The Minnesota Twins and Joe Mauer have agreed on the third richest contract in baseball, an eight-year, $184 million deal that will keep their MVP in the Twin Cities well into what may be a Hall of Fame career.

Mauer, who turns 27 next month, trails Alex Rodriguez ($275 million) and Derek Jeter ($189 million) of the New York Yankees with his new deal after leading the AL in batting average, on-base and slugging percentage last season. The deal includes a full no-trade clause and begins in 2011, meaning he could be a Twin through the 2018 season.

He will receive $23 million a year between 2011 and 2018.

The agreement comes on a day the Twins could use some good news. Their All-Star closer, Joe Nathan, will miss all of the 2010 season because of elbow surgery. If the Mauer extension talks dragged into the regular season, it might have cast a pall over the opening of Target Field, the Twins' much-anticipated open-air stadium.

Instead, there will be much to celebrate, as the Twins clearly are intent on using enhanced revenues from their new stadium to retain their new core of superstars, after a decade in which they developed Torii Hunter and Johan Santana into All-Stars, only to see them become too expensive to retain.

That won't be happening with Mauer, a native of the Twin Cities whose forthcoming signature on the new deal will ensure he'll retain his rock-star celebrity status there.

Mauer's contract , of course, is the richest in team history, surpassing first baseman Justin Morneau's six-year, $80 million deal. Morneau is signed through 2013.

The Twins have scheduled a Monday night press conference at their spring training home in Fort Myers, Fla. to officially announce the signing. Mauer's deal continues a busy spring for the Twins, who earlier wrapped up contract extensions with outfielder Denard Span and starting pitcher Nick Blackburn.

By Bob Nightengale