Jorge Polanco’s Twins Tenure is Approaching an End

[Major League Ready]

2 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

I like Polanco. I don't think I keep him....

1. He's not very good defensively. You want a good defensive bench guy to replace Julien late in games. Who is your backup SS if he's on the roster and Farmer isn't?

2. He's not been healthy for two years. Not sure why he would be next year.

3. He blocks young players. THIS FO has shown they LOVE veterans. I mean, Julien was great in replacing Polanco the first time, but was sent down and was only up again because Polanco got hurt a second time. I don't trust this FO to give Lee or Severino shots next year if Polanco is on the roster.

4. He's better than many teams' 2b, and has trade value. 

5. That's a good chuck of change for a backup. 

6. He's not ever going to be demoted to AAA for depth reasons.

If they do keep him, I hope they are smart enough to move on if he doesn't play well (Gallo indicates that's unlikely) or if Lee and/or Severino are mashing next year.

They actually have a lot of back-up SSs.  Lewis would be the 1st back-up.  By June (hopefully) Lee or Lewis with Castro as a 3rd option.  This team has all kinds of depth at 2B/3B/SS.  I could go either way.  One possibility is they start the season with Castro / Polanco / Gordon and Larnach or a RH OFer acquired over the winter.  Polanco and Farmer do not make sense IMO.  Injuries always provide plenty of opportunity for auditions.  Lee / Severino / Prato / Martin / Miranda and Hellman will all hopefully continue to earn a shot.

The other train of thought is to continue with the youth movement.  That many guys, All with versatility.  Most with options.  That reduces the risk of letting Polanco go.  Now, if they can get something decent in return, my on the fence point of view shifts significantly in favor of moving him.  Spend the $10M on pitching or to contribute to landing a good RH OFer.  Plus, get a decent prospect and this becomes a pretty easy decision for me.  Of course, there is a quarter of a season left to influence this line of thinking.

[MABB1959]

On 8/18/2023 at 6:09 PM, bird said:

I guess I take a more nuanced view of rookies. Royce Lewis and Austin Martin are #! abSo Royce Lewis and Austin Martin are #1 and #5 overall draft selections. Now, if I was suggesting replacing Taylor with Celestino and Taylor with Helman? Then maybe you'd be on to something regarding a 100 loss season, although even THAT change may not result in the disaster you envision, my friend. I mean Castro's 1.8 WAR and Taylor's 1.4 WAR ain't needle-changers.

We haven’t seen Austin Martin yet and I am very concerned about Lewis’ health.  I don’t want Polanco gone but I would like to see him succeed on a team where he is appreciated.  Rosario has had success in playoffs and just named NL player of the week.  Many were so down on him.  

[stringer bell]

Good on Eddie Rosario. However, as recently as two weeks ago, he had a negative WAR. I saw an article out of Atlanta speculating that he was playing his way out of the Braves organization (for 2024).

[Major League Ready]

8 hours ago, stringer bell said:

Good on Eddie Rosario. However, as recently as two weeks ago, he had a negative WAR. I saw an article out of Atlanta speculating that he was playing his way out of the Braves organization (for 2024).

It goes beyond he was having a bad year before having a huge week.  He had a -1.1 WAR last year.  The year before he had .7 WAR but did hit really well in the playoffs.  He is also a poor defender, so I just don't understand how people look at the fact that he has been bad for a longtime while saying it was a mistake to let him go.  It's an absolute refusal to look at the facts.  They have not done well in terms of replacing him until now with Wallner but even the replacements have performed better than Rosario and the money was invested elsewhere.

Last year the battle cry was we can't possibly let Correa go.  Same story with Buxton.  Most said Jeffers was not a starter.  The majority said Kirilloff's wrist would be the end of him.  Many said Wallner was too horrible on defense and that he would be exposed offensively at this level.  Many said Julien could not replace Arraez.  His offensive stats are equal and they are equally bad on defense.  Of course, we gained a very good pitcher for the next 4 years.  How about the predictions for Pagan here?  As a group, we might be best served in being more open to change while also embracing trust in developing talent.  

BTW ... I thought Haniger would have been a good fit instead of Gallo.  Well, he has absolutely sucked!