Mauer reports to Twins spring training, mum on contract talk

Mauer reports to Twins, mum on contract

FORT MYERS, Fla. — American League MVP Joe Mauer reported to spring training for the Minnesota Twins on Sunday without a contract extension in place.

He hasn’t talked specifics about the negotiations all offseason and said that won’t change now that spring training is beginning.

“I’m not going to get into that,” the catcher said. “It would just open up a can of worms.”

Mauer is entering the final year of his deal and the Twins are trying to get a long-term extension done before the regular season begins. The Twins have also refused to publicly discuss the process.

He won his third AL batting crown last year for his hometown team and helped lead the Twins to the AL Central title.

Mauer said he expected to field a lot of questions about contract negotiations from the local and national media and that he would handle them the same way.

“I’ll sound like a broken record,” Mauer said. “But I’m just not going to talk about it. It’s a lot easier that way.”

Twins pitchers and catchers hold their first official workout on Monday.