Free Danny Valencia

As much as we want to jump on Gardy, there is so much that happens behind the scenes as well. Maybe Valencia has an injury, he’s been a cancer, maybe vavra needs to work on some things with him, maybe they like the match-ups better with Punto in, maybe they want valencia to watch some games in the big leagues just help him adjust. etc.

Being a coach myself, there is so much that goes into sports besides the numbers. It’s frustrating when people want to jump all over Gardy, especially since he’s brought us 5 division titles in less then a decade. He knows what he’s doing. I trust him.

It’s hilarious.

Like doing the option of playing Casilla at second with Hudson out (a no brianer), the Twins need to get Valencia as much playing time as possible at third. Play him until he dies as a batter, which may not happen. Punto is the guy who comes in for one at-bat a game, either at second, short or third.

But right now, as long as the duo of Casilla and Valencia are hitting, they should be playing at least 4 out of 5 games. They are bringing an equal, if not greater, amount of push to the table.

Just like now is the time you get Thome at bats. Repko is not the future. You don’t need him out there except in dire emergencies or to repalce Thome in a later inning. With Morneau out, you have the chance to play all three outfielders plus Kubel plus Thomas. Heaven forbid when Morneau comes abck and you do have to sit Punto to play Cuddy at third because you do want Thome & Kubel in the line-up rather than Punto. Maybe, at that point, you do make a decision to send Valencia down to the minors…but minor league play only has another 5-6 weeks left on the horizon.

I bet that the Twins would promote Toby gardenhire to repalce Hudson if they could figure out a way to put him on the 40-man (can they DL Hughes now for 60-days since he is likely out for the season? Or is there a limit on the number of bodies that can fill that DL-hole).

Certainly the batting average is unsustainable, but he’s played a good third base, hit the ball hard alot and gotten a couple of clutch hits. His minor league history includes streaks and bad slumps and so far he has avoided the latter. Obviously, it would be nice if he got more extra base hits and drove in a few more runs, but he’s been fine in the bottom third of the order. He’s not young (26 in less than two months) and he’s not versatile, so in today’s MLB with 12 man pitching staffs, he has to be a regular to have a sure future on this team. I am certainly willing to live with that starting yesterday.

I love Valencia and have been arguing with my brother about how his position on the team. I personally think Danny has played extremely well, and has earned that starting spot at 3rd.

I think the 2 are evenly matched at this point…but I give the edge to Punto’s defense…

It’s too bad that we’re stacked in the infield when we need some other guys pitching.

I’ll take two in my size.

…I see them picking up the Punto option. We’ve been down this same road dozens of time, and Gardy (and apparently the management) loves having Punto in the line-up. The rationale is that he is better than replacement in fielding and at least break even in hitting; both of these assessments, however, defy reality <- L →

Is probably going to get his shot with Hudson heading to the dl. I expect to see him at 3rd and Mr. Grit at 2nd, Gardy is gonna take the opportunity to put Puntos glove at 2nd its almost a guarantee. Casilla has looked decent so far but I am far from ready to drink the cool aid he is a utility player until he proves it for awhile. It will be interesting to see who goes down when Morneau or Hudson comes off the dl, obviously Morales or Butera lets hope Morales hits and forces their hand since it seems like both are going to see playing time Mauer appears to be more banged up than suggested though he has been hitting the ball better mayber a few games at dh isnt so bad to get him healed.

Punto should be our top infield backup for 2, ss, and 3…THAT is his position! Valencia needs to get that job…he’s earned it and we are better with him in the lineup!

I don’t even care if he goes into some huge slump. Okay, I care a little, but for a guy that’s supposed to be the future, it’s about time that the future is now. See if he can hack it or not.

If he does then we’ve got a third baseman for years and if he can’t, get a good long term solution. Just stop all the messing around. I’d love it if he could stick and be good. So far, so good.

If the past three games haven’t been enough to make Danny the starting 3B, I don’t know what will. Let’s hope Gardy appreciates what he has done so far in his time up here and rewards him with the starting 3B job.

I think Nick Punto will be the new Al Newman, playing on Sunday and Pinch Running for whomever he needs to.

If he can manage 260-280, he’ll be plenty to shore up the bottom of the lineup

Here’s mine: He has no power and doesn’t hit much, although his OBP is on the verge of being respectable. As far as doing the “little things”, he has failed too many times bunting and baserunning. So, in summary, there is no question that Punto has negative value offensively. I think that offensively, Tolbert is even superior to good ol’ #8. Defensively, Punto is a good defender, especially at second and third, his less than potent arm hurts him at short. Besides his overall good defense, the best thing about Punto is his versatility. So, making Punto a regular at any position takes away one of his biggest strengths.

Gardy appreciates Punto’s ability on defense, no question about that. The problem has been that there haven’t been obviously superior players available to supplant Punto, if you consider defense as highly as Gardenhire does. Most of the time I haven’t had a problem with Punto playing because the people (like Brendan Harris and last year’s Casilla) not playing are no better. Valencia has asserted his superiority for now and should play unless he falls pretty far.