Take a chance on Figgins?

[Fireflyfan]

I know Chone Figgins has been bad since he left the Angels. Really one of the biggest free agent busts in Mariner history if not in all of baseball. That said, the Twins need a lead off hitter, they want someone to compete at thirdbase. Figgins can do both and can play second and the outffield. I wouldn't do anything more than a one year minor league deal with a spring training invite. After batting less than .200 the last 2 years, I don't think anyone else is going to give him anything more. He was a good player for the Angels and a bad player for the Mariners. Maybe a change of uniforms is all he needs. If not, the Twins release him or leave him in the minors.

 

Could be one of those low risk, high reward situations the Twins seem to covet.

[Seth Stohs]

Especially after today, I definitely like him at $1M or less as a backup 3B and now a CF option.

[Craig in MN]

It's more like a low risk, decent reward situation. He makes a lot more sense today than he did a week ago, and I'd probably make the offer to him. If he hits .250 and gives them some depth in the OF & IF, that's a decent reward. But the worst case scenario is that Gardy falls in love with him, and plays him regularly, and bats him at the top of the order, while he hits .180 for two months until one of the AAA guys are close enough to ready to force the issue. That's a makes the risk higher than most might think.

[snepp]

http://www.twinsdaily.com/showthread.php?4137-Chone-Figgins

[Mike Sixel]

Why not just go with Mastro and Benson while you wait for Hicks? Gardy loves guys like this....what does he bring to the team that Mastro and Benson don't?

 

Play Plouffe every day at 3B, see what you have. Play Mastro/Benson, see what you have.

 

Ah, Snepp....thanks. Another thread....

[PseudoSABR]

http://www.twinsdaily.com/showthread.php?4137-Chone-Figgins

Quit being lazy, and copy and paste the entire thread here.

[AllhopeisgoneMNTWINS]

I would not mind one bit if we signed him for depth.

[kab21]

I would not mind if we gave him a minor league contract but that is as high as I'll go for someone that has hit like Buterrible for 2 seasons.

[DaveW]

No. No. No. No. No. No.

[nicksaviking]

I'd be interested if the FO thinks he can still play 2B. He was a good OBP guy back in LA. He wouldn't be the first guy to resurect his career after getting a huge payday then tanking in Seattle. Beltre certainly has been productive since he left. Ironic, Washington legalizes pot after the Mariners get rid of disappointing slackers.

[Top Gun]

Sign him before some one else does.

[Kobs]

I'd be interested if the FO thinks he can still play 2B. He was a good OBP guy back in LA. He wouldn't be the first guy to resurect his career after getting a huge payday then tanking in Seattle. Beltre certainly has been productive since he left. Ironic, Washington legalizes pot after the Mariners get rid of disappointing slackers.

 

I agree, it's pretty much a given that Figgins would be great in Minnesota with that undeniable trend of one guy.

[snepp]

I'd be interested if the FO thinks he can still play 2B. He was a good OBP guy back in LA. He wouldn't be the first guy to resurect his career after getting a huge payday then tanking in Seattle. Beltre certainly has been productive since he left. Ironic, Washington legalizes pot after the Mariners get rid of disappointing slackers.

 

Nevermind that Safeco Field is absolutely brutal to right-handed pull hitters, like Beltre. Or that he was just 30 when he left Seattle. Or that Figgins is 35. Or that Figgins has been putting up Buteraesque production.

[Brock Beauchamp]

I'd be interested if the FO thinks he can still play 2B. He was a good OBP guy back in LA. He wouldn't be the first guy to resurect his career after getting a huge payday then tanking in Seattle. Beltre certainly has been productive since he left. Ironic, Washington legalizes pot after the Mariners get rid of disappointing slackers.

 

Beltre and Figgins have virtually nothing in common as hitters.

[nicksaviking]

Good Lord, call off the dogs. Nowhere did I say he would be useful, I simply implied he still may have something left in the tank.

[Brock Beauchamp]

Good Lord, call off the dogs. Nowhere did I say he would be useful, I simply implied he still may have something left in the tank.

 

It's possible, I suppose. His BABIP has been absurdly low over the past two seasons... But I don't think that has much to do with Safeco. Figgins puts the ball on the ground 40% of the time. Not an extreme amount but if he still had speed, there's no reason for his BABIP to be that low with 40% of his contact turning into groundballs. That probably means two things:

 

1. He's old and slow now.

2. He's making some really awful contact.

 

And sure enough, his spray chart is ugly. I mean, I don't know if I've ever seen a spray chart like this. It's horrible. Look at all those outs on or around the pitching mound and on the third base grass and look at how few hits he has in the outfield, particularly directly to left, center, and right. That means almost none of his groundballs are getting through the infield. Jesus.

 

 

For laughs, here is Drew Butera's spray chart. It actually looks good compared to Figgins:

 

What can we learn from this? That Chone Figgins is very, very bad at baseball now.

[DaveW]

I will say it again, it is very likely that Figgins was the worst player in baseball over the past two years, yes probably even worse then Butera. At least Butera brings defensive value.

 

No, Figgins can't play 2nd base any more, the last time he played 3 seasons ago he had a pretty crappy track record. In addition, he is basically a clubhouse cancer.

 

A team like the Twins, who basically will need everything to go right in order to compete next year really have no business bringing in a ****ty ball player and a ****ty human into the fold.

 

I never thought I would actually say "Give me Jack Hannahan" but give me him 8 days a week over freaking Chone. Also, Mark Derosa in all honesty would have a 10x greater chance to produce for us then garbage Figgins.

[Boom Boom]

Carroll > Figgins.

[DaveW]

Carroll > Figgins.

Avian Flu> Justin Bieber > Joe Mays> Figgins

[snepp]

Carroll > Figgins.

Avian Flu> Justin Bieber > Joe Mays> Figgins

 

No Jeff Gray? Shame on you.

[DaveW]

Carroll > Figgins.

Avian Flu> Justin Bieber > Joe Mays> Figgins

 

No Jeff Gray? Shame on you.

 

Blame it on the massive hangover.

[snepp]

Massive hangovers > Jeff Gray > Figgins

[DaveW]

Sounds like someone is asking for a non refundable boom daddy to the chin!

[Shane Wahl]

Massive hangovers > Jeff Gray > Figgins

 

Pretty good summary.

 

Figgins is TERRIBLE now. Does that word mean nothing to some of you? The Twins might as well just call up Escobar, who isn't very good either but is still developing and is--right now--better than Figgins.

 

That the Mariners threw Figgins out in CF for 9 games or whatever doesn't make him a backup CF. Is Michael Hollimon still around? He would actually be no worse than Chone Figgins. Good grief.

[Shane Wahl]

Even a ridiculous thing like jumping Danny Santana two levels would produce better results than signing Figgins.

[Kirby_waved_at_me]

I think a minor league contract with a Spring Training invite hurts no one- let him be the Twins' version of Lew Ford last year; if he gets hot in AAA, call him up. I wouldn't give him a 40 man spot unless there were injuries or he really impressed in AAA. He's not the guy to challenge Plouffe at 3rd, though.

[DaveW]

I think a minor league contract with a Spring Training invite hurts no one- let him be the Twins' version of Lew Ford last year; if he gets hot in AAA, call him up. I wouldn't give him a 40 man spot unless there were injuries or he really impressed in AAA. He's not the guy to challenge Plouffe at 3rd, though.

 

If he wasn't a clubhouse cancer, sure. I don't want him poisoning our prospects in AAA. He isn't worth it.

[strumdatjag]

Not interested in Seattle's cr*#^py (and old) cast-off, just because he used to be good a few years ago. Big mistake to sign Chone.

[nicksaviking]

Well it sounds like he better start learning Japanesse then.

[glunn]

[video=youtube_share;n5lnFEGu6i0]http://youtu.be/n5lnFEGu6i0