The current Twins could really use another Joe Mauer.
Stop the presses! Someone thinks a Hall of Fame catcher would drastically improve a struggling ballclub. I realize it’s not a controversial opinion, but when I say this club needs another Joe, I mean on and off the field.
On a beautiful Sunday in downtown Minneapolis, the club unveiled a bronze statue of the lifelong Twin. Hundreds of fans crowded the Gate 34 plaza to watch as the hometown hero joined elite company immortalized outside the field. Franchise icons like Tom Kelly and Justin Morneau reflected on Mauer’s legacy as a premier player, but more importantly, his impact on his teammates and the community around him. It was a huge honor for the St. Paul native and one he doesn’t take for granted.
“Here in my home state of Minnesota, I was always proud to put on this uniform, to play for this club, and to go out there and try to win every night with my teammates,” Mauer said with his trademark humility on full display as he peered at his newly unveiled statue. “And to see myself here, this isn’t going to be moving for a long time.”
By no means was it always easy. Most of the back half of Mauer’s career took place during some of the franchise’s most difficult rebuilding years. But even in those seasons between 2011 and 2016, fans came out to the yard to see Joe play, win or lose.
Amid such a brutal stretch for the Twins so far in 2025, it’s hard to imagine anyone on the club providing that draw unless their presence leads to wins. And it’s an understandable frustration for fans who have endured uninspiring baseball so far in this campaign.
But remember what life was like back in 2012?
When fans weren’t Party Rocking with LMFAO or watching Honey Boo Boo fix herself a heaping bowl of ‘sketti, they were still showing up to the ballpark to watch the Minnesota Twins. That was a year after a last-place finish where they narrowly avoided a 100th loss and were in the middle of another losing campaign. Still, fans came out to the yard to root on their struggling hometown nine.
Mauer was a major reason behind that turnout. He returned to his All-Star form, batting .319/.416/.446 and playing in 147 games. Fans may have been apprehensive about most of the rest of the team, but they knew what they were going to get from Mauer every day.
Target Field averaged 34,275 fans per game that year, good for 12th in baseball. To put that in perspective, the current squad has averaged less than 20,000 fans in their six home games thus far in 2025, and that average dips down to just over 15,000 if you take out the sellout crowd of the home opener.
Has it been a bit chilly in those two series? Let’s be honest, not really. But for argument’s sake, I’ll allow it. Even if that were the case, you’d think faithful fans would still weather the storm to see someone on this team. But it just simply hasn’t been the case.
I’m still confident Byron Buxton and Carlos Correa are star-caliber players despite slowish starts (though both have performed much better in the last week). Still, it’s clear to me that most fans don’t feel like the juice is worth the squeeze until it’s proven true.
And that might be a while unless the scuffling lineup can correct course. Not only do they need star-level play on the field, but they need a player (or players) to latch that dream onto. The Twins need that, and more importantly, Twins fans need that right now.
Forget the record, the expectations, and the ticking clock that seems drowning out the rest of the world for Twins Territory. On a game-to-game basis, there needs to be someone bringing out the crowds to Target Field. Otherwise, the only thing left standing there by season’s end could be unimpressive crowds and a handful of bronze statues that have no choice but to wait and stand guard.