Twins Must Fix Infield Defense in 2023

Correct me if I am wrong, but weren't advanced metrics kind to Arraez at 1B?
We know Polanco was playing injured most of the year, and is a bounce back candidate
Farmer (for the moment) appears to be solid at SS.
Miranda at 3B is a HUGE question mark.

Not seeing much of a change here this year unless Correa comes back.

So we sort of upgraded by move Miranda off 1st 

Farmer is a good fielder according to metrics. I want him as the Super Ute not starting SS. 

I want C4 very badly.  ??

Polanco honestly seems to cycle every other year. So look for an uptick this year. 
 

if we can’t get C4, then I think we look to the next best SS and if they are close lean to the better defender. 
 

when healthy, I think we have hitters and more in the pipeline.

Arraez was good enough at first, again according to what I have heard. 
 

that leaves Catcher. I hope the coaches improve Jeffers defensive skills. 2nd catcher is a mystery. Murphy will cost too much I think. Toronto has 3 but at what cost?

52 minutes ago, Fire Dan Gladden said:

Correct me if I am wrong, but weren't advanced metrics kind to Arraez at 1B?
 

The metrics may have been kind to Arraez, but, to me at least, the eye test was not. He went after balls to his right when he shouldn't have, he stayed on the bag too long on obviously errant throws and struggled at times with throws in the dirt. He did alright on pop flies to short right and foul territory down the line, his positioning on cut-offs was adequate and he has the arm to make the cut-off throw and the throw across the diamond.

The shortcomings can be worked on this off-season, but it will take time and game repetitions for "instincts" to take over, and if the team continues to use him as a utility player he won't get those. But the bat plays so the team needs him on the field... 

Farmer has good numbers at 3rd base on Baseball Ref. why does anythink he will not replace Urshela?

If Miranda's bat comes back he is the best DH on the team.

2 hours ago, EGFTShaw said:

Polanco honestly seems to cycle every other year. So look for an uptick this year.

Except Polanco's issue defensively last year, as well just playing, was an injured back. That and age don't usually disappear every other year. Hope I'm wrong but I think Polanco is someone who will battle injuries throughout the rest of his career.

With Polanco playing hurt the 2nd half, of course his denfensive #s are going to be way down, so this shouldn't be taken into consideration. I don't blame Polanco for his poor 2nd half defensive #s, I blame management for not dealing with the injury & not getting him back to 100% right away. The way things sit right now is our OF is great, our INF is average(ish), catching defensive terrible, especially throwing out runners and pitchers holding runners on. That should be a growing concern next season. We need an upgrade at catcher and pitchers need to be coached heavily to keep runners on base.

Concerning the shift ban that'll be a problem. Range of the SS & 2B are very important. Farmer & Polanco are slightly above average in a normal year. But beyond them their replacements are terrible. We want Arraez bat in the line up but he absolutely shouldn't play 2B because he has no range what so ever. If he needs more ABs he should get a lot more practice grounders at 3B.

Early in your post you state that neither Polanco or Arraez have been particularly valuable on defense.  Seeing the number of innings Arraez had played first prior to last year was a handful, if any, it is understandable that he made some mental errors .  But the player I saw got better as the season went on, until his knee limited him to part-time DH the last several weeks of the season.

But wasn't Arraez the runner up for the AL gold glove at first base?  That sure as heck seems to me that he would have to add some value to earn that consideration.  Spring training was so short last year and I doubt they expected Luis to be their first baseman, so I suspect he had minimal reps at first, if any.  With the off-season and normal spring training I can see Arraez being an excellent first baseman, even though he isn't built like one.

2 hours ago, FlyingFinn said:

Except Polanco's issue defensively last year, as well just playing, was an injured back. That and age don't usually disappear every other year. Hope I'm wrong but I think Polanco is someone who will battle injuries throughout the rest of his career.

Polanco is about the sturdiest player on the Twins roster. He had ankle problems until they solved the problem by removing him from SS. He injured his back this June was placed on the IL for the 1st time ever in his MLB career, after that he was fine. July he hurt his knee sliding, that wasn't dealt with and they played him until he couldn't stand the pain. Polanco doesn't have a reoccuring back problem or have problem with normal injuries unless they aren't dealt with. Most seasons he leads the Twins with games played & I expect the same for '23 if his injuries are managed right.

3 hours ago, Doctor Gast said:

The way things sit right now is our OF is great, our INF is average(ish), catching defensive terrible, especially throwing out runners and pitchers holding runners on. That should be a growing concern next season. We need an upgrade at catcher and pitchers need to be coached heavily to keep runners on base

Our OF is great???  We have a huge question in left. Two guys with injury histories who have too small of a sample size to really evaluate if they’re any good. CF, when you combine Buxton and whomever’s numbers is average over the whole season. RF is missing a MLB hitter. That’s “great”?  Infield was not average last year. They were well below average, even with Correa. Catcher is missing a MLB player or two. Oddly, the only thing that looks ok is the starting rotation. 

2 hours ago, Doctor Gast said:

He had ankle problems until they solved the problem by removing him from SS. He injured his back this June was placed on the IL for the 1st time ever in his MLB career, after that he was fine. July he hurt his knee

I hope you are right and the ankle/back/knee/etc are all fine next year. He has put a lot of miles on his body as he played all the time in previous years. 

Polanco has been hurt more than not.   Let's say Correa/Bogarts is our SS, does anyone know if Julien has the range at 2B?  Farmer I am sure does but I think he is more of a UTIL.   Arreaz could slide over to 2B as well which could allow a signing at 1B as well (Bell?)  

6 hours ago, roger said:

Early in your post you state that neither Polanco or Arraez have been particularly valuable on defense.  Seeing the number of innings Arraez had played first prior to last year was a handful, if any, it is understandable that he made some mental errors .  But the player I saw got better as the season went on, until his knee limited him to part-time DH the last several weeks of the season.

But wasn't Arraez the runner up for the AL gold glove at first base?  That sure as heck seems to me that he would have to add some value to earn that consideration.  Spring training was so short last year and I doubt they expected Luis to be their first baseman, so I suspect he had minimal reps at first, if any.  With the off-season and normal spring training I can see Arraez being an excellent first baseman, even though he isn't built like one.

I thought the same about his runner up for a God Glove. 
 

Over!

Whats our vector Victor?

The Twins pitching had nearly to lowest rate of ground balls at 40%. How would that impact team defensive metrics?

The one team below them by ground ball/fly ball rate was the Mariners. The Mariners also had better DRS numbers in the outfield than the infield.

Are you certain there is something significant to fix?