Kyle Farmer Can’t Be Overlooked for Twins

I didn't like Farmer as a substitute for Correa. Who would? But to be clear, when he was brought on board, the entire market was still in flux. He was either a stop-gap until Lewis was ready, OR, a really good utility piece if and when the Twins found someone better.

Let's be clear, Farmer is a good, solid, starting ML player at a number of spots. To deny that is to sell him short, no pun intended. But to have him, instead, as an experienced and quality player as a $5M utility player is a TREMENDOUS luxury. Even with the idea of him mashing against LHP, would you rather have him or Gordon giving Correa a day off at SS? And I'm a FAN of Gordon! But I'd rather have Farmer there.

Polanco is out for a few weeks? Gordon is OK at 2B against RHP, and Farmer against LHP, but late innings and you want the better glove there, I'd call on Farmer. And we could examine 3B on some days if we want to. But we don't have to. I'd be willing to bet over half the teams in the league would love to have Farmer as their utility infielder. And that's NOT a shot at Gordon, but a testament as to the plug and play ability of Farmer to be a quality ML player.

Beyond 2023 gets interesting, as the Twins have control. But if a few things break right, POTENTIALLY, Farmer MIGHT be redundant. But isn't it nice to know the Twins have a really good super utility infielder already plugged in?

Good article.

Yeah, the Twins seem to have many utility type players,: Farmer, Gordon, Solano,, Castro, and even Gallo.  It seems like overkill, but with all these interchangeable parts, maybe it's a good thing.  But it can be confusing, and not just for the fans.  The players themselves don't even know who's on first on any given day.  It reminds me of a modern office where everybody shares and you don't have your own desk.  I guess it has its benefits.  But it also has its drawbacks.  We'll see how things shake out.

13 hours ago, Dman said:

I wasn't sure about Farmer coming in but he sure impressed me this spring.  He just seems pretty rock solid and if used primarily against lefties should be able to shine with the bat.  Love his make up and attitude. He was a really good addition for this years team. I hope he continues to shine.

I didn't know much about Farmer before the Twins traded for him, but he seems like a good overall player, plus the position flexibility is a big bonus. A few years back I also liked Adrianza (back with Atlanta again this year) in the utility infield role, but Farmer seems to have more power. 

7 hours ago, Fat Calvin said:

Good article.

Yeah, the Twins seem to have many utility type players,: Farmer, Gordon, Solano,, Castro, and even Gallo.  It seems like overkill, but with all these interchangeable parts, maybe it's a good thing.  But it can be confusing, and not just for the fans.  The players themselves don't even know who's on first on any given day.  It reminds me of a modern office where everybody shares and you don't have your own desk.  I guess it has its benefits.  But it also has its drawbacks.  We'll see how things shake out.

It's always beneficial to have players who can fill multiple roles if needed, especially for bench players. Some players might complain about not having a direct and limited position role (i.e., playing 3B every day and only playing 3B), there's not a lot of evidence that it actually hurts their performance when they're being placed in roles that they can actually do. It's a problem when you ask Miguel Sano to play OF to slot someone else in at 3B or 1B; it's not a problem when you ask Nick Gordon to prepare to play 2B & OF because he can actually play both spots competently and has experience there. 

Teams have limited bench options and when you have guys that have positional flexibility like Farmer it gives you more options to take a game late through pinch-hitting and/or defensive substitutions. While I would prefer that Polanco & Kirilloff were ready on Opening Day, having a bench of Farmer, Solano, Castro, and Jeffers certainly gives the Twins options throughout the game for the infield and outfield.

I would also expect Farmer to pinch hit for a LHB in the latter half of nearly every game he starts on the bench. The Twins have the players to move around defensively if he hits for a COF. 

Baldelli will have a real chance this season to play some chess with his bench. I hope he's good at it.

Farmer has been fun to watch. He was definitely an underwhelming signing when we all thought he was going to be the starting SS, but man, he's a heck of a guy to have as a depth piece.

Farmer was a good pick up, he set a good floor at SS. He had a good ST, right now he's our best 3B, best sub at SS &2B. We'd be lost w/o him beginning the season. 

My question is who goes down when Polanco and Kirilloff are both healthy.  Not Farmer.  One might be Castro, but then who?  Gordon has no options.  Not the second catcher.  Probably not Solano because of his contract.  So, that leaves most likely Larnach because I believe he still has an option,  but he is my player for a breakout season and if that happens, I hope he doesn't take the hit as a numbers game move.  So, what I'm getting at is that I love the Farmer addition because of his flexibility and capability as a full time starter and dislike the Solano signing due to it may keep better players off the 26 man roster.  I still think that a trade of Kepler or better yet Solano in the coming 3 to 4 weeks would be the ideal situation but I don't think Solano can be traded this early.  I guess not a bad problem to have, just hope Larnach is not the loser in this numbers game.  But, who knows, maybe other injuries will end up making this a moot point.  I think I'm rambling!!!!!  Go Twins and see you at the ballpark.