his numbers were atrocious, worse than Manny last year in LF.

Yep, Cuddyer is -10 UZR or worse. He makes up for his range somewhat with his arm, but I doubt he gets any better than something around -3 to -5 or so.

I’m so, so very happy with that from a plus defender and baserunning threat in the leadoff spot. Love it.

is just about the only number I really care about in his September numbers. I want OBP out of my leadoff hitter. The fact he managed nearly an 800 OPS while he “cooled” is OK by me.

Good point on Gomez’ range helping out Span on defense. This is entirely possible. When Span was in CF (a much smaller sample, by the way), his UZR was much lower.

Our best bet defensively (and we all know how Gardy thinks…) is Span-Gomez-Cuddyer in LF-CF-RF. We know Young is going to get plenty of playing time though…

especially playing alongside Gomez. Both guys could play straight up, or perhaps Gomez could shade a bit toward RF to compensate for lack of range for whoever’s out there. With some of our fly ball pitchers, Span-Gomez would be a godsend.

Yes, his bunting masks the fact that outside of his bunt attempts he was even worse than his overall line indicates. Definitely a LOT of room for improvement there. I think it’s an open question whether Gomez would improve more by playing in the majors versus AAA. In the majors, he would see the great sliders, etc and (hopefully) improve bit by bit at recognizing and laying off bad pitches. He would not see the great pitches in the minors, but he would probably learn patience and pitch recognition in general more quickly in AAA. All things being equal, I suspect Gomez would improve more by playing in AAA, but it’s not a slam dunk IMO.

As for asking why MLB is the best path for Gomez but not for other players… it’s because Gomez is already a valuable MLB player RIGHT NOW, even with poor hitting skills. Other, more average defensive players and slower baserunners have much less value until their hitting skills come around.

Bottom line, I think the best team we can put out there, at this point in 2009, is Span-Gomez-Cuddyer with Kubel at DH. Lots of playing time for all involved, and we can ensure that Young gets 500-600 PA as players shuffle around.

Finally, we have to consider the perception if Gomez were to be sent down to start the season. IMO, it would be perceived by all involved, including Gomez and his agent, that the Twins are sending him down solely to delay arbitration by a year. While this may a smart business move by the Twins, I don’t think it helps us come extension time (difficult anyway, given Gomez’ agent).

I never said the best path to major league success is to dominate in the minors first. I don’t believe that tenet. Though I recognize that this is a Twins tenet, I don’t buy it. My philosophy is, If a highly talented player has the skills to hold his own at the major league level, he’s best developed in the majors. I don’t think there’s a general rule here: Every player is different. But for very talented players like Gomez, Liriano or Garza, more minor league seasoning can do more harm than good by making them complacent with inferior competition. I realize that this is a philosophy rather than a scientific view. But so is the opposite. And there’s really no point in arguing about it.

I can, however, give my reasons for my philosophy. I believe that numbers are only one way to evaluate players in the minors. Some players play better in the minors than they will ever play in the majors. And some players take their games up a level when they play in the majors. I have seen too many players dominate AAA competition only to fall flat in the majors. And I have seen a lot of players step it up as competition gets tougher. The gap between AAA and major league competition is fairly wide. Whether a player can succeed in the majors with good AAA numbers is an open question. But if a player has been successful in the majors, there’s little point to sending him to AAA.

In Gomez’s case, I saw enough development last year that I think it would be pointless to give him more minor league seasoning. A lot of people disagree with that. If you asked me last May, I would have told you he’s overmatched up here and he needs more AAA seasoning. But after they put him in the nine hole, he started to relax and let his natural ability shine through. It was still maddening at times, but he gradually developed the confidence to succeed up here. By September, he was the best hitting outfielder on the team, all things considered. To send him down after all that might do more harm than good for him. And it can’t do that much good at this stage.

After arguing this point all offseason, I would be glad to declare an impasse and say we will have to agree to disagree.

One note on Pridie, though. If you think Gomez is maddening, just wait ‘till Pridie strikes out on three pitches with the bases loaded and one out. The grass is always greener. Pridie did roughly what Gomez did last year, except Gomez was in the majors and Pridie was in the minors. I don’t believe in changing the pecking order simply because of money.

The question is, would his performance improve by an amount to make up for the 10 games where we start Buscher at 1B? (20 if there’s an additional 10 at DH). I don’t know. Depends on how much of his late season slump was physical/mental exhaustion and how much was simply pressing down the stretch.

Don’t forget batting masher Mike Redmond third.

Man, those Sunday afternoon lineups were brutal.