Twins Future Position Analysis: Second Base

Miranda has played significant time at 2B, Helman more of an OF but some time at 2B, Bechtold probably more of a 3B and trying C also. Will be interesting to see how Twins place players in minors to start year.

Who starts at second at AAA St. Paul. The Twins still need to solidfy positions for Martin ^ Lewis. too. And decide if Palacidos will be apt of the team going forward.

What I would like to see is leave Polanco alone at 2B, especially this season. We are not playing for the playoffs or the World Series this year, anyway. It would be great to have Polanco come out this year and once again show durability and production, as he did last year. No one is going to want to hear this; but he could be a deadline piece to acquire several pieces in return. One of those could be our future 2B, an ACE for the rotation, or BOTH!

If we move on without Polanco [trade], we should be able to use Arraez, Gordon and Miranda (who is better suited for 3B) at 2B. This still allows Lewis and Martin to cover SS. We would have a young and dynamic corps, up the middle. Let them build chemistry together.

If the Twins go out on a limb and do something completely unlike them and acquire Trevor Story (which would take a multi-year deal for $$$), that is your 2B going forward, especially if/when we deal Polanco. Story could start the season at SS until the deadline. It would add longevity to Story's career moving to 2B, get him to play everyday, and a trade of Polanco would bring back huge pieces while Martin and Lewis can still be evaluated at SS.

Remember..... The Giants weren't going to be playing for the playoffs last year either..........

Polanco had a slow 1st half, time for his ankles to fully recover and to reacquaint himself at 2B. 2nd half he took off and next year he'll be even better. Polanco will have a long and glorious  career at 2B. We have so many players that can play 2nd but none can compare to Polanco except maybe Lewis or Martin but they are better suited else where. We have an abundance at 2B that we could trade anyone, anyone except Polanco.

I will be following Julien next year to see how  he does. He should start at double A or get there pretty quick. Along with 34 steals and 110 walks he also had 46 extra base hits and a 914 ops. Not bad for a first year player.

1 hour ago, h2oface said:

Remember..... The Giants weren't going to be playing for the playoffs last year either..........

They made no significant trades and spent very little in free agency.  Are you advocating the twins follow their lead?

While I expect nobody to man 2B other than Polanco for the next 3-5yrs or so, I really like the depth at 2B over and above Arraez and Gordon.

While the jury is still out on any prospect, Steer, Julian and Severino, there is some exciting potential there. At this point, I view Soularie as an "athlete" looking for a position. 

Steer and Julian have moved around the diamond and field and could offer some great super utility options with potential offense, including pop/power and even some speed in different combinations. Thus far, Steer has seen some time at SS at each of his stops. I don't know how good his glove is overall, much less how well he plays SS, but I'm really hoping he can be serviceable there to increase his overall value.

I think Steer's ETA is 2023 but wouldn't be shocked if he made a ML appearance late in 2022.

5 hours ago, Major League Ready said:

They made no significant trades and spent very little in free agency.  Are you advocating the twins follow their lead?

No. I am saying what I said. I keep reading people say that the Twins won't be competing for the playoffs in 2022. Nobody gave the Giants a chance last year, and they won the most games in MLB! I don't believe any team should consider themselves not competing. The whole point is to compete. No need for a self fulfilling prophecy in my look to the future. With this FO and how they handled 2021 and the run up to the lockout, I have become quite ambivalent about what they do at all. 

The most recent successful run the Twins had, Polanco was our SS, followed by a horrible stretch where he played 2B.

36 minutes ago, ashbury said:

The most recent successful World Series run the Twins had, Greg Gagne was our SS.  Let's bring him back.

He's 60

He is making fun of you Wax.....

10 hours ago, Wax off said:

The most recent successful run the Twins had, Polanco was our SS, followed by a horrible stretch where he played 2B.

They also had Rosario in LF, a decent starting pitching staff, a usable BP and a Kepler who could hit....

38 minutes ago, ashbury said:

Just pushing back a little on that line of thinking.  Might have been a little too mocking in the pursuit of humor.

You weren't "too mocking". All in good fun.

On 12/10/2021 at 2:28 PM, chpettit19 said:

Confused as to why they'd trade Polanco after bringing in Story. Why wouldn't they have 3 All Star worthy players up the middle of their defense for the next 4 years (when Polanco's deal expires)? Story has a number of good years at SS left. 

He would be our only blue chip trade piece to bring in players we would not otherwise be able to acquire. Namely, top pitching.

1 minute ago, chpettit19 said:

Sure, he'd be a very good trade piece, but I don't get why you bring in an All Star SS just to go and trade your All Star 2B. The Twins need pitching, no doubt about it, but I don't know why you'd trade established MLB players with years of control left to bring in an established MLB pitcher. Why wouldn't the move be to trade Lewis or Martin for MLB pitching? Bringing in Story and teaming him with Polanco and Buxton up the middle is a win now move. To me it doesn't make sense to bring in a piece like Story and then trade away your best player (Buxton is most talent player, but until he stays on the field he isn't the best player) even if it is to fill a pitching need. It just creates a new hole. I'm just confused as to why the move wouldn't be to package prospects to bring in someone from the Reds or As instead of moving Polanco in the hypothetical situation where they sign Story. (I also wouldn't move an above average SS glove like Story to 2B to make room for below average SS gloves in Martin and Lewis, but that's a different discussion)

The only reason I am suggesting Polanco is, except for the MASH unit that is Buxton (and baby Jesus [Mauer]), we don't throw big money at our own players. If they had a track record at spending to keep their own talent, I would be right there with you, and it would be exciting. But remember, we just let our best pitcher go because we ASSUMED we could not resign him and decided to focus on the St. Paul Saint MVP, Buxton.

I would LOVE to bring Story in and let those two play together. we would have the top IF in MLB (if Kirlloff moves to 1B). Still would not answer our pitching, and with who we have, we could play without an IF because the balls will be smashed to the OF anyway.

I still want Lewis and Martin up here to see what we have. And it would be amazing to have them fill in sparingly behind that IF, along with Miranda (3B). But, we still have a lot of holes (SP, RP and OF) that cannot be filled in FA due to their inactivity and the focus on Buxton. Kepler and Donaldson are also named as trade bait. But, Kepler isn't someone a team is going to unload a haul for and Donaldson would require us still paying a large portion of his contract, so what's the point? I offered Polanco as a choice due to his teams control and the haul we could most certainly demand for him. Please don't confuse that with me saying I want him gone, because I don't! I would LOVE an IF consisting of:

1B - Kirlloff

2B - Polanco

SS - Story

3B - Donaldson

That is an outstanding IF. But again, they may just be cut-off persons for all the balls blasted into the OF due to this pitching staff.