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Last week, owner Jim Pohlad double down on his vote of confidence, reiterating that the plan is for Molitor to return next season. It's the final leg of a three-year contract, so the skipper undoubtedly knows the stakes he'll be facing if he wants to keep doing this.
These final weeks of the current season provide a prime opportunity to experiment, and evaluate players who will mostly be returning in 2017. In this respect, Molitor's usage of several infielders has been striking.
The most noteworthy trend, of course, has been Jorge Polanco's entrenchment at shortstop. The 23-year-old's nod there on Sunday marked his fifth in a row, and his 22nd start at the position in the last 25 games.
Prior to being called up for good at the end of July, Polanco had started a total of zero games at short this year with Rochester. It was the continuation of a trend. He had started seeing more and more time at second late last year with the Red Wings, and played that position almost exclusively in the Dominican Winter League.
By all appearances, the Twins had given up on Polanco as a shortstop. When you watch him now, it isn't all that hard to see why. While he's capable of making most of the plays, he isn't the kind of flashy cannon-armed defender that you want at the crux of your infield.
Yet, Molitor keeps looking at him there, at the expense of all other positions. Polanco hasn't drawn a start anywhere else in nearly a month.
Meanwhile, Eduardo Escobar has fallen back into limbo. He rarely plays short anymore, instead seeing the majority of his sporadic starts at third. Escobar has had a poor but not disastrous season, and he certainly ought to be part of the team's plans going forward. He's still only 27, he's been a solidly average hitter over the last three years, and he'll command less than $5 million through arbitration in 2017.
In the past, Molitor has liked Escobar enough to plug him in all over the field. Last year that even included 27 starts in left and seven at DH. Now, with nothing really standing in Escobar's way, he has been relegated to a utility role. Maybe the manager has finally soured on him, but it seems rather unwarranted.
No position has seen more constant turnover than third base. Rarely has the same name been written next to 3B on the lineup card on consecutive days. Trevor Plouffe alternated steadily between the infield corners when he was healthy. Escobar has been at third every so often. James Beresford got his first big-league start there on Saturday.
And as for Miguel Sano? Well, his usage may be the most perplexing of anyone on the club. He has only started back-to-back games at third twice since the beginning of August, and never three in a row during that span. Elbow soreness could contribute to this, although he still plays there often enough to dispel the notion that there's a great deal of concern surrounding his health.
Sano has not looked good defensively but he has also surely developed rust from barely playing third base in the last 15 months. There is no better opportunity to let him shake off that rust in game situations than trivial September contests but Molitor evidently lacks interest in doing so.
What to make of the manager's decisions as far as situating his infields? Personally, I have a hard time finding rhyme or reason when it comes to his deployments on the left side.
How would you prefer to see infield playing time shake out in the final weeks?
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