Edouard Julien Has a Blueprint to Work On

17 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

The best position young position player the Twins have in their system is a first baseman, Alex Kirilloff. He is good defensively and is a guy who can hit now and should improve. I'm afraid first base is the most certain positive the team has and that leaves those who want to play first base on the outside.

Julien can still hit his way to a regular spot but the Twins better hope Polanco holds the position because he is really good and it would be a shame if Jorge fails.

Kiriloff can play RF..... But your point is valid

Fangraphs has Julien's current and future defense a 30, which is, to be polite, not good.....

A few comments:

1] To echo what chpettit19 just stated, virtually every milb prospect plays multiple positions while in the minors. This is done for 2 reasons.

a] Depth in the system, and players at the ML level, means ANY prospect, even a TOP prospect, SS, CF, whatever, might end up blocked. So what then? Well, you would want them to be in your lineup. So do you transition on the fly at the ML level? Or has said prospect already had a chance to learn another spot? Lewis is a perfect example of this.

b] The minors are there to try to develop ALL of your players. Now, most won't make it. Some end up being filler. But they ALL have to play to see if and how much they develop. As an example, most/many milb teams carry 3 catchers. And those catchers will play 1B/DH/3B/etc, to keep their bats in the lineup, gain experience, and let the other prospects develop.

2] Right or wrong, Julien is often compared to Arraez as a potentially great hitter...though a different one...without a defensive position, who might be an exciting bat/table setter. Arraez was tossed in to LF as a rookie with no experience there that I'm aware of. He was told to back up, keep the ball in front of him, and do the best he could. Honestly, IMO, I've seen worse OF defensively in the past, LOL. He wasn't horrible at 3B, and became a pretty good 1B on the fly, which is damn hard to do. 

Julien has a mediocre arm, possibly due to surgery, but is a faster, better overall athlete than Arraez. And prior to this year, he's ONLY played 2yrs of pro ball. So he's absolutely a work in progress, despite spending time at different spots in college and his first pro season. Now, full confession, I've only caught a handful of games of Julien defensively at 2B when he's been up. I've seen routine plays, a couple solid plays, and some bobbled plays. I've also seen some good and bad hilight videos. So I don't have enough information to know how good/decent/bad he might be at 2B. But why can't he still improve? I'm betting he could be a pretty decent 1B. Even with an average at best arm, isn't he athletic enough to play a little LF? Unless he just doesn't have ANY sort of tracking ability, could he be worse than Young or Willingham in LF?

When the bat/offense plays, you find a spot or spots where he can play. I sort of get him focusing on 2B right now with the idea they want him to be able to actually play acceptable there, with the idea a move to 1B...maybe LF...would probably be easier. But are they doing him a disservice focusing too much on 2B only?

Young, athletic, only 2yrs of pro experience, can't he get better?

3] If the Twins just want to build one of the best INF in all of MLB, it would be AK at 1B, Correa at SS, and a combination of Lewis and Lee at 3B/2B. So where does Julien fit other than being an "average" defensive player with a great bat at a couple spots as well as DH? And that's fine, but what if Buxton is going to be a "Molitor" type of DH move full time? And what about the future of Polanco? There are questions that his under 30yo body is breaking down. Maybe?? But a healthy Polanco is a hell of a good player and one of the Twins best. And they still have control of him for two more years. 

To be clear, having too many good players is not a bad problem. And things often work themselves out. But the Twins are going to have to make some very hard/interesting decisions really soon to fit everyone in, or move some guys. Does Lewis move to the OF fairly soon? Does Polanco get moved? Do the Twins keep Julien at 2B, or start to work him at a couple spots to attempt to increase his versatility as an "acceptable" defensive player at those spots? 

I don't know that there are any easy answers. And I think it's going to be fluid going in to 2024. But I DO THINK you do what you can to "polish" Julien the best you can to find a way to make room for him while working the rest of the roster the best you can to put everyone in the best spots.