Reevaluating Minnesota’s First Base Depth

12 minutes ago, woolywoolhouse said:

"It's incredibly hard." - Ron Washington. 

[Exhasperated face] - Billy Beane

That was so, so good.  Haha. 

Even Kirilloff was a first baseman in training. If I hated anything about the Mitch Garver trade, it was that I thought Garver could be a good fill-in when needed at firstr base, and always give you the luxury of a DH bat who can also catch in a pinch.

Can Miranda play first base? It does take a skill set. A lot of workj with infielders. You have to hope they throw the ball straight for those double plays. How far can you stretch. Can you grab the ball on a short hop. All while keeping a foot on the bag. That is always the rub...foot placement seems to be job one, because if you can't make that out...well.......

Terry was signed for depth. He could be a last chance pick, if push comes to shove. But, in hindsight, if Arraez can play the bag...his bat is valuable. Would Gio be better at first, with Miranda and Arraez playing third mroe often than not? Well, depends on Kirilloff. Right now it looks like Larnach is doing evreything possible to be in the outfield. No need to give up on Kepler, although he could be tradable. Is Celestino going to develop in the majors or get a chance to play everyday in the minors shortly. So looks like Kirilloff will HAVE to be a first baseman.

But until we know the "state of the wrist" the Twins have to think ahrd about the position in 2023. Is Gio someone to groom in that direction more than Arraez, for example. Again, it takes a certain skillset to be great at first base on the field. But so many first baseman are just...adequate...performing the routine plays with enough comfortable ease that you can blame mistakes on other parts of the field.

Keep Arraez OFF of third base, period.

35 minutes ago, Rosterman said:

Even Kirilloff was a first baseman in training. If I hated anything about the Mitch Garver trade, it was that I thought Garver could be a good fill-in when needed at firstr base, and always give you the luxury of a DH bat who can also catch in a pinch.

 

Can Miranda play first base? It does take a skill set. A lot of workj with infielders. You have to hope they throw the ball straight for those double plays. How far can you stretch. Can you grab the ball on a short hop. All while keeping a foot on the bag. That is always the rub...foot placement seems to be job one, because if you can't make that out...well.......

 

Terry was signed for depth. He could be a last chance pick, if push comes to shove. But, in hindsight, if Arraez can play the bag...his bat is valuable. Would Gio be better at first, with Miranda and Arraez playing third mroe often than not? Well, depends on Kirilloff. Right now it looks like Larnach is doing evreything possible to be in the outfield. No need to give up on Kepler, although he could be tradable. Is Celestino going to develop in the majors or get a chance to play everyday in the minors shortly. So looks like Kirilloff will HAVE to be a first baseman.

 

But until we know the "state of the wrist" the Twins have to think ahrd about the position in 2023. Is Gio someone to groom in that direction more than Arraez, for example. Again, it takes a certain skillset to be great at first base on the field. But so many first baseman are just...adequate...performing the routine plays with enough comfortable ease that you can blame mistakes on other parts of the field.

Gio is a way better third baseman defensively than Arraez or Miranda, so unless he stops hitting, Gio will be playing third and Arraez or Miranda will play first. 

"Gio is a way better third baseman defensively than Arraez or Miranda"

Agree about Arraez but how do we know that about Miranda?

7 hours ago, Riverbrian said:

There are roster space limitations for how much depth that you can commit to any position. 

With that said:

Sano, Kirilloff, Miranda, Arraez, Urshela, Sanchez and Kepler are all on the 40 man roster.

SS, CF and C is miles from that kind of depth, 

Geez Brian, you hit that on the nose like a cookie from Charlie Leibrandt.

I guess we'll see you tomorrow night.

6 hours ago, MGM4706 said:

Start playing Royce lewis at 1B today in St. Paul!! He is athletic enough to pick it up quickly and then get him up to the bigs Would cover a lot of ground at 1st.. Time for him to live up to #1 prospect name!! Would give us another outfielder too.

Disagree.

They gotta move Buxton to first so he doesn't get injured in center.

Or maybe move Carlos Correa to first because he sure can pick it and you paid him for a reason. If the need is at first... 

On second thought, they should probably move Duran to first so he can impact more than just one or two innings, 

Or maybe just Let Arraez and Miranda do the job and keep Lewis where he belongs. Seriously, I hope Lewis becomes a force at SS in St Paul and gets enought innings in the OF to know if he can be a Buxton backup from time to time in coming years.

Nope. They'll be fine at the 3.

Miranda is the man on the scene. It’s his time to show he belongs. 

C J Cron - oh, wait, we did not want him.  Oh well - Arraez and Miranda are fine.  We do not need another strikeout specialist. 

10 hours ago, ToddlerHarmon said:

Definitely looks like an opportunity for both Miranda and Arraez to play every day.

Absolutely, hopefully Arraez will starting hitting lefties better so they won't platoon him. 

1 hour ago, Thebigalguy said:

Miranda is the man on the scene. It’s his time to show he belongs. 

He's looked good so far, made solid contact several times and doesn't look overmatched. 

4 hours ago, dex8425 said:

Gio is a way better third baseman defensively than Arraez or Miranda, so unless he stops hitting, Gio will be playing third and Arraez or Miranda will play first. 

Gio looks like a gold glove candidate so far this season. Arraez is a better hitter but Gio can flash the leather.

Looks like that's it for Sano.  He may return before seasons end, but it's highly unlikely he'll produce enough for the Twins to pick up his $14mm+ option.  

1B isn't a problem if Kiriloff gets healthy.  Will Kiriloff get healthy is a more important concern for me now than Sano's health.

Well, it was always of some concern. It sounds kind of good when you say Sano has had an OPS+ of 105 for six of seven seasons, but all that means is he was 5% over league average in hitting while playing an offense-first position, and being among the worst defensively. For context, the better 1-baggers field better (because everyone else does if you are the worst), and have OPS+ numbers more in the 135-150+ range. I think Sano is the best option when healthy, but that says a lot about the limitations we have there. Hopefully Miranda hits (and fields better than his start), and things will look up. Not believing Alex is a factor until he shows he can hit with pop again.

18 hours ago, PopRiveter said:

Disagree.

They gotta move Buxton to first so he doesn't get injured in center.

Or maybe move Carlos Correa to first because he sure can pick it and you paid him for a reason. If the need is at first... 

On second thought, they should probably move Duran to first so he can impact more than just one or two innings, 

 

Or maybe just Let Arraez and Miranda do the job and keep Lewis where he belongs. Seriously, I hope Lewis becomes a force at SS in St Paul and gets enought innings in the OF to know if he can be a Buxton backup from time to time in coming years.

 

I know these guys are all really good but as a former infielder I gotta believe the other infielders would prefer a 6'2" target (Miranda) rather than 5'10" (Arraez).    If Lewis continues to mash I have no problem seeing him at third and having a super athletic left side of the infield.    He can spell Correa or Buxton occasionally and with shifts for lefties will play in the shortstop position sometimes anyway.   Arraez can DH.   

Buxton

Arraez

Correa

Larnach

Polanco

Miranda

Jeffers

Kepler

Lewis

At some point that is the lineup I would like to see.