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The middle IF who the Twins lost as a MiLB FA because they kept roster spots for Gray, Maloney, Vasquez and such even after he hit .329/.367/.466 as a 23 year old last season in New Britain? He is in the Rangers' organization and hitting .309/.364/.500 with 5 HRs in 32 games as a 24 year old in AAA. And has a 22 game hitting streak going.
Meanwhile the Twins have the likes of Thurson in Rochester. Gotta love Rantz and his talent evaluators sometimes...
While, my initial reaction is true Thrylos.
Maybe Rantz and Co. (Ryan, Antony, Deron Johnson) know something that we just simply don't.
maybe they came to find out he's going under false pretenses under ID or speculative age difference, or maybe he's just a rotten kid. Who Knows?
I liked Solarte, but he was hardly anything more than a 5th OF or 6th infielder type, if he ends up with Super-Utility type of coverage for the Rangers, showing he can man multiple positions, Then SURE, he'll make the Major Leagues and probably get a decent amount of playing time. But he's not going to be Emilio Bonifacio or Nick Punto or Ben Zobrist, more like Denny Hocking --- at best.
How many 23 year old middle infielders you know who had a .843 OPS in AA and were busts? Punto? Hockin? Please. Punto had a .680 OPS in AA and Hockin a .690. Not even close.
Another one to add to the laundry list of terrible decisions Terry Ryan has made over the last 7 months. The TWINS have the worst GM in all of baseball.
Please resign Terry, the game passed you by 10 years ago. Please quit before you screw up another draft!
Just a terrible terrible decision on him. To not add him to the 40 man was a waste. You should always take care of your homegrown talent before goin out & signing 30some FA's.
I'm going to have to agree with Thrylos here. I live in Austin and the Express are just up the road and I've seen several games this year. Solarte looks very sharp in person, especially at the plate. He homered off Derek Holland in an exhibition game and seems to take charge of the infield. I said the first time I saw him play down here that the Twins were fools for letting him go.
Agreed. I don't understand it. The minor league management is so irrational much of the time. A fundamental rule should be that you DO NOT let such AA performers like Solarte in 2011 walk away. When players do that in AA or AAA, you have to keep them around.Quote:
Originally Posted by thrylos98
Joe Thurston. Full stop.
I'm sure Solarte told the organization he was not willing to scrap his power to hit it the other way and to be scrappy. He will be the next power hitting stud we let go because of Gardy's philosphy and Terry Ryan's stupidity.
Probably a lot more than you think but most fans don't learn about MiLB hitters that don't make it. Brock Bond, also in the PCL, comes to mind.Quote:
Originally Posted by thrylos98
I'm not sure if the Twins move was good or bad. But prospect sites have never been warm to Solarte, for whatever reason. Generally, I think I agree with shs_59, the Twins had more information than we fans do about Solarte and they decided to move on. They probably had a valid reason.
I was disappointed when Solarte wasn't added to the 40 man roster. I know the Twins tried to bring him back as a 6 year minor league free agent but he chose Texas. If he wanted to stay loyal to the Twins, he could have done like DJ Romero, E de los Santos and Kyle Waldrop have done in recent years and stayed. I don't blame him for going elsewhere.
I kept saying last year that he hit .300 or better every single month last year in AA. However, it was his first season of staying healthy. It was really his first season in 7 years in the organization that he hit well. He is known as being quite poor defensively. He doesn't walk much historically and he has very little power. (regardless of what PCL stats may say) So, at the end of the day, I was disappointed, but I also understood it from the Twins perspective.
There is showing loyalty Seth IMO, & there is knowing that you are completely being overlooked by the organization, who could just add you to the 40 man roster. Look at some of the junk on the roster & then knowing that coming off a very solid season that they didnt want to do what they had to to keep ya......Id have walked also.