May 21, 201511 yr I wouldn't actively shop him but I'd be really curious to see what he could fetch. A young catcher who can frame and hit would fit in nicely I think. Not so much interested in more 30+ year old starters at this point, even Hamels. Does this player exist? Maybe Jonathan Lucroy? Teams that have these guys aren't trading them, especially not for a guy like Plouffe. Don't get me wrong, Plouffe is a nice player -- I wrote this exact article two weeks ago -- but he has more value to the Twins than on the open market. Might be a lot more. Edited May 21, 201511 yr by Brandon Warne
May 21, 201511 yr Does this player exist? Maybe Jonathan Lucroy? Teams that have these guys aren't trading them, especially not for a guy like Plouffe. Don't get me wrong, Plouffe is a nice player -- I wrote this exact article two weeks ago -- but he has more value to the Twins than on the open market. Might be a lot more. I'm not suggesting the Twins call the Brewers or San Francisco and offer to give them Plouffe for their catcher. There are 47 catchers on the baseball prospectus framing leaderboard with a positive value. A lot of them are young with some bat. Some teams have a catcher in the pipeline like the Twins have a 3B in the pipeline. Maybe there's a fit? I'm just suggesting a hypothetical that would be interesting and improve a pretty bad organizational weakness. As for, what is the value of Plouffe on the open market, teams are going to be privvy to Plouffe's improvements too. 2-2.5 WAR with 4 WAR upside and no contract? That is an attractive player. Edited May 21, 201511 yr by Willihammer
May 21, 201511 yr I'm not suggesting the Twins call the Brewers or San Francisco and offer to give them Plouffe for their catcher. There are 47 catchers on the baseball prospectus framing leaderboard with a positive value. A lot of them are young with some bat. Some teams have a catcher in the pipeline like the Twins have a 3B in the pipeline. Maybe there's a fit? I'm just suggesting a hypothetical that would be interesting and improve a pretty bad organizational weakness.As for, what is the value of Plouffe on the open market, teams are going to be privvy to Plouffe's improvements too. 2-2.5 WAR with 4 WAR upside and no contract? That is an attractive player. No contract probably works against you in that case. I'm not completely against this, I just prefer they keep Plouffe because guys like him don't come around every day, and he can play someplace other than third. But more importantly for me, I think I'd move Sano off third.
May 21, 201511 yr No contract probably works against you in that case. I'm not completely against this, I just prefer they keep Plouffe because guys like him don't come around every day, and he can play someplace other than third. But more importantly for me, I think I'd move Sano off third. The push to move Sano off of third is just totally inexplicable to me. Keep him there until you have to move him and stop freaking out about MiLB errors and how big he is. The Twins should hold on to Plouffe until Sano forces the issue coming north and with the DH spot in the air there is plenty of reason to believe the two can co-exist. But the Twins would be foolish not to listen to offers on Trevor, they just have to be very selective in what they accept for him.
May 21, 201511 yr No contract probably works against you in that case. I'm not completely against this, I just prefer they keep Plouffe because guys like him don't come around every day, and he can play someplace other than third. But more importantly for me, I think I'd move Sano off third. Well, the Twins haven't moved Sano off third yet. And I don't know why you'd move Plouffe off third since his improved glovework is half the reason for him being a top 10 3B now. And where would you move him to? That is the whole conundrum with hoarding all of Plouffe, Sano, Varags, Arcia, and Mauer (who has a NTC). At least one player would have to move off position which automatically squanders value right there. A trade could easily be the more efficient option IMO.
May 21, 201511 yr At least one player would have to move off position which automatically squanders value right there.A trade could easily be the more efficient option IMO. Not to mention the "just move him somewhere else!" isn't exactly a great strategy in its own right for a host of reasons.
May 21, 201511 yr if you can get fair value for Plouffe, sure. I just don't think that'll happen. And I agree, you don't move Sano off until you have to. But if you keep both, Plouffe is clearly the better option at the position defensively. And to the Vargas/Mauer/Arcia/Sano conundrum, Vargas isn't quite on their level in my opinion, and regardless, Sano plays over all of them except Mauer on a daily basis.
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