What to do with Trevor Plouffe?

[bwille]

After seeing manager Ron Gardenhire choose to sit starting third basemen Trevor Plouffe in consecutive games for a more defensively strong lineup, I began to wonder if this change is going to become a trend or a short-term motivational wake-up call. As a result, my latest article discusses why Gardy chose to sit Plouffe in the first place and what options the Twins can use with Plouffe.

 

"The bottom line is this: Plouffe needs to take a more serious approach to improving his defensive skills if he wants to regain the trust of his manager and organization."

 

 

 

What do you think Twins Centric, what should the Twins do with Plouffe?

 

Trevor Plouffe: Minnesota Twins Frustrated by Lack of Progress

[Guest USAFChief]

A couple points: 1) While fielding pct can be misleading (especially given the way official scorekeepers go about their business these days), there's nothing terrible about a .957 for a third baseman. That's about average. 2) In watching Plouffe, I think charging balls and throwing on the run is actually one of his STRONG points, rather than a weakness. 3) I can't see Plouffe losing his job this year, unless things really go south. It makes no sense to give Carroll a full time job, and Escobar isn't going to become a full time third baseman. In the long term, I'm more concerned about Plouffe ever hitting enough to be a true asset more than his defense.

[Kwak]

It's really just giving playing time to the bench--Escobar and Carroll--not showing dissatisfaction with Plouffe.

[gunnarthor]

I think Gardy will pretty much mix and match his 3 infielder spots (SS, 2B and 3B) all season. I think Plouffe could be a platoon DH/RF type player fairly soon but for now will be in the 3B conversation.

[TheLeviathan]

It's really just giving playing time to the bench--Escobar and Carroll--not showing dissatisfaction with Plouffe.

 

Not according to the Strib or some Gardy comments. If you were just sitting Plouffe for rest - you wouldn't have sat him against a lefty on Saturday.

[jorgenswest]

Plouffe has to work hard to make the most of his limited fielding skill and instinct. If he hasn't been working hard, maybe sitting two games will help.

 

If he is working hard and this is the best he can offer at 3B, he needs to hit much better to keep a job in MLB.

[greengoblinrulz]

plouffe is just a placeholder for Miguel.....nothing to get too bothered about

[Thrylos]

I think that the question should be "what to do with Ron Gardenhire..."

 

Plouffe has the fourth best OPS+ in the team behind Willingham, Mauer and Escobar, yet the Manager of the Millennium sits him for 2 games.

 

And we are talking about a guy who the Executive of the Millennium asked to be his Right Fielder last Spring Training, and that never materialized (thanks to the Manager of the Millennium who "mixed and matched" his way to 96+99) and yet he never said anything but played the game.

[Monkeypaws]

plouffe is just a placeholder for Miguel.....nothing to get too bothered about

 

Had that very thought today - He's like AJ, waiting for a generational talent to take his place.

 

I hope he keeps the power up, so the Twins can get a good trade for him when the time comes.

[gunnarthor]

Hopefully that's how it works out. Maybe the Twins trade for a 3B prospect or draft Bryant but Plouffe doesn't really seem to be part of the core of any future. He might stick around to be a RH bench bat but that's probably his realistic role on a good team.

[TheLeviathan]

We can only dream that Plouffe's future parallels A.J.'s. My odds on that are only slightly above 0%.

 

Considering his "meh" defense and "meh" batting so far, it won't be hard to replace him if and when they choose to.

[Rosterman]

Plouffe is a place-setter, and if affordable, a bench warmer for his arbitration years. Sadly. Unless he clobbers the ball like he did last year for a month -- then trade him if he ever gets higher-than-replacement value.

[kab21]

What to do with Plouffe?

 

Play him.

[Badsmerf]

I don't have a problem sitting Plouffe for 2 games like Gardy did. He needs to focus better... not just defense, but offense too. He's not taking great AB's, being lazy with his footwork and just needed a little time off. I still think he will be fine, and giving a guy a few days to get back to the basics isn't a terrible angle.

[jimbo92107]

I'm not that pessimistic about Plouffe. Professional athletes are not robots, they go through spells where flaws get into their techniques and must be worked on. Gardenhire mentioned doing some slow toss grounders to get Plouffe moving into the ball. Pros do fundamental drills all the time. No reason to think that well organized drills won't help Plouffe.

[Oldgoat_MN]

1. There seems to be a lot of suspicion that Sano will not stay at third.

2. One should not act too certain that the players in the minors will absolutely be better than the players we have now. Remember that Plouffe was a first round draft pick.

3. Even if some great player comes along, wouldn't we all be better off if Plouffe was playing exceptional baseball?

 

I'm not much for the 'placeholder' role except when the position being held is for a player coming off the DL. Prospects, however good, are just prospects.

[Jim H]

Plouffe will get his chance to be a full time 3b. He has the skills to be above average at 3rd, it is largely a matter of mastering the fundamentals and keeping his focus. His hitting is more iffy. The power is there, whether he can hit enough to justify a starting job at 3rd is the question.

 

The other reason he gets chances is that there are no other good choices right now. Carroll is a utility infielder who is 38 years old. Escobar would have to hit above 300 to justify using him full time at 3rd, and if he can do that he will probably start at 2nd or Short. Otherwise the next viable 3rd basemen are at A ball, and nobody knows whether Harrison or Sano can be even as good as Plouffe at 3rd.

 

So, Plouffe will get his chances, he just has to take advantage of them. He is the most obvious placeholder till Sano is ready, and it is at least possible that he could "force" Sano to another position. Even when Sano is ready, there are not a lot of other power hitting right handed hitters in the system. Plouffe will have a place if the bat is there.

[Bark's Lounge]

Corey Koskie was a horse **** defensive third baseman when he was first called up in the late 90's. With some work and some time playing in the Outfield, he ended up becoming a more than better defensive third baseman.

 

Koskie was a pretty raw player and needed some time to hone his skills. Trevor Plouffe was a high school 1st round draft pick and slowly climbed the ladder of the Twins Farm System.

 

I can surmise that a lot of fans expect a lot more from Plouffe than we are getting now, but he has been jerked around position wise and this is finally his time to prove himself.

 

I cannot believe that anyone thinks he should be a gold glove caliber third baseman this year. He has made his mistakes, but for the most part he has done an okay job.

 

Offensively, the weather this year has sucked. Cold weather does not favor the batter. Let us wait until the weather is suitable to play the game of baseball the way it should be played. So far, Plouffe has a .226 BA with 2 HR's.

 

I expect some very good things to come from Plouffe this season, but if Gardenhire decides to pull the plug on him, in favor of some punch and judy utility types. I believe that this decision will end up haunting the Twins. That will mean that he is released or picked up on waivers before or for the 2014 season.

 

For all of the Miguel Sano Backers, there is no guarantee he can be a third baseman, and there is no guarantee he will be a better hitter than Wily Mo Pena.

[Nick Nelson]

What to do with Plouffe?

 

Play him.

Exactly. I gotta say I'm pretty puzzled by Gardy's harshness toward his defense at third considering he had pretty much never played the position before last year. Plouffe's hardly the only one butchering plays out there, and at least to my eyes he seems to be getting better in certain areas. He's certainly got all the tools to be a quality 3B.

[buffalo_pete]

Corey Koskie...

 

I think this is a good comparison. I was although thinking about this in relation to Justin Morneau the other day. When Morneau came up, he was embarrassing at first base, especially compared to the guy he replaced (which, fortunately for Trevor Plouffe, is not a problem Plouffe faces). Although Morneau certainly isn't Doug Mientkiewicz, because Doug Mientkiewicz was by a country mile the best defender at first base that I've seen in my lifetime, Morneau plays All Star caliber first base every day as a matter of course. One thing Morneau, Koskie, and Plouffe have in common is that they were not born with the body types to make them naturally gifted infielders. Morneau and Koskie got where they did as defenders because they worked hard, and Plouffe's a guy that looks like he works hard.

 

Is Plouffe ever going to be a Gold Glove candidate at third? Probably not. But although fair criticisms can be made, he's far from embarrassing at the hot corner, and in my opinion, has made no more or fewer boneheaded plays in the last month than anyone else in the infield not named Justin Morneau. Frankly, I'm much more aggravated with Florimon, who does have the natural tools and defensive reputation and hasn't made a very good showing early on, either in terms of quick thinking or consistent effort. (You're not paying your own laundry bill, kid, lay out.) I think if Plouffe was hitting even marginally more consistently we wouldn't even be discussing this.

 

Gardenhire jerking him around like this all the time isn't helping anybody either. Just sayin'.

[Badsmerf]

I think some are overreacting about him not playing for 2 games. Does his thumb hurt? Was he sick? I'm not going to get huffy and puffy until Gardy starts pulling him more frequently. From watching him I actually thought he might benefit from a little time off. Maybe he's pressing and trying to do too much. I'm not a huge fan of how Gardy treats young players, but I'm also not going to get carried away when a guy is struggling and is given a few days to get it back together.

[Mike Sixel]

Play him 145 plus games. They need to see if he's any good or not. He was told last year he would be the RF, he didn't even play 3B until last year. Instead of rewarding him for his willingness to do whatever the team needs, people want to bench him.....

[nicksaviking]

"The bottom line is this: Plouffe needs to take a more serious approach to improving his defensive skills if he wants to regain the trust of his manager and organization."

 

I understand this quote is from the linked blog not the OP, but this is conjecture. Unless there were some quotes from coaches mysteriously left absent from the article, assumptions about his work ethic should clearly be labled as speculation.

 

Plouffe may not work hard on his defense but it should not be stated as fact without some kind of backing evidence.

 

Plouffe likely is in the doghouse, but perhaps the stronger motivation is simply to give the hot-hitting Escobar more at-bats without moving him to a new postion everyday.

[fairweather]

It's pretty obvious what Trevor is good at and that's pulling the ball. Let him be a pull hitter! The Twins are ruining/wasting another good hitter trying to make him conform to their stupid "TwinsWay".

[fairweather]

Trevor is never going to be a good infielder. He needs to play RF or DH.

[gunnarthor]

It's pretty obvious what Trevor is good at and that's pulling the ball. Let him be a pull hitter! The Twins are ruining/wasting another good hitter trying to make him conform to their stupid "TwinsWay".

 

Other than PED Ortiz, what good hitters have the Twins ruined/wasted?

[jay]

His hitting is more iffy. The power is there, whether he can hit enough to justify a starting job at 3rd is the question.

 

His .756 OPS was 16 out of 23 3Bers last year (at least 400 ABs). Considering he was .654 or less in 4 months of the season, it's impressive he did even that well. We need to know if he can settle in somewhere in between with the bat and maybe even show some progress with the glove.

 

Let him play. All year.

[nicksaviking]

Other than PED Ortiz, what good hitters have the Twins ruined/wasted?

 

Well I don't know about wasted, but I think the issue arose from the JJ Hardy incident and his ensuing Baltimore success.

 

But...

 

It's pretty obvious what Trevor is good at and that's pulling the ball. Let him be a pull hitter! The Twins are ruining/wasting another good hitter trying to make him conform to their stupid "TwinsWay".

 

I think the Twins did take something away from the Hardy mess. I believe they are letting Plouffe and Willingham to be pull hitters to take advantage of the soft spot at Target Field.

[gunnarthor]

Well I don't know about wasted, but I think the issue arose from the JJ Hardy incident and his ensuing Baltimore success.

 

Maybe. But I'm not sure there was really much there. Hardy had a career year the first year after he left us but has been pretty awful since then, posting a 78 OPS+ since the 2012 season.

[cmathewson]

Gardy has a history of benching guys after one particularly bad defensive play. Hopefully he comes to his senses and plays him against Detroit. If this benching continues, I will be quite put out.