Jorge Polanco--Shortstop of the Present or the Future?

[stringer bell]

Last year, I commented in August that one of the most positive developments of the season was the team's strength at shortstop. Danny Santana hit like a major leaguer and showed tools that suggested he could be a good or better shortstop. Escobar did well when given a chance. In the minors, the Twins drafted Gordon and Polanco had a nice year in the minor leagues. To boot, Polanco did well in his "cup of coffee" when the Twins had multiple injuries and recalled Polanco.

 

With the roster flux currently, much discussion has focused on promoting prospects. Many have suggested that Polanco could be installed as the Twins regular shortstop immediately. Others have said that he should be promoted to Triple A Rochester.

 

I have my doubts. First and foremost, I remain unconvinced that Polanco is a major league shortstop. He seems to have the necessary range and good hands, but he seems to be trying to compensate for a substandard throwing arm. The Twins advanced Brian Dozier all the way to the majors before deciding he was a better fit at second base. I personally think the same is true for Polanco. He's committed 16 errors to date, most of them on throws. Secondly, Polanco may or may not be a better hitter than the shortstops ahead of him in the system. I am not convinced that his hitting is that good. He is hitting .295 at Chattanooga, with an OPS of .745, that is good for a shortstop, but those number aren't dominant, not even close.

 

I've seen Polanco play several games and he looks comfortable in the field and at the plate. He's a switch hitter without big platoon splits and he is a good base runner. However, hitting and fielding are the two major components of a position player. Is there something I'm missing that indicates this guy is ready?

 

Edit: I posted this in the Twins Talk Forum. If the mods see fit, move it to Minor League Talk. There has been much discussion about major league transactions and Polanco has been mentioned and he did already debut with the Twins.

[Mike Sixel]

Unsure.....about the future. For the present? I'd say Escobar, with Polanco in AAA. I don't think Santana will ever be the SS of the future, but since they need more data on Polanco, I think he should be in AAA now.

 

Btw, why do other teams promote their best hitters to AAA before calling them up?

[jimbo92107]

Can't say for sure if Jorge Polanco is the SS of the present, but one way to find out would be to call him up right now, plug him into the position and see what happens for a month. Meanwhile, you've still got Escobar and Nunez to back him up, while Santana goes to AAA to work on getting fatter contact.

 

When nobody is standing out at SS, why not experiment? If Polanco needs a break, you can always put in a backup, and after a month you could swap Polanco for Santana in AAA. Either way, it's a learning experience for everybody.

[nytwinsfan]

 

I have my doubts. First and foremost, I remain unconvinced that Polanco is a major league shortstop. He seems to have the necessary range and good hands, but he seems to be trying to compensate for a substandard throwing arm.

 

 

I've heard this many times, but for every time I've heard this I've heard others, including writers on this website, swear that he has a fine arm, or even a "rocket for an arm" or something like that. Unless you are saying his arm is strong enough but just not accurate, then there seems to be quite a bit of disagreement as to how strong Polanco's arm is. I don't know what the answer is, I'm just raising what seems to be the big issue on which there is disagreement. For what its worth, Kiley Mcdaniel ranks his arm as a current 50 (not great for a SS) with 55 potential. 55 is probably enough for SS, although not ideal. Not sure how much observation that is based on.

[Steve Lein]

 

I've heard this many times, but for every time I've heard this I've heard others, including writers on this website, swear that he has a fine arm, or even a "rocket for an arm" or something like that. Unless you are saying his arm is strong enough but just not accurate, then there seems to be quite a bit of disagreement as to how strong Polanco's arm is. I don't know what the answer is, I'm just raising what seems to be the big issue on which there is disagreement. For what its worth, Kiley Mcdaniel ranks his arm as a current 50 (not great for a SS) with 55 potential. 55 is probably enough for SS, although not ideal. Not sure how much observation that is based on.

 

Santana has a cannon arm at SS, Polanco's is not nearly as strong.

 

If you're into scouting scales from evaluators, Polanco is almost universally rated at 50 ("average") for his arm. Santana got a lot of 70's ("plus-plus").

 

And I agree the term "rocket arm" gets used here way too much.

 

Buxton, Hicks, Sano, and Santana have the rocket arms of the guys we know. That term being used for anyone else is not accurate or honest if you ask me.

[d-mac]

 

Unsure.....about the future. For the present? I'd say Escobar, with Polanco in AAA. I don't think Santana will ever be the SS of the future, but since they need more data on Polanco, I think he should be in AAA now.

 

Btw, why do other teams promote their best hitters to AAA before calling them up?

 

You'd think their would be some value to doing that, wouldn't there? 

[d-mac]

It's not like Ecobar or Santana hit better than Polonco in the minors. And Santana made more than his fair share of errors. Polanco hits for average and doesn't strike out much and gets on base at a halfway decent rate, unlike the previously mentioned. We're going to find a Troy Tulowitzki lying around somewhere. What more do people want here?

[stringer bell]

It's not like Ecobar or Santana hit better than Polonco in the minors. And Santana made more than his fair share of errors. Polanco hits for average and doesn't strike out much and gets on base at a halfway decent rate, unlike the previously mentioned. We're going to find a Troy Tulowitzki lying around somewhere. What more do people want here?

From Polanco, I would like to see him master Double A, then Triple A.

[nytwinsfan]

 

It's not like Ecobar or Santana hit better than Polonco in the minors. And Santana made more than his fair share of errors. Polanco hits for average and doesn't strike out much and gets on base at a halfway decent rate, unlike the previously mentioned. We're going to find a Troy Tulowitzki lying around somewhere. What more do people want here?

 

I am pretty sure everyone agrees that Polanco's hitting upside is superior to Escobar and Santana (well, almost everyone).  I think they are worried about his arm and fielding. Santana's fielding hasn't been great, but I think everyone believes he has the tools to be a good SS, even if he hasn't figured out how to use them perfectly yet (honestly not entirely his fault given Gardy using him in CF). Whereas with Polanco, there is concern his tools wouldn't ever enable him to play SS, even when fully developed. That's the difference.

[d-mac]

 

From Polanco, I would like to see him master Double A, then Triple A.

 

He has mastered AA. It's time to move him up. He's not going to slug .500. If hitting .295/.342./.402 with a strikeout percentage of 12.7% is not mastery of AA by a SS, then you have very unrealistic expectations. 

[d-mac]

 

I am pretty sure everyone agrees that Polanco's hitting upside is superior to Escobar and Santana (well, almost everyone).  I think they are worried about his arm and fielding. Santana's fielding hasn't been great, but I think everyone believes he has the tools to be a good SS, even if he hasn't figured out how to use them perfectly yet (honestly not entirely his fault given Gardy using him in CF). Whereas with Polanco, there is concern his tools wouldn't ever enable him to play SS, even when fully developed. That's the difference.

 

I thought Polanco was signed for his glove back when he was in the Dominican? And now he can't field? I think people's worries about his defense are a bit of an overreaction. People shouldn't be reading too much into errors in the minors. They tend to fluctuate wildly and are subject to minor league fields and minor league official scorers. For reference, Santana had a similar fielding percentage in AA. 

[nytwinsfan]

 

I thought Polanco was signed for his glove back when he was in the Dominican? And now he can't field? I think people's worries about his defense are a bit of an overreaction. People shouldn't be reading too much into errors in the minors. They tend to fluctuate wildly and are subject to minor league fields and minor league official scorers. For reference, Santana had a similar fielding percentage in AA. 

He was signed for his glove (and arm), but at 2B. That's the difference. Defense at SS is a totally different animal.

 

That being said, I do tend to agree that people shouldn't read too much into errors in the minors, especially when he only switched to SS in the past two years. Plouffe made tons of errors in the minors and turned into at least an average if not better defensive 3B. I think (some) people are worried not because of the errors, but because of the lack of tools (quickness to get to balls in the gap and especially arm). But I still have hope he can be an average or slightly below average defender at SS.

[stringer bell]

Plouffe was a pretty dreadful fielding shortstop, which is where he primarily played in the minors. I am concerned about Polanco's throwing arm, which is where he has accumulated the majority of his errors.

[drjim]

 

Btw, why do other teams promote their best hitters to AAA before calling them up?

 

Instead of continually asking this same question to all of us who obviously don't know, have you ever considered asking Terry Ryan himself? This would be a perfect question on his Sunday morning show.

[Linus]

I don't believe he is the SS of the future.  I actually think he will be shifted to second base eventually and will be a good asset to the club in some fashion.

 

Santana has the best tools by far.  He needs to spend the rest of this year in AAA and make up for the mistake that was putting him in CF last year.

 

Escobar will be fine for the stretch run.

[diehardtwinsfan]

I guess a .750 OPS doesn't scream like he's ready for a callup.  I get that out of a SS, that's pretty decent, but I think he has some additional development, not to mention that his defense is from all accounts I've read is not that good.  I think I'd let Escobar handle that job for now.

[Thrylos]

There is absolutely no reason that Polanco should not be the Twins starting SS today.   As a matter of fact, his bat is more MLB-ready than Buxton's and they promoted the latter...

[kab21]

 

I thought Polanco was signed for his glove back when he was in the Dominican? And now he can't field? I think people's worries about his defense are a bit of an overreaction. People shouldn't be reading too much into errors in the minors. They tend to fluctuate wildly and are subject to minor league fields and minor league official scorers. For reference, Santana had a similar fielding percentage in AA. 

Polanco was signed for his glove.  The fact that there has been no doubt that he would stick in the MI means that they were correct.  That doesn't mean that he was projected to have plus defense at both positions.

 

Polanco is a very good prospect but I don't see him as the type that can skip AAA after 100 AA games as a 22 year old and be successful in the majors. I also doubt he plays better than Escobar right now. 

 

Speaking of Escobar: .670 OPS in May and .830 OPS in June.  Why are we even talking about Polanco for the present?

[drjim]

 

There is absolutely no reason that Polanco should not be the Twins starting SS today.   As a matter of fact, his bat is more MLB-ready than Buxton's and they promoted the latter...

 

There must have been more to the thinking than a slight difference in the readiness of their bats.

[lukeduke1980]

I still didn't mind seeing Santana in CF the other day - DFA 31 year old Robinson and see if CF lets Santana relax a little at the plate.  Let Esco play short for this year and trade him for something then Polanco

[DJSim22]

I swear half this board wants a team of rookies. 

[drjim]

 

I swear half this board wants a team of rookies. 

 

It's a couple of things. Excessively pessimistic about what they do see and optimistic about what they can't see. (though there are scouting reports to exaggerate and stats to manipulate). And the unknown mediocrity is always superior to the known mediocrity.

 

Couple that with the thought that, despite the fact they are still hanging on to a playoff spot, people still want to blow up the team.

[curt1965]

Everybody has an opinion: here's mine. When all in said and done, Santana will emerge as the guy.

He passes all of my eye tests- his hit tool will is

definitely there, and his defense is much better than Escobar.

He needs time, and he was robbed last year in his developmental cycle. He played a descent CF, although he had only played a handful of games there in the minors. He is smooth at SS, and had a great arm. Yes- he has made a lot of errors- none of which has caused the Twins to lose a game, BTW. Everyone needs to remember that few players arrive in the majors and are great immediately. Plouffe and Dozier are great examples of infielders that experienced problems in their first few years.

Santana was given the job at the start of the year for a reason-I think the coaching staff believed then he was the superior opinion.

There is so much hope and interest in the Twins right now. Sano and Rosario are up, Buxton will be back in a month or so, and the pitching staff has been better than anyone could have hoped for. Now the organization needs to find a SS, give him the job, and let him play, whether it's Santano, Escobar, or Polanco. I hope it's Santana!

[USAFChief]

I too would role with Santana at SS. He can be maddening at the plate, but I think he's better than he's shown, and IMO he's easily the best SS defensively.