Question at 1B

[Fire Dan Gladden]

Justin Morneau is continuing to show that he is moving past his concussion symptoms. I find it hard to believe that the Twins are completely throwing in the towel on Morneau playing 1B. While Chris Parmelee is off to a decent start (.275/.310/.425), I am sure the Twins would prefer to have Morneau, his defense, and his salary playing in the field.

 

At what point do you start phasing him back to 1B?

 

My opinion is that they should do so as soon as possible. Morneau's trade value is still extrememly low. While he could be considered sunk money, the Twins keeping this much money tied ino a full-time DH would be a mistake, especially if/when Parmelee begins to falter.

[twinsnorth49]

Justin Morneau is continuing to show that he is moving past his concussion symptoms. I find it hard to believe that the Twins are completely throwing in the towel on Morneau playing 1B. While Chris Parmelee is off to a decent start (.275/.310/.425), I am sure the Twins would prefer to have Morneau, his defense, and his salary playing in the field.

 

At what point do you start phasing him back to 1B?

 

My opinion is that they should do so as soon as possible. Morneau's trade value is still extrememly low. While he could be considered sunk money, the Twins keeping this much money tied ino a full-time DH would be a mistake, especially if/when Parmelee begins to falter.

You want him back on the field to increase his trade value? or because Parmelee is eventually going to start playing poorly?

 

I think at this point the team is better with Morneau at 1st, Doumit as DH (except when spelling Mauer) and Parmelee in RF rotating with Plouffe (mainly so Clete Thomas will stop playing).

[rogrulz30]

I think the Twins are going to wait it out til June to have Morneau play 1B consistently, if Parmalee can play well, this will give Morneau the best chance at slowly moving him back to first base. I think that is the right thing to do, since he is "sunk" money, we need Morneau to be completely healthy, at this point there is no reason to put him back at first. We have a lineup that can compete right now, problem is our rotation is such a pile right now.

[luckylager]

I thought I heard on the pre-game show that Morneau was pencilled in at 1st base yesterday, but moved to DH because of foot pain. In any case, trading Morneau at this point would be a bad decision. It appears he is finally getting his head straight.

[twinsnorth49]

10 hits and 3 runs in the last 18 innings....which team are seeing compete right now.

[nokomismod]

What about working Mauer into 3b? We have some guys taking good at bats now (Doumit, Parmalee, M & M, Hammer, Carrol), but if Valencia doesn't start to get his head on right, moving Mauer to 3b/catcher will free up at bats for Parmalee by way of allowing others to play first base more.

[StormJH1]

Mauer is not moving to 3rd mid-season. There's a whole other thread on that topic...

 

I was worried on Monday when they played Morneau at 1st base and he hit the homer that Gardy was going to pretend like all was fine and that he "hits" better as a position player. Luckily, he mashed 2 HR's as a DH a few days later and put that notion to rest.

 

The reality of Morneau right now is that he's kind of like an eggshell, and he's equally at risk sliding into 2B to break up a double play (which, by the way, was how he got hurt in July 2010) as he is diving for a ball in the field. But all playing him at 1B does is expose him to a whole other set of concussion risks that he doesn't have sitting in a dugout or riding an exercise bike. Plus, let's not for get that Morneau had 4 OTHER surgeries last year, and he's frequently broken down in ways completely unrelated to concussions. It's a pretty ugly stat, but since 2009, Morneau is a .209 hitter with a .690 OPS in 225 AB's AFTER the All-Star game. That's over the course of 3 seasons.

 

In other words, there's any number of reasons to believe that Morneau cannot survive a full season playing daily in the field.

[spideyo]

I would bet we start to see Morneau starting at first once a week for the next month or so, maybe twice a week when we hit interleague play, and up to three times a week after the all-star break. I think the best we can expect by season's end is 1b essentially becoming a platoon between Morneau and Parmalee. Morneau is only 30, he could have 10 more years left in him, they aren't going to rush for him to be a full-time fielder. Similarly, I don't think there's a huge rush in the organization to get Mauer out of the Catcher spot.

 

As much as I liked Thome, he did make it a lot harder the last two years to give Morneau and Mauer time off the field without losing their bats. We can have Morneau DH half the time, give Mauer a day or two a week their, and fill in Doumit or whoever else needs at bats other times.

 

The other thing I expect we'll see as the season progresses, is Morneau getting a day off, but then coming in late to PH and being able to stay in the game at 1st.

 

 

 

As far as Parmalee, I don't know why people seem to think he needs tons of time in RF. He did spend almost half his minor league career in RF (282 out of 609 games), so he's more familiar with it already than Plouffe. And we really need another "adequate" RF guy? We already have Thomas, Plouffe, and Doumit vying for time out there, and we have great depth at OF in the minors. I'd certainly rather have Parmelee at 1b than Doumit at this point.

 

If anything, I'd say teach Parmelee to play 3b if neither Burroughs or Valencia start hitting consistently.

[DaveW]

If anything, I'd say teach Parmelee to play 3b

Better teach him to throw with his right hand first

[Vegeta]

I am looking more towards the all star break before Morneau becomes a full time 1st baseman again. Give him sometime to get up to speed. I would have him at 1st once a week and slowly increase it over the next 3 months.

[James]

I'm hoping to see Justin back in the field a lot more often in the next few months. But, it's not like Parmelee is playing poorly at all. I wouldn't mind seeing the Morneau at 1st, Parmelee in RF, Doumit DH lineup some more though.

[striker_86]

Im thinking we will see Justin back at first more by Late June. They said they wouldnt rush him back....even though he is hitting a lot better and I would love to see him back at first sooner.

[peterb18]

Interesting discussion. First, I would like to state that Morneau is one of my favorite players. But, I would like to relate a discussion I heard on XM radio(MLB station) last weekend. Two hosts(one was a former GM) were discussing the Twins and Morneau. They both thought that the 15 million per year contract of Morneau was holding the Twins back from making major moves. They based this upon the concussion(hard to get completely healthy) situation,etc. They felt a trade would be the best route to take. However, no team would be willing to take the contract on. Most of these so-called analysts are usually not positive about the Twins future, especially the pitching staff.

I feel the best way to go in the future would be to draft the catcher from Florida--then go after pitchers with most of the remaining picks. By drafting a catcher then you could move Joe around and preseve his future and the catcher position is solidified. Many good pitchers can be taken in the 2nd and 3rd rounds.

[spideyo]

Better teach him to throw with his right hand first

Are left-handed guys not allowed to play 3b?

[DaveW]

Are left-handed guys not allowed to play 3b?

It's extremely rare.

[TwinsGuy55422]

Are left-handed guys not allowed to play 3b?

It is an extremely awkward throw and would lead to many normally close outs turning into guys being safe. I don't recall the last time a left handed thrower has played 3B, SS, 2B, or C at the professional level other than as an emergency fill-in.

[Riverbrian]

Yeah pretty much. Think about it from a defense standpoint. You have to spin your body to make the throw to first. Lefties Don't play 2b or SS either. Baseball is a game of inches in the infield. That spin to get into throwing position is the difference between safe and out.

 

1b and OF are all managers will let them play because they are freaks.

[TwinsGuy55422]

Yeah pretty much. Think about it from a defense standpoint. You have to spin your body to make the throw to first. Lefties Don't play 2b or SS either. Baseball is a game of inches in the infield. That spin to get into throwing position is the difference between safe and out.

 

1b and OF are all managers will let them play because they are freaks.

We might be freaks but us lefties are the coolest people you will ever meet.

[Riverbrian]

We might be freaks but us lefties are the coolest people you will ever meet.

I know I wish I could do that lefty thing. At my age my right hand is plum wore out.

[spideyo]

It is an extremely awkward throw and would lead to many normally close outs turning into guys being safe. I don't recall the last time a left handed thrower has played 3B, SS, 2B, or C at the professional level other than as an emergency fill-in.

Apparently 1989 was the last time there was a left-handed catcher: http://bb_catchers.tripod.com/catchers/catchleft.htm

[Fire Dan Gladden]

Apparently 1989 was the last time there was a left-handed catcher: http://bb_catchers.tripod.com/catchers/catchleft.htm

I was into this article until they said that Randy Johnson (yes, THAT Randy Johnson) caught for a little while. I don't think I will believe that until somebody produces a picture.

[CharacterGroove]

I don't think Morneau's and Parmalee's respective salaries should have any role in what position each of them play.

[Shane Wahl]

It is an extremely awkward throw and would lead to many normally close outs turning into guys being safe. I don't recall the last time a left handed thrower has played 3B, SS, 2B, or C at the professional level other than as an emergency fill-in.

There was, I believe a LH catcher in the 80s with the Pirates, who played a few games. That's it.

[Kirby_waved_at_me]

Benny Distefano was the last Lefty Catcher.

 

here's an interesting article that tried to figure out why:

 

http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/top-10-left-handed-catchers-for-2006/

 

I think the bit from Bill James at the end makes a lot of sense - a lefty with a strong arm is more than likely going to be asked to pitch when they are little.

[twinsnorth49]

There have been exactly 4 left handed throwing 3rd basemen in MLB history including 1 game by Terry Francona for the Expos back in 1985. Don Mattingly was another for a couple of games. Here's the article, I don't think Parms will become the 5th anytime soon.

 

http://www.immaculateinning.com/2008/07/left-handed-third-basemen.html

 

Also one on the rarity of left handed catchers.

 

http://bb_catchers.tripod.com/catchers/catchleft.htm