Walking into his Twins Career Sunset: Chris Parmelee

[Bark's Lounge]

After being designated for assignment by the Twins about 2 weeks ago, it appears that Parmelee has chosen to become a free agent.

 

I wonder what Chris' next destination could be?

 

I still have not thrown in the towel on him becoming a serviceable MLB player - It would probably come as a bench player - a guy who can maybe be a pinch hitting asset, who can play a better than serviceable 1B and who has a sure handed glove in a corner OF position without range.

 

I could see the Rays signing him to a minor league deal with an invite to Spring Training. Although they have James Loney at 1B, it seems like the Rays are always in need of some offense and could probably give him some time in the OF.

 

If the Padres trade Seth Smith, I could see the Friars taking a flyer on Parmelee to create some competition with Yonder Alonso - although they seem to be the same kind of ball player.

 

You never know what could happen with Parmelee - maybe he is the next Steven Pearce? Maybe he is the next Matt Murton?

 

I have to imagine some Nippon League teams will have a very good amount of interest in trying to sign him to a contract. For foreign ball players going to Japan it seems like a hit or miss, probably because of the cultural and language differences, but when it works out it can be a boon to a ballplayers career (Warren Cromartie, Matt Murton, Tuffy Rhodes, Alex Ramirez, etc, etc...)

 

If I were Parmelee, I would have to look deep into this option... It could be very lucrative if it all works out.

 

It could damn well be worth the risk.

[gunnarthor]

Good luck to him but it certainly wasn't going to happen here.  I'd go to Asia myself.  Get to travel.  That's fun.  I enjoyed my time in China.

[stringer bell]

I think Bark pretty much nailed it. Parmelee's skill set doesn't profile to be a star or even a regular, but he was a pretty good bench player for the Twins last year and he could be a helpful player for a major league team.

 

I am surprised all of this took so long. It has been known for more than two weeks that Parmelee was off the 40-man roster and he just declared for free agency today? I guess there would be a time for him to be claimed and he probably gets time to decide whether he will accept a second outright assignment to the minors.

 

Anyway, best wishes to Parm. He seems like a nice guy.

[Danchat]

I can envision it now - he's going to get a revival in Baltimore.

 

Parmelee is a bench bat at worst - he can hit around .250 with some power. Since the league's average is currently at .251, you'd think he could find a spot on somebody's roster.

[DocBauer]

I was a tad surprised when the Twins removed him recently. I thought he played well enough last season to warrant a possible look-see from the Twins in ST. When it seemingly became obvious he was not going to be a full time player, I had hopes of him being another Randy Bush. But being a LH hitter who can't hit RH pitching really limits him. I wish him the best.

[goulik]

Option A: He is an all star for the Pirates next year

 

Option B: He signs with the Cubs and leads them to their first World Series in forever and becomes HOF player with legendary status around the world of baseball with some really cool nickname

 

Option C: We never hear from hiim again and he's one of the guys we miss in some trivia question asking us to name as many players as we can remember from the 2010s.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

I will confidently choose D. None of the above

[Thrylos]

Good bench bat?  Parmelee has had negative WAR his past 3 seasons with the Twins.  In 825 PAs.  Below league average OPS+, way below league average fielding.  If a team insists of keeping below average players, this team will not be competitive.   I'd rather see Arcia and Vargas take Parmelees PA in 2015 and beyond.   Put him down as another of TRs first round pick busts and turn the page.   And if Baltimore or someone else turns him around (which I don't see it happening,) good for them.

 

I hope he was the first of many mediocre or below players who need to go away from the Twins (and adding Colabello and Fryer to the list helps.)

[diehardtwinsfan]

I hope I'm wrong, but I suspect this one may be regretted someday. He didn't exactly get a fair shake with Gardenhire, and to his fault, he didn't exactly earn it in his limited opportunities. I hope he lands with a team where he gets a chance to play every day. His offensive stats last year weren't bad for the league, so I think some last place team will let him play every day as filler. For his sake, I hope he makes the most of it.

[Mike Sixel]

He is prominently featured here:

 

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/fg-on-fox-picking-the-right-narrow-skill-set/

[Willihammer]

best of luck to Parmelee, but I agree his future, if there is one, is on the bench. I would be surprised if any team, even a last place one, gave everyday at-bats to him because they felt he didn't get a fair shot in MN.

[Seth Stohs]

Good guy! I hope he finds a place in MLB. Being from San Diego, I'm sure he'd be excited for an opportunity with the Padres. He'll certainly land on his feet somewhere. 

[Otto von Ballpark]

Parmelee is a bench bat at worst - he can hit around .250 with some power. Since the league's average is currently at .251, you'd think he could find a spot on somebody's roster.

In 2014, his best MLB season post-September 2011, Parmelee was notably worse than MLB non-pitcher averages in isolated power, BB%, K%, OBP, and SLG.  He was only better than average in AVG by .001 (perhaps only due to a +.016 advantage in BABIP?).

Consistently below average at both offense and defense, at the poor end of the defensive spectrum, does not indicate "bench bat at worst" to me.  That's "replacement level" or perhaps even a little worse.

[Otto von Ballpark]

I hope I'm wrong, but I suspect this one may be regretted someday. He didn't exactly get a fair shake with Gardenhire, and to his fault, he didn't exactly earn it in his limited opportunities. I hope he lands with a team where he gets a chance to play every day. His offensive stats last year weren't bad for the league, so I think some last place team will let him play every day as filler. For his sake, I hope he makes the most of it.

I still don't get this.  Parmelee played over half the 2013 season at a 490 PA full season pace, and showed basically zero improvement over his dismal 84 OPS+ 2012 season (when he was admittedly shuffled around a lot, albeit before/during his AAA breakout).

 

And after being recalled in May 2014, he played the next 3 months (over half a season again) at a 400 PA full season pace too, with pretty marginal improvement over past performance.

 

Given Parmelee's history and profile, that seems like a plenty good opportunities.  It's not that common for guys with a similar profile to actually get 500+ PA full seasons at RF/1B without some history of better performance, even on last place teams.  Just eyeballing the worst 2014 teams around the league, only Viciedo stands out as similar, and he's a bit of a special case ($10 mil contract out of Cuba) and a bit better hitter than Parmelee over 2012-2014 too.

 

If there are any future regrets to be had with Parmelee, they wouldn't be based on playing time -- they would simply be, why couldn't we coax a better performance out of him.

[ashbury]

It's not that common for guys with a similar profile to actually get 500+ PA full seasons at RF/1B without some history of better performance, even on last place teams. 

Agreed.  There's a misused quote attributed variously to Tom Kelly and others that you don't really know what you've got in a batter until he gets 1000 PA (or whatever number).  But that insight is offered in the context of a player who gets off to a hot start; you have to temper your expectations until the league gets its chance to adjust.  It's not the case that every player with some kind of AAA credentials gets his 1000 PA to prove himself in the majors; you have to produce, and if you don't the league's not going to bother to adjust and there's nothing more for management to learn about you.

[Brandon]

Baltimore is showing interest according to MLBTRADERUMORS.com I think he is an ok bench player.  He is not good enough to start but he is good enough to have on the bench.  He can play several positions well. and pinch hit or DH in interleague games.  There are teams who are week in hitting in the OF who can use a player to help fill a hole.  see Delmon Young, Mike Carp, Johnny Gomes, Nate Schierholtz, Scott Hairston, Endy Chavez.  These are just the ones who are currently free agents.  some of these guys are better than Parmelee but he does fit into this class of player.  Parmelee could also have an unexpected breakout performance and hit 15-20 HRs in 250 ABs some season.  I can see him getting around 2000-maybe 3000 plate appearances in his career if all goes well for him. I definitely wouldn't pay much for him.  maybe a 550k contract for a season with a split in the minors.  That could be a low cost option for a team with a budget concern. 

[h2oface]

It always seemed to me that the only reason Pamelee was considered worth giving so many chances to succeed at the major league level was because he was a first round pick and it is just so hard for the organization to admit another failed first round pick. It always looked like the Twins were putting the Michelin Man on the field! Parmelee needs to hit with a good average and with power to get a job in the show, and he just can't seem to deliver, regardless of whether he was foolishly taken in the first round.

[James]

Good luck to him but it certainly wasn't going to happen here.  I'd go to Asia myself.  Get to travel.  That's fun.  I enjoyed my time in China.

Japan might be a good spot for him.  I certainly enjoyed myself when I went there.  I even got to see a baseball game while I was there.  Let me tell you, that was a totally different experience, but a totally awesome one.  Crowd participation is at a totally different level over there.

 

Anyway about it, I wish Parmelee good luck in the future, where ever that may be.  Except if he ever plays against the Twins of course.  Then I hope he strikes out flailing at a slider that is two feet out of the zone.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

I don't think Parmelee got the fair shake that Hicks did. One could even say that Parms was slotted below Bartlett, Herrmann and Escobar on the OF depth chart last year.

 

That said, he didn't really make the best of his chances. I liked him though and wish him luck.

[Rosterman]

Bsically, he shines in the minors and doesn't make the most of his opportunity (that one September aside) in the majors. He Ryan Radmanovich, or is it Mike Restovich. He could still be playing somewhere a decade from now, just getting cups of coffee in the majors, if he wants to.

[diehardtwinsfan]

I still don't get this.  Parmelee played over half the 2013 season at a 490 PA full season pace, and showed basically zero improvement over his dismal 84 OPS+ 2012 season (when he was admittedly shuffled around a lot, albeit before/during his AAA breakout).

 

And after being recalled in May 2014, he played the next 3 months (over half a season again) at a 400 PA full season pace too, with pretty marginal improvement over past performance.

 

Given Parmelee's history and profile, that seems like a plenty good opportunities.  It's not that common for guys with a similar profile to actually get 500+ PA full seasons at RF/1B without some history of better performance, even on last place teams.  Just eyeballing the worst 2014 teams around the league, only Viciedo stands out as similar, and he's a bit of a special case ($10 mil contract out of Cuba) and a bit better hitter than Parmelee over 2012-2014 too.

 

If there are any future regrets to be had with Parmelee, they wouldn't be based on playing time -- they would simply be, why couldn't we coax a better performance out of him.

400 AB is not a full season. It's much closer to 650. Mauer had 455 AB this season and missed quite a bit of time for injury. that's my point. Gardy needed to let him play, every day, minus the occasional day off for rest. He finished this season with 250 AB... That's not enough to get into a rhythm, and not enough for him to figure things out. He may very well be a bench bat, but I don't think it's fair at all to say he was given every opportunity when the longest period of consistent playing time he got never amounted to more than a week or two.

[Don't Feed the Greed Guy]

The Twins made the right choice, making room for other talent on their roster

 

I too would like to see Parm fit in, and perhaps excel, with the Padres. I went out to see the Twins play at Petco last May. Got a chance to visit with several members of the Parmelee family. Good, gracious folks. I wish him well, somewhere else.

[Otto von Ballpark]

400 AB is not a full season. It's much closer to 650. Mauer had 455 AB this season and missed quite a bit of time for injury. that's my point. Gardy needed to let him play, every day, minus the occasional day off for rest. He finished this season with 250 AB... That's not enough to get into a rhythm, and not enough for him to figure things out. He may very well be a bench bat, but I don't think it's fair at all to say he was given every opportunity when the longest period of consistent playing time he got never amounted to more than a week or two.

I know 400 PA isn't a "full season" -- I was just saying his full season pace was 400 PA, sorry if it was bad wording.  That's obviously not a full-time starter but it's not rotting on the bench either.

 

And by 2014, I think the onus was already on Parmelee to show some signs of notable improvement to earn more playing time than that, and he didn't.  He got his best chance over the first half of 2013 (490 PA season pace) and was pretty terrible, showing zero improvement over a dreadful 2012 MLB performance.  He had already passed through waivers in March.  At that point, I don't think an extra start or two a week means anything.

 

Look around the league.  Every batting title qualifier (502+ PA) with a worse hitting line than Parmelee is on the other side of the defensive spectrum and/or has had better past performance than Parmelee.  Fringe RF/1B prospects have to show SOMETHING in MLB to warrant 500-600 PA seasons.  Parmelee might consider himself lucky that he got 900 MLB PA.

[stringer bell]

League average is thrown around a lot here.  I have a hard time believing there are many bench players in the league that approach league average as hitters, especially since they won't get platoon or everyday play.  For most of last season, Parm was a bench player with a league average bat.  I think that skill set would be useful for a lot of teams combined with some positional flexibility. 

[USAFChief]

He's a corner player with a sub .400 SLG. He has always struggled to catch up to fastballs.

 

I doubt he'll be missed, or will ever be a big league regular.

[Otto von Ballpark]

League average is thrown around a lot here.  I have a hard time believing there are many bench players in the league that approach league average as hitters, especially since they won't get platoon or everyday play.  For most of last season, Parm was a bench player with a league average bat.  I think that skill set would be useful for a lot of teams combined with some positional flexibility. 

Correct me if I am wrong, but I would guess that most guys with a solid bench spot in MLB are either average with the bat at a corner position, average with the glove up the middle, or have a big platoon advantage from one side (or have some history at that level of performance).  Parmelee offers none of that.  Take a look around MLB and try to find a team that would really benefit from adding 2014 Parmelee to its roster.

 

(An aside: are there really many solid "bench players" in MLB anymore?  Starting nine, backup C, backup IF, backup CF/OF -- there's maybe 1 bench spot left per team that a guy like Parmelee could even theoretically take, assuming it's not already filled with a former/part-time starter or an extra pitcher.)

 

Now, if by "bench player" you mean a guy who might show up on an MLB bench from time to time due to injury or ineffectiveness, sure Parmelee could profile as that, but that's not a very high bar.  You may as well call Liam Hendriks an "MLB starter" too (and at least Hendriks has yet to go unclaimed, as Parmelee has twice in the past year).

 

I find it interesting that two of the most common takes on this thread are "Parmelee didn't get enough of a chance to play everyday in Minnesota" and "Parmelee should find a role as a decent bench bat."

[Lazarus]

If not for the injuries to Buxton and Sano last year, I'm not sure Parmalee would have survived to the end of the 2014 season without being outrighted.  With the outfielders and first basemen already on the major league roster and young players (Buxton, Sano, Rosario) likely here by the end of the season, I don't see room for Parmalee on a four-man bench.  I don't see him being offered a major league contract this off-season, perhaps a minor league deal with a Spring Training invite.  A couple of years in Japan to re-establish his resume is probably the best (and most lucrative) bet.

 

Sayonara, Parmalee-san.