"Very strong chance" Twins trade Jorge Polanco This Winter

[DJL44]

9 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

Tiny sample sizes are ridiculous.... Corbin Carroll was just as bad for a similar stretch in the playoffs, then single handedly brought his team to the next round. Seriously

Corbin Carroll was not 0 for the playoffs like Wallner. Wallner would have had more plate appearances but he was A) hitting lousy and B) replaced for defensive purposes. It's not good when your big bats get out-hit by Willi Castro.

I expect Wallner to learn from this and hopefully improve but I doubt he was happy with his performance.

[tony&rodney]

57 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

The Astros exploited the massive hole Wallner has on the inner 3rd of the plate and if he can't close that hole in his swing he's going to be in trouble moving forward.

This is what i saw too. Yes, Wallner will need to adjust. 

On the other hand, Wallner has closed a number of holes in his game in the last couple of years. He appears to be a guy who learns and works hard to correct his weaknesses. This is certainly difficult. 

Wallner used to wave at outside pitches and look to pull everything. This is improving. On defense, he took too long to transfer the ball from his glove to his throwing hand which pretty much negated his bazooka-like arm. Wallner cleaned that up pretty tight and teams just didn't run on him in September. Even on the bases, the big slug has gotten much better. He routinely scores easily from first base on doubles. 

Wallner is a guy who could continue to battle with hitting and fundamentals or he could make rapid improvements. I think that is what you are saying. A pound of eyeballs will be looking to see which way the big Matt goes.

[chpettit19]

1 hour ago, tony&rodney said:

This is what i saw too. Yes, Wallner will need to adjust. 

On the other hand, Wallner has closed a number of holes in his game in the last couple of years. He appears to be a guy who learns and works hard to correct his weaknesses. This is certainly difficult. 

Wallner used to wave at outside pitches and look to pull everything. This is improving. On defense, he took too long to transfer the ball from his glove to his throwing hand which pretty much negated his bazooka-like arm. Wallner cleaned that up pretty tight and teams just didn't run on him in September. Even on the bases, the big slug has gotten much better. He routinely scores easily from first base on doubles. 

Wallner is a guy who could continue to battle with hitting and fundamentals or he could make rapid improvements. I think that is what you are saying. A pound of eyeballs will be looking to see which way the big Matt goes.

Oh, I certainly wasn't saying there's no shot he fixes that, but that's the next test for him. The league knows his weakness now, and he's going to need to make the adjustment to the adjustment. He seems like a hard worker, and clearly has talent. But he has a very real weakness that will need to be addressed or his career will look very different than we all hope it does.

[bigdave]

Trade him already. He's surplus, whether you try him at 2B, 1B or DH. It's the way of the baseball world, Small market teams trade off their overpriced veterans, even if $10M isn't astronomical. It'll free budget space and bring back prospects.

[tony&rodney]

2 hours ago, bigdave said:

Trade him already. He's surplus, whether you try him at 2B, 1B or DH. It's the way of the baseball world, Small market teams trade off their overpriced veterans, even if $10M isn't astronomical. It'll free budget space and bring back prospects.

The Twins and their fans like the young players and the prospects, but Polanco is still the best second baseman on the team right now. On the depth chart, he is #1 at his position.

If Polanco was a free agent this year he would be the clear cut, by a wide margin, best available middle infielder available and get a 3-4 year contract for somewhere between $40-50+ million. 

I'm a big fan of Julien and willing to see the Twins trade virtually anyone (not Festa or Jenkins) if it makes the team better, including Polanco. The thing is, Polanco is a huge value at his current contract and the Twins hold another option as well. The Twins want to win now. They are nor a rebuilding club. Any deal that trades Polanco needs to raise the odds for their team for 2024. Falvey will make those calls so we don't have to worry.

[JD-TWINS]

On 11/13/2023 at 5:27 AM, Doctor Gast said:

You don't trade him because he's a great clutch hitter & cheap, that's why you keep him. You trade him because you can get good trade value. Right now his trade value is about as low as it's ever been.

It IS low - lack of availability over past 2 years - dwindling BA as well. Best of a mediocre situation is trading him with 2-3 other guys for an arm or straight up for prospect. Cannot carry his salary!