I love the fact that Mauer is going to be staying in Minnesota (ok... as an Indians fan, I don't LOVE it, but I do love it as a baseball fan)... but what happens when he hits 30 and he has bad knees or a bad back? That contract could be a massive noose around the Twins neck by that point.
Actually, what is kind of neat about this signing is that it looks like the Twins are not going to follow the Shapiro M.O. of blowing up the team once it gets a bit expensive. Mauer through 2018, Morneau through 2013, Baker, Blackburn, Span signed long term. I feel a bit sorry for Linty that his team did not get all that much back for two Cy Youngs and the second best catcher in the AL. The Blake deal was wonderful, and I think they got something from the Giants, but otherwise, unless Hagadone turns out to be a top of the rotation guy, it seems Shapiro's last demolition job was meh.
It's also funny that Smith started out with such a lousy money driven deal for Santana and a swap of young guys in Garza - Bartlett / Young. Mayeb those deals were so bad, the ownership said "shoot, why don't we signed these guys rather than develop and pay the bums you are bringing in."