The Twins Should Focus On What Austin Martin Is, Not On What He Isn’t

[sweetmusicviola16]

It will be an interesting camp and early season. I really want to see where Martin is at, and at the same time Larnach. I haven't given up on Trevor just yet.

[Blyleven2011]

He has some skills and is probably  close to his debut  , he most likely will start the season in AAA  even if he outplays  another player  ...

If he can bat ninth and Julien 1 and Lewis  2  , Correa or Buxton  3rd we will score a bunch of runs through out the game  , last year it seemed we stalled in the later innings to score runs , at least in the first half ...

We need to find hitters that get on base , drive in runs , hit in the clutch  , etc.  ...

We have now lost 2 decent hitters in the past 2 years  , we need replacements like Correa performing  like he's capable of doing and Buxton improving his swing , it's been terrible the past 2 seasons due to injuries alternating his swing ....

[darin617]

10 hours ago, sweetmusicviola16 said:

I would like to see the club focus on Martin and not Michael Taylor or Adam Duvall. 

Then what happens when Martin can't handle MLB pitching? If they can get MAT or Duvall for 5M or less jump all over it.

[arby58]

To me, Martin seems like a logical replacement (at a much reduced salary) for Farmer. This creates a lot of flexibility, since both he and Castro can play both infield and outfield, where Farmer is just an infielder. Maybe it doesn't happen at the beginning of the year, but it sure makes sense further down the line.

[RpR]

23 hours ago, darin617 said:

Then what happens when Martin can't handle MLB pitching? If they can get MAT or Duvall for 5M or less jump all over it.

Do not destroy all the Fantasy Baseball that has been floating around this site lately.🤣

[Ryan_K]

What type of return would the twins want for a package of Kirriloff and Martin from Marlins? Controllable set up type, or is there a bigger trade possible with those two plus Lee or one of our SP I. e. Garrett? 

[Otaknam]

Agreed. Let Martin be who he is, a line drive hitter with excellent speed who gets on base and can play multiple positions. The obsession with power makes the team blind to Martin’s strengths. I hope they learned a lesson.

[Doctor Gast]

I think that Martin is more than a Buxton sub. His RH bat can be used as a platoon at either cOF. And as his tool sets really take effect, they'll try to get him in the game any way they can.

[tony&rodney]

10 hours ago, Ryan_K said:

What type of return would the twins want for a package of Kirriloff and Martin from Marlins? Controllable set up type, or is there a bigger trade possible with those two plus Lee or one of our SP I. e. Garrett? 

Martin has very little value in the trade market. Most of the conversation, which looks at Martin in a positive light, puts him on the team as a 26th player playing a utility role. These types of players are widely available. Alex Kirilloff, on the other hand, has a very high ceiling. His value is quite low right now due to past injuries. If you look at how he massacred AAA pitching playing for the Saints in 2022 and 2023 or what a full season (2018) of Kirilloff is, you can see the possibilities of a healthy AK. 

Miami isn't or shouldn't be trading pitching unless they get an absolute haul for Luzardo or Garrett. Think Lee and Lewis, which is a no way from the Twins point of view. Cabrera is out of options and an expensive gamble. Miami wants to see what Max Meyer can do for their team. I think the door is closed for now with Miami. Besides the Twins have a pretty good set of starting pitchers. Any future additions should be at the top not merely for depth.

Sorry for a longer answer. The quick answer is that the Twins would have zero interest in trading Kirilloff now, unless a team wants to give up a Luzardo, Kirby, etc. in a straight one for one deal and that isn't happening.

[saviking]

So, his on-base percentage is similar to Julien and Arraez. His power is closer to Arraez, but his fielding is better than both. Plus, he's a better runner on the base paths. 

What's not to like

[CCHOF5yearstoolate]

1 hour ago, Otaknam said:

Agreed. Let Martin be who he is, a line drive hitter with excellent speed who gets on base and can play multiple positions. The obsession with power makes the team blind to Martin’s strengths. I hope they learned a lesson.

Every team tries to add power to light-hitting prospects to see how much they can get out of them. They spent a season trying it out and then let him go back to doing his thing.

I hope they continue to try and get the absolute most they can out of every prospect, and be smart enough to tell when it's not going to work like they did with Martin. 

[TwinsDr2021]

1 hour ago, saviking said:

So, his on-base percentage is similar to Julien and Arraez. His power is closer to Arraez, but his fielding is better than both. Plus, he's a better runner on the base paths. 

What's not to like

Martin is 25 with a 256//388/361 minor league slash line.

Arraez was in the majors at age 22 and had a slash line in the minors of 331/385/413 (and remember that was ages 17-21)

Julien was in the majors at age 24 (and one could argue that he could have been up earlier with the numbers he put up at age 23 in AA 300/441/490)

Martin shouldn't be compared with these two, it is a huge disservice to them and setting Martin up for failure even if he  ends up been a average major league player. Martin has put up a great OBP but not so great AVE and SLG in leagues where players are putting up video games numbers.

Being the 5th player in the draft in 2020 already has him looking going down the bust path, so why would we set him up for more failure by comparing him to these two. IMO he compares more to Nick Gordon with a better eye.

 

[DannySD]

Martin on the opening day 26 makes a lot of sense to me. If Buxton is healthy, great, but it's still nice to have a third option in CF to make sure he stays that way. Castro will be playing all over. 

[saviking]

22 hours ago, TwinsDr2021 said:

Martin is 25 with a 256//388/361 minor league slash line.

Arraez was in the majors at age 22 and had a slash line in the minors of 331/385/413 (and remember that was ages 17-21)

Julien was in the majors at age 24 (and one could argue that he could have been up earlier with the numbers he put up at age 23 in AA 300/441/490)

Martin shouldn't be compared with these two, it is a huge disservice to themn onband setting Martin up for failure even if he  ends up been a average major league player. Martin has put up a great OBP but not so great AVE and SLG in leagues where players are putting up video games numbers.

Being the 5th player in the draft in 2020 already has him looking going down the bust path, so why would we set him up for more failure by comparing him to these two. IMO he compares more to Nick Gordon with a better eye.

 

I was simply saying they all have a very high on-base percentage and that's part of why Julian and Arraez are so effective. If a team had a lineup of 9 guys with an on-base percentage of .388 or higher, they would be the highest-scoring team in the league.

[HerbieFan]

On 2/22/2024 at 1:55 PM, RpR said:

To trade Julien.

He's likely the best bet to get a top half of the rotation starter I'd guess.  Thought they should think about keeping Polo to play 2B this year...with Lee or Martin waiting in the wings.  Maybe Polo being gone doesnt change that?

[TwinsDr2021]

On 2/24/2024 at 9:11 AM, saviking said:

I was simply saying they all have a very high on-base percentage and that's part of why Julian and Arraez are so effective. If a team had a lineup of 9 guys with an on-base percentage of .388 or higher, they would be the highest-scoring team in the league.

agreed if that was in the majors but it isn't the majors. Based on minor league OBP the Twins could just put Prato, Julien, Lewis, Wallner, Stevenson, Celestino, Martin, Tony Wolters and Larnach and they would be the highest scoring in the league, no?