Danny Santana

[John Kelsey]

I honestly have no idea why this kid is the starting shortstop right now; he has been absolutely horrendous this year. He had posted a WAR of -1.6 before going 0-4 with 2 Ks today (good for second worst in the majors behind Rene Rivera who's at -1.7) and his OPS sits at .521. 

 

You have an above average defensive/average offensive shortstop in Eduardo Escobar, with a hot-hitting Eduardo Nunez to spell him every now and then. 

 

Just stick Escobar there, not left field, and be done with it. 

 

 

[Squirrel]

I think Santana needs Dave's magic fork.

[drjim]

I suspect the move is to send down Santana and call up Arcia coming out of the break.

[Danchat]

I absolutely agree. Santana needs to play at SS everyday in AAA. I don't understand why he's even on the roster right now... when we called him up, it was to be a backup CF behind Rosario, but now that Hicks is back, Santana has SS back?

 

[stringer bell]

Who is going to play SS at Rochester, Polanco or Santana? Would the Twins send Danny to AA?

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

I suspect the move is to send down Santana and call up Arcia coming out of the break.

I hope you are right and I would put Escobar at short until then.

[curt1965]

Gotta stick up for my guy. Danny is by far the best defensive SS. And he can hit. I know, his .319 average last year was due mainly to his extremely high BABIP. So he can make good contact, but not so much this year. As long as they are winning, I'd say stick with Santana.

Polanco is not an option, at least defensively. He made another error tonight, but also is hitting over .400 in Rochester. If they are going to play someone else, I'd say give it to Escobar and leave him there. Nunez could maybe play once a week, but he will eventually kill you with his glove.

[jun]

 

I suspect the move is to send down Santana and call up Arcia coming out of the break.

Kepler?

[jun]

 

Gotta stick up for my guy. Danny is by far the best defensive SS. And he can hit. I know, his .319 average last year was due mainly to his extremely high BABIP. So he can make good contact, but not so much this year. As long as they are winning, I'd say stick with Santana.
Polanco is not an option, at least defensively. He made another error tonight, but also is hitting over .400 in Rochester. If they are going to play someone else, I'd say give it to Escobar and leave him there. Nunez could maybe play once a week, but he will eventually kill you with his glove.

What makes you think Danny is by far the best defensive SS and he can hit?

How many errors has he made so far? What's his avg?

He does not even have a clue what to do on the base.

Anyway he is a complete mess right now.

I hope Kepler could be called up.

Arcia needs to show consistency in AAA.

[jimbo92107]

Max Kepler reportedly "tweaked his shoulder" and is "day to day," so he's probably not an option for now. If they're going to make a move, you guys called it - Arcia up, Danny Santana to AAA to platoon with Jorge Polanco, or even Santana to AA, but down for some minor league at-bats. No reason not to go with Eduardo Escobar at short for a while. Esco's a good SS, decent pop in the bat, and he's a good clubhouse guy. Eduardo Nunez is the temporary winner too, mainly because Polanco is booting too many plays in Rochester. If Polanco cleans up his glove work, he could take Nunez's place pretty soon, or push Esco back to utility.

[drivlikejehu]

Escobar hit fairly well in May and June, now continuing into July. He should be the regular SS. I don't see how it's even a question... Santana belongs in the minor leagues and Escobar is miscast in LF. Not to mention Nunez isn't a SS - the Twins are lucky playing him there hasn't really cost them anything so far.

[curt1965]

What makes you think Danny is by far the best defensive SS and he can hit?

How many errors has he made so far? What's his avg?

He does not even have a clue what to do on the base.

Anyway he is a complete mess right now.

I hope Kepler could be called up.

Arcia needs to show consistency in AAA.

1.) The manager has said he is best defensive SS, as well as the coaching staff, announcers, and anyone who follows the Twins know that,.

1b)he hit .319 last year for starters

2.) he has made 13 errors so far. The SS for Seattle has made 25.

3.) his average is .221. Suzuki, Buxton, and Herrmann are worse

4.) he has 5 stolen bases. Bye the way, what does one do on the base?

5.) agreed- he is struggling right now. But tell me if he is this bad, why is he then starting?

[Shane Wahl]

Just go with Polanco and BE DONE WITH IT.

[big dog]

I blame Rick Anderson.  

[Pitz]

 

5.) agreed- he is struggling right now. But tell me if he is this bad, why is he then starting?

 

That is indeed the question.

[nytwinsfan]

Pretty sure if Polanco were not making so many errors he'd be up with the team (in place of Santana) right now. But yeah, in the meantime, I'm all for giving Escobar more starts at SS and leaving Santana as a super-utility player, or sending him down.

[Platoon]

Polanco is making more errors that Santana, and does not have the arm. A lot of Santana's errors were early on, that seems to have settled down. More range than EE, and still upside. It took Dozier and Plouffe several YEARS to become competent, or has that been forgotten. If you can't vastly improve a position you need to look at how much a certain player will improve. Escobar will not get any better, Nunez is not a glove man, and two weeks of Polanco at SS would make everyone wish Santana was back. You should not employ a SS to make up for the lack of offense your corner guys, aren't providing. Good grief, there were people calling for Buxton to be demoted after a week. BTW, whomever is the SS, I want a very good fielding SS who might hit a little, vs a good hitter, who can play SS a little.

[Brock Beauchamp]

For the life of me I cannot understand why Escobar hasn't been given a legitimate shot to be the starting shortstop on this team. It's as if the team completely forgot that he was pretty good last season.

 

Starting the season with Santana was the right call. On a rebuilding team that isn't expected to contend, you let the younger player with a higher upside start games and hope he turns into a consistent player.

 

Well, not only did Santana struggle (not just a little struggle, a "OMG he's horrible at the plate" struggle) but the Twins surprisingly became a contending team.

 

Yet the team seems unwilling to adjust from their Opening Day mindset. I don't get it.

 

Santana's 43 OPS+ has slightly more PAs than Escobar and his 87 OPS+ while Eduardo has started 27 (terrible) games in the outfield.

 

It boggles the mind.

[drjim]

 

For the life of me I cannot understand why Escobar hasn't been given a legitimate shot to be the starting shortstop on this team. It's as if the team completely forgot that he was pretty good last season.

 

Starting the season with Santana was the right call. On a rebuilding team that isn't expected to contend, you let the younger player with a higher upside start games and hope he turns into a consistent player.

 

Well, not only did Santana struggle (not just a little struggle, a "OMG he's horrible at the plate" struggle) but the Twins surprisingly became a contending team.

 

Yet the team seems unwilling to adjust from their Opening Day mindset. I don't get it.

 

Santana's 43 OPS+ has slightly more PAs than Escobar and his 87 OPS+ while Eduardo has started 27 (terrible) games in the outfield.

 

It boggles the mind.

 

Defensive ability. Really not that mysterious (not that I'm saying it's the right choice).

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

Defensive ability. Really not that mysterious (not that I'm saying it's the right choice).

Escobar isn't a bad shortstop. It still doesn't make sense.

[Dman]

Santana looks hopeless at the plate right now.  It feels like an automatic out when he comes up. Not that this is a surprise but he has no plate discipline and is happy to help pitchers out by swinging at very tough pitches and several far out of the strike zone.  

 

He was very good last year at swinging at almost anything and getting contact but this year we see why plate discipline is soo important.  When struggling at the plate if you can draw some walks you can still help your team.

 

He did pretty well when they sent him down to AAA I don;t understand why he has been so bad at teh MLB this year especially when he had so much success last year but I am Escobar fan right now as Santana's at bats are just too frustrating to watch for me at least.

[drjim]

 

Escobar isn't a bad shortstop. It still doesn't make sense.

 

Escobar is definitely competent, but Santana strikes me as much better with significantly more upside as well. In the short term, don't think that makes Santana more valuable overall, but maybe part of the thinking is to continue protecting pitchers.

 

Personally I would ride this out through the break and then call up Arcia and send down Santana. Let Escobar and Nunez handle SS and go for more offense.

[Shane Wahl]

Santana was the anti-Hicks last year. Promoted before being ready . . . but he somehow hit very well. He was always a marginal 20-25 prospect even back in the lean days of 2010-2012. He only emerged pre-2014 as a 15ish prospect because he was solid enough as a speedy middle infielder to progress up the system and there was some slugging potential.

 

Well . . . he lost almost all of that slugging and his SB-CS is ONE. His K/BB rate is about as egregious as I have ever seen.

 

I would send him to AAA for the remainder of the season.

 

Escobar is fine if you all are really that concerned about Polanco's glove right now. But if you stay so concerned then you better call for trading him.

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

Escobar is definitely competent, but Santana strikes me as much better with significantly more upside as well. In the short term, don't think that makes Santana more valuable overall, but maybe part of the thinking is to continue protecting pitchers.

While defensive metrics aren't the be all, end all of the conversation, they tell a pretty convincing story:

 

Escobar: 1205 SS innings, -2 DRS

 

Santana: 751 SS innings, -11 DRS

 

This echoes what I've seen on the field. Santana is flashier and makes some outstanding plays but Escobar is steadier and gets the job done on a nightly basis.

 

Danny Santana will probably end up being the better defender in time but once you factor in his "OMG are you joking?" bat, the answer becomes pretty obvious which player is going to help the team stay in contention through August and September.

[Mike Sixel]

As long as they are over 500.....Escobar should be the SS. He is just better right now.

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

Santana was the anti-Hicks last year. Promoted before being ready . . . but he somehow hit very well. He was always a marginal 20-25 prospect even back in the lean days of 2010-2012. He only emerged pre-2014 as a 15ish prospect because he was solid enough as a speedy middle infielder to progress up the system and there was some slugging potential.

 

Well . . . he lost almost all of that slugging and his SB-CS is ONE. His K/BB rate is about as egregious as I have ever seen.

Yeah, all of this. Santana needs extensive coaching and work on his fundamentals at the plate (not to mention his fundamentals in the field) and the Twins are glomming onto the guy because he hit out of his mind last season and posted pretty good numbers in a AAA stint.

 

They continue to ignore the bright flashing "DANGER, WILL ROBINSON, DANGER" lights that surrounded him going into the season and I don't understand why.

[stringer bell]

I'm seeing Santana playing much better in the field since his recall, however the hitting isn't any better and might be worse than when he was sent down. Suzuki and Santana's regression, along with a less than .650 OPS from Vargas go a long way toward explaining why the Twins are scoring fewer runs this year.

[Willihammer]

I just do not see it with Escobar. It seems like he's always 0-2. Always digging out of a hole. Can't bunt. Not fast enough to steal a base. Average fielder.

 

Santana's not the answer right now, Polanco's not ready. None of these guys should be starting.

 

Crazy as it sounds, my guy right now would be Nunez.

 

Or Plouffe.

[Linus]

 

As long as they are over 500.....Escobar should be the SS. He is just better right now.

This...I like Santana's potential - he has tools that don't come along every day.  But as long as the Twins are in contention, Escobar is going to provide the best play for the immediate future and should get all the starts beginning today.

 

Santana can go to AAA and prepare to be our SS in 2016.

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

I just do not see it with Escobar. It seems like he's always 0-2. Always digging out of a hole. Can't bunt. Not fast enough to steal a base. Average fielder.

I agree that how he gets there often isn't pretty but he gets the job done. Over his last 681 PAs, he has an OPS+ of 96 (101 in 2014, 87 in 2015).

 

In a perfect world, you want Escobar as a utility guy. It's not a perfect world and Escobar is the best option on the roster right now.