Joe Mauer will officially retire from Major League Baseball, as La Velle E. Neal III and Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune report. Mauer’s future was in doubt throughout the 2018 season, but he has ultimately chosen to call it a career after 15 major league seasons, all of them spent with the Twins.
Born in Minnesota and attending high school in St. Paul, Mauer seemed destined to be chosen first overall by the Twins in the 2001 draft, and endeared himself to fans in Minnesota and beyond throughout his career. After honoring the final year of an eight-year, $184MM contract signed with the club, it seems fitting that Mauer retires with the team that drafted him, playing out the entirety of his career with one organization. Mauer has taken out a full-page newspaper ad to share a heartfelt letter with Twins fans announcing his decision.
Though it was unknown at the time whether he would return for another season, Mauer’s final game at Target Field was a magical one. Starting the game at first base, Mauer took the field alone as he was greeted by his two daughters. In what would turn out to be his final at-bat, Mauer hit a double–sliced into left-center field–that seemed emblematic of his signature hitting style. Then, one final time, Mauer put on his catcher’s gear for the first time in more than five years and received one pitch from Matt Belisle before exiting the game to a rousing ovation from the Minnesota faithful.
Spending the first 10 years of his career behind the plate, Mauer was forced to move to first base after battling concussions. In those seasons, though, Mauer distinguished himself as one the most prolific offensive catchers in recent memory. In 2006, Mauer became the first full-time catcher to win an American League batting title, and his three career batting titles are the most all-time among catchers. Named the American League MVP in 2009, Mauer joined the likes of Thurman Munson, Johnny Bench, and Ivan Rodriguez as one of a few backstops to earn that distinction.
In his career, Mauer appeared in 1,858 games, tallying 2,123 hits and 143 home runs, and posting a slash line of .306/.388/.439, his 55.1 WAR good for third-most in Twins franchise history. Mauer walks away from the game as an interesting case for the Hall of Fame. In his time as a catcher, Mauer posted dominant numbers, especially over a five-year span between 2006 and 2010. His peak alone places him in the company of the game’s all-time great catchers; his career WAR ranks seventh-most among catchers. And while Mauer has generally posted above-average numbers as a first baseman, the injury-prompted transition certainly hurts his case.
Regardless of the outcome of his Hall of Fame candidacy, Mauer’s career is one to look back on fondly. He was universally well-regarded by fans, teammates, coaches, and the media, garnering a reputation as a consummate professional. As expressed in his letter, Mauer plans to use his departure from baseball to spend more time with his family. We at MLBTR congratulate him on a marvelous career and wish him well in his future endeavors.
Suddenly didn’t want to play anymore after his contract ended?
Dumbest thing I’ve read here in a long time. You must not know anything about him. He got to go out on his own terms. Congrats on that. He battled injuries for sometime including severe concussions that nearly derailed his career. He had to work very hard to transition to a new position and become half as good of a hitter as he used to be. That guy is, as it said in the article, as consummate professional through and through. Loves the game and knew it was time. This is no surprise by the way as it’s been talked about since this time last year and became a likely possibility around the all star break. Any thing else you’d care to know, do a little research then come back and comment silly things like that. Thank you…..
His contract brought the Twins to their knees. What a bum! And he’s been bad for a long time. Heaters last name must be Maurer
I can’t stand these sorts of arguments. The twins gave him that contract and he had every right to receive the money. Let me know when the twins start paying their top performers who are on the league minimum fair market value and then you can complain about how hard done by they are
Look at all the big contracts out there and tell me how Mauer was a bum? He would have far surpassed that contract if not for the concussions. He didn’t live up to the contract, but he was far from an albatross by any means. Was still a useful player throughout his whole career every year. You can’t say that about Pujols and Miggy and I guarantee you won’t be able to either with Manny and Harper. Facts.
Then Strauss your last name must be moron
Why do fans act like they’re paying player’s salaries? You realize teams share revenue… right? Not only that…… the Twins are owned by Pohlad. I think it was Carl? Pohlad before he died so now his son is in charge. Carl had a net worth of $3.6 BILLION. Why teams act like they have “no money” is ridiculous. According to Money Inc’s website, 18 of the 30 MLB owners are BILLIONaires. This notion that “team’s can’t afford certain players” is 110% bull. The owner of the Rays for Christ’s sake has a net worth of $800M. He at least has the viable excuse of……. Tampa is the worst baseball town in America and he can barely draw 10,000 fans to a pretty good team…… that fan base doesn’t deserve a team with a larger payroll…… no Florida team does, honestly. Really don’t get why they haven’t relocated both the Marlin and Rays by now. With Vegas seemingly increasingly interested in bringing in pro sports franchises, it seems logical to put a team out there. I’d also say Indianapolis with a population of 800,000+ seems like another logical location. Put the Indianapolis team in the NL Central and then the Pittsburgh Pirates can go to the NL East….. which makes so much more sense.
My proposed solution to the “Florida problem”
AL East
Yankees
Red Sox
Blue Jays
Orioles
Indians
AL Central
White Sox
Royals
Tigers
Twins
Astros
AL West
Mariners
Angels
A’s
Rangers
Las Vegas team
NL East
Mets
Nationals
Braves
Phillies
Pirates
NL Central
Cubs
Cardinals
Brewers
Reds
Indianapolis team
NL West
Giants
Dodgers
Padres
Rockies
Diamondbacks
And before anyone says it….. Montreal does NOT deserve a second chance. They drew WORSE than the friggin Rays currently do when they had their chance. Why on earth would MLB go back there? Because of Montreal’s empty promise of “we’ll actually support a team this time…. we swear.” Bull. More deserving US cities should have a shot before you give an already established non-baseball city another shot. In 2001 the Expos averaged 7,900 fans a game….. SEVEN THOUSAND. Minor league teams easily outdraw that. And that was 3 years before they left Montreal. In 1999 they averaged 9,500. Pathetic. I really don’t get why Montreal is on people’s minds for a destination for a new or relocated team.
Tangent aside……
…….. reading an article about MLB owners with the highest net worth. Jim Pohlad is the 4th wealthiest owner with a net worth of $3.6 BILLION. Yeah….. Mauer really handcuffed the Twins with his $23M/year salary. And what did that “bum” produce over the life of that contract? A “pathetic” .290 BA, .372 OBP, and a 114 OPS+. As a Cubs fan… I’d KILL for Jason Heyward to put up those numbers, haha.
I think it’s more likely he was leaning towards retirement last off-season, but chose to play out the final year of his deal.
I’m sure if he had retired then, you’d have something negative to say about that too. Or if he’d decided to play another year, when the Twins are presumably looking to go in another direction, and create controversy over himself (which I believe is at least plausible, and he would not want that either I suspect).
The top comment is heartless, preposterous and utterly ignorant.
Agree. In addition to all those, would like to add egregious.
That too!
And your is unnecessary.
Thank you for making so much sense. /s
It was a guaranteed Major League contract – he wanted to play and got his reps.
However, he wasnt going to get a Major League contract this year – which probably made his decision easier.
A guaranteed spot is a big thing, and would be the difference maker for most players.
Yep, Yeti. Not sure what you attempted to opine but this is a seriously dumb post.
Dumb comment. He could have signed an extension tying up payroll room and then retired but instead he went out with class. Something you don’t understand.
Yeti you have no class
Congrats on a great career. Probably the right time
Agreed. This guy was a stud at the plate for years. Left it all out there. Tony Gwynn syndrome flew under the radar playing for a small-market team.
And TG syndrome also involves not hitting for power.
Who cares. Career OPS above 800 for his career and one of the best pure hitters in the game for a long time. Stop trolling.
Loved to watch you man, such a team player and was great for the younger players
Stud? Great for the yonger players? HOF?
He was juicing. He got caught. He lied. He got caught lying. In the end, he’s just another cheater and liar whose actions had no real consequences.
you seem angry.
Knew it… there was no way to upstage the sendoff he got on the last day.
Yeah. Best one I’ve seen for sure. Pure baseball bliss seeing him come out in the gear!
In an era where they nauseatingly overdo this kind of stuff … it was perfect!
I agree. No year long give me gifts send off there.
Solid career
Sold player. Last 10 years a part time ball player. Not a HOF carrier.
What are you talking about? He’s never been a par timer?
He’s had injury shortened seasons, but never a part timer
Sold player, HOF carrier.
Lol
Hahahahahaha
Possibly a “later-on” Hall of Famer. Great career for an under-publicized team but I don’t see him getting in unless either there’s a year or two with no solid candidates or he gets in through the Veteran’s Committee. Alan Trammell 2.0.
I think he’s got a better HOF shot than you might think.
I think so too; if he’s judged by what he did as a catcher, he’ll be in. I know he has been a first baseman for a while now, but he played way more career games at catcher than anywhere else, and there just aren’t that many catchers in the hall. The only position with less HoF players is third base. Mauer is certainly better than many HoF catchers (Schalk, Lombardi, Ferrell, Bresnahan, Cochrane) and if inducted would probably rank in the middle of those catchers already enshrined; I think, because we remember recency, we think of his somewhat underpowered first-base days more than when he was one of the best-hitting catchers of all time.
A little bit like Jeff Kent situation isn’t it, except with the chronology reversed? The young Joe Mauer was a surefire HoFer but for the longevity (or the lack thereof). He was still a very good player even when he was older and no longer catching, but not really HoF caliber, compared to Kent being a good but flawed 2b early in his career, but being a monster later in his career. Mauer has as good a claim at HoF as Kent does, I think.
Yeah, exactly. Kent is going to have some issues because he was such a jerk, but that’s a good way to look at it.
I used to be a huge Mauer fan.
That went away when he got caught cheating, then lying about it and destroyng someone’s reputation in the process. With no remorse.
Now, he gets to retire as some kind of hero? “Well played, Mauer.”
Definition of a professional hitter
He had 4 HOF years but other than that I don’t see much else of a HOF case
The HOF voting for “fringe players” like Mauer generally rely on their period of dominance. Mauer was one of the best for an extended period of his career. He won’t make it on the 1st ballot but he’s likely to eventually make it. What would you consider his 4 “HOF years”?
Absolutely no debate, he has the peaks, which include numerous historic achievements for a catcher. He also had a 5-hit, 7 RBI game which is actually rarer than a cycle or a no-hitter. Overall, enough time spent in the league to get his totals up to the HOF bubble… worse players have gotten in, better players have been left out. We’ll see.
He was a catcher. WAR and JAWS will probably have a big influence on voters 10-15 years now when he gets voted in.
WAR is not a stat.
It doesn’t sound like seeing things is a particular strength of yours.
Kudos to Mauer for the great career.
the best 5 year run as a catcher than anyone in the history of baseball
Absolutely agree.
Yogi Berra from 1951-1955 might disagree…
And I’m not going to date to bring up Piazza…
That said, I always respected Mauer and his contributions to the game. He had a helluva career.
Huh?? Berra, Campanella to name a few. Bench 70-74, Piazza 95-2000?
Gary Sanchez 2019-2023
Blake Swihart 2013-2018
Really?
Not even close to HOF
I mean, the first half of his career was a no brainer trajectory towards the HOF, so I don’t know you can go as far as to say “not even close”. But he’s not a lock, and he’s an interesting case
Hanging around doing his thing another 3 years would have pushed his totals up where it’d be increasingly hard to argue against him. As is… probably not.
I’d bet $1000 dollars he gets in eventually
Duh, but he also had to protect his well being. He’s human and has kids. Have to think about that too.
Mauer had some very good years and would be more highly regarded had he stayed at the catching position for the duration of his career.
To be 35 and have 184M to your name. Now go spend it, Joe. And let me know if you have any trouble.
Always did it right and a pure pro, good luck in ur post baseball life Joe.. I feel a bit older today!
Joe mauer unfortunately may get the same treatment as Scott rolen in terms of hall fame, one of the best ever at his position but gets wrecked by the voters
Thankfully unlike Rolen, Mauer wasn’t a whiny little b*tch. Can’t blame the writers for calling it as it was. Rolen talked himself out of every clubhouse he ever played for.
He’s still a decent hitter. I knew he was considering retirement but most players who retire at 35 are washed up.
He did Minnesota proud. I hope he finds his way into the Hall of Fame someday.
But even if he didn’t – what a story he has. Picked #1 overall from his hometown team where he played his entire career. And was able to grit and grind a long extension out that made him very wealthy, while being very productive for most of that contract. If only he has a World Series. You won’t see much of that anymore.
Agree! Like to add, he went out perfectly:
mobile.twitter.com/Cut4/status/1046482784439750656…
HOF
Congratulations, Joe Mauer, on a distinguished career.
Commenting just because of your name. Use to be a tour guide at the Shoeless Joe Jackson museum in Greenville, SC
Thanks for the memories, Joe.
Enjoy your family; enjoy your time off.
Class act and had a solid career! Potential HOF candidate, we can wait 5 years for that argument as he should be celebrated only at this point. As an FSU fan, I was sad when he chose to sign with the Twins instead of attending FSU as scholarship QB although you couldn’t blame him as overall #1 pick. Would’ve loved to see what he could do on the gridiron though, he was a stud QB and no doubt could have played in the NFL with his intangibles and hard work. Enjoy retirement Joe!!!
Yeah, I assume that concussion issue might have kept him from having a football career at all. He made the right choice.
You do know that he didn’t get the concussion until much later in his career, right?
He had a good career, not Cooperstown bound but should have his number retired and placed into Twins Hall of Fame.
If Mauer is a HOF’er, than so is Mattingly.
Or Murphy
That comparison is awful.
Mattingly May be your favorite player, but he did not have his best years as a catcher. Big difference.
Thank you, sir!
ma’am.*
Ted Simmons has better career stats, and he’s not a hall of Famer. Mauer was good but the hall of fame looks to be out of reach.
Mauer has the higher ops and higher career WAR. Next argument
Ted Simmons is a puzzling case w/r/t the Hall of Fame. Obviously the offensive numbers are better than almost any catcher not in, and he checks most of the career benchmark milestones. As Bill James points out in “The Politics of Glory,” he must have really been downgraded because of his defense – SImmons was never considered much of an asset defensively. But he should probably be in, as should Mauer.
Besides that argument, there’s also the argument that Simmons probably *should* be there, too
Terrible comp. You have to compare Mauer to other catchers, at which point his argument for the Hall is legit. Mattingly, compared to other first basemen in the Hall, just doesn’t even come close.
Was he a designated hitter this year?
90 games at first base and 33 at DH
First base
HOF catcher Bill Dickey, one of the game’s all time greats had 1,969 hits in his career; was a lifetime .313 hitter with OBP of .382, a lifetime WAR of 55
Joe Mayer has 2,126 hits, a batting average of .306 with obp of .388. Mauer was a league mvp, a six time all star, a three time gold glove.
This is why voters have to wait five years. Granted he wasn’t the same player physically in his last five years but in his first ten he was one of the best of all time; had a .365 batting average one year, .347 another; had three batting titles in his career, led the league once in slugging percentage.
I’m not saying he is a first ballot sure thing but for ten years he was a premier player at his position and that is a pretty long run especially historically for a catcher who gave shorter careers. And it wasn’t just the numbers, Joe Mauer was one of the game’s stars for a decade, maybe the game’s premier catcher of his time. A line drive hitting machine who was one of the hardest guys in the league to strike out.
100% agree. Congrats Joe on a fine career.
Congrats on a fine career Joe Mauer. Almost leaves you wondering how much better it could’ve been had the injury problems never occurred(yes I know that it all wasn’t his fault for being injured). Still a fine career nonetheless.
One of the many bad contracts in baseball.
How do you justify that statement?
from his username.
(That means he can’t justify it 😉 )
He can – sipping too much sauce makes him make dumb statements lol. Justified it.
So long Joe!
The only thing more certain than Joe Mauer being inducted into the Hall of Fame is which hat he will be donning on his bust.
I got my first kiss the day he was drafted 1/1 in ‘01. Congratulations joe
Weird
Word
Great! We now get to read comments on everyone’s love-life ‘firsts’ that occurred on a player’s draft date.
If “Cleveland” is referenced for a non-Indians draft pick, and is combined with “Steamer” without regard to any Shreveport WFL draftee, the Internet Police will prosecute.
@scarfish…who was the lucky guy?
And you were only 39 years old!
I hope Twins fans enjoy freezing their n*ts off since Mauer’s contract cost them a necessary dome on their new stadium.
Domes suck, and Twins’ fans know it.
Original plans for Yankee stadium included a retractable roof. Was scrapped to save $200M in construction costs
Want blame ARod’s $275M contract? Stupid comment in Joe’s MLBTR retirement page. I’m Yankee fan.
Yankees didn’t need a dome. Minnesota- if they ever get back to a WS – will be playing in the snow.
You have some gall talking about stupid comments. As a fellow Yankees fan, you’re an embarrassment with most of yours.
Zing! Enjoy the upvote!
What? Go google average game time temps in October in NYC and in Minneapolis, and then get back to me.
Boy, there’s just a whole big mountain of “wrong” with that statement….
Well played Mauer…
They should have played that commercial line or had that dude record it. Perfect mix of nostalgia and humor with respect.
With a stick!
Joe Mauer is an old school type of player, loyal as hell. I love that he played his whole career with the twins. I enjoyed watching him as a fan of a divisional rival team. I can’t imagine any fan in the al central ever disliked joe. Best of luck to his post baseball life and congrats on a great career.
This is one of the saddest days, next to Don Mincher and Minnie Minoso retiring. Look for Big Joe to help his friend Gardenhire with the Tigers garden variety bullpen. A loss of a gentleman and the Toast of Ft Myers.
Very classy person. Never heard a bad thing about him. Good Luck
I’ve always respected Mauer. On one hand, it would’ve been nice to have him as a Yankee when their was talk of him becoming a FA. I always worried about the last 5 years of a long-term deal. I’m glad they didn’t sign him. Both for the inevitable move to 1b but also because he really should go down as one of the few greats of the fame that spent their entire career with one team. Let alone the fact that he’s from the area, God bless you sir. Enjoy your career away from the game.
Who knows what happens if he went to the Yankees. That swing would’ve played nice there and maybe he doesn’t have the concussion issues.
The Twins should name him the hitting coach right away.
Who cares… what was his exit velo?
enough to knock you out!
RIP Joe Mauer. Now he’s taking batting practice in the sky.
You know retired isn’t dead right?
He retired. He didn’t die.
Class act, whatever metric you want to use about his numbers. Admirable guy; there ain’t many of ’em anymore.
I read some negative comments on this and all I have to say to twins fans is that as a mets fan, we went through it too with wright. Yeah big contract didn’t play out well but they are standup class act humans that the game needs more of and hall of fame worthy of injuries didn’t have as big of an impact in them. The game needs more of them and just like wright, there game is better having had them be part of it of the years. Hat off to u Mauer. Congrats.
Mauer’s played out a little better than people think. Was he worth $23m/yr every year? No… but was it a colossal failure, no again.
Sorry for the typos.
100% a hall of famer. Don’t @ me
Then get your anti-social self outta here.
Minnesota Hall of Fame
Well played, Mauer.
Great player, borderline HOF guy; obviously, he was hurt badly by the concussion stuff. His catching career is better than a bunch of HOF catchers, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he made it, nor would it be a travesty like Dizzy Dean or the 70s relievers or Addie Joss or…
Gavy Cravath or Hack Wilson or Bottomley or…well…you know.
Career .306 hitter, .388 OBP, great offensive and defensive catcher, hit .282 in 2018, never had the bat fall off like a lot of guys late in their careers. Fringe HOF who gets in from the vets committee when he qualifies.
a #1 pick that lived up to expectations.
Congratulations to A Class Act! Enjoy your retirement Joe Mauer, And yes, you should be in the Hall of Fame. Sorry your career was cut short due to your concussions. The same with Justin Morneau. Without concussion problems who knows what the 2 of you would have accomplished. That’s the sad part of this story.
Congratulations for your great career! he was once the player that every team wanted.
hope you enjoy the retirement!
Mauer
7960 PA, 2123 H, 428 2B, 143 HR
.306 BA, .827 OPS, 124 OPS+
Puckett
7831 PA, 2304 H, 414 2B, 207 HR
.318 BA, .837 OPS, 124 OPS+
Yep, Minnesota Hall of Fame credentials
And Mauer was a good guy, while Kirby was a total stain on humanity. Kirby is also one of the worst Hall of Famers by far, and his personal stuff makes his selection even more pathetic.
I know that when a player retires, we focus on the positive aspects of their career, but let’s not forget how often (and unfairly) Mauer was constantly criticized by his hometown media and especially fans.
espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/8391985/minnesota-twins-jo…
No doubt. When the mlb website had forums for every team, the twins forum basically existed for the sake of bashing Mauer. Granted in the scheme of things that’s a small contingency of the fans, but he was definitely under appreciated for a good chunk of his time, after signing the big contract. Sure you wanted him to repeat his 2009 campaign but he still had a few 3-5 war season AFTER he was considered “washed up”. Which tells you just how good the first half of his career actually was.
Yeah, the bashing was always WAY out of proportion.
At first there was some “We had the 1/1 pick and had to be sentimental instead of picking Mark Prior!” stuff but by the time Mauer got going that had already faded off.
Pat Reusse in particular always hounded him before, during, and after his peak seasons. I remember an article early in 2006 complaining that the Twins seriously F’ed up not keeping Pierzynski over Mauer.
All the whining about not giving guys like Torii or Johan an extension, and then all the whining about wasting money extending Mauer. He was better than people think overall in the last several seasons, and maintained some elite situational numbers to the end.
Even the whole idea that the Twins were shackled by his contract was kind of silly when you look at the big picture. Miserable MiLB harvests for years and the poor appropriation of the rest of the payroll is the problem.
HOF for sure! .306 lifetime BA and 1st Catcher to lead the League in batting Avg- perennial top name when one went to talk about AL catchers.
All the bad talkers shut up! His 15 yrs speak for themselves & any contract $ are deserved – early on he played for cheap – did nothing any other players won’t do, grab what’s offered !
Standard HOF debate on MLBTR for many retiring players:
“He’s in!”
“No he isn’t.”
“Yes he is.”
“No he isn’t.”
Etc…
Come on, give us credit.
“If [player] [is/isn’t] in the HOF, Mauer definitely [should/should not] be in the HOF!!”
Classy guy. Good luck in retirement Joe. I always wanted to see him play catcher for my Sox, but it’s nice that he played his whole career for the Twinkies.
After making $200+ million in a career by the time you’re 35…… yeah, I’d probably retire too, haha. Man, I should’ve practiced baseball more when I was younger. I could easily be a David Ross….. or Martin Maldonado type player. I played catcher in HS (in addition to 3B, SS, and 1B…. and DH…. but everyone plays DH….. it’s hitting). If I practiced a little bit more back then I’m sure I could be a .220 hitter with a .300 OBP making a couple million a year, haha. “Framing” as it is called now, wasn’t that hard. And I guess I just had a really good coach because he taught me and the other catcher we had how to, what we called, receiving the pitch. Catch the ball as far out in front of you as possible without getting hit by a swung bat, and always bring the ball toward the center of your body – NEVER push it out of the zone. And that’s pretty much “pitch framing” people. Nerds who have taken over the analysis of the game…. they call themselves sabermetricians (again…. nerds), who’ve likely never played the game try to make it sound like this “unteachable” skill or that it’s overly complicated. No…. it’s not. Receiving or “framing” a pitch is about as difficult as catching a pass from a QB. I always found when I played shortstop that turning a double play was EXCEEDINGLY more difficult than receiving/framing a pitch. You have to have excellent timing, you can’t be caught between steps as you get to the bag, and back when I played in high school, you had dudes sliding into the bag trying to take your kneecaps off, so you had to make the throw to first jumping in the air while still putting something on the ball. WAAAAAY more difficult. More so when your id*** 2Bman underhands the ball to you too softly. It screws up your timing a ton, you WILL get caught between steps and you then have to drag your back foot, hopefully hitting the bag as you catch it. Take a LARGE side step to get out of the way of the incoming runner trying to take you out (a non-issue in today’s weaker game) and then put everything you have into the throw to 1st base. Needless to say….. I hated playing SS. It’s why I told the coach to limit me to catcher, third base, and DH. I’d play 1st once in a great while, but I am not exactly built to play 1st. Good 1Bmen generally have to be at a MINIMUM 6’2″. I’m 5’10″….. and for a majority of HS I was probably 5’7″. Not exactly a large target to throw to and had limited reach for errant throws…. which in HS happens a good amount.
Da**it…. I miss playing baseball. I do powerlifting now as my chosen “sport” to stay in shape and appease my competitive nature. It’s not the same though. It’s just working out. Everyone can do it. It’s why I have a hard time calling it a sport…. because it’s not. Lifting weights is what you do to prep yourself to play actual sports. It’s one of the annoyances I have with people I hang out with nowadays in the “lifting community” who like to call it a sport. It’s not. It’s like saying doing the dishes is cooking. No, it’s just prep work to do the actual cooking, haha. I’m rambling. 1 too many Monsters this morning I guess. haha.