Article: Twins Outfield Of The Future Begins

[Steve Lein]

 

I'm absolutely baffled by the sudden desire to dump Arcia. He's got 30 HR potential, he's young, and he's cheap. Sure, he'd bring a big haul of prospects in return but that's not what the team needs right now.

 

I don't want to "dump" Arcia. Like I said, love the potential in his bat, I just don't think he's a good fit here. He needs to be an outfielder to fit, and he's not even an average one. It's about maximizing your assets.

Edited May 13, 2015 by Steve Lein

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

I'm absolutely baffled by the sudden desire to dump Arcia. He's got 30 HR potential, he's young, and he's cheap. Sure, he'd bring a big haul of prospects in return but that's not what the team needs right now.

I wouldn't dump him, but Arcia is currently on track to get a multi-million salary as soon as this offseason.  I actually doubt you could get a big haul of prospects for him right now -- his MLB performance to date looks a lot like Dayan Viciedo.  30 HR potential isn't all that desirable in that kind of a package (low AVG/OBP, bad corner defense), no matter the age/salary.

 

He's going to have to perform to keep his job this summer.

[jimbo92107]

The one guy not mentioned here is AB Walker III. To me he looks like the LF the Twins will put out there with Buxton and Hicks, with Rosario as the fourth outfielder.

 

Arcia may turn into a much better hitter as he matures. He's been showing signs of easing off his homer swing in order to get more RBI's. He can flip his wrists and hit a drive in the oppo gap with ease, which could raise his average and his RISP. However, Arcia in my opinion will never be an average defender. He flinches away from the wall, he takes bad lines to fly balls, lets too many balls fall in front of him, and lacks foot speed. Good arm, tho.

 

The Twins could settle for Arcia in left, but Walker will develop into a better all around ballplayer. Walker's got just as much power as Arcia, but more athleticism, which implies that he'll become a better defender. Arcia at the moment is a better hitter, but I also expect Walker to refine his approach, at least as much as Arcia. Walker also steals bases, which Arcia will never do.

[spinowner]

 

I'm absolutely baffled by the sudden desire to dump Arcia. He's got 30 HR potential, he's young, and he's cheap. Sure, he'd bring a big haul of prospects in return but that's not what the team needs right now.

 

Also, the idea that the team would choose to pay Hunter to DH over keeping Arcia would be a fireable offense. Hunter might have another year left in the tank after this one, but he's not in the long term plans of any team. Arcia certainly should be.

 

If Hicks can show effectiveness from the LH side of the plate, he's going to stick (even if he has a few brain farts in the field or on the basepaths). Arcia just needs to calm down at the plate again and he should be an effective LF. Hunter will get us through this season in RF and Robinson makes for a reasonable 4th OF this year.

 

But the future is an OF rotation of Buxton, Arcia, Hicks, and Rosario. That should be an exciting prospect for a lot of reasons: there should be plenty of offense, even if Arcia stays below average overall it should be a fine defensive alignment, and it's going to be cheap for some time. Rosario should be a great fit as a 4th OF.

 

Look, Arcia isn't great in LF, but he'll be able to get by out there. There's no need to look at moving him to DH any time soon. But frankly, it's a good thing that there are guys in the minors that are putting pressure on people in the majors. That means you have depth to guard against injury. That means you're not promoting guys too early any more out of desperation (Hicks). And it means you can trade assets from a position of strength to keep the minors strong.

 

Arcia isn't going anywhere unless he gets too expensive AND doesn't fit in the OF any longer.

Very well put.

[HitInAPinch]

 

But the future is an OF rotation of Buxton, Arcia, Hicks, and Rosario. That should be an exciting prospect for a lot of reasons: there should be plenty of offense, even if Arcia stays below average overall it should be a fine defensive alignment, and it's going to be cheap for some time. Rosario should be a great fit as a 4th OF.

 

With the way Molitor likes to mix things around, will there truly be a 4th outfielder?

Having either Buxton or Hicks playing anything other that CF seems like a waste of talent to me. 

 

Hicks will probably be the key as to who stays and who goes.  #1 is keeping his head in the game.  He seems to have gotten the hitting thing down.  After his 1st 11 games at AAA he was hitting .250.  In his next 16, he went hitless only twice and raise his average by 86 points.  Looking at Buxton's game stats, it looks like he might be still working off some rust.  He'll have to crank out some Hicks April 22 - May 11 numbers to get called up this year.

[curt1965]

Wish someone who knows (Seth?) would give us the answer to Hick's defensive ability. "I" remember him as a great CF! I can remember 2 games in which he robbed someone of a home run. I thought he had a cannon of an arm. Would someone please give us the real scoop?

[COtwin]

Hicks made a few bad reads and took a few bad routes on some balls. He once flipped the ball out of his glove to dozier showing that he is an careless idiot and he missed the cutoff man a few times. All around bad defender.

 

 

 

Sarcasm. I think a handful of mistakes once again painted the entire picture of his defense in a negative shade.

I watched most games last year and yes he made some mistakes but in my opinion not as many as people make it out to be when they say his defense sucks. He looks to have cleaned much of that up anyway