Joe Mauer Hall of Fame 2023 case: Why the 6-time All-Star deserves induction into Cooperstown

Joe Mauer, the 38th Hall of Fame member of the Minnesota Twins, has been included in the 2024 National Baseball Hall of Fame ballot for the first time since his retirement in 2018. He has been nominated along with his former teammates, Torii Hunter and Colón.

Mauer will compete against 11 first-timers, including Adrian Beltre and David Wright, and 14 holdovers, such as Manny Ramirez and Todd Helton. He will need 292 votes (75% of the total votes) to be a member of Cooperstown.

One of the strongest arguments for Joe Mauer's Hall of Fame candidacy is his career Wins Above Replacement (WAR). Mauer's career WAR of 55.3 ranks seventh all-time among catchers, with all the six men ahead of him being Hall of Famers.

Moreover, Mauer is the only catcher to ever win an American League batting title, which he did twice in 2006 and 2008, and again in 2009 when he also became the MVP. Despite switching to first base in 2014, Mauer still ranks among the best catchers of all time, with six All-Star nods, three Golden Gloves, and five Silver Slugger awards.

When it comes to Mauer's chances of getting into the Hall of Fame on the first try, it's important to consider that a catcher going first ballot is incredibly rare. Johnny Bench's induction in 1989 and Ivan Rodriguez's induction in 2017 are the only occasions when this has happened. Although Mauer's WAR numbers aren't quite on par with Bench and Rodriguez, he's not too far behind.

With Bench being the all-time leader in catcher WAR and Rodriguez being fifth, Mauer is seventh and the best catcher by WAR to not already be in the Hall. While some people have doubts about Mauer's induction, the voters will eventually come around and it's likely to happen sooner than later, if not this year.

Joe Mauer’s journey with the Minnesota Twins

The Minnesota Twins selected Joe Mauer in the first round of the 2001 draft. He spent his entire 15-year major league career playing in the same jersey. In 2014, he suffered a concussion and had to switch from catcher, a position in which he won three Gold Glove awards, to first baseman.

In 2004, the Minnesota State homeboy debuted against the Cleveland Indians. He went on to earn six All-Star nods, thanks to his 143 home runs and 923 RBIs. He played in 1,858 games with a batting average of .306/.388/.439 and .827 OPS, which won him the Silver Slugger award five times.

Minnesota retired his number seven as one of the best players to ever play for the team. If Joe Mauer is inducted, he will become the seventh Twins player to receive the honor, following Harmon Killebrew, Rod Carew, Kirby Puckett, Bert Blyleven, Jim Kaat, and Tony Oliva.