He is at a -2.5 dWAR and Josh was at -1.5 in fewer games.  I think it worked out to one loss per 46 games for Josh and one for every 36 games for Torii.  Baseball reference has Torii at -.4 Total WAR.   Might as well play Hicks or Rosario.

There is no way on god's green earth that Willingham is a better fielder than Hunter.  All those numbers say is that defensive metrics are flawed.

I like Colby Rasmus for the Twins too.

 

One issue with waiting for free agents is some of them will get an extension before they reach the market.

 

I like this direction.  My greatest concern is that we sign somebody who could play center in a pinch because that is still an unknown next year.  Plus, he's still relatively young and there is some bounce back potential.  It is a little concerning how many options there are out there.

There is no way on god's green earth that Willingham is a better fielder than Hunter.  All those numbers say is that defensive metrics are flawed.

 

I said that backwards.  Josh was a loss every 36 and Torii every 45 or 46.  Both had a negative WAR though.  Torii, IMO still gives the Twins an out to blame the defense next year.

I said that backwards.  Josh was a loss every 36 and Torii every 45 or 46.  Both had a negative WAR though.  Torii, IMO still gives the Twins an out to blame the defense next year.

I get your point, but until Buxton comes up and graces us with his sparkling smile (assuming his smile is great); the OF defense just isn't going to be a plus. The Twins could just go out and sign 2 of Rasmus/Span/Hunter and that would bolster the defense by a large margin. Then you are almost guaranteeing Hicks gets shipped to AAA to start the year (where he belongs). There is less pressure on Buxton to develop quickly. Rosario is able to get back into a groove and hopefully play more 2b. 

 

I'm just not sure Terry Ryan would do that. I fear this break-out by Shaffer has him penciled into  starting CF next season with a dumpster pick-up as a LF. That is what has happened in the past, so that is what I expect to happen. O yeah, and other terrible year for the OF.

In order of preference:

 

-Span: There's no way the Nats won't pick up his option and the comment he just made makes it clear we wouldn't be very high in his list if he does hit FA.

 

-Rasmus: Is 2/$18 or 3/$24 enough? If so, I'd do that. Anything more is iffy.

 

-Mauer: Given the other options, he wouldn't be any worse defensively and would free up the 1B for Vargas and DH for Pinto. But we know it won't happen.

 

-Hunter: I don't buy any defensive metrics that say he's worse than Willingham. 1/$8 should get it done. It's easy to roll our eyes at the 'leadership' angle after the Bartlett BS. But it's far more real here and can't be ignored.

 

-Cuddyer: If Hunter's that bad, how much worse could Cuddy be? Though Mauer in LF and Cuddy at 1B/DH would make more sense. Leadership: See Hunter x 2.

Edited September 24, 201412 yr by howeda7