Jeff Davanon a good idea

by steve johnson on Nov 1, 2007 6:23 PM EDT

Here's an intriguing player I came across while perusing the FA lists:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/d/davanje02.shtml

Anyone know anything about him? He's a long-time minor leaguer and role player in the Bigs. I'd think he'd be a good signing as he'd come cheap and seems to have some upside. In any event, even if he's not a starter, Minnesota would do well to add a bit of depth, particularily if they decide to part with Ford.

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Although DaVanon would be a solid 5th OF and bat off the bench, unless it is a minor league deal with a spring training invite, it's probably not worth it. He is what he is. A decent hitter with a little bit of occasional pop, without a position who has been hurt a lot.

by SethSpeaks on Nov 1, 2007 11:10 PM EDT reply actions

Agreed...

say no to Duvanon, who IS Ford to me. And yes, thankfully, we have ALREADY parted with Ford.

I have a number of Angel fan friends out here (SoCal) and pardon me if anyone is offended, but we've had a running joke for years that Duvanon and Ford were our respective downs' syndrome players. They are a LOT alike. I want no part of him.

Ford blows. We don't need version II of him.

by djskilbr on Nov 2, 2007 5:22 AM EDT reply actions

I don't see what the big deal is.

Sign him to a minor league contract. The promise of possible playing time ought to be alluring. He has a good minor league track record and has hit decently in the majors. What exactly do we have to lose? He couldn't possibly be worse than Tyner....

by steve johnson on Nov 8, 2007 12:07 AM EST up reply actions

The "loss"

is wasting a roster spot on him when we could get someone who actually CAN play.

by djskilbr on Nov 8, 2007 4:05 AM EST up reply actions

Minor league contract = no roster spot

I don't see the harm in inviting him to camp and hoping he earns a spot of the roster, particularly since the Twins have cut ties with Lew Ford and Josh Rabe and have no viable right-handed hitting outfielders in the system. (I don't count Darnell "I can't hit a breaking ball to save my life" McDonald.) If Davanon can beat out Jason Tyner, he would give Gardy more flexibility off the bench.

But all indications are that the Twins are pursuing a young and talented center fielder to step in to start and take the position for the foreseeable future. If they signed Davanon to a minor league deal, it would be as a potential bench bat.

"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot

by cmathewson on Nov 8, 2007 10:33 AM EST up reply actions

trolling the waiver wire......

I would almost rather see the Twins take another flyer on Buck Buchanan, Dustin Mohr or Mike Restovich. Hey, maybe they would even dig up Ryan Radmanovich.

ANyone notice that Bobby Kielty is out there for grabs again! Be interesting to see if his World Series homer will get him a job in '08.

check out Twinkies autograph collection at www.TwinsCards.com

by twintown on Nov 2, 2007 10:32 AM EDT reply actions

I'd love...

to sign Kielty. He could be an excellent reserve OF/occasional DH that can mash lefties. We could use a guy like that.

I don't know what his pricetag would be, but I'd love to see him back.

by djskilbr on Nov 2, 2007 3:37 PM EDT reply actions

kielty

I was never in favor of trading him. I was wrong, but I didn't like seeing him go.

by WITwinsfan on Nov 2, 2007 5:34 PM EDT reply actions

Kielty

Does he still list himself as a switch hitter? It seemed really pointless to me when he was here and he's never been able to hit righties anyways.

by TheMattWilke on Nov 5, 2007 5:48 PM EST reply actions

2002

In 2002 he hit RHP better than he hit LHP, but that was the only year. It would be interesting to know what his minor league splits were.

I've heard guys say before that it's not that easy to just stop switch hitting, and that reading the break from, say, a right-handed pitcher as a right-handed batter is intrinsically different than reading the break from a RHP as a LHB or from a LHB as a RHB. I'm not sure how much credibility those claims have, but it seems true that you don't see too many guys abandon switch-hitting at this level, even if they are really bad from one side. (And as bad as Kielty is against RHP from the left side, it's possible that he could be even worse from the right side.)