Atkins Shopped in Off-Season?

With Ian Stewart developing at third, Garrett Atkins could see his last days in Coors.

over 3 years ago BCTwins 6 comments 0 recs |

Comments

Do we want him?

Atkins would likely cost us a starting pitcher plus a prospect. Would we be willing to give up, say, Perkins and Swarzak, to get Atkins?

3 year splits:
Home: .345/.407/.541
Away: .270/.346/.446
These are some huge home-away splits, suggesting Atkins may be a product of Coors. The splits might be exaggerated by so many of his in-division away games being played at SD, LA and SF, but I wouldn’t imagine Atkins having much better than an .800 OPS in Minnesota.

Contract: Atkins has 3.0+ of ML service entering 2008. Expected to make around $8M in arbitration next year. Eligible for FA after 2010 season. Basically, he’d cost us about $20M over two years.

Defense: Below average. FRAA over the past three years: -12, -15, -16.

Overall: Atkins would be a nice RH bat, good plate discipline. Would be good to plug in at the #5 spot behind Morneau, ahead of Kubel and Young. However, I would not give up Perkins, a prospect and $20M to bring him in likely for two years.

by Adam Peterson on Aug 25, 2008 9:40 AM EDT reply actions

Agree 100% on your conclusion.

For what it would ultimately cost the Twins, what we’d be getting in return doesn’t quite match up. Those home/road splits scare me.

by Jesse on Aug 25, 2008 6:01 PM EDT up reply actions

if a Pitcher would be sent

it would between Perkins and Blackburn who would get dealt,

by Tony_O on Aug 25, 2008 1:11 PM EDT reply actions

Yes

The article notes Slowey or Perkins, but agree, for us it would be Blackburn or Perkins

by Adam Peterson on Aug 25, 2008 1:33 PM EDT up reply actions

Serious question

Has there ever been a position player who was very successful after leaving Colorado? I can’t come up with anyone (Dante Bichette and Vinny Castilla come to mind as notable failures) who would be considered a success, post-Coors.

"There are only two things that are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." - Albert Einstein

by BeefMaster on Aug 25, 2008 9:23 PM EDT reply actions

I have a few...

Ellis Burks had a couple good years after he left, so did Andres Galarraga. Eric Young was just as effective for 2 or 3 years after he left. Alex Cole had a couple of nice years with the Twins post-Rockies. Larry Walker was way past his prime by the time he spent a season and a half with the Cardinals, but he was still pretty useful.

by Jesse on Aug 27, 2008 10:24 AM EDT up reply actions