Yangervis Solarte Looked Good

I was at tonight's exhibition game between the Round Rock Express and Texas Rangers at Dell Diamond and was surprised to hear Yangervis Solarte's name announced in the starting lineups for the Express. I knew I hadn't heard his name mentioned this spring, but didn't realize he had signed with Texas as a six-year minor league free agent. Anyway, he looked really sharp starting at second, and belted a long 2-run homer off Derek Holland in the first inning. Too bad the Twins couldn't have held on to this guy with their mediocre upper-level middle infield depth.

As a side note, unfortunately didn't get to see Joe Nathan pitch. All the Rangers major leaguers were long out of the game by the sixth inning.

One of the big gaps, despite all the great blogging, is how it is for minor league guys who slip threw the cracks. Solarte was a personal favorite of mine watching the minors last year, and he was unceremoniously dumped, as were a bunch of semi-hi profile minor league players this spring--early on like Pedro Guerra, and later like the Tarsi's and Bashores.

I'm not saying I'm critical of management, I just wish I knew more about the nuts and bolts of it.

We don't know that Solarte was "unceremoniously dumped." He was a six year minor league free agent that decided to sign elsewhere. We don't know if the Twins offered him a minor league contract like the Rangers did. All we know is that the Twins decided not to add him to the 40 man roster. I was quite surprised by that decision initially because Solarte had a very good 2011 season in New Britain. He hit over .300 every single month. At the same time, he plays very little defense, doesn't walk and has very little power... and he also hadn't had a good full season in his six-seasons with the Twins prior to 2011. So, I can understand the decision to let him go. He should do well repeating AA, but in a different league.

Pedro Guerra was released last fall. That one was a little surprising. No surprise on the Tarsi one. Semi-surprised on Bashore.

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Originally Posted by Han Joelo

One of the big gaps, despite all the great blogging, is how it is for minor league guys who slip threw the cracks. Solarte was a personal favorite of mine watching the minors last year, and he was unceremoniously dumped, as were a bunch of semi-hi profile minor league players this spring--early on like Pedro Guerra, and later like the Tarsi's and Bashores.

I'm not saying I'm critical of management, I just wish I knew more about the nuts and bolts of it.

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I agree with everything in this post, Han Joelo. Not sure why some of these moves are made involving guys who could really contribute. Solarte would have made Michael Hollimon a non-factor this spring.

I understand the frustration, but the for the life of me, I cannot think of a minor leaguer that got dumped in this manner and ended up with a great career. The Twins are usually criticized for holding on to a guy too long and losing value (Restovich, Ryan, Buchanan). It's kind of a fine line, because you don't know who is going to develop and who isn't.

I also was very surprised at this one, especially following his stats in 2011. But ultimately, no matter how much I like his 36 doubles for the year, his defense wasn't good, and that made it a wise decision not to protect him on the 40. After that, its a wide open market for a guy like Solarte, and he may have received a nice check from the Rangers system. Solarte has utility written all over him, and without defense, I'm not sure he could have made an impact before the next wave of talent pushes its way up. Tough call (could prove to be wrong), but I agree with it