Wednesday Morning Poll: What Is the Twins Biggest Need?
by Jesse on Jul 22, 2009 8:00 AM EDT
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PrintThere are a couple of obvious answers.
Middle Infield - The signing of Mark Grudzielanek on Sunday wasn't a bad one, but I think it's fair to say that a lof of people were hoping for a bigger splash. In spite of the depth Grudz can provide, is this still the team's biggest weakness?
Bullpen - There have been some gutsy performances from some unlikely places this season; Jose Mijares and Bobby Keppel have been pleasant surprises, R.A. Dickey has played his role and Matt Guerrier has rebounded after a rough time last summer. But there's always room for one more firefighter. At this point would you rather have a guy like Scott Downs? (Downs, by the way, was dealt to the Twins by the Cubs in late '98; six months later he was shipped back with Rick Aguilera, while Chicago sent us Jason Ryan and somebody named Kyle Lohse.)
Rotation - No denying the talent available for the price they're being paid, but some stability and dependability would be great. This doesn't have to be Roy Halladay here, just a proven commodity, tha'ts all we're asking for.
Bench Depth - Mike Redmond, Brian Buscher, Brendan Harris and Delmon Young don't give this club enough offensive depth. Bringing in someone who can pinch hit just somewhere, anywhere in the bottom half of the order would provide an invaluable service to a team that struggles with production at the bottom.
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You covered it well...
those are the Twins major weaknesses..I don’t know if its just more apparent when the bullpen falters than some of the other shortcomings the team has. Another reliable set up man would really help. The Twins do seem to be slim on bench stregth. Remember when Randy Busch (sp?) used to come off the bench and PH? We sure could use someone like that. Of course the middle infield goes without saying. I guess they’re going to do it by committee…although the trade deadline isn’t past yet.
Many Problems With This Team
While all of the choices in the poll are big needs on this team, the one that stands out to me is starting pitching. If this team is going to have any chance of making the playoffs and a serious World Series run, they need a top-flight starting pitcher. I don’t think this team can compete with teams like the Yankees who have Sabathia and Burnett when all we have is Blackburn and Baker. Getting another starting pitcher would also allow us to use Liriano in the bullpen, where I believe he would be most effective.
With that said, who is available? The only name I have heard tossed around is Roy Halladay. While we can dream about him in a Twins uniform, I’m afraid it is going to stay a dream only. I am wondering if anyone else knows some of the starting pitchers out there that may be available.
middle infield/bench depth
by imrpoving the middle infield the team can also upgrade the bench depth in doing so. putting punto on the bench gives speed and late inning D. Harris on the bench occasional pop and Grudz could fill a little of all of this.
by Shawn in Binghamton on Jul 22, 2009 10:16 AM EDT reply actions
Here is how I see it
the Twins trade away Perkins, Young, and Casilla for Sanchez and Capps. This takes care of our middle infield and bullpen. Once Grudz is ready to go, we call him up, and he can provide some defense and late inning ph from the bench.
Swarzak takes Perkins spot when Slowey comes back.
Middle Infield: Freddy Sanchez
Bullpen: Matt Capps
Rotation: Anthony Swarzak
Bench: Grudz
Matt Capps
Why is everyone fascinated with this guy? He has a 5.62 era as of today (and that is after throwing a scoreless inning in today’s 8-7 victory over the Brewers)! Don’t we have enough average-at-best pitchers in our bullpen?
I wanted to vote for infield help
but then I thought about Monday’s game and the 12 runs scored inspite of the infield the Twins currently have.
Infield help is needed but the Twins need better arms in the bullpen more.
I thought the question was about outside help
Just looking at the system, we have a lot of bullpen depth we can tap into down the road: Crain, Morillo, Delaney, Slama, … There are no major-league caliber middle infielders in the system for 2009 or 2010. I had thought Tolleson would be ready. But the Twins don’t like his range and are in the process of converting him to the outfield. So as far as going outside the system to get somebody, middle infield is the most glaring need.
"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot
out of the loop
i hadn’t heard tolleson was being converted to an OF. i officially change my vote from bullpen arm to middle infielder. really hard to see how that problem can get fixed for next season (or even after…) w/o a trade.
Really?
how do you get to AAA before such a decision is made?
by guinness junky on Jul 22, 2009 1:08 PM EDT up reply actions
He had been playing OF in AA
Just not full time. He’s never had great range. I suppose his upside is Brendan Harris range wise. Range is one of those tools you can’t teach. He got to that level on the strength of his bat, as did Hughes.
"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot
Changing Postions
Maybe this is an idiotic statement, but I always thought that good range was essential for outfielders. It seems kind of dumb to me to move someone from infield to outfield because he can’t move well.
By the way, I’m not holding my breath in anticipation of watching Jesse Crain and Juan Morillo again. If that is what we are counting on, we are in more trouble next year than I originally thought.
It's harder to have good range in the infield because balls come at you faster
Also:
Morillo in Rochester: 39 IP 51 Ks 22 BBs 2.67 FIP
Crain in Rochester: 17.2 IP 22 Ks 8 BBs 1.97 FIP
Morillo and Crain are our best options. Not too many organizations have two guys who throw in the upper 90s waiting for major league opportunities.
"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot
But ...
An outfielder has to cover far more ground than an infielder.
Regarding Crain and Morillo, I have no desire to see either one again unless the Twins are facing them. By the way, what is FIP?
Speed vs. Reactions
Pure foot speed is a key to an outfielder’s range, as they have more ground to cover, but the biggest component to infield range is reaction speed – if you can’t read the ball quickly off the bat from third base, it doesn’t matter how fast you can run after it. In the outfield, fast guys have time to make up for bad reads with their speed.
FIP is Fielding Independent Pitching – it’s a measure of pitching effectiveness that only uses strikeouts, walks, and home runs, under the assumption that results on balls put in play are mostly out of the pitcher’s control. It’s calculated to use the same scale as ERA, and I believe (although I don’t have a reference) that it predicts future ERA better than current ERA does. There’s also a variant called xFIP, which uses fly ball rate instead of home run rate, to correct for pitchers in hitters’/pitchers’ parks, or who may have just seen a few more flies than usual go over the fence – I’m not sure whether it performs better than FIP, however.
"There are only two things that are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." - Albert Einstein
Middle infield is top priority
Not only because the production at the plate has been terrible but the defense is bad also. Adding a solid up the middle defender with just a so-so bat (Jack Wilson) would do wonders for the pitching. Casilla and Tolbert couldn’t hit OR field. The commenters are correct also that there is no apparent help available in the minors either. This is why trading Bartlett was such a mistake – no plan to replace him.
Young was supposed to be THAT good
that’s all I can come up with on why trading your starting SS with no ready backup was done.
This is laughable now but I can see the Twins front office thinking, if we are just average at SS it will be ok b/c Young is going to be a big upgrade in the OF.
Still waiting for them to find the "average SS"
They actually signed an injured Adam Everett to replace Bartlett. The scouts must have screwed up that one because he obviously wasn’t the same. I still think Harris is a decent option at 3B (Crede is better) but they need to find a true glove for up the middle. I’d love to see the Pirates trade both of the BFF Wilson and Sanchez to the Twins. That middle infield would get the team to the playoffs. It wouldn’t surprise me if the Pirates cave and accept the best offer remaining at the last minute for both. Here’s hoping the Twins have the high offer on 7/31 (and everyone else dropped out).
Bartlett is having a career year . . .
Let’s not forget that Bartlett was never anything spectacular here. His defense was suspect at best (he made lots of errors) and he did not hit for a high average. This year his slugging percentage is 133 points above any other season he has ever had, and he has already hit more home runs than any previous season. His batting average this year (.346) is also well above his career average of .286. Put me on the record as saying he is not going to become Derek Jeter. His numbers will fall off dramatically in the 2nd half of this season, and he probably will never be an all-star again.
Bartlett ed all of baseball in UZR his last year here
He consistently had better OBP numbers than any other middle infielder in the system. I’m not at all surprised he’s as good as this.
"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot
Should say "led"
To be specific, Bartlett’s UZR the last three years he was with the Twins:
2005: 14.4
2006: 11.5
2007: 7.8
By comparison, Derek Jeter’s UZR over that period:
2005: -14.3
2006: -6.8
2007: -15.3
"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot
What in the world is UZR?
I am an avid baseball fan and have never heard the term “UZR.” What is it?
Ultimate Zone Rating
It’s an attempt to measure how many runs above or below average a player’s fielding was worth. I don’t know many specifics about how the numerical value is calculated, but I believe it assigns zones of the field to each defender and tracks what percentage of balls in that zone the fielder gets to.
To address your argument for Harris over Bartlett below, Harris has historically been awful in advanced defensive metrics like UZR (the Rays moved him away from shortstop for a reason), while Bartlett shines in everything except old-fashioned fielding percentage – basically, Bartlett makes so many more errors because he gets to so many more balls.
"There are only two things that are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." - Albert Einstein
True...
But have you seen this year’s middle infield? Pre-2009 Bartlett would’ve been a huge upgrade, both offensively (arguably not over Harris, I guess) and defensively.
"There are only two things that are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." - Albert Einstein
Until this year Harris was better than Bartlett
You can’t say Bartlett would have been better defensively pre-2009. He made 26 errors in 2007 to lead all Major League Shortstops. He is not that great of a defensive player (though neither is Harris). To me the Harris’ offensive production separates him from Bartlett. He has had better offensive numbers over the last two seasons than Bartlett. This season has been a notable exception and maybe it is the start of a trend. I still doubt it, though.
from MLB Trade Rumors
The Twins, who could use infield help, have discussed an Orlando Cabrera trade with the A’s.
The Twins could also pursue Jack Wilson, Freddy Sanchez or Marco Scutaro.
Let me throw out another name
Jarrod Washburn is pitching really well this year for the Mariners. He has an era under 3.00 and is 7-6, meaning he has pitched significant innings this year. I know his name was tossed around last year as a possible trade candidate for the Twins. Right now, the problem is that the Mariners are still in contention. However, if they lose a few this weekend while the Twins are getting pounded by the Angels (why would I say that?), they could be 7 or 8 games back by the start of next week, and they might be more willing to deal Washburn.
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