Thread: Doogie: Twins are looking for a "starting 3rd baseman"

Aaron and I talked a little bit about Ryan's comments about finding some competition for Trevor Plouffe in our last podcast. In his latest scoops, Doogie takes it further than I did, sounding more like Aaron....

The Twins are looking for a starting third baseman. What that means for Plouffe is unclear, but could entail him moving back to the outfield. It's also possible they come up with a left-handed bat platoon-type option.

That would seem to contradict what Ryan said in his 2013 Offseason Handbook interview:

"(Plouffe is) coming in as the third baseman. Yes, he will. I need to create some competition over there though. And we will. And he’s aware of that. Nothing wrong with competition."

I won't believe they'll sign anyone to replace Plouffe until I see it. I could see them adding a left-handed option. (St. Paul's Jack Hannahan?) But of the problems the Twins needs to address, this needs to be towards the bottom of the list.

He's pretty bad defensively at third. I wonder if they think he might end up in RF or give 2B another shot.

Pitching....

Eric Chavez

With a quagmire covering 3/4ths of the infield, it makes me wonder why the Twins haven't been connected to any Jeff Keppinger rumors. I want the Twins to save their free agency bucks for starting pitching, but I can't imagine he'd be that prohibitively expensive.

Originally Posted by John Bonnes

Aaron and I talked a little bit about Ryan's comments about finding some competition for Trevor Plouffe in our last podcast. In his latest scoops, Doogie takes it further than I did, sounding more like Aaron....

The Twins are looking for a starting third baseman. What that means for Plouffe is unclear, but could entail him moving back to the outfield. It's also possible they come up with a left-handed bat platoon-type option.

That would seem to contradict what Ryan said in his 2013 Offseason Handbook interview:

"(Plouffe is) coming in as the third baseman. Yes, he will. I need to create some competition over there though. And we will. And he’s aware of that. Nothing wrong with competition."

I won't believe they'll sign anyone to replace Plouffe until I see it. I could see them adding a left-handed option. (St. Paul's Jack Hannahan?) But of the problems the Twins needs to address, this needs to be towards the bottom of the list.

Ryan contradict himself? Nah, never....

This also seems not to corrilate with TR's statement that all available money would be spent of FA pitching. Maybe this has changed, but we are getting different pictures.

I love Plouffe and I love his bat....but his fielding is quite bad. I wouldnt mind moving him to 2nd, anything is better than we have now. We not only need pitching we need a great 3rd baseman. I wish we would go after a guy like David Wright who can hold down that position for a long time to come, but we wont. So since we are going to do that might as well leave Plouffe at 3rd.Move him to the OF? We have a log jam there. Not going to happen.

Boy we sure are quick to write off Plouffe as a 3B. He is a former SS who just this year moved to 3B. Do you remember what Koskie was like when he started? If he works at it I don't see any physical reasons why he can't be at least a league-average defensive 3B. Give him some time to transition to the position. His arm strength doesn't seem to limit him from being a 3B, but his range doesn't bode well for a switch to 2B. As much as I would love his bat at 2B, putting him there makes our middle infield defense even worse.

I think Hanahan is exactly the type of player Ryan would bring in to be a platoon or guard against Plouffe regressing. He is cheap and is a lefty hitting option.

Originally Posted by Physics Guy

Boy we sure are quick to write off Plouffe as a 3B. He is a former SS who just this year moved to 3B. Do you remember what Koskie was like when he started? If he works at it I don't see any physical reasons why he can't be at least a league-average defensive 3B. Give him some time to transition to the position. His arm strength doesn't seem to limit him from being a 3B, but his range doesn't bode well for a switch to 2B. As much as I would love his bat at 2B, putting him there makes our middle infield defense even worse.

This.

This is the same group that ran off Hardy.....give the man another year. Go fix other spots where you KNOW you have a problem.

Originally Posted by mike wants wins

This is the same group that ran off Hardy.....give the man another year. Go fix other spots where you KNOW you have a problem.

I AGREE! GO GET PITCHING...and a SS

To be clear, we're talking about the same Jack Hannahan who has a career OPS of .681 against righties? Sounds pretty silly to waste a roster spot on a guy for a .14 OPS improvement to platoon with a guy who's only had one full MLB season under his belt. Just because a guy bats left handed doesn't mean he automatically hits righties well.

Originally Posted by nicksaviking

To be clear, we're talking about the same Jack Hannahan who has a career OPS of .681 against righties? Sounds pretty silly to waste a roster spot on a guy for a .14 OPS improvement to platoon with a guy who's only had one full MLB season under his belt. Just because a guy bats left handed doesn't mean he automatically hits righties well.

Everyone who says we should get Jack Hannahan is just like SHOOTER from the pioneerpress....WORTHLESS!

Ryan was interviewed on one of the stations last night (I think it was ESPN 1500). Didn't hear the interview, but heard them play back a comment he made. A comment that is consistant with what he has been saying since the season ended. He said that their money would be used for pitching. He also said they would tweak the lineup a bit. But he was clear that the majority of their money would go to the pitching staff.

Plouffe's value lies in his power and his ability to play multiple positions. I'm sure there are teams out there needing a third baseman who would jump at the chance to make him their third baseman. After one season, he can certainly field better than Miguel Cabrerra (don't get me wrong, I'm not comparing the two). But the point is that sometimes you sacrifice a little defense for a strong bat. Looking to the future, I could see Plouffe as our super utility guy, when our kiddie infielders finally make it. So by making him a platoon guy or a utility guy now, it keeps his cost down for the future. His versitility also allows TR to explore multiple trades for Span/Revere, Morneau/Parmelee or Willingham, or multiples thereof and move Plouffe around to fill in whereever.

But at this point, 3B should be a very low priority. Starting pitchers and shortstops should be at the top of the list. By the by, saw that Valencia was just acquired by the Orioles from the Sox for cash.

Originally Posted by ScottyB

Plouffe's value lies in his power and his ability to play multiple positions. I'm sure there are teams out there needing a third baseman who would jump at the chance to make him their third baseman. After one season, he can certainly field better than Miguel Cabrerra (don't get me wrong, I'm not comparing the two). But the point is that sometimes you sacrifice a little defense for a strong bat. Looking to the future, I could see Plouffe as our super utility guy, when our kiddie infielders finally make it. So by making him a platoon guy or a utility guy now, it keeps his cost down for the future. His versitility also allows TR to explore multiple trades for Span/Revere, Morneau/Parmelee or Willingham, or multiples thereof and move Plouffe around to fill in whereever.

But at this point, 3B should be a very low priority. Starting pitchers and shortstops should be at the top of the list. By the by, saw that Valencia was just acquired by the Orioles from the Sox for cash.

Does the fact that he can't play any position at even an average level factor in? Just because Gardy decides to move him all over the place, doesn't mean he can actually play all those positions.

And what teams are you talking about dying to make him their 3B if they had the chance. I mean, yeah, you can say that...but based on what? All those rumored traded offers for him? His great defense? His one month of great hitting? The fact he took forever to make the show and keeps getting bounced around cause he can't field well at any of them? I mean, what makes you think that?

Originally Posted by ThePuck

Originally Posted by ScottyB

Plouffe's value lies in his power and his ability to play multiple positions. I'm sure there are teams out there needing a third baseman who would jump at the chance to make him their third baseman. After one season, he can certainly field better than Miguel Cabrerra (don't get me wrong, I'm not comparing the two). But the point is that sometimes you sacrifice a little defense for a strong bat. Looking to the future, I could see Plouffe as our super utility guy, when our kiddie infielders finally make it. So by making him a platoon guy or a utility guy now, it keeps his cost down for the future. His versitility also allows TR to explore multiple trades for Span/Revere, Morneau/Parmelee or Willingham, or multiples thereof and move Plouffe around to fill in whereever.

But at this point, 3B should be a very low priority. Starting pitchers and shortstops should be at the top of the list. By the by, saw that Valencia was just acquired by the Orioles from the Sox for cash.

Does the fact that he can't play any position at even an average level factor in? Just because Gardy decides to move him all over the place, doesn't mean he can actually play all those positions.

And what teams are you talking about dying to make him their 3B if they had the chance. I mean, yeah, you can say that...but based on what? All those rumored traded offers for him? His great defense? His one month of great hitting? The fact he took forever to make the show and keeps getting bounced around cause he can't field well at any of them? I mean, what makes you think that?

Im going to go out on a limb here and say....youre not a Plouffe fan?

They know with certainty they have no second baseman, no shortstop, and are missing 4 starting pitchers. All resources should go there. Why waste resources replacing a guy that might be good when you know with certainty you have other holes to fill?