Heyman: Twins Have Interest in Brignac

[ScottyB]

Reid Brignac, recently DFA'd by Tampa plays all over 2B, SS, 3B and OF. Is he potential upgrade to Escobar? Is he worth a look?

[Nick Nelson]

We were discussing this on the Dozier thread. I'd definitely give him a shot. Why not?

[Willihammer]

Looks like another Gordon Beckham prospect bust to me.

[Boom Boom]

Reid Brignac, recently DFA'd by Tampa plays all over 2B, SS, 3B and OF. Is he potential upgrade to Escobar? Is he worth a look?

 

He's not only a potential upgrade to Escobar, but he's also a potential upgrade to Florimon. That's not saying a whole lot, but if the Twins get the chance to pick Brignac up they should.

 

All the rhetoric coming out of the Twins camp during the offseason is that they're in love with Florimon and he's their guy.

[BSP]

Does anyone know what happened to Brignac? He was a top 100 prospect for years and has seemingly dropped off a cliff, even in the minors last year.

 

He could be a good "change of scenery" guy. It's not like we have anything special in the middle infield to block anyways.

[nicksaviking]

I'd take him seeing as he's a much more consistant defender, but he really is of no offensive value. His numbers are really no different than Florimon's in the minors last year and it wasn't much of an anomaly. I was pretty surprised when I checked his numbers to see how awful he has been offensively at every level recently. Still, if nobody has a bat, you go with the best defender, that's Brignac over Florimon.

[Boom Boom]

I'd take him seeing as he's a much more consistant defender, but he really is of no offensive value. His numbers are really no different than Florimon's in the minors last year and it wasn't an anomaly. I was pretty surprised when I checked his numbers to see how awful he has been offensively at every level. Still, if nobody has a bat, you go with the best defender, that's Brignac over Florimon.

 

Actually, outside of last year, Brignac has been a better offensive player than Florimon in the minors. His career minor league OPS (a dubious statistic, I know) is nearly 100 points better than Florimon's.

[Craig in MN]

If they don't have to give up anything to get him, I'd absolutely take him. If they need to trade something to get him, I don't know if I'd give up much. Probably the same for Elliot Johnson or any other utility infielder on the waiver wire.

 

I'm really surprised that the Twins haven't already brought in a warm body to compete in the infield. They need 4 or 5 guys to play 2b, 3b, ss, and utility roles. They have 1 guy and 4 question marks. Having a 5th question mark only makes sense. With only Carroll having any sort of real MLB experience, I would imagine Gardenhire would give anything for an experienced guy he could feel comfortable with, while letting the unpolished young guys get playing time at AAA. Of course maybe Ryan is sick of Gardenhire being enamored with bad veterans. But there's no reason to think that Dozier, Florimon, Escobar, or even Plouffe are any better. They might piece it together, but if things go bad or there is an injury or two, things could be even worse than last year.

[Nick Nelson]

Still, if nobody has a bat, you go with the best defender, that's Brignac over Florimon.

I doubt that's true.

[Seth Stohs]

I doubt that's true.

 

Agreed! I'm frankly not certain that Brignac is a better hitter than Florimon, and don't think his offense is any better either.

[Seth Stohs]

According to Tweets from Darren Wolfson, he's not certain of the Twins level of interest in Brignac. He wrote that the Astros have called the Twins, but the Twins had not returned the call yet. If it got to waivers, the Astros would likely take him.

[70charger]

Well apparently he has a hot girlfriend. I went to google his stats and autocomplete had "Reid Brignac girlfriend" ahead of "Reid Brignac Rays" and "Reid Brignac stats." What do the scouts say? Good baseball body and a hot girlfriend? We're good to go, I think.

[snepp]

Hot girlfriends can only improve the watchability of the television broadcasts, I'm sold.

[PseudoSABR]

Hot girlfriends can only improve the watchability of the television broadcasts, I'm sold.

I miss Brain Dinkleman.

[ashbury]

Well apparently he has a hot girlfriend. I went to google his stats and autocomplete had "Reid Brignac girlfriend" ahead of "Reid Brignac Rays" and "Reid Brignac stats." What do the scouts say? Good baseball body and a hot girlfriend? We're good to go, I think.

 

The elusive Sixth Tool: good baseball girlfriend body.

 

Based on his lack of progression from top prospect to polished major leaguer, the stats say don't bother, he'd be just another peer in the Florimon-Escobar mix, and they have a full 40-man so it's not clear he's an improvement over the player you'd risk losing, dregs though they are. However, this is one that comes down to scouting and player evaluation, which is where the Twins have the advantage over armchair GMs like me: they no doubt saw him when Rochester played Durham, and if they saw something they think is correctable in his swing, then it's worth a low-cost pickup. So I say 'no', but if they Twins pick him up I'll hope they spotted something that the normally astute Rays braintrust missed.

[drjim]

It would make sense to bring him in for competition but I wouldn't trade anything for him and I doubt he's getting past Houston.

[mcrow]

I'm all for kicking the tires if it doesn't cost you much.

 

Chances are he's not an upgrade but there is always the chance that changing scenery could energize a player.

[Riverbrian]

Personally... I'd be more interested in Eliot Johnson. All IF positions plus outfield... Can steal a base and hit an occasional dinger.

 

Ill be curious to see if the Twins go someplace with Johnson or Brignac.

[DaveW]

Meh...he can't be worse then what we have but I wouldn't give up anything to get him. Honestly I'd like to see them bring Punto back, the Dodgers really have zero use for him.

[FrodaddyG]

Meh...he can't be worse then what we have but I wouldn't give up anything to get him. Honestly I'd like to see them bring Punto back, the Dodgers really have zero use for him.

No need to sign an infielder who had top 100 prospect promise as recently as 2010. They finally nailed down a couple guys around 30 who have been good enough to merit a combined 8 MLB ABs.

[DaveW]

Maybe we should sign Brandon Wood as well? Again I would take him I just wouldn't give up any sort of asset for him.

[nicksaviking]

What about Jemile Weeks? Lost in the A's trade for Jed Lowrie last week was the realization that it likely took a job away from Weeks. He's a year removed from a great rookie campaign. Last year was brutal, but he seemed to fall on some hard luck as he only managed a .256 BABIP. He's 26 but only has 2 years of service time I don't much like the idea of trading with Billy Beane but I have not been impressed with his moves this year and Weeks value is surely down. Trading for Lowrie doesn't speak much for the team's future with Weeks, Lowrie still isn't a free agent until 2015.

[YourHouseIsMyHouse]

He can't hit AT ALL. The answer is no. We have enough scrubs of equal or better value.

[TheLeviathan]

I just wonder if an organization like the Rays can't squeeze anything more out of him than what they did....why should we expect much better? If he had a skillset of some kind clearly better than what we already have - sure. I guess I just see him as redundant with the other garbage we have. I'd toss him a crappy offer but I wouldn't make any kind of serious investment in him.

[Guest USAFChief]

Actually, outside of last year, Brignac has been a better offensive player than Florimon in the minors. His career minor league OPS (a dubious statistic, I know) is nearly 100 points better than Florimon's.

+1. High minors difference in OPS is pretty substantial. Top 50-ish prospect not that long ago. We're talking about Pedro Florimon here, for pete's sake. Take a shot.

[FrodaddyG]

I just wonder if an organization like the Rays can't squeeze anything more out of him than what they did....why should we expect much better? If he had a skillset of some kind clearly better than what we already have - sure. I guess I just see him as redundant with the other garbage we have. I'd toss him a crappy offer but I wouldn't make any kind of serious investment in him.

Yeah, I'm not on board for anything significant, but maybe a little more than a simple minor league offer ($150k?) to get him into camp and see if he's got anything. He apparently was thought to have upside not that long ago, and Florimon/Escobar will likely be getting 500 ABs this year. I'm all for a move that could prevent that total from getting that high. If nothing else it's another handful of bullPunto to throw against the wall.

[jorgenswest]

I think most teams would take Brignac over Florimon. We will see if he passes through waivers as Florimon did last year. The Twins must see elite defensive value in Florimon that other teams do not see. Of the three, Escobar has the better reputation defensively. Though it is unlikely that any of the three will be a long time regular, Brignac has the best chance to combine moderate offense with an above average glove. Escobar has a chance to have a Nick Punto type career. I think we can be certain that Florimon will combine a great arm with some flashy plays, numerous mistakes and infrequent success at the plate. That is his long term track record and he is a little old to become a prospect now.

[LaBombo]

Middle infielders seem to get hurt more often than other position players, so another live body couldn't hurt, at least in ST.. Carroll will be 39 in 10 days, Dozier struggled, and Flori/esco don't have enough talent combined to make one decent infielder. Whether you address it with Brignac or not, I'd say there's a depth issue there.

[Kobs]

Does anyone know what happened to Brignac? He was a top 100 prospect for years and has seemingly dropped off a cliff, even in the minors last year.

 

He had one lucky season in high A ball, that's what happened to him.

 

Brignac isn't really that bad, especially compared to the dregs the Twins will give at bats to, but let's forget the "Top 100 Prospect" BS. His 2010 season might be a realistic goal, and that would crush what the Twins should expect to get from 3/4 of their infielders this season.

[Fatt Crapps]

Dregs. I'm gonna start using that more.