monsterpile wrote:I wouldn't give up on Sano at 3rd that quickly. They do also have Polonco who could play there so I don't see them having to look for a 3rd baseman as a priority right now.
Catcher...yeah they have some prospects but even if they turn out to be decent they are a year away. They made a move for a solid prospect in Murphy and that hasn't worked out so far but he is 25 and I wouldn't completely give up on him yet. Maybe they can trade Palka back to get Chris Herrmann...
monsterpile wrote:I wouldn't give up on Sano at 3rd that quickly. They do also have Polonco who could play there so I don't see them having to look for a 3rd baseman as a priority right now.
Catcher...yeah they have some prospects but even if they turn out to be decent they are a year away. They made a move for a solid prospect in Murphy and that hasn't worked out so far but he is 25 and I wouldn't completely give up on him yet. Maybe they can trade Palka back to get Chris Herrmann...
Agreed. Sano took ZERO grounders in the spring, and fielding wasn't his strength going in. And if it doesn't work out, people seem to like Cabbage and Blankenhorn.
As far as catcher, people seem to like Hicks AND Mitch Garver.
I am far more scared that Buxton will never hit and Berrios will never become confident.
I see lots of good things in the field and in the pen. Starting pitching scares me.
Starting pitching is scary. I mean the Twins have a bunch of prospects and Bertios was the headliner of those and was one of the most ready guys and...he has t made it yet but it's still early. Some people I think we're convinced he was gonna come in and basically be dominate from the get go. He hasn't but that ok. The Twins have had a tough time with starting pitching ESPECIALLY finding top of the rotation starters. All they have is prospects right now and some decent young or youngish (not old yet) guys at the major league level. When you consider that it's probably not surprising they don't want to just give Santana away.
As for Buxton...it looks like it's gonna take some time but maybe he is more a Torii Hunter type than the next Ken Griffey Jr? I'd take either but one took a few years before Torii was effective then eventually became a really good lol around player. Griffey was an all-star at 20.
monsterpile wrote:I wouldn't give up on Sano at 3rd that quickly. They do also have Polonco who could play there so I don't see them having to look for a 3rd baseman as a priority right now.
Catcher...yeah they have some prospects but even if they turn out to be decent they are a year away. They made a move for a solid prospect in Murphy and that hasn't worked out so far but he is 25 and I wouldn't completely give up on him yet. Maybe they can trade Palka back to get Chris Herrmann...
Or keep Palka and trade Rosario?
I was mostly just joking around. The good news is Palka is crushing minor league pitching which is good since Herrmann has been a pretty effective bench player for Arizona.
Which brings me to the other offseason swap of outfielder for catcher. Aaron Hicks hasn't exactly been good for the Yankees either. Has he been better than Murphy? Sure but the Twins don't exactly need another outfielder they need options (or prayers/Hail Marys) at catcher.
I think Hicks is injured, but the Yanks won that trade. Which is OK. It was worth the gamble.
Remember: this team is 27-32 in its last 59 games despite still being very 15th in starter ERA. The only years of the last 6 weren't they weren't very last in the AL in starter ERA was....last year, when they were 8th and had the 7th best record, and 2011 when they were 12th out of 14 (with the worst record). And it really bothers me when I read about how last year's record was based on....luck.(?)
Jason you will be happy (as should a lot of Teins fans) to see your guy Polonco will be getting his chance to play now that Nunez has been dealt. The staring pitching prospect they got back seems like a pretty good value. Maybe the guy doesn't work ou but getting a AAA starting pitcher that's a real prospect while opening up a spot for a guy like Polonco is a win win.
I like the Nunez deal on balance. He's a very good hitter, baserunner and clubhouse guy, but he's never been even average in the field. To get back a top 100 prospect is a good deal.
I don't get the Polanco move though, unless it signals a pending trade for Dozier. Polanco is a decent, not great hitter, and has actually started to show some HR pop this year at Rochester. But the only position he has shown he can handle in the field in the minors is 2b...he's been dreadful every time they've given him a shot at SS or 3b. If Dozier isn't moved, Polanco isn't a very exciting option off the bench.
longstrangetrip wrote:I like the Nunez deal on balance. He's a very good hitter, baserunner and clubhouse guy, but he's never been even average in the field. To get back a top 100 prospect is a good deal.
I don't get the Polanco move though, unless it signals a pending trade for Dozier. Polanco is a decent, not great hitter, and has actually started to show some HR pop this year at Rochester. But the only position he has shown he can handle in the field in the minors is 2b...he's been dreadful every time they've given him a shot at SS or 3b. If Dozier isn't moved, Polanco isn't a very exciting option off the bench.
How much worse defensively is he than Nunez? Ok I am sure he is less steady but yeah. LST it's time to get an extended look at Polonco and see what they have. He has just bounced around between the majors and minors the last couple years. Maybe he can only play 2b but it's time to see what he can do. Let's at least see if he can hit also that's his ticket right now especially for an infielder.
longstrangetrip wrote:I like the Nunez deal on balance. He's a very good hitter, baserunner and clubhouse guy, but he's never been even average in the field. To get back a top 100 prospect is a good deal.
I don't get the Polanco move though, unless it signals a pending trade for Dozier. Polanco is a decent, not great hitter, and has actually started to show some HR pop this year at Rochester. But the only position he has shown he can handle in the field in the minors is 2b...he's been dreadful every time they've given him a shot at SS or 3b. If Dozier isn't moved, Polanco isn't a very exciting option off the bench.
How much worse defensively is he than Nunez? Ok I am sure he is less steady but yeah. LST it's time to get an extended look at Polonco and see what they have. He has just bounced around between the majors and minors the last couple years. Maybe he can only play 2b but it's time to see what he can do. Let's at least see if he can hit also that's his ticket right now especially for an infielder.
I think he is quite a bit worse than Nunez in the field, monster. Nunez was actually considered a pretty good SS in the minors, and had a very good .976 fielding average in the minors at SS when he was Polanco's age. But he has not been as good at SS in the majors, carrying a career .957 average...below the league average of .972.
Polanco is considerably worse in the field at SS, with a terrible .932 fielding average in 6 minor league seasons at short. No team is going to let a guy play regularly at short with such a poor percentage. He's better at second (although still below average), but he neither hits nor fields nearly as well as Dozier. That's why this move only makes sense to me if they have something on the table for Dozier. Otherwise, this trip to the majors will be just like the first 4...mostly sitting on the bench because Mollie can't trust his glove.
So LST what dos you want to do with Polonco. You make it sound like he is basically worthless. This season is over. Play him somewhere. That's what this season is for getting guys playing time to get them experience and also try and make some sort of evaluation.
To me, the concept of a guy being better/worse in the field at AAA vs. the majors seems odd to me. Shouldn't that be the one thing that carries over, unless the actual infield grass/dirt is much worse in the minors?
In terms of SS, everybody thought Dozier was a SS when he first came up and that didn't work out, so it's OK if it doesn't work for Polanco. But he's the only guy who hits on the days he plays SS (Nunez SS/3B splits are horrible).
The Twins might struggle there until Nick Gordon is ready to go.
