Twins Made the Right Move

Over time as a catcher, your body stops cooperating much quicker than your teammates in the MLB who play a different position.

Its not science on when and where your body will start to quit, but its factual that catchers just don't play as long as their counter parts.

So as we see the Minnesota Twins announce that Joe Mauer will move permanently to 1st base, I think as admires of the game, we should all stand and applaud.

The front office saw the writing on the wall and made a move that will help keep the Minnesota Golden Boy in uniform much longer now that he will playing 1st instead of catcher.

Now Joe is a very good catcher and most contend that he was holding up the switch, but just as the team saw the brighter future for Joe at first, I believe Mauer did as well.

Not only will this move help the Twins long term as far as keeping Mauer up right and playing much longer, this indeed will help Mauer's production at the plate as well.

Not only will he be able to play more games each year that will translate into more production, I contend that even in the normal amount of games that Mauer would normally play in, that because physically he is better, mentally he will be better and in turn those normal numbers will increase too.

We all know about the batting average being near the top of the league each season, but the one knock, faIr or not on Mauer is the power numbers not being where some fans would like to see them from the franchise player.

With the health and wellness being better and that physical strain not being there because of the field position move, it will be interesting to see if those power numbers go up as well.

Whether they do or not, by making this move, the Minnesota Twins have given Mauer more of a baseball life. More time to play the game he loves and more time for Minnesotans to watch their favorite son play as well.

** YOU CAN EMAIL JEFF THURN AT JT@ESPN991.COM & FOLLOW HIM ON TWITTER @JTESPN991