Article: The Development of Chris Parmelee

[Seth Stohs]

You can view the page at http://www.twinsdaily.com/content.php?927-The-Development-of-Chris-Parmelee

[twinstalker]

Up until this year his minor league numbers shouted severe mediocrity for his MLB potential. And unfortunately for us, the Twins would have likely been fine with that. However, they may have gotten lucky. As with Span and Plouffe, it looks like Parmelee could be better than his minor league numbers. You would think that whatever is in the Rochester water would be something they'd like all their real prospects to drink, so it's amazing they're so willing to skip that level (Parmelee, Dozier).

[phillips]

Parmelee worked with Bruno last year in New Britain and this year in Rochester. Alot of the hitters there are doing better under his instrution as well. Hopfully Bruno will get the hitting instrutors job next year in Minnisota. But as well as Parmelee is hitting (which is better than anyone in the International League) it did not earn him a promotion back to the Bigs. News has it that Carson was promoted last night. So much for a player earning his way back up. I've read other posts about Parmelee maybe filling in, in the outfield as well as DH and 1st to keep him hitting every day. If there was ever a chance that this might happen, this was it. I feel bad for a player that takes a step back and moves 8 steps forward (as Seth said in his post) works hard and gets dist for his efforts. It's no wonder our team is in the shape it's in today.

[Seth Stohs]

I'm sure they want Parmelee playing every single day. He really is NOT an outfielder, so with the Twins, he would still be sitting a lot. Carson can come up and sit on the bench, just pinch hit, make an occasional start. He's been pretty consistent all year, very professional. If that was the move, good for him!! Parmelee will get his time, for sure.

[clutterheart]

He has no position so who gets traded? Doumit, Mauer, or Morneau?

One of those guys have to go to give him a fulltime position 1B or DH

 

Otherwise he has no position. Too bad as part of his development he didn't learn how to play RF.

[phillips]

Parmelee may not be your "Quintessentiial" outfielder, but has spent alot of time in the outfield over the years. There have been many players that have not really fit that roll over the years, but to get there bats in the lineup, that's were they played. Young is a resent example of that, and I believe my little sister could play the outfield better than Young. As I believe Parmelee would have been better than Young as well. It would have been intersting to see how Parmelee would have done moving up while he is hot.

[drivlikejehu]

Parmelee just isn't fast enough to be a good outfielder. There's nothing that can really be done about that.

 

It is odd how similarly the Twins' first picks from '02, '04, and '06 progressed. I don't see much that can be taken from that, but interesting nonetheless.

[Cody Christie]

It seems like they will have to find a position for Parmelee by next season. At 24-years old, the Twins need to find out what they have in him. If they waited until after Morneau becomes a free agent, Parmelee would be a 26-year old that spent two years playing well at Triple-A. With Doumit's new contract, it seems like the likely scenario would be Morneau getting traded but Parmelee in the outfield could work too. There would need to be some other kind of trade such as Willingham. An outfield with Willingham and Parmelee at the corners would be scary.

[Thrylos]

I'm sure they want Parmelee playing every single day. He really is NOT an outfielder, so with the Twins, he would still be sitting a lot. Carson can come up and sit on the bench, just pinch hit, make an occasional start. He's been pretty consistent all year, very professional. If that was the move, good for him!! Parmelee will get his time, for sure.

 

I cannot agree more. I have watched Parmelee play the OF both while in New Britain and at Spring Training the last couple of seasons and it is really bad. Doumit has more range there. And really who cares at this point at where the Twins are, but the biggest concern I have is that he might take bad things happening at the field with him on the plate. Carson deserves it but the need a 40-man spot (DFA Nishioka, Manship, Tosoni, Perdomo or something) The other way they can get Parmelee playing time this season (but August is already over) is to send Butera down, have Doumit exclusively at back up catcher, have a rotation of Parmelee/Morneau/Mauer at 1B and Parmelee/Morneau/Doumit at DH. Span sounds like might be available tomorrow so they will have 4 OFs... So really insisting on having Butera warming the bench cuts down on Parmelee's playing time..

[Jack Torse]

Who cares how bad he is in right field, lets see how he hits in 6 weeks and play him at 1st next year. It's not exactly like he's never played out there or will be exposed like a bad shortstop. If you can't give him OF playing time in a year like this it will never happen. They're going to move Morneau so they better see what they got out of this cat because he will be at 1st next season. If he hits in these next 6 weeks he's probably Mccarty proof because it's not like the league has never seen him before.

[mk]

It seems like they will have to find a position for Parmelee by next season. At 24-years old, the Twins need to find out what they have in him. If they waited until after Morneau becomes a free agent, Parmelee would be a 26-year old that spent two years playing well at Triple-A. With Doumit's new contract, it seems like the likely scenario would be Morneau getting traded but Parmelee in the outfield could work too. There would need to be some other kind of trade such as Willingham. An outfield with Willingham and Parmelee at the corners would be scary.

 

What are the chances it's Parmelee that gets traded after the season? Being young and under team control for the foreseeable future, would he have more trade value to bring back high upside pitching than Morneau and his hefty contract? Yes, that leaves 1st base as a potential hole after Morneau's contract expires, but it seems that Mauer is spending more time there, and if Sano doesn't cut down on errors maybe that's where he ends up.

[ltwedt]

Seriously!???? Parmelee in Right????? If that happens anymore than once or twice in the next 6 weeks, we are really in trouble. Get over this "Nicky Punto of the outfield", please. He has NO place on the major league team, and should be dealt to whomever will take him - he's another in a series of C players, of which the Twins seem to have many.

[stringer bell]

Seriously!???? Parmelee in Right????? If that happens anymore than once or twice in the next 6 weeks, we are really in trouble. Get over this "Nicky Punto of the outfield", please. He has NO place on the major league team, and should be dealt to whomever will take him - he's another in a series of C players, of which the Twins seem to have many.

This team used Delmon Young in left field and intermittently played Kubel in both left and right? They played Cuddyer in center a few games and at least a dozen with Cuddy at second. They can stand to put a less than stellar fielder in right field to get him at-bats in a building season. I'm not saying put him in right permanently, but play him there when Parmelee is called up to get him at-bats.

[phillips]

Right now Parmelee is the best hitter in the International League. So by your blinded standards of Parmelee being a "C" player the rest of the league is full of F- players. Parmelee is the best hitter in the Twins ML system. Sounds like your a Parmelee hatter to me.

[Brock Beauchamp]

Seriously!???? Parmelee in Right????? If that happens anymore than once or twice in the next 6 weeks, we are really in trouble. Get over this "Nicky Punto of the outfield", please. He has NO place on the major league team, and should be dealt to whomever will take him - he's another in a series of C players, of which the Twins seem to have many.

 

Chris Parmelee is 24 years old and has a 1.146 OPS in Rochester.

 

Yes, a 1.146 OPS.

 

"C" players do not OPS over 1.100 in AAA.

[jimbo92107]

Current options with Parmelee

 

1) Trade him for a pitcher, weep later for ten years

Today the Twins could demand a promising prospect for Parmelee, like another team's Liam Hendriks, but not an established mlb mid-rotation starter. Parmelee would, of course, become the next Big Pappy. The pitcher would, of course, hurt his arm.

 

2) Trade Morneau off-season for a very good pitcher, weep later for a few years

Might be able to get a veteran mlb mid-rotation starter for Morneau, who would of course hit 40 homers for somebody else and play great first base.

 

3) Promote him in Sept, play him in Right, DH and 1st

Parmelee gets playing time, takes at-bats away from Doumitt, Morneau, Willingham, Mauer.

 

Option 3 is by far the best, because if Parmelee shines brightly in September, his trade value shoots up, maybe as high as a legit mid-rotation starter. Meanwhile, at the tail end of an awful season, the Twins can rest their veterans and let the kid show his stuff. A team like the Twins should be more accustomed to rapid turnover. If you can't pay top dollar for established stars like Morneau, then you should trade them for talent and keep bringing up guys like Chris Parmelee. Note to fans: Buy jerseys only for retired players, like Hrbek.

[cr9617]

Current options with Parmelee

 

1) Trade him for a pitcher, weep later for ten years

Today the Twins could demand a promising prospect for Parmelee, like another team's Liam Hendriks, but not an established mlb mid-rotation starter. Parmelee would, of course, become the next Big Pappy. The pitcher would, of course, hurt his arm.

 

2) Trade Morneau off-season for a very good pitcher, weep later for a few years

Might be able to get a veteran mlb mid-rotation starter for Morneau, who would of course hit 40 homers for somebody else and play great first base.

 

3) Promote him in Sept, play him in Right, DH and 1st

Parmelee gets playing time, takes at-bats away from Doumitt, Morneau, Willingham, Mauer.

 

Option 3 is by far the best, because if Parmelee shines brightly in September, his trade value shoots up, maybe as high as a legit mid-rotation starter. Meanwhile, at the tail end of an awful season, the Twins can rest their veterans and let the kid show his stuff. A team like the Twins should be more accustomed to rapid turnover. If you can't pay top dollar for established stars like Morneau, then you should trade them for talent and keep bringing up guys like Chris Parmelee. Note to fans: Buy jerseys only for retired players, like Hrbek.

 

Your assumption that Parmelee is destined for superstar status is silly, and ignores the previous 5-6 years of mediocre production. I'm pretty sure other teams are aware of his previous struggles, and don't fixate soley on his hot 2 months at AAA. I'm not saying he doesn't have some value/potential, but until he does it at the Big League level, it's still a wait and see...

[diehardtwinsfan]

Seth, one thing you missed is that the Twins tinkered with his approach quite a bit during the step back stage. That improved his contact but sapped his power... now the power is coming back. I don't know why people are down onthe kid. 24 year old guys who post video game stats in AAA tend to be considered top prospects. Given his track record, it's fair to look at some of this from the lens of SSS, as some players can have break out seasons in the minors and never again approach those numbers in the same league... but Chris has been doing this for 1 1/2 years now. It's time to recognize that he has the potential to be something big. He may not get there, but he's earned the opportunity to try.

[Monkeypaws]

Up until this year his minor league numbers shouted severe mediocrity for his MLB potential. And unfortunately for us, the Twins would have likely been fine with that. However, they may have gotten lucky. As with Span and Plouffe, it looks like Parmelee could be better than his minor league numbers. You would think that whatever is in the Rochester water would be something they'd like all their real prospects to drink, so it's amazing they're so willing to skip that level (Parmelee, Dozier).

 

Another guy who's minor league numbers did little to predict his major league numbers was Hunter. Never hit more than 10 homers in a season, or higher than .295 over the course of his development.

[TheLeviathan]

The kid needs to be hitting major league pitching every day and very soon. I could care less about how well he plays a corner OF spot on a bad team. I care about seeing him hit.

[DaveW]

Morneau will only be here 1 more year max! I'd wager there is a 50/50 chance he is traded before next season, and a 80% chance he is traded before the deadline next year.

 

I know Parmelee isn't a great OF, but if need be you can probably live with him in RF/DH for half a season or so. (perhaps Parmelee and Doumit switch off between RF/DH)?

 

That of course would assume that one of the OF would be traded before next season, which I also think their is a great chance.

 

At the end of the day, I'd say there is a great chance that one of the following players will be traded: Span, Revere, Morneau, Willingham. If one is traded, then Parmelee has his everyday role.

 

No need to trade Parmelee at this point, that would be a massive mistake unless someone wants to grossly overpay.

[twinsnorth49]

The other way they can get Parmelee playing time this season (but August is already over) is to send Butera down, have Doumit exclusively at back up catcher, have a rotation of Parmelee/Morneau/Mauer at 1B and Parmelee/Morneau/Doumit at DH. Span sounds like might be available tomorrow so they will have 4 OFs... So really insisting on having Butera warming the bench cuts down on Parmelee's playing time..

 

 

Yeah, it's time for Butera to go, the need for him to be up here is beyond ridiculous already. This scenario is likely the best one with an occasional start in RF thrown in as well.

[Riverbrian]

I think we can all agree that injuries happen. It does seem to me that some don't consider it. Depth is important.

 

A. The Current Twins do not have a decent option off the bench for Pinch Hitting duties.

B. The Current Twins have at least two starters at SS and 2B that are prime candidates to be pinch hit for at the end of games in key moments.

C. The Current Twins also have two other starters who are decent hittes but not legitimate Home Run Threats for those key situations where a late inning home run is the last hope.

D. Look at point B and C and then Re-Read point A

 

I believe that Parmelee should be called up Right NOW. This Time he shouldn't waste time on the bench like he did in his last call up. He should be placed into a rotation of Doumit, Mauer, Morneau and Willingham. 5 Players and 4 positions... Whoever sits can become that pinch hitting option.

 

With the current state of the Twins... It makes no sense to me to suggest that Morneau is blocking Parmelee... Nothing is blocking Parmelee... The only thing that is blocking Parmelee is Gardenhire's insistence on playing players nearly every day. Nobody has to be traded to make room for Parmelee. Players should only be traded because we need Pitching or Middle Infield.

 

This isn't a knock on Gardy... Well it kinda is... But I think he's a fine manager. Just a little creativity here is all that's required.

 

Calling Parmelee up and rotating him in right now does many things.

 

A. Provides a decent pinch hit bat late in games.

B. Gets him more MLB Exposure

C. Provides a MLB experienced injury replacement for the injuries that will occur.

D. Gives injury prone players and aging players a day of rest from time to time.

E. Improves the Team!!!

 

No Brainer!!!

[phillips]

I agree. The minor leagues are for learning to be a better player. Which he has advanced at every level. I think if he get traded, he will be just like the other players the head office let go to another team and excell such as "Big Poppy, AJ and Ramos. Unless he plays up there, we wil never really know. The season is a wash now anyway. Rest the veterans and let the rest play. We need OFFENSE!!!

[TheLeviathan]

I know Parmelee isn't a great OF, but if need be you can probably live with him in RF/DH for half a season or so. (perhaps Parmelee and Doumit switch off between RF/DH)?.

 

I forgot how often we've endured "Ryan Doumit: Outfielder" of late. If we can put up with that, we can deal with Parmalee out there. Quite frankly, Doumit should move to the role he was signed for (bench) to make room for Parmalee.

[DaveW]

I know Parmelee isn't a great OF, but if need be you can probably live with him in RF/DH for half a season or so. (perhaps Parmelee and Doumit switch off between RF/DH)?.

 

I forgot how often we've endured "Ryan Doumit: Outfielder" of late. If we can put up with that, we can deal with Parmalee out there. Quite frankly, Doumit should move to the role he was signed for (bench) to make room for Parmalee.

 

Doumit has a .834 OPS this year and a .830 OPS last year. A guy like that shouldn't be riding the bench.

 

More than likely, one of Willingham, Morneau, Span, Mauer or Doumit will get injured at some point anyways. I think people are getting a little "happy feet" when it comes to Parmelee, things will work out sooner or later. No need to trade him, or someone else just for the sake of opening up a roster spot.

[mk]

I agree. No NEED to trade Parmelee. But, it seems the Twins need MLB pitching prospects more than they need another 1B/OF/DH. Like we saw in the Matt Garza/Delmon Young trade, you need to trade something of value (Garza) to get value (Young... at the time was 21 years old and coming off a year in which he was 2nd in ROY voting). I just hope it works out better long term for the Twins this time.

[greengoblinrulz]

Matt Carson.....that puts a lot of faith into the fans that the front office knows what its doin

[TheLeviathan]

Doumit has a .834 OPS this year and a .830 OPS last year. A guy like that shouldn't be riding the bench.

 

He's also on a career-best pace for ABs in a season due to better health, which is unlikely to be sustainable. I like Doumit, but he's not the kind of guy that should stand in the way of getting a good look at Parmalee.

[SweetOne69]

News has it that Carson was promoted last night.

 

I doubt this is the case. I'm not saying that he wasn't promoted, I'm saying that he definitely wasn't promoted last night.

 

The Twins would have to make an additional move in order to promote Carson as he isn't on the 40-man roster and it is currently full.