Article: For Parmelee, the Clock is Ticking

[bird]

Chris Parmelee is not a long term starter. He still has the potential to be a nice piece for a contending team. I've always said he is the equivalent of Randy Bush - a guy who could hit 10-15 homers, drive in 50-60 runs and play a little bit of RF, a little 1B, DH and be a nice pinch hitting option. It'll take some seasoning, but with the group coming up, that will be his role. Offer Justin a two-year deal, and if he turns it down take the draft choice. Parms is not the solution as starting 1B, now or in the future.

 

This, exactly.

[bird]

 

Gah, Randy Bush turns 55 this year.

 

Yeah I know. I was his babysitter.

[Kenneth Kitsom]

Play him everyday for the entire season. They can afford to do it. They're not contenders. They're rebuilding. Then maybe they'd see what they got. He's gotta get regular atbats. I've got nothing against Doumit, but he's not the future. All Doumit should be doing is backing up Mauer. Doumit is a dreadful outfielder anyway, and younger players should be getting the atbats at DH.

[Kenneth Kitsom]

Parmelee's time is running out while his manager puts him on the bench way too often. This kid needs to play every day, and he shouldn't be loosing PT to the likes of Doumit or Ramirez.

I don't know if he's the future or not, but we are never going to find out when he doesn't get an extended trial.

 

That's gardy's mode of operation.

[Kenneth Kitsom]

If Parmelee's ceiling is Randy Bush, he's gonna be a helluva player. Bush is one of my all time favorites.

[Thrylos]

I am pleasantly surprised by the OF play of Parmelee, just because the first time I saw him play the OF (Spring Training 3 or 4 years ago as a fill in with the big team) was awful.

 

Comparing Ramirez with Doumit makes no sense. Ramirez is still 27 years old (Plouffe's age) and just entering his prime. And is a RH bat that could be useful as a bench player for a few more years. Doumit is a Herrmann or Pinto away from becoming history.

 

I'd keep Parmelee mainly because the alternative is Clete Thomas. Give him some consistent PAs this season and see what he does. I hope that when Morneau and Willingham get traded, he is just given a spot (or 2) and they let him be.

[Mr. Brooks]

Agree with Rick. Parmelee has to show something, and soon.

I wonder if there is something that going to AAA would give him? How significant is more playing time? What's the point if he's not facing MLB pitching?

 

Really don't know what to do with him. I've been impressed with his D for a big guy; no doubt he works hard.

But yeah, can't wait very much longer through slash lines like he's putting up.

 

I think Parm has shown that he doesn't really have anything more to learn in AAA.

Sometimes you just find out that a guy is not an MLB caliber player.

I'm not saying that is the case with Parmelee, but I don't think any time at AAA is going to do him any good. It's time to sink or swim at this level.

[Mr. Brooks]

Doumit and Parmelee are almost identical in hitting WAR measures. Their numbers are eerily similar. Given that the team is not going to win much this year, and Doumit is old and not part of the future, Parmelee should be playing, imo. If the strategy is to rebuild, then commit to the strategy, up and down the food chain of command. Partly commiting to a strategy is a really, really, bad idea.

 

And this is the main problem with having Gardy in the last year of his contract.

Gardy is coaching for his job, so he does what he thinks is best to win a ballgame, while Ryan cares more about development.

It's a bad idea to have this situation on a rebuilding team, IMO. The manager either needs to be extended, or fired, so that he and GM can both be on the same page.

[Danchat]

Y'know, I'm usually a pessimist about the Twins, but I actually think Parmelee will emerge and bat better. I think he can still bat .260 with 20 homers and solid defense. Maybe it's because I'm biased (because I bought a Parmelee jersey over a Mauer one) but I think he will come through. Just give him more time, he can learn how to hit a fastball...

[Jim H]

Plouffe and Parmelee are a bit like Cuddyer. Rather slow developing 1st round picks who have struggled at times in the majors. Sometimes their versatility works against them. Gardy likes to move people around, sometimes he doesn't have to much choice but he does seem to take advantage of versatile players. With younger guys, maybe you just need to pick a position, put them there and then play them.

 

The flip side of course, is that you don't want to reward poor play/poor approaches either. And the goal is to win games. But, yes I think Parmelee needs to play. Hopefully, the bat gets going well enough that Gardy will just let him play.

 

As to the fastball thing, yes there are major league players who have trouble catching up to high 90's fastballs. Matt LeCroy was one. Many older players have that problem(Even Thome). I think with Parmelee it is more of a timing or mechanical issue rather than not having a quick enough bat. But if he really can't catch up to good fastballs, he will have trouble being a full time major league player.

[jorgenswest]

Chris Parmelee is not a long term starter. He still has the potential to be a nice piece for a contending team. I've always said he is the equivalent of Randy Bush - a guy who could hit 10-15 homers, drive in 50-60 runs and play a little bit of RF, a little 1B, DH and be a nice pinch hitting option. It'll take some seasoning, but with the group coming up, that will be his role. Offer Justin a two-year deal, and if he turns it down take the draft choice. Parms is not the solution as starting 1B, now or in the future.

 

I think Bush is a good comp. I do wonder if his career would be different today. He played in an era with 11 (and some 10) man pitching staffs. Benches today may not be deep enough for guys in his role. You certainly couldn't have a Bush and a Larkin.

 

Parmelee is limited to a corner. He needs to hit well enough to start to keep a place on a major league roster. Players on today's benches need more position flexibility.

[LaBombo]

The comparison to Bush is interesting. Randy put up a .251/.334/.413 line in his career. Those numbers are both deflated by his era and inflated by the straight platoon he spent most of his career in. A typical year in his prime was .260/.350/.430.

 

Parmelee's career major league line is .248/.321/.404. The good and bad news is that his platoon split is fairly even, meaning he's not lost against lefties, but also that you can't maximize his value by platooning him.

 

Unless he can find 30 points of obp and 50 points of slugging pct in his bat this year, it's hard to see how Parm figures as anything more than a placeholder at first. More likely he is a Randy Bush type, but as a 250 AB utility guy, not a 360 AB platoon guy.

[LaBombo]

One of the little things that differentiates the defense of corner infielders is how well they make plays in the area that overlaps the foul territory zone of the respective corner infielder.

 

Parmelee showed again tonight that he's excellent at getting to fly balls in foul territory. Those catches don't prevent hits directly, but they're free outs that some corner outfielders just can't cash in on regularly. It's a part of the pleasant surprise that he's not only not a defensive liability in right, he seems like he's developing into a plus there.