Joe Mauer and the Minnesota Twins finally reached an agreement, a four year deal worth $33 million dollars. By avoiding salary arbitration, the Twins have assured that Mauer will be their catcher for the long term.

This is a great deal for both sides of the ball. Mauer gets an average $8 million per year, making him one of the highest paid catchers, and rightfully so.

“I’m excited,” Mauer told ESPN The Magazine’s Buster Olney on Sunday, as he went to play a round of golf with teammate J.D. Durbin. “The contract stuff is behind me, and now I can focus on the baseball side of things. I get to play in our new stadium that’s going to open in 2010.”

Mauer seems like he could be one of the Biggio type of guys that stays with the same club his entire career. “We’re extremely happy, because there is not a player who belongs with the Twins more than Joe Mauer,” his agent, Ron Shapiro, said in a brief phone interview Sunday morning.