Alan Roden Should Report to Fort Myers Next Spring with at Least One Extra Glove

[S Bart]

Maybe come to spring training with a little less weight also. 🤔 it would improve his performance.

[bean5302]

41 minutes ago, MMBoys93 said:

55th percentile xSLG, 60th percentile hard hit, .488 SLG in minors this year. Martin career high is 7 HRs at any minor league level. Not a good comp 

It's a good comp for overall production/profile.

MiLB, especially this year's International League, is not the same as MLB. 80%+ of players you're comparing Roden to in the minors are not good enough to stick on an MLB roster. So yeah, Roden's "hard hit" could be slightly better than the average player who isn't good enough to play in MLB.

You seem to be confused about SLG = Power. It's not. ISO is extra base production. SLG is batting average + extra bases. Roden has a high batting average. He has a very low ISO at the level where it counts (MLB).

Roden has a career ISO of .102 at the MLB level. Martin has a career ISO of .090. Might as well be identical twins as far as I'm concerned.

Roden hit 1 HR in 94 PA this year, which would be 6 HRs in 600 PA. Martin hit 3 HR in 358 PA or 5 HRs in 600 PA. Again, twins where it actually matters (MLB).

Rodens bat speed is 69.7 mph. Martins is 69.1 mph. Power comes from bat speed. They're both far below average. The biggest difference between them is Roden tries to hit the ball hard 2x as often as Martin. 

[Greggory Masterson]

48 minutes ago, IndianaTwin said:

Yeah, but if he splits time between 1B and the OF, people will complain about the Twins not putting a guy at a position and letting him stay there. 

That's sarcasm -- I'm a big fan of positional flexibility. Put me in the camp of those intrigued enough by his past to explore the options. And he's still got an option left, according to Fangraphs. 

Like I always say: the best benches have a guy who can only play second base

[MackMan]

28 minutes ago, S Bart said:

Maybe come to spring training with a little less weight also. 🤔 it would improve his performance.

They said that every year with Sano. And when he would finally shed the weight off, he still performed just as horribly. So losing the weight doesn't really mean anything. Could losing the weight help stave off some exhaustion and potential injuries down the line? Absolutely. But there isn't as much correlation that as people like to think.

[RpR]

Just now, MackMan said:

They said that every year with Sano. And when he would finally shed the weight off, he still performed just as horribly. So losing the weight doesn't really mean anything. Could losing the weight help stave off some exhaustion and potential injuries down the line? Absolutely. But there isn't as much correlation that as people like to think.

It means you can start running quicker and longer.

[MackMan]

Just now, RpR said:

It means you can start running quicker and longer.

Maybe. Now I'm not saying that he's currently Matthew LeCroy where he needs an oxygen mask rounding 1st base, but it isn't the biggest thing he needs to work on. Could he get down to 200 or maybe even 190? Probably and it would definitely help his overall health. But I would rather see him hitting the weight room harder than trying to lose weight. 

[Twinsrtheworst]

3 hours ago, bean5302 said:

Nah, we have the first baseman of the future already on the roster. Aaron Sabato put up top 5%, top 10%, top 20% a really high OPS in the minors this year and his xwOBA of .308 suggests he deserved to be top 5%, top 10%... better than average, not the absolute worst hitter in the International league so he's guaranteed for the future!

Why the need to drag Sabato through the mud? Was he mentioned in the article? Is he related to the article? You just wanted to read numbers on Sabato? You don't like like Sabato? And yes I know the answer to my question already. Now can we get back to Rosen as the topic?

[S Bart]

50 minutes ago, MackMan said:

They said that every year with Sano. And when he would finally shed the weight off, he still performed just as horribly. So losing the weight doesn't really mean anything. Could losing the weight help stave off some exhaustion and potential injuries down the line? Absolutely. But there isn't as much correlation that as people like to think.

 well...there is speed..less weight..

[bean5302]

Sano never shed weight to a playable level.

I think he debuted in 2015 at about 260, and he was decent defensively at 3B. As I recall, he was like 235lbs in 2014 and that was a big jump from like 220lbs in 2013. He kept packing on the fat until he was over 3 bills and never got down to a reasonable playing weight for the rest of his career. 

It was speculated that Sano hit 335lbs at one point before joining the Angels.

[DocBauer]

First of all, the Twins need to build a 13 man roster where EVERYONE can actually bring something to the team. All 13 spots are valuable. Secondly, they need to actually USE all 13 players in a constructive way conducive to the building of that roster.

Currently we have no real clue who is going to play 1B. Hopefully it's an upgrade via trade since FA looks questionable at this point. But if we look at the roster as it stands now, we have a LH catcher (FWIW), 2 LH INF, 2 LH OF, plus 2 RH OF, 1 RH INF, and a probable backup RH bat at C and SU. So there's still room to add a 1B and 2nd utility player who could be RH, but that's TBD.

All of that to say I don't think the 5th OF necessarily has to be RH or LH. They just need to be a decent ballplayer who  can help the ballclub. I just don't see enough value in Martin. IDK if Gonzalez or Mendez are ready, and they need to play daily. So unless they add someone else, I think Roden is the best fit. And I'm also a believer in bench players having  versatility to increase their value to the team. So absolutely he should be working out at 1B. I was pushing for that last offseason to increase his flexibility. 

Someone needs to be able to play 1B on a backup basis. And if you aren't a primary starter, you need as many ways as possible to help the team. Roden finishing the season strong hopefully means he's ready to stick at the ML level.  Being able to play some 1B increases his value. The obvious answer to the OP is YES he should.

[weitz41]

I like Roden as a 4th-6th outfielder. We all know there will be injuries to the top 3 outfielder's.  Not sure about the 1B idea. He hasn't shown the type of power you'd like to see for a 1st baseman. AB's wise it may be a bit early to make any real judgements, but age wise it's getting a little late to expect much more than what he has now.

Square peg for round hole...

In order to improve the Twins really need a 3+ WAR 1st basemen. I don't think Roden is that guy. A 1-2 WAR bench player? I'd buy that.