Mauer in no rush to settle contract

The Twins' season is over, but that didn't stop the M&M Boys from making news Monday as players boxed up their belongings from the Metrodome for the final time.

Catcher Joe Mauer, coming off his best season as a pro, is eligible for free agency following the 2010 season and said he plans to fly to Baltimore in the next few weeks to visit with agent Ron Shapiro to discuss his future. First baseman Justin Morneau, who missed the final 21 games of the regular season and the playoffs because of a stress fracture in his lower back, will have surgery this week to remove a piece of bone on the back of his right hand.

Morneau revealed that he has "an extra bone" in the area of his hand near the wrist. He said it bothered him during the season, so Twins hand specialist Dr. Tom Varecka will operate on him this week.

"It's just a general clean-up to remove a small chunk of bone that formed and clean up the tendons," Morneau wrote in an e-mail, adding that recovery time is expected to be four to six weeks.

Despite problems with his back and right hand, Morneau batted .274 with 30 homers and 100 RBI. He was batting .315 on July 26 when he went into a tailspin and his health problems became known. He also battled dizziness in August that forced him to miss six games.

Morneau said over the weekend that his back is just starting to feel better again. When he went down in early September, he was ordered to rest for three months and was expected to be ready for spring training.

"It's nothing that we're worried about," Twins General Manager Bill Smith said of Morneau's hand.

Smith said he is still waiting for more results of exit physicals done on all Twins players in mid-September. Other than the possibility of a couple minor clean-ups, Smith didn't foresee any significant offseason surgeries.

If Mauer needs a physical between now and the beginning of the season, it would be for a good reason for the Twins. That would mean he's taking the standard precautionary physical after agreeing to a contract extension.

But it's unknown when that day will come. Mauer arrived at the Metrodome on Monday morning to pack up his belongings after batting .365 during the regular season with 28 homers and 96 RBI despite missing the season's first month because of an injury. He is the first catcher ever to win three batting titles.

Mauer said he plans to take a few weeks to evaluate the season before meeting with Shapiro, and showed no signs of being impatient about his contract.

"I'm not a guy who will say that I need something done," said Mauer, who made $10.5 million this season and will earn $12.5 million next season. "I think things will work themselves out."

Mauer said he was pleased to see the front office add veterans Orlando Cabrera, Carl Pavano, Jon Rauch and Ron Mahay during the season to help the playoff cause.

"I don't think we would have been here if we had not made those moves," he said.

Mauer finished the season playing with a strained right hip flexor suffered last Tuesday in the one-game playoff against Detroit. But, after missing the first month of the season because of a sore sacroiliac joint, he couldn't be happier with how the season went, health-wise.

He will check with doctors this week to make sure all he needs is rest for his hip and looks forward to a more normal offseason. Last year, he sought various opinions on his sore lower back before having surgery in December to remove a blockage from one of his kidneys. When the pain persisted in spring training, Mauer saw another specialist who treated the sacroiliac joint.

It's unclear what Mauer considers a normal offseason, because his future with his hometown team beyond 2010 is going to be a hot topic.

"I'm not in a big hurry to do anything," Mauer said. "Things will happen when it needs to happen. One of the reasons I chose Ron to represent me is his track record of representing guys like Kirby Puckett and Cal Ripken, not just great baseball players but great people. We'll sit down and talk. He's been through this a lot. We'll talk and come up with something."