Juan Francisco

[whosafraidofluigirussolo]

Link: Juan Francisco will apparently lose out on 1B job with Brewers.

 

I don't know much about him, but he's a lefty hitter who's been used mostly as a third baseman except for last season in Milwaukee. Below average defensively and seems to be a hacker at the plate (career 259/54 K/BB) but he hit 18 homers last year in less than full playing time.

 

Looks a bit like a lefty Plouffe on the surface. Is he worth the proverbial kick of the tires as a corner infield option and bench bat?

[Craig Arko]

Wasn't he in Alien Nation?

[Oldgoat_MN]

Against RH pitchers he's an upgrade over Plouffe, but he plays 3B and 1B. Certainly not going to supplant Escobar as utility IF.

 

While I would like to see a platoon at 3B, I'm not sure we have the roster space. Nor do I believe that our manager has the will to do such a crazy, new trend thing as platoon players.

[maars]

Yes please. A Plouffe/Francisco platoon at 3B could turn a likely .240/.300/.410 (.710) line into one nearing an .800 OPS. It'd make the 25-man roster even more of a squeeze than it will be already, but a move like this would make me more okay with starting Pinto out in AAA.

[Winston Smith]

Yes makes sense but won't happen. Plouffe isn't really a major league hitter against RH pitching when you factor in poor defense. Put these two guys together and you might have a decent player.

[Willihammer]

Makes a lot of sense to me.

[DocBauer]

Wasn't he in Alien Nation?

 

First of all, hilarious!

 

Secondly, in my idea of building the Twins for this season, I strongly advocated a LH bat who could play 3B, and at least one position elsewhere. (Had mentioned a few options previously). This was not only to increase production at 3B, (dare I use the "platoon" word?) but also to increase roster flexibility. My thoughts were, and still are, that when Sano took over 3B full time, regardless of the disposition of Plouffe, said LH hitting bench player would still offer roster depth and flexibility.

 

I have to confess to knowing next to nothing about Francisco previously, but if he can be this player, I'd be in full favor.