Around the Internets: Reaction to Mauer's Move to First Base

Joe Mauer's move to first base is making ripples up and down the sports world internet. Let's take a spin and grab a few reactions, shall we?

• One of my favorite local writers, Phil Mackey of ESPN 1500, tells you why your criticisms of the Mauer move are B.S. and explains why the Twins got this one right.
• Bryan Grosnick at the sabermetric community Beyond the Box Score discusses the hidden cost of the move. He understands the long-term implications of the move being better for Mauer and the Twins, but still thinks the team would be better suited by shifting him to third or second.
• Over at the Pioneer Press, Mike Berardino thinks that while this move opens the door for Josmil Pinto, it also closes the door on any potential there was for a reunion with Justin Morneau.
• Parker Hageman with our friends Twins Daily referenced his recent talk with Terry Ryan, when Ryan said there were no plans to move Mauer from behind the plate.
• At his day job with Hard Ball Talk, Aaron Gleeman believes the move was "less about value and more about health." I don't disagree.
• Ray Guilfoyle with fake teams thinks this helps Mauer's fantasy value, since it probably means he'll play more games.
• Rob Neyer of Baseball Nation discusses how good Mauer has been so far in his career (he owns the second-highest OPS+ among catchers with at least 4000 plate appearances, behind Mike Piazza), and wonders if the endgame - shy of changing rules and developing better head gear - is limiting how many innings a player should catch in his career.
• Fan IQ doesn't even talk about the concussion being an issue.
• Neither does Steve Fiorentine of Next Impulse Sports, with a title that seems to imply that the Twins made the move simply to prolong Mauer's career. Which is what you expect when they think that the trade of Justin Morneau facilitated the move.
• Collin Kottke of Pucketts Pond thinks Mauer is now overpaid (and I agree it will be more difficult for Mauer to be worth the value of his contract, but it's not exactly a given) and ends up comparing Mauer to Jon Olerud. It's an apt comparison.