Article: Twins Designate Oswaldo Arcia

[d-mac]

 

John Jaso is 32 and had all of 10 major league at bats by the age Arcia is today. 

 

He had a wRC+ of 120 vs RHP and 82 vs LHP in 2010, his first year with an significant playing time in the majors. Plus he was primarily a catcher then. 

[jorgenswest]

Where might Arcia fit?

 

It has to be as a RF or DH.

 

The team with the least production in RF is the Phillies. They have DFA'd Lough and recently acquired Paredes. That might be a platoon fit but Paredes has shown reverse platoon splits as a right handed batter.

 

Milwaukee has had limited production from RF with Domingo Santana is on the DL. It probably depends on his outlook. They wouldn't want to take at bats away from Santana to give to Arcia. They might claim Arcia and DFA him when Santana is healthy.

 

The Yankees production in RF has been poor thanks to Aaron Hicks. That might be a platoon pair if Beltran wasn't in the way.

 

It was suggested that the Royals and Rays might need a DH. Would the Royals see Arcia as an upgrade over Morales at DH or Orlando in RF? Probably not. The A's have a similar situation with Butler at DH. The Rays use DH by committee and have a young RF.

 

The Braves production in RF has been poor. Would they cut ties with Markakis?

 

I think there are two teams that are in the most need of production from DH or RF without having anyone like Markakis, Butler or Morales in the way. The Phillies and the Twins are the teams most in need of Arcia.

[KirbyDome89]

 

 

Ryan better think long and hard about his roster moves coming up, because if Buxton, Park or Kepler get optioned any time the rest of the year, he's going to have a lot of explaining to do.

 

TR will just say "Put this one on me, I should be held accountable." We've heard it before, and we'll hear it again. Yet, if there are no consequences for their actions, then there cannot be accountability right?

[Loosey]

 

I'm not understanding your argument. DFA'ing Danny Santana instead of Arcia would've opened a 40 man spot for Bereford or a random waiver utility guy

I understand the argument as if they DFA and lose Santana.  There is a similar player waiting in AAA if that type of player is needed again at a future date.

[TKGuy]

He is a DH and we have plenty of those. His defense is atrocious. They need to end the Sano experiment and send Plouffe packing, although it would be helpful if he actually heated up

[dxpavelka]

Relax boys & girls.  This is the Twins.  ZERO chance of this being a bad move.  In 3 years Robbie Grossman will be batting cleanup and battling Mike Trout, Miguel Sano & Byron Buxton for MVP honors.  With an outfield impediment being removed Sano will FINALLY be able to return to right field where he'll rival Buxton as a defensive player and the two of them will make Twins fans forget that Kirby Puckett & Torii Hunter ever wore the vaunted pinstripes.  Happy days are here again.  It's gonna be HUGE.

[wsnydes]

 

Any explanation of why the Twins DFA'd Arcia instead of sending down Park?  That would seem to be at least as logical of a move. 

Supposedly, the Korean league is similar to AAA.  In order to adjust to MLB pitching, he's going to need to face MLB pitching.  Sending him down doesn't serve as much of a benefit to him.

[jimmer]

 

Any explanation of why the Twins DFA'd Arcia instead of sending down Park?  That would seem to be at least as logical of a move. 

Because a 30 year old who can't get on base at even a 30% clip is better for our future than a 25 year old who still has room for growth.  or something like that.  Could also be ticket sales, or the ability to spell Mauer at base bcause he's got a 1B mitt (not because he can play it well).

 

Of course, if Park got sent down (or traded) our hitting jewel (Sano) could play his best position, DH, when he got back while Arcia could fill in until then.

Edited June 17, 2016 by jimmer

[bluechipper]

 

Because a 30 year old who can't get on base at even a 30% clip is better for our future than a 25 year old who still has room for growth.  or something like that.  Could also be ticket sales, or the ability to spell Mauer at base bcause he's got a 1B mitt (not because he can play it well).

 

Of course, if Park got sent down (or traded) our hitting jewel (Sano) could play his best position, DH, when he got back while Arcia could fill in until then.

Arcia has a career .303 OBP. Maybe the better move would have been to send Park down, but the Arcia DFA is not as bad of a move as it's being made out to be.

[wsnydes]

 

I disagree. Not so much on KBO issue, but on the benefit to Park issue. He's confused and not going to get better at the MLB level. He needs to go to AAA and rediscover his swing.  I would have sent him down and tried Arcia as a full time DH. Now, I'd send him down and try either Vargas or Rosario as the DH, preferably Vargas. Maybe that will happen after the Park Bang t-shirt giveaway. 

In my view, he's not confused so much, but he can't hit a major league fastball.  Not going to see those in AAA.  He's good at punishing the odd hanger.  I believe all of his HR's are on off speed stuff.  But I'm not really opposed to sending him down, I was merely stating the perceived line of thinking.  Vargas is earning another chance.

Edited June 17, 2016 by wsnydes

[jimmer]

 

Arcia has a career .303 OBP. Maybe the better move would have been to send Park down, but the Arcia DFA is not as bad of a move as it's being made out to be.

But he's also 5 years younger than Park and if used as a DH versus RHP (as opposed to Park under .720), he carries an OPS near .800.  Most pitchers are righties.

 

I've never been sold on Park, thought it was a bad move to get him based on how our roster was constructed.  Not one thing has changed my mind.  In fact, this season has re-enforced every reason why I had an issue with his signing all along.

Edited June 17, 2016 by jimmer

[wsnydes]

 

I've never been sold on Park, thought it was a bad move to get him based on how our roster was constructed.  Not one thing has changed my mind.  In fact, this season has re-enforced every reason why I had an issue with his signing all along.

It's as though you were reading my mind.  I was willing to give him the chance since I had no choice in the matter anyway, but other than that you took the words right out of my brain.  That one move created so many other issues that he'd have to be an MVP in order for it to be worthwhile.  

[David HK]

 

Pretty sure this move is also a strong indication that they plan on running Sano back in RF when he returns. Apparently Plouffe ain't going nowhere and look for a Robbie Grossman extension coming soon, right before he reverts back to the real Robbie Grossman.....

It does seem to be set up that way, which makes me wanna just puke.  This TR-Molly axis has just been horrible.  They both need to go, like yesterday.  But if it's only going to be one or the other, I really hope it's Molly.   By God, tho, Pohlad, get off your behind and make something happen in a positive way, instead of just whining.

[David HK]

 

I would like to see him come of the bench in SF. They could really use someone like him in that role. 

I hope he goes to a winner, so TR and Molly can enjoy watching him in a good platoon situation, whacking the ball around all the way through October.

 

[diehardtwinsfan]

My words to describe this would get censored by the site....  The PC answer... just an awful decision.  I'd have optioned Kepler and let Arcia play every day, or optioned Park.  Seriously, you just gave up on a potential impact bat, and they cannot even claim money was the reason.  Just dumb.

[Platoon]

If Plouffe had been traded, Sano would have been at third and Arcia would have been given a better look this year. If these had been his numbers with double or triple the playing time, then fine, time to cut bait. Unfortunately, Arcia was not given much of a chance this year to bounce back so I am upset. I love Arcias passion. I love his raw energy and emotion. Our team needs more of that. I love his home run power and what he did as a rookie. He had many flaws and I understand managements frustrations but he was so young and raw. SMH, *sigh*

TwinsWorld. Where raw energy and passion are considered inappropriate.

[Champuckett]

Ortiz 2.0?

 

1. Shows deep ball potential and a solid power bat in the middle of the lineup at an early age.  Check

 

2. Injury prone while young / lack of offseason conditioning.  Check.

 

3. Taught by the Twins trainers to shoot the ball to the opposite field, but instead opts to continue hitting for power.  Check.

 

4. Potential problem with Twins training staff and coaches.  Mentions in the media of a lack of discipline or focus from said staff and coaches.  Check.

 

5. Let go by the Twins due to "roster issues", not enough room on the team for him and replacements inbound.  Check.

 

 

6. 3 time World Series Champion and MVP.. potential Hall of Famer.  Unknown.

[Platoon]

Two points. 1. Park is still here because if he gets sent down its an admission that this was not a great idea. I never saw the difference between ABW and Park. Huge hitters in inferior leagues with a ton of SO's. 2. If the FO and Molitor don't like demonstrative players they better get out of the Carribean. Baseball is played differently there. That's not bad, it's not good, it's different. And it ain't Twins Way compatible.

[tobi0040]

I hope he goes to a winner, so TR and Molly can enjoy watching him in a good platoon situation, whacking the ball around all the way through October.

 

There is a fatal flaw in your premise here. From what I can tell, Terry Ryan and Paul Molitor do very litte watching what is going on in the league.

 

If someone were to tell them about the success of Arcia two months from now, they will probably just shrug their shoulders and conclude they were once again unlucky. I can't help but picture Lloyd and Harry at the tail end of Dumb and Dumber. "We are going to catch our break, we just gotta keep our eyes open"

Edited June 17, 2016 by tobi0040

[Dr. Evil]

They should have DFA'd him in spring training considering last years performance. He would have likely gone unclaimed and gotten the reps some feel he still needs while in the minors.  Instead, they chose to keep him around and now the cats out of the bag. Every team in the league will be posturing to acquire the services of this guy who can't play defense and put up a .214 batting average against mostly favorable side pitching.

 

I'm glad they cut bait on him. The timing is just strange though. They kept him and then never gave him the reps. Very hard to understand this team.

 

For the record, I do not think he will be in the league for long if claimed. He just is not very good.

[Platoon]

I think this is the last time we see Arcia in a Twins uniform and possibly in a MLB uniform.  The reason I say this is because he is not a good outfielder.  He has some pop, but not enough to overshadow his poor defense.  That makes him a bad candidate for a NL team.  So, what AL team is looking for a DH?...I mean other than the Twins.  Think about it.  If the Twins don't want him as a DH, who does?

An outfielder with pop? But can't overshadow his defense? You are correct sir. There have never been any of those in MLB. . If Robbie Grossman can get a gig, Arcia will get a couple also.

[TwinsCD]

Admittedly, I haven't watched too many Twins games this season because of various reasons, one being how embarrassingly terrible they've been.  My opinion is if you have a lot of young players that you think are going to be part of your organization going forward, it doesn't make much sense to me in a totally lost season to have them hanging out in AAA not learning how to hit MLB pitching.  What good will it serve the Twins in 2017 and beyond if you send Bux or Kepler or Park to AAA where they won't see MLB pitching and then bringing them back up again and they flail away like they continually have?  The one thing that I've noticed throughout this thread that hasn't been mentioned is why the hell Bruno is still the hitting coach.  I thought he should have been axed after that 0-9 start and it's not like they've been racking up the offense since then.  If long swings are what we're seeing as a flaw in a number of these young players, isn't it up to a competent hitting coach to start correcting that and seeing some positive results?

 

The only way today's move works is if Arcia clears waivers and he rebuilds himself at Rochester.  But dumping him and getting nothing for him is just another colossal fail.  I wasn't the biggest proponent of trading Plouffe in the offseason until they decided to send Sano to RF.  Why Nolasco wasn't traded (even for unstitched balls and broken bats) in the offseason is beyond me.  I was also very skeptical of the Park signing simply because you can't glean anything from someone tearing up Korea.  He's like the reverse Pedro Cerrano -- can't hit the fastball.  This team needs a complete overhaul and it needs to happen by the ASG.

[Monkeypaws]

Well, crap - looks like it's time for a new avatar. 

 

I will miss Oswaldo - mismanaged asset to be sure. I really hope he doesn't end up on the White Sox or Tigers.

[gocgo]

 

An outfielder with pop? But can't overshadow his defense? You are correct sir. There have never been any of those in MLB. . If Robbie Grossman can get a gig, Arcia will get a couple also.

"some pop"...just not enough pop to overcome the bad defense.  I wish the guy well, but I don't see me missing him.  Grossman at least isn't considered a liability in the outfield whereas I would have to say that Arcia is.  Grossman doesn't have as much pop as teams would like...but we are the Twins.  We have a first baseman who lacks pop.

[troyhobbs]

 

I think this is the best analysis. Arcia wasn't going to make it with the Twins. There are a lot of guys like him around - low average, big power, strike out a ton, low OBP guys.  Throw in his horrific defense and I don't think we lost that much.  I hope he turns it around with another organization but most guys like him wind up as career minor leaguers, cycling through organizations looking for that one big year or half year. I do think that the poor development of his natural talent by the Twins is a fair, legit criticism but the Arcia that now exists just isn't owrth extraordinary efforts to keep around. 

25 years old is not all that old in baseball. Look at Dozier and Plouffe's age 25 stats for example, yet they eventually became serviceable players. Maybe the Twins didn't lose that much by DFAing Arcia but why give up on a young man with good upside when you have so many other bums you could exercise options on?

 

Probably because the Twins brass didn't like the guy, as others have alluded to their popularity contest style of management. If your a nice guy with a bland personality and little to no charisma, you're in. If your flashy with the slightest bit of attitude, you become very expendable.

[Vanimal46]

Where might Arcia fit?

 

It has to be as a RF or DH.

 

The team with the least production in RF is the Phillies. They have DFA'd Lough and recently acquired Paredes. That might be a platoon fit but Paredes has shown reverse platoon splits as a right handed batter.

 

Milwaukee has had limited production from RF with Domingo Santana is on the DL. It probably depends on his outlook. They wouldn't want to take at bats away from Santana to give to Arcia. They might claim Arcia and DFA him when Santana is healthy.

 

The Yankees production in RF has been poor thanks to Aaron Hicks. That might be a platoon pair if Beltran wasn't in the way.

 

It was suggested that the Royals and Rays might need a DH. Would the Royals see Arcia as an upgrade over Morales at DH or Orlando in RF? Probably not. The A's have a similar situation with Butler at DH. The Rays use DH by committee and have a young RF.

 

The Braves production in RF has been poor. Would they cut ties with Markakis?

 

I think there are two teams that are in the most need of production from DH or RF without having anyone like Markakis, Butler or Morales in the way. The Phillies and the Twins are the teams most in need of Arcia.

Tigers also just lost JD Martinez to a significant injury. White Sox have been aggressively making moves all season long. Possibly other contending teams in the AL that wouldn't mind a LH bat off the bench.

[curt1965]

I don't especially dislike Park. But. Park has had 93 more AB's than Arcia. I could live with Arcia being DFA'd if the Twins had said: " OK Ozzie, you are going to play every day for 3 weeks. Against right and left handlers. If you strikeout 3-4 times a game ( kinda like Buxton and Park), you'll still be in the lineup the next day. Play hard."

Then, if he failed, move on.By moving him, they have essentially have said there is no room on the worse team in baseball for him.

[stringer bell]

I haven't been near a keyboard since I heard the news that Arcia was DFAed. Not a total surprise by a long shot, but still sad because Arcia came to spring training in great shape and did seem to work hard at his deficiencies in the outfield, plus he is one of the few guys to show a lot of emotion when out on the field.

 

It's a failure all right. First, the Twins had a young player who looked like he would be a candidate to hit 30 homers a year as recently as 2014, but he went backward big time last year. This year, he hasn't shown enough as a hitter to garner regular playing time and I would suggest that Arcia is a guy that will never to a good bench player. I believe he needs regular at-bats to keep the holes in his swing from becoming open invitations to throw high fastballs and breaking balls in the dirt.

 

It's also a failure of the organization. They haven't prevailed on him to make the adjustments needed to be consistently successful. Also they've used up options too early and have a glut of younger guys and not enough playing time for all of them, while carrying a 30 year old DH and a 33 year old first baseman on multiple year contracts. I don't think the 40-man decisions have been good for a long time. The Sano, Plouffe, Park, Mauer merry-go-round is a mess and leaves no place really for Arcia or Kepler.

[Thrylos]

 

 

The Phillies and the Twins are the teams most in need of Arcia.

 

The Phillies are pretty much set at RF.   They have a 22 year old by the name of Dylan Cozens who is hitting .294/.371/.595 with 19 HRs in AA Reading (Eastern League.)  He is a lefty hitter and thrower and around 6'6"/230.  They are not going anywhere this season so they will not rush him, but he might be their starting RF as soon as 2017.  They don't really need Arcia.

 

[Pius Jefferson]

Baltimore or Toronto seem like ideal spots. They have home run hitting lineups with home run hitting philosophies and Arcia can be used to the best of his talents. Say 25-30 home run potential hitting 6th in the lineup.