Article: Twins Blunder Polanco's Development

[Cody Christie]

Shortstop has been a revolving door for the Twins for the greater part of the last two decades. Minnesota is set to enter the 2017 season with Jorge Polanco as the newest member of the Opening Day shortstop club. As I wrote about last week, the spot is Polanco's to lose.

 

However, the Twins blundered with Polanco's development during the 2016 season.Throughout his professional career, Polanco has played over 3300 innings at shortstop. Unfortunately, he didn't play an inning at short to start the 2016 season. Before being called up in July to take over the Twins shortstop role, he started 64 games at second base and two games at third base.

 

Twins manager Paul Molitor was asked about Polanco's handling during the 2016 campaign. He told the Star Tribune, "I wish I had a better explanation for you. But I think myself, a lot of other people, realized we didn't handle it the right way."

 

To be clear, this shouldn't be something Molitor has to worry about or apologize for in the press. His job is to run the major league squad on a daily basis. There would be reports coming from the minor league level but a directive for positioning of players would need to come from the front office.

 

As the Twins were getting close to calling up Polanco, the team was also in the midst of firing general manager Terry Ryan. It was also nearing the trade deadline when the Twins would make multiple moves. Polanco's positioning at Rochester might have gotten lost in the shuffle but this still shouldn't be an excuse for it falling through the cracks.

 

Polanco isn't a perfect shortstop. There are questions about his arm at the position and whether he has the range to make all the necessary plays. In over 400 MLB innings last year, he committed 11 errors in 189 chances (.942 FLD%). This fielding percentage was 10 points higher than his professional average.

 

Some of his defensive flaws at shortstop show up in some of the other defensive metrics. Defensive runs saved (DRS) had him at 8 runs below average. Ultimate zone rating (UZR) was even lower as it put him at 10.9 runs below average. These numbers will obviously need to improve for him to stick at shortstop through the coming season.

 

There are benefits to having infielders who are versatile. However, it also helps for players to get as much experience as possible at the position that could be their ticket to the big leagues. Polanco was in his age-22 season and he lost half a year of development at shortstop.

 

Polanco's 2016 season might have included an organizational gaffe but spring is a time to turn the page. The Twins might have blundered but he will get every opportunity to prove he can stick at shortstop.

 

Who's to blame in the Polanco blunder? Should Molitor have been monitoring more of the minor leagues? Leave a COMMENT and start the discussion.

 

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[jimmer]

He was our best overall option for shortstop and still is.  That's on the front offices not Molitor.

[TheLeviathan]

This is zero percent on Molitor.  

[nytwinsfan]

This is completely inexcusable, but it is totally on Ryan and Anthony, not Molitor.  I'm a lawyer, and in law, we would call this "malpractice." There is no possible way this should fall through the cracks. I simply can't find any excuse that could possible justify this. What a disgrace.

 

The Twins had 3 options and ONLY 3 options for a plan for Polanco: Either (1) Polanco is a SS despite not being a natural fit there and despite some scouts being skeptical he would be able to play tolerable defense there, OR (2) Dozier will DEFINITELY be traded, making room for Polanco, or (3) Polanco will DEFINITELY be traded.  Those are the ONLY three options. Notice the word DEFINITELY in (2) and (3). That's because if the Twins were not close to 100% sure Polanco would be traded or Dozier would be traded POLANCO SHOULD HAVE BEEN PLAYING SS EVERY DAY.

[Kwak]

Are people implying that Polanco forgot how to play SS (over 3300 innings were cited in the OP) because he wasn't used as a SS in the 2016 minors? Balderdash! There was plenty of background to estimate Polanco's effectiveness as a SS at the ML level.

 

As I see it, there is a real disconnect between "advertised" skill level of a Twins' prospect and his actual performance. 

[clutterheart]

It's nice to see Moliter be so candid. It's almost like he is fighting for his legacy.

Polanco is not the reason guys like Radcliff, Brad Steil and Rob Antony deserve to be tarred and feathered and never let back into the state of Minnesota.

He is just the latest most blatant example of the poor player development and mismanagement that has plagued this organization for at least a decade.

 

Falvey and Levine need to start cleaning house. I don't want any of the old player development regime to touch June's #1 pick

[HitInAPinch]

I think:

Molitor doesn't have anything to apologize for.  He's a good soldier.

Falvey and Levine will be more active in who and where MiLB manager's lineups will look like.

Polanco will be just another story-line in the Twins overall development and changes.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

Are people implying that Polanco forgot how to play SS (over 3300 innings were cited in the OP) because he wasn't used as a SS in the 2016 minors? Balderdash! There was plenty of background to estimate Polanco's effectiveness as a SS at the ML level.

 

As I see it, there is a real disconnect between "advertised" skill level of a Twins' prospect and his actual performance.

Why do MLB teams participate in spring training if players can just come in cold and be perfect from the get go?

 

Is there not loss of skill from disuse?

[Richie the Rally Goat]

I think:

Molitor doesn't have anything to apologize for. He's a good soldier.

Falvey and Levine will be more active in who and where MiLB manager's lineups will look like.

Polanco will be just another story-line in the Twins overall development and changes.

TR exercised Polancos options in 2014,15,&16. Molitor let Polanco ride the pine rather than develop and play games in the bigs during 15.

 

There's some onus there on PM but not near as much as Ryan and the minor league development and coaching staff.

[Oldgoat_MN]

Last season as we checked the box scores for Rochester it was clear that the Red Wings did not have a MLB ready SS. No one in the MI could hit except Polanco.

 

This was obvious to those of us who are simple observers.

Something is amiss. Hopefully it gets set right.

[Platoon]

Molitor is being the good soldier, at little cost. Apologizing for something that you had nothing to do with, is an assured way to get support, and to deflect your heretofore critics. If in fact Molitor was responsible for Polanco being a 2B in Rochester, then Pohlad fired the wrong guy! This is only one of several times that Molitor has intimated that he makes personnel decisions. Another that comes to mind is the Rosario walking to third base fiasco. If indeed Paul Molitor has the authority to make decisions on position assignents in MiLB, and 25 man roster decisions, what pray tell does a GM, or for that matter two GM's do?

[nytwinsfan]

 

Are people implying that Polanco forgot how to play SS (over 3300 innings were cited in the OP) because he wasn't used as a SS in the 2016 minors? Balderdash! There was plenty of background to estimate Polanco's effectiveness as a SS at the ML level.

 

As I see it, there is a real disconnect between "advertised" skill level of a Twins' prospect and his actual performance. 

 

I swear some people act like playing a tough infield position on a professional baseball team is the equivalent of learning to ride a bike. It isn't a matter of "forgetting" how to do it. It is a matter of not getting enough reps and building enough muscle memory to be one of the best 30 people IN THE ENTIRE WORLD at a group of interconnected athletic skills. The same happened with Sano at 3B when he was inexplicably put in RF for multiple months, including spring training. This stuff is incredibly difficult, and even these incredibly talented athletes will fail at it, or at least be further behind in their development, if they don't get as many reps as possible.

Edited February 21, 2017 by nytwinsfan

[gman]

Going forward, the Twins need to spend as much time as possible this spring getting him ready to play major league shortstop.

[beckmt]

 

Molitor is being the good soldier, at little cost. Apologizing for something that you had nothing to do with, is an assured way to get support, and to deflect your heretofore critics. If in fact Molitor was responsible for Polanco being a 2B in Rochester, then Pohlad fired the wrong guy! This is only one of several times that Molitor has intimated that he makes personnel decisions. Another that comes to mind is the Rosario walking to third base fiasco. If indeed Paul Molitor has the authority to make decisions on position assignents in MiLB, and 25 man roster decisions, what pray tell does a GM, or for that matter two GM's do?

Usually the GM decides who is on the club and lets the manager decide when they play.  In the consultation if the manager is not going to use the player, then they jointly decide what to do.  This is why I was more for firing Molitor than relieving TR.  Maybe and I think the time had come(now) to make the change at the top, I just thought that Molitor was more of the problem than TR. 

[Thrylos]

 

 

Who's to blame in the Polanco blunder? 
 

 

1. General Manager - Terry Ryan (he gone)

2. VP of Player Development  - Mike Radcliff (he should go)

3. Minor League Director - Brad Steil (he should go)

4. Minor League Fielding Coordinator - Joel Lepel (he should go)

5. Polanco's manager at AAA in 2016 - Mike Quade (he should go)

 

for starters...

 

Molitor played him for 5 games at 2B and 9 games at 3B in 2016, which is also ridiculous...

Edited February 21, 2017 by Thrylos

[bird]

I can think of a million things that happened last year for which Molitor could apologize.

 

This isn't one of them.

[Squirrel]

I can think of a million things that happened last year for which Molitor could apologize.

 

This isn't one of them.

Unless Molitor had a say in it and either agreed with the decision or didn't insist Polanco also share time at short in AAA. I find it hard to believe that Molitor wasn't at least asked or didn't share an opinion given his past work with minor leaguers, and given he was the ML manager needing a team. Polanco was either going to start at 2nd, if Dozier was traded, start at short, if no better options were acquired, be a utility infielder, if Dozier wasn't traded and a better option at short was acquired, or be traded. One of those scenarios was going to happen so he needed to be splitting time at 2nd and SS in triple A with a couple of games at 3rd thrown in. If this was Ryan's mistake alone, well then, he's gone. Frustrating, but done and gone. Seems to me they only planned for one scenario and one only. If others still there, Molitor included, were a part of that kind of decision making and planning, then I hope Falvey is giving them some long, hard looks as to their future here.

 

My opinion is that Polanco isn't a starting SS. He might be for us, but that's not really where he should be. I'm hoping he's better this year with better preparation. And I hope the chips start falling better moving forward.

[Han Joelo]

Seems like a deal where a bunch of crusty old guys were sitting around drinking Coors Light, candidly discussing players futures, and on the topic of Polanco playing SS, they all agreed-- he wasn't one.  They were probably right, and yet…so wrong.

 

In a perfect world, Dozier got traded at the deadline last summer (for an ace prospect,) and Polanco took over 2B.

 

Clearly, that plan didn't work out.  Nothing sums up the perfect storm of total system dysfunctionality that occurred last year than the Polanco story.  Turn the page, move on.

[Taildragger8791]

 

Are people implying that Polanco forgot how to play SS (over 3300 innings were cited in the OP) because he wasn't used as a SS in the 2016 minors? Balderdash! There was plenty of background to estimate Polanco's effectiveness as a SS at the ML level.

 

As I see it, there is a real disconnect between "advertised" skill level of a Twins' prospect and his actual performance. 

 

Skills fade when you don't practice them, and you don't make a seamless transition from playing SS at AA two years ago to playing MLB SS today. It's supposed to be a steady progression of development so players get used to the speed and other differences, ingraining the routine plays into muscle memory.

 

Polanco has been jerked around over the last few years and collectively he has barely a season's worth of games at SS above A+ ball since 2014. The vast majority of those starts coming in 2014 & early 2015 at AA. Since then he's been yanked around the diamond and between levels and never got to settle into a position or role. He went from playing SS at AA to benchwarmer in MLB to 2B at AAA, then yanked back and forth between the last two until late last year when he finally got some regular time at SS. There was no progression/development towards MLB SS. They basically cut him off after AA.

 

Maybe they had the right idea and he can't play the position, but I don't think even they know that for sure and it seems silly that they abandoned his development before they really knew. Particularly when his bat has been MLB-ready for over a year and every other position is blocked.

Edited February 21, 2017 by Taildragger8791

[dogsday]

Whether or not he spent time there last year, Polanco at SS is no big deal this year. It's the perfect year to see whether or not he is 'good enough' there. Likewise, Sano at third. If not one or the other, Sano becomes a 1B/DH, and we need someone else at 3B and/or at SS. Maybe Gordon. Maybe people not yet in the organization. The Twins won't be contenders until they have better pitching. We need to luck into a top of the rotation starter, or develop a stable of 2-3's. Not trading Dozier for DeLeon makes sense in terms of value, but maybe not in terms of needs/assets. We have people who can probably stick at 2B, but not in the rotation. Both Dozier and E. Santana should be moved this year to improve areas of need in the infield or in pitching. Jumping all over the handling of Polanco is a minor sideshow.

[GP830]

I keep shaking my head about this. It's just such a humorous and silly blunder that no one caught for literally a year. Also, don't you think Polanco- seeing that his best natural fit would likely be at SS, would advocate for himself at some point? 

 

An extreme, but fairly analogous situation would be Berrios getting to the bigs as a touted pitcher and the Twins finding out that he had only played first base in the minors. I have absolutely no idea how this happened. 

[gunnarthor]

I'm not sure this is the big colossal problem people make it out to be.  Polanco isn't a great option at short.  That's been part of his scouting reports for years.  He's a future second baseman and it's a reason some are concerned about the defense this year.

 

At the start of last year, the Twins probably thought that short would be handled at the ML level by Escobar, Santana or Nunez and it was time for Polanco to focus on his actual position - second base.  Turns out, Nunez did ok and Escobar had his worst season.  I suppose you could argue that, come May, the Twins should have changed their strategy but I'm not sure since Dozier also looked DOA in May.  I believe we had a few posts here saying it was time to promote Polanco to play second base over Dozier.

 

In any event, I think Escobar will end up making more starts at short this year than Polanco.

[mazeville]

Players advance through the minor leagues so they play gradually better competition on their way to the majors. Polanco, who already had some questions about his ability at short, did not play in AAA -- even though there was a chance he would be the major league shortstop some day. 

 

I consider this a pretty big mistake, even if the Twins did intend to trade Brian Dozier to open up second for Polanco.

 

To me, though, it just speaks to the failures of the prior administration, and why it needed to be changed. They've just failed on too many prospects. Polanco is just part of a broader issue. Hopefully, that gets resolved under the new regime. But I definitely blame the FO on this one and not Molitor.

[mikelink45]

Polanco is just part of a thought process that, I hope, is in the process of being rectified. Most blatant last year was Sano in RF.   In some ways, even the Mauer to 1B decision was handled similarly.  The team attitude seemed to be that we should fill out a line up and then just stick them in any available hole in the field.  I hope that is changing.  

 

Polanco at SS this season does not bother me, when we have someone ready to take his place hopefully he can slide to 2B or take Escobars utility position and we can start moving towards a glove first infield as it should be.  

I remember well the old 59 White Sox, the latest hitless wonders with Aparicio and Fox in the middle of the lineup and Jim Landis in Center with Sherm Lollar behind the plate - they defined up the middle defense - http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CHW/1959.shtml and their pitching staff prospered because ot them. 

 

The other team that figured out that field wins games and improves your pitching was the Oriole's under Earl Weaver - in 1970 he played Belanger at SS even though his pitchers could outhit him. Brooks Robinson at 3B and Davey Johnson at 2B with Paul Blair in CF.  His reputation was great starters and wait for a HR, but defense was his secret weapon. http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/BAL/1970-fielding.shtml

[Doomtints]

Polanco has been mishandled for 3 years. Someone, somewhere, wanted him to fail. Many fans bought into the idea that Polanco isn't good, which is part of the travesty.

[GP830]

 

Polanco is just part of a thought process that, I hope, is in the process of being rectified. Most blatant last year was Sano in RF.   In some ways, even the Mauer to 1B decision was handled similarly.  The team attitude seemed to be that we should fill out a line up and then just stick them in any available hole in the field.  I hope that is changing.  

 

I suppose one could even make the argument that bringing Mauer up as a catcher despite his body type was ill-advised, and could make the point that if he had converted to 3B after being drafted we'd still be talking our future HOF 3rd baseman and face of the franchise.

[ThejacKmp]

Meh, I don't even really blame TR and Antony that much. Yeah they could have thrown him at short sometimes but I think they really never saw Polanco as a shortstop. Circumstance last year forced their hand as Nunez (not much of a SS either) was dealt and Escobar was pretty awful while Polanco's hitting forced him up to the MLB level.

 

It feels like the same thing is happening this year - no one really wants to play Polanco at SS but Dozier not being dealt and the lack of other options on a rebuilding team makes it not the worst idea. I see no indications in Polanco's demeanor that struggling in the field is going to set back his offensive development. I guess TR and Antony could have worked him at SS but I see no way he's in the Twins SS plans next year so I can let it go. You can't predict everything and if Dozier had been dealt, I'd be wanting Polanco to have concentrated on 2B.

 

The Twins' success this season isn't going to hinge on Polanco's play at SS. It isn't going to help but in a year where .500 would be incredible, getting him MLB at-bats is almost certainly the reason the Twins are playing a 2B at SS.

[GP830]

I understand people "not seeing him as a short stop." But the fact remains that the parent club had a deficiency at the position, and he is an able bodied athlete who's value could improve exponentially by getting innings at the position. You hear all the time about players who improve their defense with repetition and commitment- look at Trevor Plouffe.

 

If you like the kid, value his bat, and want him to stick at the MLB roster-- you should give him every chance to succeed at a position where that is most likely to happen, and where he's most needed. 

Edited February 21, 2017 by GP830

[NE Gopher]

Maybe there was more of a focus on trading Dozier than we were aware of and a good deal never materialized. That or other clubs knew we had been grooming Polanco for 2B and called our bluff with low ball offers?

 

Is there any precedence for a similar move working for another player at the MLB level? I'm no where near the historian others on this site are but the only move that comes to mind is Biggio moving from catcher to 2B.

 

If Polanco's issues are his arm strength and lack of range, how is this going to improve with more time at the position? Yes, his footwork and positiong should improve and that will help, but his deficiencies will still be the limiting factor IMO.

 

Remember, it was already pointed out that his fielding percentage at short was better at the MLB level than it was in the minors. However, even this improvement left him in the subpar category when compared to his peers.

 

Polanco is a man without a position until Dozier is no longer on the team. Why isn't he a candidate to be our utility man/bench bat? Is he better for the lineup at SS than Escobar would be?

[Taildragger8791]

 

I'm not sure this is the big colossal problem people make it out to be.  Polanco isn't a great option at short.  That's been part of his scouting reports for years.  He's a future second baseman and it's a reason some are concerned about the defense this year.

 

At the start of last year, the Twins probably thought that short would be handled at the ML level by Escobar, Santana or Nunez and it was time for Polanco to focus on his actual position - second base.  Turns out, Nunez did ok and Escobar had his worst season.  I suppose you could argue that, come May, the Twins should have changed their strategy but I'm not sure since Dozier also looked DOA in May.  I believe we had a few posts here saying it was time to promote Polanco to play second base over Dozier.

 

In any event, I think Escobar will end up making more starts at short this year than Polanco.

 

I'm curious where you think Polanco will be if Escobar is holding down SS. Barring a trade the only other place for him is on the bench or AAA (can't remember if he was granted a 4th option?).