Miller: Adrianza looking for elusive job security

[Otto von Ballpark]

Because his realistic upside at his point is something like Florimon? Teams generally don't start those guys unless they are desperate.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Why is his upside Florimon? Because someone on TwinsDaily said so, and it had a nice ring to it?

[Otto von Ballpark]

No. It just a realistic assessment of his career to date. Do you have a source that suggests his realistic upside is higher?

[Boom Boom]

Why do you feel his option years were wasted?

 

IMO, when you sign a young guy - Polanco was 16 in his first GCL experience - you in effect commit to adding him (assuming he's developing satisfactorily) to your 40-man before he's finished developing, or else risk losing him via the rule-5 draft, and then you use his option years to let him continue developing in the minors.

 

That's what they did with Polanco. They did bring him up a couple of times in 2014/2015, precisely because he was now on the 40-man and thus an expedient choice to fill out the active roster for a few days or weeks. During his final option year, 2016, he was deemed ready, and was brought up at mid-season to stay.

 

There's a possible misperception that bringing a young guy up to the majors is what burns an option. It's the other way around - once the player has been added to the 40-man roster, he must be on the active (25-man) roster unless he has options remaining.

 

I guess the argument could be made that the Twins should have gambled by leaving him exposed to the rule-5 draft after he hit .300 with some pop at single-A as a 19-year-old. That would have preserved his 3 options by not starting the clock for another year. Would a bottom-feeder team have been able to make room for him for an entire season, and would there have been no better targets in that draft? I believe no middle infielders were chosen in the December 2013 draft, so maybe that means he would have sneaked through, in hindsight - or maybe it means he would have stood out as the infielder to take.

I say wasted because the Twins got next to no value out of those years. If he was going to be on the 40-man anyway for those two years, it would have been nice to have him on the 25-man for more than a handful of days.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

No, I have no such source or projection. I have been comparing their past performance.

 

Both Florimon and Adrianza are awful at the plate, though Adrianza is not as awful as Florimon, and is coming off a below average but not-at-all-awful .679 OPS, 86 wRC+ with the Giants in a small number of plate appearances in 2016. So, to say that Adrianza's "upside" on offense is Florimon; that is, if Adrianza hits as well as he can hit, it means he is hitting as well as Florimon, that is mistaken.

 

But it's the fielding aspect I think people are not seeing. Adrianza is simply a better fielder than Florimon, which is what the Twins need most from shortstop right now, in my opinion.

 

In 358+ innings at short from 2011-2012, Florimon's UZR/150 was -11.6, ranking him 55th out of 67 shortstops with at least 300 innings over that period.

 

In 307 innings at short from 2013-2016, Adrianza's UZR/150 was 19.8, 3rd of 88 shortstops, behind only Simmons and Lindor. Florimon got 1,000 innings at short with the Twins in 2013 and qualifies for that same list. He ranked 20th out of 88; not bad. That was Florimon's best season.

 

Based on what they have done and not how they project, I think it's worth giving Adrianza a shot to play shortstop full time. He can bat ninth no problem. The Twins need a steady glove over there.

[Otto von Ballpark]

300 innings is like 25% of a season. Hard to read too much into that.

 

The exact same "Twins need a defender, and who cares about the 9 hitter" argument was trotted out for Florimon too. There are MLB players who could make a compelling case for that working out, but most waiver wire fodder is not that kind of player.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Well, I made my own case for why Adrianza is not the second coming of Florimon. At least I'm happy.

[bighat]

 

If he's the starter after the ASB, my guess is he will be the starter before the break and Polanco will be the utility fielder, DanSan gone, not sure about Esco's role then.

I like Escobar, to be honest.  I think he's a great utility guy who can spot start twice per week in the IF.  DanSan will be the utility OF / Pinch Runner, etc.