Article: Urgency To Trade Plouffe Growing

[Nick Nelson]

Trevor Plouffe is a decent player who is having a bad year. He has been one of the worst offensive starting third basemen in the league, and he's making $7 million. No one's going to give up a whole lot for him in a trade.

 

At this point, that is almost immaterial. Terry Ryan needs to be looking at the big picture, and that starts with moving on from the club's longtime staple at the hot corner.Plouffe is doing little to help the Twins this year, but that's not why he needs to go. It's all about Miguel Sano. The experiment of running the big young slugger to the outfield needs to end, and soon, because the risks assumed by this ill-begotten idea are quickly becoming unpalatable.

 

Last week, the Twins lost Sano to the disabled list after he came up lame while hustling down the first base line to beat out a grounder. There are no indications that the injury had anything to do with his playing the outfield, but it's incredibly easy to see the inherent dangers that accompany his roaming around out there.

 

Earlier in the game where Sano strained his hamstring, he had a ball skip away from him in right, turning into a triple for Billy Burns. Watch the video of that play here. Watch Sano sprint after the ball then come to an awkward stop as it drops in front of him and bounces away, forcing him to change directions and accelerate again.

 

These are not the kinds of plays Sano should be trying to make. In his short time with the Twins, he has proven susceptible to strains and sprains in his lower body – unsurprising for a man of his size. Last year he missed time with ankle and hamstring injuries, and he tweaked his ankle again at one point this spring. His latest mishap is the first to require a disabled list stint, but the probability of future incidents is heightened when he's chasing balls around in right field, and that's not even mentioning the danger of him colliding with another player or a wall.

 

Third base is Sano's home. He's far more adept at playing there and far less likely to suffer an injury associated with running or abruptly changing directions. He's the most important bat in the Twins lineup and will be for years to come, but he is being played out of position and exposed to added injury risk for the sake of keeping Plouffe in the lineup.

 

That made some sense as a short-term plan, theoretically, if Plouffe was going to be a key power bat for a contending team. Instead, Plouffe has been a non-factor for a lousy team. The Twins have no commitment to him beyond this year. The chances of him returning next year are growing slimmer and slimmer. It would behoove Ryan to move him this summer so that the team can move forward with Sano at the hot corner and allow their outfielders to play in the outfield.

 

Plouffe's numbers this year aren't going to spark a market frenzy, obviously. His .652 OPS ranks below 20 of 22 qualified MLB third basemen. Hampered by a couple of different ailments, he has managed only three home runs and five walks in 37 games. His strengths have not played up.

 

But he does have strengths, and a track record, that will be valued by clubs with postseason aspirations. Plouffe has hit 74 home runs over the past four seasons and has developed into a fine defender. The fact that his contractual commitment doesn't extend beyond 2016 would be appealing to a team strictly seeking a rental at third base for a World Series run.

 

Incidentally, the Royals and Mets, two squads that are looking to return to repeat as league champs, are both seeking just that. Kansas City's Mike Moustakas will miss the rest of the season with an ACL tear. New York's David Wright is expected to be sidelined until August or September, at least, by a herniated disc in his neck. Both of these developments have arisen within the past two weeks.

 

Plouffe is a clear upgrade over the in-house replacement options for either team. The Twins have the luxury of making him immediately available. In fact, pulling off a deal sooner than later would benefit them by providing salary relief and allowing Sano to return to third base immediately when he comes off the DL.

 

The return for three-plus months of Plouffe won't be much – maybe a low-level prospect or two – but something is better than nothing, which is what the Twins get if they non-tender the 29-year-old during the offseason.

 

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[tobi0040]

Spot on. The issue is this was obvious 12 months ago and a no brainer in the off-season.

[Old Twins Cap]

Trade him already. 

 

Somehow the Twins value their assets so far above the market assessment.  So far that they are the worst team in the league.

 

Think about it... the Twins can't trade their young talent because they are on the verge of being so good.  And, they can't trade their veterans because they are the glue that holds the team together and won't get fair market value.

 

Meanwhile, the Twins and their players, young or old, are just plain lousy.

 

Hello?  No one values the Twins players because they are on a lousy team and underperform and aren't worth anything -- in Plouffe's case, $7M, is a lot of clams.

 

Trade him for a bag of fries.  Anything!

[Winston Smith]

But but he led the team in RBI last year I think is what Terry said last winter. Terry has said, going on 5 years now, he is going to fix it but does anyone really trust his judgment anymore?

[jimmer]

 

Terry has said, going on 5 years now, he is going to fix it but does anyone really trust his judgment anymore?

Believe it or not there are plenty who do. I lost faith in his ability to be the GM we need back in 2007, but plenty on this board seem to completely trust his judgment. 

Edited June 6, 2016 by jimmer

[The Wise One]

Plouffe has been a streaky kind of hitter who hasn't had a streak this year.   Hard to figure out what exactly is going wrong for Plouffe.  K % and  BABIP is around his career norm, Batted ball spray chart looks sort of similar except for fewer black dots (HR) Walks are down,  ISO is down.   He doesn't show the power numbers. That would lead me to wonder if they are pitching and defending him differently

[nater79a]

Yes, Sano should be at 3B. Even better at DH; but we already have about seven DH's on the team, so...

 

Wonder if there would be a market for Dozier also? Would like to see Polanco take over at 2B, long term.

[theBOMisthebomb]

Buy low, sell high! Ummmm...

[Yossarian]

One buys low and sells high, not buy high and sell low. Trading Plouffe now would be a good example of the last. Trade Plouffe for exactly what? Just sit him and move Sano. Let him hit his way back, even play a bit of the OF. MLB rosters are FULL of players the Twins got rid of too soon. Anybody hear of Danny Valencia?

[David HK]

Yes, Sano needs to get out of the OF.  He needs to not have been there in the first place, but that's water over the dam.  

 

And good observation on the hammy issue-  it's entirely possible it was set up by that play in right.  I was surprised he didn't come up lame on that play.  

 

A month ago, (against all sound reasoning for the over-50 set), I was out on the rugby pitch, against a touring side from the UK.  Since it's off-season for us, we didn't have a very full complement of players, and many of us went the full 80 minutes.  5 minutes left in the match, same thing- I had to change direction quickly, and even after warming up and playing nearly 75 min of crashing and bashing, a short, simple lateral move like the one Sano made, and suddenly  *pop*, and the hammy was done.  So it's conceivable that little move in RF may have contributed.

 

A guy that big, having to do all that extra sprinting from a standing start in the OF is not a recipe for delicious brownies.  Disaster brownies, more like.  

 

I respect Trevor Plouffe-  he didn't succeed in his original position, got moved around a lot, and worked hard to make himself a competent 3B.  But the situation with the club dictates this move, and it should have been made long ago.

[jimmer]

 

I respect Trevor Plouffe-  he didn't succeed in his original position, got moved around a lot, and worked hard to make himself a competent 3B.  But the situation with the club dictates this move, and it should have been made long ago.

I love this part of your post.  It's what I always think about when I see the rampant Plouffe slamming. Here's a guy who was done no favors by the Twins as he was coming through the system.  Took forever for them to realize this guy couldn't play ML quality shortstop.  Then he gets moved to a new spot and works his tail off to become a good 3B and succeeds.  Yeah, probably time to move on, but the disdain towards him seems misplaced.

[gunnarthor]

I don't have any problem with trading Plouffe but I have some doubts about whether Sano can play it.  I think the claims that Sano is less likely to get hurt at third (or to be better defensively) are a bit thin (esp since he got hurt running the bases, not in the field). 

 

On the other hand, with an OF of Grossman/Buxton/Kepler looking solid, maybe the Twins do want to give it a shot (and I do think Polanco could play it pretty well in the majors, if Sano can't).

[nicksaviking]

One buys low and sells high, not buy high and sell low. Trading Plouffe now would be a good example of the last. Trade Plouffe for exactly what?

Does it matter? The goal is to get Sano back to 3B and another high strikeout/low on-base guy off of the roster. This team has prospects, they need to find room for the ones they have. Getting more shouldn't be the top goal.

 

You can "lose" a trade and still come out ahead.

[TheLeviathan]

Yeah, this whole situation was pretty forseeable.  In fact, some of us railed extensively on this very issue. 

 

The issue was never anti-Plouffe.  He's alright, nothing special.  It was everything to do with Miguel Sano and, to a lesser extent, Max Kepler/Eddie Rosario/Oswaldo Arcia.  

 

It also had nothing to do with the return from a trade this offseason.  The real return was always going to be a better balanced roster.  Whatever you got for Plouffe was a bonus.

 

Every day we aren't rectifying that mistake is a further mistake.

[CampQ]

Every time an ex-Twin has a good series against us ppl make out like we made a huge mistake. Danny Valencia was awful for years. He has a spotty mlb history. Leave him out of this.

[JustinCB]

I am in no way a Terry Ryan apologist, but there was zero market for third basemen this off season. David Freese got a 1 yr 3MM deal from the Bucs as a free agent and Plouffe is a worse player making more than double that. He wouldn't have gotten anything for him then, but might get a little more than nothing now that a couple teams have developed a need. He played it as good as he could, which wasn't too good.

[operation mindcrime]

I hope Sano doesn't show up next spring in the same shape! He needs to train like Rocky did in parts 3 & 4 so he can reach his ceiling!

[Shane Wahl]

Thank you, Nick.

This is the kind of article that I have appreciated for a long time around here.

[Ncgo4]

I love this part of your post...Yeah, probably time to move on, but the disdain towards him seems misplaced.

I don't think it's disdain. I hope not, certainly. Rather it's a recognition of his true skill level and his cost. $7 million for an OK fielding poor hitting 3rd baseman with very little upside is not good. Having him in the line up thus forcing one of the 2 best prospects the team has had since Joe Mauer into a position that risks his health AND who makes a fraction of the money is bad.

 

Most importantly, this is bidness. No one should feel sorry for Trevor. We're paying him $7 million this year and he will make that next year as well. The Twins have made him an extremely wealthy young man. A little cold hearted management is needed. This team is really terrible. Give up the season and work solely on the future. The last thing we need is for Trevor and Brian and Suzuki to stay in the lineup all season and each to get into a short hot streak, win 15 of 18 games and take is from the 1st draft pick to the 5th while doing absolutely nothing for the development of the team's future.

[Platoon]

Having watched the replay of Sanos adventure in RF just before his injury, it seems he limped when chasing the ball after it went by him. Seems being the operative word here. Regardless, Plouffe is in the wrong place at the wrong time. The current OF is far superior to anything they have thrown out there for quite awhile. While I am not sold on Grossman being anything past a 4th OF, he will do until Rosario comes back. And I think he will. Just sticking Sano in RF because you don't know what else to do with him is like my granddaughter hiding under her blankie and thinking I can't see her. Mauer is not going anywhere, I doubt Park is, so Plouffe is the odd man out. Not because he is disrespected or disliked, simply because there is no alternative.

[carlito_b]

Being an out of state fan I only get to see the twins on TV when they come to my market which happened to be this weekend.. And I must say the incompetence shown by the front office is staggering. Why is sano in right field when we're 20 games under 500? Why is Robbie Grossman playing everyday while arcia rides the bench and rosario is at AAA . I understand he's hitting 330 but he has no future as anything other than a fourth outfielder at best. and don't even get me started on the bullpen , j.t. chargois being in the minors stil and Kevin jepsen specifically. Wasn't a fan of the trade last year and definitely am not now. Its time for terry Ryan to go his prehistoric philosophies are just not getting the job done. We fired gardenhire years too late let's not make the same mistake with the front office

[twinssouth]

Good article Nick, completely agree. When Sano comes back, put him at 3rd. He's not going to be any worse then Plouffe who just seems to have not elevated his game. Yea, he's become more consistent defensively but his BA/run production is not good. The so called Veteran Leadership of Plouffe, Dozier, Mauer doesn't exist, in fact it could be part of the problem.

[Thrylos]

 

One buys low and sells high, not buy high and sell low. Trading Plouffe now would be a good example of the last. Trade Plouffe for exactly what? Just sit him and move Sano. Let him hit his way back, even play a bit of the OF. 

So if you sit him and make him a glorified utility player, would that increase his value and be able to sell higher than now?

 

To sell you need a motivated buyer.  And now you have 2.  Who knows what will happen between now and the off-season.

 

Grab the opportunity by the horns, addition by subtraction, even if Ryan's got to pay some cash and get a so-so prospect.

[Blackjack]

 

 Took forever for them to realize this guy couldn't play ML quality shortstop.

I've always shook my head about that!!! WTF??! What kind of reports were they getting from his time in AA and AAA?? Then try to teach him a new position while he is in the major leagues!!! A head shaker for sure!!

[tobi0040]

even if Ryan's got to pay some cash and get a so-so prospect.

That was a good one

[wsnydes]

 

I love this part of your post.  It's what I always think about when I see the rampant Plouffe slamming. Here's a guy who was done no favors by the Twins as he was coming through the system.  Took forever for them to realize this guy couldn't play ML quality shortstop.  Then he gets moved to a new spot and works his tail off to become a good 3B and succeeds.  Yeah, probably time to move on, but the disdain towards him seems misplaced.

I agree with your last statement.  I like Plouffe quite a bit, always have.  I respect what he's turned himself into despite early struggles at the MLB level.  I'm happy for guys like that.  It will suck to see him moved.

 

That being said, it's (past) time to move him.  Most of the reasons for it aren't even his fault.  Moving him solves so many problems, relieves logjams, and makes the managers job so much easier that holding onto him at all makes absolutely no sense.

[wsnydes]

 

Being an out of state fan I only get to see the twins on TV when they come to my market which happened to be this weekend.. And I must say the incompetence shown by the front office is staggering. Why is sano in right field when we're 20 games under 500? Why is Robbie Grossman playing everyday while arcia rides the bench and rosario is at AAA . I understand he's hitting 330 but he has no future as anything other than a fourth outfielder at best. and don't even get me started on the bullpen , j.t. chargois being in the minors stil and Kevin jepsen specifically. Wasn't a fan of the trade last year and definitely am not now. Its time for terry Ryan to go his prehistoric philosophies are just not getting the job done. We fired gardenhire years too late let's not make the same mistake with the front office

Rosario earned the demotion, that's why he's in AAA.  Arcia didn't earn the privilege to play more when he was playing more.  That's why Grossman is playing.

 

For the bullpen, you're asking the same questions everyone else has for some time.  

[twinsnorth49]

I don't dislike Plouffe, I dislike that the Twins seem to think it's a better idea to keep him at 3rd than play their future cornerstone piece there and have him play RF instead.

 

Keeping Plouffe around to block Sano was exhibit A for this team completely misjudging last season and overestimating where they were.

[HitInAPinch]

 

I don't have any problem with trading Plouffe but I have some doubts about whether Sano can play it.  I think the claims that Sano is less likely to get hurt at third (or to be better defensively) are a bit thin (esp since he got hurt running the bases, not in the field). 

 

On the other hand, with an OF of Grossman/Buxton/Kepler looking solid, maybe the Twins do want to give it a shot (and I do think Polanco could play it pretty well in the majors, if Sano can't).

I agree with you on Sano playing third.  Earlier this year, Sano ran in on a slow roller and made a one-legged throw to 1st.  If Sano's legs are do dainty, I would think that play would be a real hammy shredder.  1st/DH would seen like better alternatives.  Mauer's contract is good through 2018, Park has an option year in 2020. 

 

And I don't have a problem trading Plouffe, either.  Or practically anyone else.  I think if Sano is comfortable at 3rd, OK.  He's not going to be a great defensive guy.  Offensively, big potential.

[KGB]

 

I don't have any problem with trading Plouffe but I have some doubts about whether Sano can play it.  I think the claims that Sano is less likely to get hurt at third (or to be better defensively) are a bit thin (esp since he got hurt running the bases, not in the field). 

 

On the other hand, with an OF of Grossman/Buxton/Kepler looking solid, maybe the Twins do want to give it a shot (and I do think Polanco could play it pretty well in the majors, if Sano can't).

Agree, also at Sano's size, I don't think this is going to be a quick recovery.  So it's more likely he comes back at DH not at third.  No reason to look to just dump Plouffe.  If you can get better value for Park, move him instead since Sano future is at first or DH.