Mauer ‘disappointed’ that international bonus space is a baseball term

Twins first baseman Joe Mauer followed this week’s hot stove maneuverings with interest, and not all of it was baseball-related.

“All the guys on TV kept talking about Minnesota and international bonus space, and I was getting pretty excited,” said the Twins first baseman. “I figured they were promoting a fun new show, like Double Dare, or Legends of the Hidden Temple.”

The space in question was the amount of money teams could spend to land international superstar Shohei Ohtani. The Twins, one of the teams spurned by Ohtani, used some of that space in exchange for prospects from the Angels and Mariners. Mauer, while saying he was pleased that Minnesota was proactive in their attempts to bolster their farm system, admitted he was a little disappointed, too.

“They started explaining it and I did get a little bummed out. I thought it was something cooler, like an astronaut game show.”

Mauer says he still holds out hope for someone to develop that type of concept.

“When I was a kid, mom wouldn’t let me watch Legends of the Hidden Temple, because The Steps of Knowledge were too disrespectful and the Temple Run encouraged tomfoolery. She was right to do it, but it was disappointing. She never got too mad about astronauts, though. I bet they could do something cool with an old space shuttle. Anti-gravity is fun, and kids could learn about stars and the wonders of our galaxy while competing for prizes.

“Space shuttles are pretty neat.”