Beckett's contract talks moving forward, Chapman finds radar love

Josh Beckett has won at least 16 games in three of his four seasons with the Red Sox. AP

FT. MYERS, Fla. -- Here in this no-frills town on Florida's west coast, both of baseball's big-bucks baseball player negotiations are playing out without much fanfare.

So much silence surrounds the talks regarding Twins superstar catcher Joe Mauer that unenlightened outsiders are starting to wonder whether progress is being made. The same goes for star pitcher Josh Beckett and his talks with the Red Sox, who train seven miles down the road. (UPDATE: Mauer has reportedly agreed to an eight-year, $184 million extension with the Twins.)

While little has become public in the case of either Mauer or Beckett, that shouldn't be taken to mean that neither negotiation is going well. In fact, indications are strong that steady or better progress is being made in both talks. Though nothing is known to be set yet with either player, the likelihood is that both stars are likely to eventually reach deals for contract extensions with their current teams, and that neither will hit the free-agent market next winter.

Although there still appears to be work to be done, the guess here is that the two stars will end up with deals for a quarter of a billion dollars combined, or perhaps slightly more than that. The guess here is that both megadeals will be done in the coming weeks. In the case of Mauer, both sides are said to be willing to work into the season, if necessary, as each trusts the other to keep quiet and Mauer is focused enough to block out negotiation noise while playing or the Twins.

While one Boston person said "we need Beckett,'' the Red Sox do have two more ace pitchers in Jon Lester and John Lackey. That sort of statement is even more true for the Twins and Mauer, the hometown hero whose stature has grown to the point where he's much bigger than even Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett ever was, as a Twins employee acknowledged to me on Thursday.

The reality is, the Red Sox would love to keep Beckett, the ace for two World Series winner. But the Twins absolutely have to have Mauer.

"The Twins have no choice but to pay [Mauer],'' one competing executive said. "He is a God in Minnesota. The Twins are moving into a new park, and let's not forget the Pohlads are about the richest owners in baseball."

These are not the same old Twins, however, that always kept their payroll among the lowest in the game. Already this spring, they've signed outfielder Denard Span and pitcher Nick Blackburn to long-term extensions and their payroll is about $95 million, which is comparable to the bigger-market Dodgers and Cardinals.

Mauer, who has a home here where both the Twins and Red Sox train, has been assumed to prefer to stay in his hometown -- he's a native of St. Paul -- where he has absolutely thrived, though he says little about his desires publicly (much less than Beckett, who said that he prefers to stay in Boston in a brief chat here a few days ago). Mauer's representative, Ron Shapiro, is the very agent who represented Cal Ripken Jr. and Puckett and made deals for those legends to stay with the Orioles and Twins, respectively, rather than chasing more dollars elsewhere (though neither came cheap, as both were about the highest-paid players in their time).

But while a new deal for Mauer would seem to be a necessity, some disappointment and even real anxiety appear now to be building in Minnesota, where many assumed that a Mauer contract would be done by now. Perhaps the belief that a deal was at hand as spring training began a month ago was fueled to some degree by a premature Minneapolis radio report suggesting that Mauer was on the verge of a 10-year agreement. Folks also made something negative out of the fact that Shapiro had come to Twins camp for a few days and has long since left.

But the feeling that things aren't going well (or even falling apart) appears to be unfounded. People familiar with the situation say that "talks are proceeding,'' and that there's "nothing negative'' that has arisen that's likely to forestall a deal indefinitely.

Meanwhile, Beckett and the Red Sox were said to be making real progress toward a new deal. Beckett was said by a person familiar with the talks to be seeking just slightly north of Lackey's $82.5 million, five-year free-agent contract with the Red Sox.

It is believed that Mark Teixeira's $180 million, eight-year contract is one of the main comparables in the case of Mauer, who at 26 is slightly younger than Teixeira and perhaps slightly better, but is not yet a free agent and thus lacks the ability to bid the number up by creating competition between multiple major markets, as Teixeira did before signing with the Yankees. There's no telling how high Mauer's price might go if he were to play this out next winter, when the Red Sox and Yankees almost certainly would compete in one of the most high-profile free-agent battles of alltime.

Mauer's story is creating such interest that there is now occasional speculation that he could be traded, supposition that a Twins decision-maker on Thursday called "ridiculous.'' And in fact there is zero evidence that the Twins would even consider this.

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said that none of the speculation regarding Mauer is ever discussed in a clubhouse that truly is one of the best in baseball, filled with solid citizens who also happen to have great personalities. "That's for upstairs and the agent,'' Gardenhire said, succinctly. Even Mauer doesn't seem very worked up about it. "I'm more focused on this year than 2011, 2012 or 2013. All that other stuff will take care of itself,'' Mauer said. "I'm not worried about it. I'm just preparing for the season, and getting after it.''

Beckett doesn't seem very worried, either. But he made it clear that he'd like to stay, saying, "It's a great place to play. You're going to be playing in front of a lot of fans every day.''

Presumably, Mauer prefers to stay, too. The guess here is, both players will get their wish.

Nathan's big weekend

Twins star closer Joe Nathan, a rare reliever who's also a team leader, will test his right elbow by playing catch either Saturday, Sunday or Monday in what's being portrayed as a long-shot attempt to avoid Tommy John surgery and save his season. That may be true, but the Twins are not looking at the situation as a lost cause for the year --- at least not yet. Gardenhire, who admits to being perpetually optimistic, said that the Twins have heard from a few doctors suggesting that there's a chance that Nathan might be able to pitch despite his torn ulnar collateral ligament.

"Some say he could pitch through it, others say no,'' Gardenhire said. The list of pitchers who've pitched through the injury doesn't seem to be very long, though. One is Takashi Saito, now with the Braves. The Twins have done a fair amount of research on this. Former Minnesota starter Scott Erickson pitched without that ligament, Gardenhire said.

"If there wasn't a chance to pitch through it, he wouldn't be throwing over the weekend,'' Nathan's longtime agent, David Pepe, pointed out.

Nathan said the elbow has "calmed down'' and he's ready to test it this weekend. He's just waiting for the word from Twins doctors on which day to give it a go. "We're preparing for the worst, and hoping for the best,'' said Nathan, who has more saves than anyone in baseball since 2004 (three more than Mariano Rivera). "Guys have thrown with no ligaments, and guys have thrown with torn ligaments,'' he said. "It's just going to be how it feels.''

Gardenhire said that any pain or discomfort for Nathan would trigger the surgery. They aren't going to force it, or take any chances. "We're not going to put the guy at risk,'' is the way Gardenhire put it. People around the Twins say that Nathan would like to pitch as long as he possibly can, and Pepe confirmed that.

The Twins had one of baseball's best bullpens last year, with a 3.14 overall ERA. But Gardenhire said, "The bullpen is normally only as good as the guy at the end. You don't replace [Nathan]. "You put someone else in and you hope to get the job done. But to replace his professionalism, that's hard to do.''

As Nathan suggested, the Twins are preparing for the worst. Relievers Matt Guerrier and Jon Rauch and starter Francisco Liriano are the names heard most as candidates to take Nathan's closing spot, though there's also Jesse Crain, Jose Mijares and Pat Neshek, who missed last year with an injury himself.. Liriano would be the most interesting call, and Gardenhire said that he wouldn't rule anything out, since the Twins have starting depth with Brian Duensing and Glen Perkins. But as Gardenhire admitted, it may well take a combination of a few pitchers to replace Nathan.