Alex Rodriguez regrets giving Patrick Mahomes advice to play baseball over football … but Joe Mauer once actually made that tough decision — and he tells TMZ Sports he isn’t ruing the choice one bit.

We caught up with the Minnesota Twins legend on Monday, just a day after A-Rod revealed he tried to get a 10-year-old Mahomes to quit the gridiron for the diamond — and he made it clear, he’s happy with how his life played out after he made the big pick.

Mauer, if you weren’t aware, used to be a helluva quarterback. He was the top high school football recruit in the country … and at one point, he accepted a scholarship offer to play for Bobby Bowden‘s Florida State Seminoles.

But Mauer was also a beast behind home plate — and after he got taken by the Twins with the first overall pick in the 2001 MLB draft, he put down the pigskin.

And, at LAX this week, he told us he’s just fine with how his life went from there.

“Ultimately glad I chose baseball,” he said with a smile.

Mauer, of course, had a 15-year career in the Big Leagues, and logged a .306 batting average with six All-Star appearances. This summer, he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

It’s very likely the guy would have been similarly impressive had he stayed under center … but you’re certainly not going to hear any Twins supporters questioning the decision anytime soon.