By PATRICK REUSSE, Star Tribune

Last update: July 24, 2010 – 11:55 PM

The best thing that has happened for the Twins in 2010 when it comes to personnel remains the announcement on March 21 that Joe Mauer had agreed to an eight-year contract extension.

The deal will conclude after the 2018 season, when Mauer will be 35 and rivaling Mickey Cochrane’s .320 as the highest career batting average in major league history for a catcher.

Mauer will have the advantage in that generational competition with the option to serve as an occasional designated hitter, and perhaps fill-in occasionally in left field or at first base in the years ahead.

Yet, if the Twins are smart, and they have been more often than not over the past decade, and if Mauer is smart, which he has been through a remarkable athletic career, then catching will remain his task for 100 or more games per season through the length of this contract.

Catching is where Mauer maximizes the edge he gives the Twins over opponents. Catching also would be Mauer’s route to Cooperstown, a worthy goal for a player with three batting titles at age 27.

There were many conclusions reached last week when Mauer had a chance to drive in a lead run in the seventh inning against Cleveland and tried to bunt for a hit.

There were loud voices proclaiming that this proved Mauer was “soft” as a competitor, and that the Twins already should regret the $23 million-per-year contract that kicks in next season.

As a Twins follower from Day 1, I declared the Mauer bunt to be the second-worst play in the team’s 50 seasons, trailing only the play at Met Stadium on Sept. 5, 1978, when Disco Dan Ford failed to score from third before Jose Morales successfully made it home from second.

This observation came with no other conclusions on Mauer as a competitor, or the wisdom of his enormous long-term deal. The attempted bunt was an astounding blunder for a player with Mauer’s baseball instincts, but not more than that.

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