Older Mauer showing potential

Jake in shadow of Miracle teammate Joe

He’s the other Mauer, the one who didn’t get a $5.1 million signing bonus and wasn’t the No. 1 overall pick in the baseball draft.

Jake Mauer is the older brother in the shadow of his younger brother, Joe.

Joe was the No. 1 selection in the 2001 draft by the Minnesota Twins. Jake was selected by the Twins in the 23rd round the same year. Both are playing with the Florida State League’s Fort Myers Miracle.

Joe is the one with the hype and headlines, the one who was USA Today’s national football and baseball player of the year.

Jake didn’t play football in high school. Joe passed up a chance to play quarterback at Florida State University. Jake played baseball at Division III St. Joseph in their hometown of St. Paul, Minn.

Joe, 20, is a catcher and often bats third, right in the heart of the order where key players can be found. Jake, 24, is a utility player who bats near or at the bottom of the order.

While Joe is widely considered to be a surefire major-league star, Jake is plugging along, getting the job done and hoping to make the bigs as a jack-of-all-trades.

That’s a message Jake got from Twins coach Al Newman during a fall instructional league session when Newman was a minor-league coach and Jake was new to the organization.

“He basically brought us all over and said not everybody is a Barry Bonds or a Ken Griffey Jr.,” Jake said. “There are guys who have to go out there and catch a ball, get on base. He used to say you have to get on base to let the big dogs eat. Not everybody is a superstar.”

Joe entered Sunday’s doubleheader hitting .313, with 27 RBI. Jake was hitting .271, with seven RBI. Joe is the team’s No. 1 catcher. Jake plays where manager Jose Marzan needs him.

Jake has started six games at second base, 18 games at shortstop, two games at third base and one game in left field. In 33 games, playing just about anywhere, he has committed only two errors.

The elder brother has earned respect from Marzan.

“Jake is one of those guys who gets the job done quietly,” Marzan said.

“Play him at third base. Play him at shortstop. He plays second base. He goes out there and gets outs. I was talking to him the other day about that.

“I told him, ‘Listen, Jake, everywhere you play you get outs. The ball is hit to you and it’s an out. That gives you a lot of value in the future.’ ”

Jake and Joe grew up playing sports together. Jake remembers when he was about 14 and Joe was 10. Joe often tagged along with his big brother when visited friends.

“Like if we had pick-up basketball games on the weekend, he’d just come,” Jake said. “My buddies would always get mad at me because I picked Joe first. But he’s always been able to hold his own against older guys.”

Jake seems to be getting better as he progresses through the Twins’ farm system.

In 2001, he hit .155 in 27 games in the rookie-level Appalachian League. In 2002, he hit .226 in the low-Class A Midwest League. Now, he’s at .271 in the tough, Class A Florida State League.

Is Jake playing himself into a prospect?

“I don’t want to put it that way,” Marzan said. “I want to put it this way: He’s playing to a level where he’s eventually going to get a shot.”

At each step in their professional careers, the Mauers have played together. Three years, three teams, three leagues.

“It’s pretty neat,” Joe said. “Not too many people get to do that.”

They also share a Fort Myers condominium.

Maybe someday they’ll play for the Twins in the Metrodome, a 10-minute ride from their St. Paul, Minn., home.

Although they’re four years apart in age, they have similarities. Joe is 6-foot-4. Jake is 6-2. They have the same last name and first initial.

“A lot of people think I’m Joe,” Jake said. “ ‘Joe, come here, sign this.’

“We have fun with that.”