Defensive questions with no definitive answers for the Twins

[Brandon Warne]

Hey guys, I don't post too much around here but in light of Miguel Sano playing third base today and the Twins shaking it up a bit, I thought I'd share something I wrote yesterday that went up today.

 

Basically, the Twins have some very tough decisions to make about this defense, and I spent a lot of words trying to find some answers:

 

Some discussion of this would be great: 

 

http://www.todaysknuckleball.com/american-league/minnesota-twins/defensive-questions-with-no-definitive-answers-for-the-twins/

[ashbury]

Ultimately I think a trade, a big one, is needed to break up the imbalance of corner/DH types on this 40-man. But it's not easy. Mauer's no-trade status is one big impediment, and the inference that Plouffe has little trade value is another. Trading Park so soon after signing him seems like bad ju-ju. Sano himself is just not on the table, I imagine. I don't know what I'd do.

[TheLeviathan]

If this team believes Sano can play third than Trevor Plouffe needs to go. I like Ploffe, but long term it's a no brainer.

[Riverbrian]

Good problems to have are "Good". 

 

This will only be a problem if Molitor has the creativity of a turnip.

 

If Molitor says something like "Sano will only play RF" that would create a problem.

 

If Molitor plays Mauer at 1B 5 days out of 5 when we visit National League Cities while Park sits all those days. That would create a problem.

 

I don't worry about Sano in RF... If he doesn't work out... don't play him there anymore and the problem is solved. As for now.. It's only April.  

[jimmer]

Why do fans and baseball people always say, 'It's only April'? Those games count just as much as September.  Yet no one says, 'It's only September.'

[Riverbrian]

 

Why do fans and baseball people always say, 'It's only April'? Those games count just as much as September.  Yet no one says, 'It's only September.'

 

I don't know why other people do it

 

But I said it because It's April 23rd.

 

I don't know what kind of year Sano is going to have yet. I'll have a much better idea in July. 

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Brandon, I think the big flaw in all of this is how the Twins consider Plouffe a great third baseman. Yes he is good. He is nice to have. He is reliable. He is not great. But, repeat something enough times and people will start to believe it.

 

Manny Machado is great. Nolan Arenado is great. Maybe a few others. Plouffe isn't in that group. Sano could be, primarily because of his bat.

[OldTimeTwinkie]

Are we the only team in baseball that has 2 first basemen that cant play anywhere else but first? Why is it we move everybody else around but Mauer. He should have volunteered to go to right to get Park at first. What a leader. Cuddy would have!

[Mr. Brooks]

You would think these are scenarios the GM would have considered before assembling this bizzaro roster.

[Thrylos]

Ryan should have traded both Plouffe and Dozier for at least 2 arms better than Perkins and Jepsen (plus something else.)

 

Now he is reaping the rewards of his labor (or lack thereof)

Simple solution to many problems, but simply the Twins need a brand new Front Office from top to the bottom.

 

[Brandon Warne]

 

Brandon, I think the big flaw in all of this is how the Twins consider Plouffe a great third baseman. Yes he is good. He is nice to have. He is reliable. He is not great. But, repeat something enough times and people will start to believe it.

Manny Machado is great. Nolan Arenado is great. Maybe a few others. Plouffe isn't in that group. Sano could be, primarily because of his bat.

 

When I say great, I mean compared to where he was before. 

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

 

When I say great, I mean compared to where he was before. 

If I could say it over again, I would say the Twins are vastly overstating Plouffe's value. 

[Platoon]

Ash brought up a valid point about the difficulty in correcting this roster imbalance. When they signed Park, knew Mauer was unmovable, and that Sano was not going to Rochester, they should have known Plouffe was the odd guy out. Not because he can't play, or because he makes too much, or any other reason you want to list. Because they have too many DH/corners. He would have to go, because of the same reason Nolasco made the roster, in reverse. He was moveable, Nolasco was not. Toss in the failure/reluctance/lack of fortitude to deal with the Arica situation, and you have the makings of a slow pitch softball team. While there was no ONE particular decision made that got them to this point, the cumulative weight did. A correction could have been monetarily costly, i.e. Nolasco, it might have been position costly, i.e. Plouffe, it might have been embarrassing, i.e. Arcia raking for some other team, and it might have been chancy, i.e. Kepler brought north. There were options. But it would have taken proactive, and imaginative deal making. Not a deal wrought by an injury, or bringing in a 39 year old former player. A deal to get this operation off the dime, and moving in the right direction. And that my friends, is not going to happen in Twins Territory.

[Riverbrian]

 

Are we the only team in baseball that has 2 first basemen that cant play anywhere else but first? Why is it we move everybody else around but Mauer. He should have volunteered to go to right to get Park at first. What a leader. Cuddy would have!

 

You are invited to join the "Baseball Player Position Flexibility" Club.

 

We are new and don't have many members but one of our goals is World Peace.

[ashbury]

When I say great, I mean compared to where he was before. 

In that case Pedro Florimon had a great 2013.

[Pardon My Dinger]

Ah, the old addition by subtraction. Does it make sense mathematically? No. However, holistically, this roster could use some serious feng shui.

 

I like all of these guys, but trading Plouffe for anything of value (and I mean anything) has always been the answer.

[Pardon My Dinger]

Btw, great article, Brandon.

[Platoon]

You are invited to join the "Baseball Player Position Flexibility" Club.

 

We are new and don't have many members but one of our goals is World Peace.

And how do we know that this will not end up just another cult, with a maniacal, messianic leader. Eventually we would all follow you to northern Idaho, there to find that not only don't they carry FSN on cable, but all the modems are still dial up! A primitive existence indeed!

[Twinfan & Dad]

Kudos to Terry Ryan for assembling this roster. Terrible DEFENSE, hit and miss a lot line-up and no clear direction. Please step down Terry Ryan!

[alarp33]

If I could say it over again, I would say the Twins are vastly overstating Plouffe's value.

 

Plouffe should be traded tomorrow. I've said it all offseason and I'll say it again. The team is better without him playing, offensively and defensively. He won't be traded, and I would say he's a non tender candidate next year... $9-$10 million can be better spent elsewhere

 

Sano 3B, Kepler RF is your best lineup tomorrow, next month, next year, etc.

 

Arcia can get plenty of at bats vs righties filling in for any of the 3 outfielders (Rosario, Buxton, Kepler) or Park

[The Wise One]

Any trades require 2 things. A player is obvious. What does not seem obvious is that it requires a team to want that player.  The Twins have players to move. Nowhere to move them.

[Kwak]

How many times did they strike-out today?-and people are talking about defense??

 

PS:  Mauer ​isn't the problem. 

[twinsnorth49]

 

Why do fans and baseball people always say, 'It's only April'? Those games count just as much as September.  Yet no one says, 'It's only September.'

I think if I  had 5-10 games to make up to get in a playoff spot I'd prefer it to be April than September.

[twinsnorth49]

 

Any trades require 2 things. A player is obvious. What does not seem obvious is that it requires a team to want that player.  The Twins have players to move. Nowhere to move them.

How do you know?

[twinsnorth49]

After what Sano did to the league last year, and how he looked doing it, it's still shocking how they came to the conclusion Trevor Plouffe should  play in front of him. 

 

What other conclusion can one come to other than the Twins massively overvalue Plouffe?  I don't get it, Trevor Plouffe isn't the kind of player you rejig your roster to keep around and find at bats for, Sano is though, the whole thing is absurdly backwards.

[Willihammer]

At this point, you have to look at any trade as a rebuild move, and not as a playoff push move. Exactly 1 of 28 teams to start 0-8 finished >.500, and none made the playoffs. The Twins dug a hole that they mostly likely won't get out of until Apr 2017. So trading Plouffe to improve the 2016 defense would be a pointless goal.

 

With that in mind, give PT to the guys who are causing the bottleneck- Arcia, Plouffe, Park, etc in hopes of building their stock. Re-balance this July/winter for fair returns.

 

The worst thing would be to squander good assets, and Plouffe is one, under the delusion that improving the defense could make or break their playoff chances in 2016. Because it probably won't matter.

[The Wise One]

 

How do you know?

I can see that there are players on the roster and read the standings, that is how I know they have players to move. How do I know that nobody wants them, there are no trades. I suppose I should have been more detailed in my statement and said nobody wanted them for a deal that Ryan would accept. Ryan stated why he would not move Plouffe was that they would have to replace his production.  To get Plouffe then, the team would need to offer a player that could produce what Plouffe did. That is hardly illogical. Nobody offered. I will remember to be more specific next time I make a comment.

[Platoon]

Trading Plouffe might not be quid pro quo. But the bottom line is the league only allows 25 on a roster. As North stated he isn't the guy you build around. There were other ways to do something but they always leave you short a spot when you factor Kepler in the mix. You could of course give up on Rosario, not my choice though. Barring a medical reason Mauer would have been a superior RF also. There were numerous ways to address the roster, both before and after the Park pickup. They chose the least obvious one. Maybe they will be the "smartest man in the room", and that might not become clear until next year. But the offense isn't suffering from offense, it's suffering from too many of the same type of hitters. No OB guys. No table setter. The percentage of solo HR's is unbelievable. These guys are all MLB hitters, but that doesn't mean you can put them all on one team. You likely can't make a major trade now, it's too early, needs by other teams have not been identified. Ours on the other hand should have been. What is happening was fairly predictable. Relying completely on offense in baseball is a fools errand. While there will be illusionary offensive stretches to come, what you see, is what you get.

[ashbury]

The percentage of solo HR's is unbelievable.

In the AL in 2015 there were 2634 homers hit. 1549 were with the bases empty. 58.8%.

 

The Twins that year hit 156 HR. 92 were with bases empty. 59.0%.

 

This year so far they have 16 HR. 14 were with bases empty. 87.5%

 

Yes, terrible. Unbelievable, even. Which is why I say, same guys as last year for the most part, so I'm going to go with Small Sample Size. That's how I often look at unbelievable things - I don't believe them.

 

 

[nytwinsfan]

Brandon, I agree with your take, but think you could be even more firm about it. The Twins need to free up 3B for Sano, sooner rather than later. Plouffe was on a tear to start the season before the unfortunately timed injury, so that could have opened up more room to trade him, except the Twins never try to trade a non-long term asset when they are at their peak value (well, maybe Aaron Hicks). Just look at Nolasco. If he continues to pitch well the next few weeks, the Twins will convince themselves he's now a #2 or #3 starter and won't trade him. Then he'll fall back to earth. I'd love to be wrong, but I don't think I am. Trading Plouffe for value is going to be tough, but the Twins have to do it. The development of Sano and the OFs he's blocking depends on it.

 

If the Twins current skid continues for the next week or two, they need to be honest with themselves and realize this is going to be (unfortunately) yet another year without playoff baseball. If so, they may as well get their young players some development and try to build some value for older pieces that are not in the long term plan before trading them. I'm not holding my breath though.