The Twins Most Overlooked Cornerstone

I like Trevor, and he's a valuable piece, but I have to point out that his 2012 slash line which you said "left something to be desired", is barely worse than his current slash. The BA is only .018 lower (which equates to 1 more hit every 12 to 13 games), the OBP is only .014 lower (1 more time on base every 15 to 16 games), and a lower SLG. His glove is vastly improved, but his bat is fairly stagnant.

Umm...he's hardly overlooked. He's a good player and well liked because of his pleasant personality and all the improvement he has made presumably through lots of hard work.

However, I really don't think he is a "great" player. You can't attach that label to either his fielding or hitting - both are a solid good, which is valuable because 3rd base seems to be a bit of a black hole currently in the majors.

I like Trevor, and he's a valuable piece, but I have to point out that his 2012 slash line which you said "left something to be desired", is barely worse than his current slash. The BA is only .018 lower (which equates to 1 more hit every 12 to 13 games), the OBP is only .014 lower (1 more time on base every 15 to 16 games), and a lower SLG. His glove is vastly improved, but his bat is fairly stagnant.

And offenses across the league have been in a steady decline (in part due to the ever expanding called strike zone). Even if his numbers this year were exactly the same as 2012, his numbers would be more impressive this year than in 2012.

And BTW, when comparing 2012 and 2015, his 2015 BA is 25 points higher, his OBP is 18 points higher, and his slg% is and his slg% is 11 points higher.  Almost a 30 point increase in overall OPS. That's not stagnation. That's a good improvement as offensive production across the league is declining.

Plouffe's wRC+ in 2012 was 105, this year it's 118.  Quite an improvement.

Trevor Plouffe is another Twins player that took the long road to success. Like Brian Dozier, and now like Aaron Hicks, it's taken time for Plouffe to gradually refine and polish his game, but all that effort and all those repetitions are finally paying off with a fully mature ballplayer. When I see players like this that changed positions or had to bounce up and down from AAA a few times, it reminds me that baseball isn't a game that many people can master in a couple years. It also gives me hope for a guy like Danny Santana, whose issues do look like a matter of further refinement, rather than a lack of talent.

Dozier spent 3 seasons in the minors before he was promoted.  Brought to the majors to play a position he could't play, like Plouffe.  The system missed the mark on both of them.  But he bounced back quickly when moved to 2B and that was that. Twins had to decide between former 1st round pick Plouffe and Luke Hughes when both were out of options.

Plouffe made it all the way through the minor leagues as a SS. It's not a big surprise, IMO, to see him become a good defensive third baseman.

Could he go back to SS? Then you could put Sano at 3B and that would fix the SS problem.

Could he go back to SS? Then you could put Sano at 3B and that would fix the SS problem.

No

adorduan, on 25 Jul 2015 - 11:28 PM, said:

No

Why?

I don't think you trade or let good players walk for nothing.  What is the problem with having two really good third basemen?  As long as you can find a way to have them both play regularly I call that a win. Lock Plouffe up, he is top 8 at least at his position and Sano we know can hit.  If he ends up being a good fielder he will most likely be one of the best as well.  They can each play 1st base I assume.  So between DH, 3B and 1B you can play Plouffe and Sano every day if you want to and keep Mauer in there too. 

For one thing, his lack of speed on the basepaths suggests to me that he lacks the quickness to play short at the major league level.

cough, Hardy almost his whole career, cough :-)

But I agree Plouffe has no business playing shortstop with us.  He couldn't do it when he was younger, no reason to think he could now.  Not sure there is a real reason one would even try not that he's gotten so much better at 3B.