Twins have MVP catcher, but will they keep him?

For those Twins fans fearful that this year's MVP award will make it more difficult to keep Joe Mauer past 2010, General Manager Bill Smith tried offering some soothing words Monday.

"Do you think if he finished second, the price was going to come down?" Smith said, cracking a smile. "So no, Joe said it perfectly: 'Today, let's celebrate the MVP Award, and we've got time to work on the other stuff.' "

To be sure, it didn't take validation from the writers to establish Mauer's soaring value. He's a two-time Gold Glove catcher, a three-time American League batting champ and now, an MVP. All this at age 26, with a four-year, $33 million contract set to expire after next season, just when the Yankees and Red Sox figure to be shopping for new catchers.

No wonder it took the national media fewer than five minutes to begin peppering Mauer with contract questions during a teleconference.

"I knew I'd probably run into a question like that," Mauer said. "I've always said it will take care of itself when it needs to."

The Twins realize it needs to happen soon. They've been in contact with Mauer's agent, Ron Shapiro, and there are indications the team hopes to have a new deal with Mauer by Christmas.

Mauer said he's not worried about it. He was the picture of contentment as he arrived at his Metrodome news conference, wearing a stylish black blazer and a big smile. The chairs on one side of the room were filled with family members -- his mom, dad, brothers, nieces and grandparents. Justin Morneau, the 2006 AL MVP, showed up with a bottle of champagne.

"We're going to do everything we can to keep him as a Minnesota Twin," said Morneau, who has four years remaining on his six-year, $80 million deal. "The biggest thing now isn't the money. It's going to be whether or not he feels we can win every day with the talent we have."

Indeed, that could be the central issue in the negotiations. The Twins know keeping Mauer is a must. But will they stretch their payroll in coming years, so they can surround him with enough talent to win a World Series?

Minnesotans remember what happened with Kevin Garnett and the Timberwolves. He got his money, but the team struggled to use its remaining salary-cap space effectively. Eventually, the Wolves traded Garnett to Boston.

Baseball doesn't have a salary cap, and the Twins are about to move into Target Field, where their revenue picture will change drastically from the Metrodome.

Season ticket requests have nearly doubled to 18,500, and there are hints the Twins could push next year's Opening Day payroll past $90 million -- with future increases to come -- after starting last year at $65 million.

Mauer is set to make $12.5 million next year, but the sides might rip up that deal and start over. Eventually, his new average salary is likely to be closer to $20 million.

If that sounds steep, consider that Jorge Posada is currently baseball's highest paid catcher, at $13.1 million per season, and he signed that deal with the Yankees in 2007 at age 36.

Even if Mauer wants to give the Twins a generous hometown discount, he'll be under heavy pressure from the players' union to establish a market for other young stars. And though Shapiro is the same agent who helped keep Kirby Puckett with the Twins and Cal Ripken Jr. with the Orioles, he also negotiated a strong deal for Mauer in February 2007.

That contract is viewed throughout the industry as fair -- not a huge discount.

Choosing to pay Mauer and a good supporting cast will be difficult even if the Twins push their payroll to $100 million by 2011. Only one team in baseball history has won the World Series with one player making 20 percent of the payroll -- the 2003 Marlins with catcher Ivan Rodriguez.

In 2007, the Rockies made the World Series despite having Todd Helton eat up 30 percent of their payroll. But Colorado had tried trading Helton to the Red Sox, hoping to unload his $141.5 million contract.

Alex Rodriguez won AL MVP honors in 2007 and became a free agent before re-signing with the Yankees for $275 million. That fall, Angels owner Arte Moreno said he wasn't interested in Rodriguez because he didn't want one player taking up 20 to 25 percent of a team's payroll.

A St. Paul native, Mauer is certainly a special case for the Twins, but the sides will have to be creative. At one point during his teleconference, Mauer was asked if he could foresee winning a World Series in Minnesota.

"As long as we get to the postseason, we definitely have a chance," he said.

He reminded the writers that the Twins had good chances to win two of the three playoff games they lost to the Yankees this year. He also said he won't put any pressure on the Twins to have a new deal in place by a certain date.

"I think it will all work itself out," he said. "I definitely enjoy playing in front of my family and friends here in Minnesota, and that's all I know. So can we win here? Yes, definitely, I hope so. And that's what I would like to do."

Joe Christensen • jchristensen@startribune.com