The honors for Joe Mauer keep rolling in, as do the reasons for the Twins to keep bringing him back to Target Field.
Five questions: Joe Mauer’s statue, J.J. McCarthy’s role and more
Let’s take aim at some of the biggest questions that have emerged in Minnesota sports in the last few days.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
August 5, 2024 at 3:16PM
Saturday was a no-brainer, with the Twins ushering in Mauer to celebrate his Hall of Fame induction on the first home weekend after his ceremony two weeks ago in Cooperstown.
Along the way, they announced another big deal for Mauer: the St. Paul native and Twins legend will be getting his own statue outside Target Field in 2025.
His will be the eighth statue at the ballpark; on Monday’s Daily Delivery podcast, Patrick Reusse and I mused about what exactly it will look like.
The two best guesses: Mauer in his catcher’s gear, mask off; or Mauer in the middle of one of those sweet swings that made him a Hall of Famer.
Here are four more big questions coming off of the weekend:
- Can the Twins catch Cleveland in the AL Central race? I’d like their chances a lot if they got to play the White Sox a bunch more. Alas, the season series with the 27-87 White Sox is over after this weekend’s sweep. Minnesota went 12-1 against Chicago; Cleveland is just 5-5 against the White Sox with three games remaining in September. The Twins trimmed two games off the Guardians’ division lead this weekend. FanGraphs gives the Twins a 28.7% chance to win the Central and an 85.8% chance to make the postseason either as a division winner or wild card. It is a near-certainty that the AL Central winner will get a bye and avoid the opening weekend of the playoffs.
- How much ground will J.J. McCarthy cover before the season starts? Can the 21-year-old rookie QB become a serious contender to unseat Sam Darnold as the Week 1 starter? Will he progress enough to at least be the No. 2 QB by season’s start? Will he play in Saturday’s preseason opener against the Raiders, the only one of three at U.S. Bank Stadium? This week of practice should give us some clues.
- Will the U.S. men’s and women’s basketball teams take home the gold in Paris? Both are overwhelming favorites as the quarterfinals approach, but there is no longer any margin for error with Anthony Edwards, Napheesa Collier and their teammates.
- What will Minnesota United do with its time off? The Loons were bounced from Leagues Cup play Sunday when Seattle lost 3-1 to Necaxa. Minnesota won’t play again until their MLS schedule resumes on Aug. 24. They sit in the ninth and final playoff spot in the West and need to regroup from a dismal recent stretch while incorporating new players into the mix.
The Twins lost three of the four games in the series in Cleveland, but still hold the last wild-card spot.
