"Joe Mauer hasn't met Buster Posey, but he's rooting for him.

Baseball's best overall catcher, Mauer was looking forward to this week's Twins-Giants series to take a firsthand look at the National League's reigning top rookie.

"I was kind of excited when I saw San Francisco on the schedule - it was a chance for me to see Buster up close," Mauer said Tuesday. "He had a great start to his career and will be a good player in this league for a long time. You hate to see plays like that happen."

Regarding the home-plate collision that knocked out Posey for the season, Mauer said, "It's unfortunate, considering what he means to this team. You feel for him. I mean, he's 24 years old. He's still got a long career in front of him. I think he'll come back and be fine, and I look forward to it.""