Front Page: Twins Making Sweeping Changes on the Diamond?

[MileHighTwinsFan]

If Falvey and Levine are to be believed, I would say it is premature to think that Sano is destined to be the every day first baseman. 

 

During the season ticker holder fan forum earlier this week.  Falvey and Levine said that they would like to keep Sano at third as long as possible and have asked him to commit to improving his defense there.  They like his athleticism and his arm at 3rd.  

 

They also said that it is not out of the question that they will bring back Cron on a more team friendly deal.   They will continue to monitor his rehab and continue to consider him an option

 

The last piece of information that they shared is that the plan for Garver is for him to catch a bit more than last year, but on off days from behind the plate he would be placed in the field or at DH. 

 

With Marwin Gonzalez a viable option over there as well, I would not be surprised if the Twins staff first base by committee with Gonzalez, Garver, Sano, Cron or a similarly priced free agent signing (Eric Thames).

 

My sense is that they are saving every nickel for a big time arm either through free agency or trading for a big name (Darvish, Price, Eovaldi) from a team that is looking to dump payroll.  

 

As much as I love Donaldson and Rendon, I don't think it is in the cards.

[DocBauer]

I continue to not understand why others don't seem to understand. 

 

We all saw it last year. 

 

We all watched Baldelli move the pieces around and we had to see the benefit it produced.  

 

Arraez played, 2B, 3B, SS and LF in 2019 and yet we can't help trying to put him into a static role for 2020 and checking that box as filled. You can quote all the defensive stats you want and call him sub-par. We watched the games... Arraez did not kill us defensively and the fact that he could man four different positions, helped us tremendously defensively.

 

By splitting 4 positions in less than a full season... he isn't going to get enough time at any of the positions to get defensive stat accuracy.  Put those Arraez defensive stats down and simply think back to the games you watched. It should come back to you that his defense didn't kill us. He can play 4 positions decently... why would anyone want to take that skill away from him? 

 

Sano to 1B... OK... but why do we need to take away his ability to play 3B so he plays 1B everyday? He can play both. If you want to get Garver some more AB's... Garver can play some 1B and Sano can shift over to 3B to make room when he does. Maybe Rooker gets hot and can play some 1B and Sano can shift to 3B to make room. 

 

Why would you take away his ability to play 3B so he can just stand in one spot and restrict movement from other players on the team? 

 

The 2019 Twins used flexibility to their advantage and produced 101 wins. We watched it... It went well... Why do we want to go back to the old way, especially when that old way didn't work so well? 

Exactly.

 

Why I like the idea of Shaw more and more for versatility sake. Within the next season or so, how about Lewis at 3B, but he can also play CF/SS/2B. Just because Kirilloff might fit in as the primary 1B doesn't mean he can't continue to play OF. Now, Sano becomes the primary DH but can also still play 1B/3B.

 

(Also part of the reason I'm kinda excited about Raley)

[Riverbrian]

 

Exactly.

Why I like the idea of Shaw more and more for versatility sake. Within the next season or so, how about Lewis at 3B, but he can also play CF/SS/2B. Just because Kirilloff might fit in as the primary 1B doesn't mean he can't continue to play OF. Now, Sano becomes the primary DH but can also still play 1B/3B.

(Also part of the reason I'm kinda excited about Raley)

 

Super Utility is real.

 

The National League MVP is Super Utility. If an MVP award doesn't legitimize the concept... I don't what else will.