plate.

With talk about the absence of 6-foot-5 or 6-foot-6 catchers, what's ignored is the similar lack of 6-foot-5 or 6-foot-6 hitters, period. Among the 370 hitters with at least 1,000 Runs Created, just seven of them--Frank Thomas, Dave Winfield, Mark McGwire, John Olerud, Dave Parker, Frank Howard, and Darryl Strawberry--have stood at least 6-foot-5. So if you're going strictly by height-related precedents, the odds are not only against Mauer remaining at catcher, they're against him being a great hitter.

I've already seen more than enough to convince me that he's a great hitter, so I'm willing to believe he can buck the catching odds too.