Before I go into detail on these two players, I want you to look at their A-AAA stats, as well as parts of two MLB seasons.

 

Player A

 

[TABLE=class: grid, width: 500]

League

G

PA

AB

R

H

2B

3B

HR

RBI

SB

CS

BB

SO

AVG

OBP

SLG

OPS

MLB

84

299

265

25

58

12

1

10

32

3

3

28

65

.219

.304

.385

.689

AAA

163

697

613

112

206

52

3

49

163

9

8

66

141

.336

.405

.670

1.075

AA

107

467

414

66

109

30

0

20

80

7

1

45

100

.263

.334

.481

.815

A+

84

364

317

49

88

28

0

8

44

5

0

41

71

.278

.357

.442

.799

A

85

361

328

49

104

27

0

9

53

2

1

28

75

.317

.374

.482

.856

[/TABLE]

 

 

Player B

 

[TABLE=class: grid, width: 500]

League

G

PA

AB

R

H

2B

3B

HR

RBI

SB

CS

BB

SO

AVG

OBP

SLG

OPS

MLB

61

208

184

18

49

11

1

6

20

0

0

21

41

.266

.351

.435

.786

AAA

42

187

154

30

54

11

0

12

34

1

1

32

27

.351

.465

.656

1.121

AA

253

1073

941

127

265

55

7

19

127

3

3

111

164

.282

.355

.416

.771

A+

145

594

502

70

136

29

2

18

90

2

3

78

120

.271

.370

.444

.815

A

208

817

695

99

166

34

8

29

121

11

7

103

229

.239

.341

.436

.777

[/TABLE]

 

Both players were drafted out of high school in consecutive years.

 

Without going into the history of these players, simply by digging into the stats, here's what I see:

 

1) Player A moved quickly through the lower levels of the minors and developed power after reaching the AA level; Player B moved much slower through the lower levels, showing the ability to get on base via the walk and hit for marginal power before struggling at the AA level.

 

2) Both players have shown the ability to consistently hit HR's throughout their years in the minors (Player A: 27.3 AB/HR, Player B: 28.6 AB/HR)

 

3) MLB WAR comparison:

Player A- 2011: -0.4, 2012: 1.0, Total: 0.6 WAR

Player B- 2011: 1.3, 2012: -1.0, Total: 0.3 WAR

 

4: Age:

Player A- 23 years

Player B- 24 years

 

5) Both players' MLB teams suffered through 90+ loss seasons in 2011. Fans and writers for Player A team couldn't wait for "the future" to arrive. Fans and writers for Player B's team would rather he stayed in AAA for the 2012 season, even after ripping AAA pitching for a .351/.465/.656 line and 12.8 AB/HR.

 

Alright, enough with the stats although many of you may have figured out who the two players are already (or just scrolled down like I always seem to do on these comparisons). Player A is 1B Anthony Rizzo of the Chicago Cubs while Player B is 1B/OF Chris Parmelee of our Minnesota Twins. I do realize that there are factors than stats to consider, such as Morneau's contract through 2014, but it is interesting to compare the two young sluggers. Living in the Chicago area, I was in the midst of the buzz that surrounded Rizzo when he was finally called up after raking AAA pitching. Since his callup the Cubs aren't much better (going 17-18 since June 26th), however, Rizzo is batting .292/.329/.518 while finding his niche at 1B on the north side.

 

I've been following the discussions in the forums on Parmelee (trading or promoting) and Morneau (trading or extending). I'm not going to pretend I have the right answer as far as which option is better, but I do believe that one of these options must be done before the start of the 2013 season:

 

1) Trade Morneau and promote Parmelee

2) Trade Parmelee and extend Morneau

 

What I would be disappointed to see is Morneau begin the 2013 season as the starting 1B with Parmelee beginning the year in AAA. In my opinion, another minor league season would not do the Twins or Parmelee any good.

 

Any ideas on what your best option would be?

I love any blog that involves the mysterious Players A and B. I did not guess who they were, but my sense was that Player B would be more appealing based on his stats.

 

You make a good point about Parmelee needing to move up. On the other hand, trading Morneau or Parmelee would reduce the Twins' flexibility.

 

If the Twins trade Parmelee, then they will have a problem if Morneau gets injured or if some team makes a great trade offer for Morneau.

 

If the Twins trade Morneau, then they have a problem if Parmelee gets injured or is just not ready to perform at a high level.

 

Although I agree with you that Parmelee would benefit from moving up, my personal preference would be to keep both Morneau and Parmelee unless some other team makes a very favorable trade offer involving at least 1 potential quality starter.

I don't think it is a flexibility issue since they are the same player (with Morneau being obviously older and more expensive). Twins have to make a choice.

I would agree with glunn. There isn't a lot of organizational depth at 1B and the Twins would be taking on a lot of risk to go into 2013 with only one of them. If Parmelee continues to put up numbers and the Twins aren't in contention next year, then moving Morneau before the trade deadline would make the most sense to me.