Swiss Army Sparkplug: Luis Arráez's New Role

I'm not tickled about Arraez being the new 10th man. If his knee continues to be a problem it won't help being in left field.

Best to start looking at trade options (pitching).

We could use a fireballer or two.

As the lonely wife said to her husband, " Play me or trade me".

I'd be a terrible GM. I'm locked into the idea of Arraez long term with the Twins so the thought of trading him doesn't excite me. Although, logically, it seems to make sense I want to hold on to Arraez because he is "our guy".

I'm interested in why the worst fielding SS in MLB will be an upgrade in fielding at 2B over Arraez? Was Arraez that bad at 2B the last 2 years?  I understand that Polanco's lack of arm strength will not be as big of a problem at 2B, and he will have fewer fielding chances at 2B than at SS, but that does not help him be > than Arraez would be at 2B. I don't think Polanco should be at 3B nor SS nor in LF,  and I agree that 2B would be Polanco's best position and that Arraez would be a better Super Utility player than Polanco, but these factors still do not have anything to do with making   Polanco be an improvement in fielding at 2B over Arraez. It is my contention that the fielding at 2B may have just gotten worse, as well as the fielding in LF, SS, and 3B when Arraez is in one of those 3 positions.

.I believe 2B is Arraez's best position, just as it is Polanco's best position.  Friends, the Twins have 2 below average to average fielding second basemen, who are really good hitters and who will be valuable assets to  the 2021 World Champion. Minnesota Twins. You heard it here first. 

Agree with everything you said, Nick. You may be right and this increases the likelihood of a trade, but that is what I do not want to see. Hitters like Arraez come along so infrequently, this team better keep him long term. 

Expect he will need to see a couple hundred at bats at DH, which is why signing Cruz is becoming less likely.

"If Josh Donaldson goes down, the Twins can plug in one of their best hitters to replace him."

This is what I expect to happen. Josh Donaldson is a broken, former star player. He won't play much for the remainder of this garbage contract and Polanco will be the 3rd baseman with Arraez returning to 2nd.

Signing Donaldson was bad decision, but they are deep enough to absorb it so long as they don't do something foolish like...

"Does this make it more likely that the Twins trade Arráez?"

They won't be in any hurry to trade Arraez.

* He is under team control through 2025. 

* Who knows what his ceiling might be. He could be the next Tony Gwynn.

* Lewis staying at SS is not a given. He could CF or a utility man.

* Arraez is quite valuable in a utility role.

Now, if someone offers a haul for Arraez it could make sense.

Who is to say Polanco won't be the one to be traded. Again, no hurry. It does not make sense to trade Arraez or Polanco soon unless the haul can't be denied. It makes more sense to wait and see how Lewis and even Javier perform this year. How great would it be if Javier busted out this year?

I'm interested in why the worst fielding SS in MLB will be an upgrade in fielding at 2B over Arraez? Was Arraez that bad at 2B the last 2 years?  I understand that Polanco's lack of arm strength will not be as big of a problem at 2B, and he will have fewer fielding chances at 2B than at SS, but that does not help him be > than Arraez would be at 2B. I don't think Polanco should be at 3B nor SS nor in LF,  and I agree that 2B would be Polanco's best position and that Arraez would be a better Super Utility player than Polanco, but these factors still do not have anything to do with making   Polanco be an improvement in fielding at 2B over Arraez. It is my contention that the fielding at 2B may have just gotten worse, as well as the fielding in LF, SS, and 3B when Arraez is in one of those 3 positions.

.I believe 2B is Arraez's best position, just as it is Polanco's best position.  Friends, the Twins have 2 below average to average fielding second basemen, who are really good hitters and who will be valuable assets to  the 2021 World Champion. Minnesota Twins. You heard it here first.

Agreed

I'm interested in why the worst fielding SS in MLB will be an upgrade in fielding at 2B over Arraez? Was Arraez that bad at 2B the last 2 years?  I understand that Polanco's lack of arm strength will not be as big of a problem at 2B, and he will have fewer fielding chances at 2B than at SS, but that does not help him be > than Arraez would be at 2B. I don't think Polanco should be at 3B nor SS nor in LF,  and I agree that 2B would be Polanco's best position and that Arraez would be a better Super Utility player than Polanco, but these factors still do not have anything to do with making   Polanco be an improvement in fielding at 2B over Arraez. It is my contention that the fielding at 2B may have just gotten worse, as well as the fielding in LF, SS, and 3B when Arraez is in one of those 3 positions.

Polanco is way more athletic and much faster than Arraez. This is why everyone is saying he will be better defensively at 2nd than Arraez. 

Nick, kudos on a very informative article!  Thank you.  I'm surprised the Twins are pencilling in Arraez as their chief utility guy.   He is the exact type of contact/high OBP hitter the team needs to counter many of the all-or-nothing types who abound.  My fear is that this young, talented player might be unsettled to move around so much, resulting in a falloff in production.  I don't think his defensive weakness at 2B is nearly severe enough to move him from that position, which isn't nearly as critical as SS or 3B.

Nor do I think this Simmons addition will or should effect the team's need for a proven run producer like Cruz(or alternative) as DH in a lineup already weakened by Rosario's departure.

I was hopeful after Rosenthal's column that Arraez could be a huge trade bait to land a #1/2 starter, like Snell or Darvish, but that ship has sailed.  Now, maybe the only pitcher worth including in any Arraez trade would be Luis Castillo.  Unfortunately, the Reds are in dire need of a SS so Polanco(or even Lewis) might be a better key to getting that trade done.  If Castillo is untouchable, like many believe, why not try for Sonny Gray for Polanco?  

Bottom line, I'd like to keep Arraez, trade Polanco for someone like Gray, and sign one of the remaining utility players or Blankenship/Lewis.  Much better team with Gray in the rotation, Cruz, Arraez and Kirillof in the lineup.  The Twins have at least one good utility OF in Cave and certainly should be able to find a capable utility IF among what's still out there.

My concern here is with the injuries that both had. 2nd base requires to rotate frequently, especially in a double play. That twisting put stress both on the knees and on the ankle. I hope the injuries are a thing of the past.

Donaldson has a history of calf issues, Simmons has had ankle issues for two years, Polanco has two years of ankle issues and Arraez has balky knees. Recent history with this group indicates that there will likely be DL stints and plenty of scheduled rest, the depth will be very useful. There will be plenty of at bats to go around, no way would I even consider trading Arraez or Polanco without a crazy return. 

My concern here is with the injuries that both had. 2nd base requires to rotate frequently, especially in a double play. That twisting put stress both on the knees and on the ankle. I hope the injuries are a thing of the past.

Something I was thinking about also. Plus, 2nd Base has to do the blind turn for double plays

A

Donaldson has a history of calf issues, Simmons has had ankle issues for two years, Polanco has two years of ankle issues and Arraez has balky knees. Recent history with this group indicates that there will likely be DL stints and plenty of scheduled rest, the depth will be very useful. There will be plenty of at bats to go around, no way would I even consider trading Arraez or Polanco without a crazy return. 

Also Polanco has a team friendly contract.

Arraez might be able to spell Donaldson quite a bit at 3rd. Frankly, I like Arraez more than Polanco at 2nd base. I'm going to give Polanco the benefit of doubt with his injury last year but he was terrible. Lounging at pitches, slapping the ball the other way etc. Either he just completely forgot his fundamentals or his injury was causing him not to apply proper balance and weight transfer hitting. I think he had like 3 hits in his last 50 at bats and his error (throwing) caused us a game in the playoffs. I'm glad we are getting back to a concept of defense. Simmons is a stud and so is Donaldson if he ever decides to consistently show up for work on the field.

In 3,900 career innings at short, Polanco has essentially the same UZR/150 (-10.9) as Araaez does in 650 career innings at 2nd (-11).  Now, there's a huge swing between 2019 and 2020, so maybe that number is low and Arraez is better than this number shows.  But generally speaking guys get better defensively when they go from short to second, so if Arraez is just as bad at second as Polanco is at short, it seems pretty clear Polanco will be better at second than Arraez.

That being said, I'm an Arraez guy, and I would prefer to leave him at second and make Polanco the utility guy.  A previous poster mentioned that Arraez could be Tony Gwynn; Luis actually has better numbers than Gwynn at the same point in their careers--Arraez walks more and has more power, but also strikes out more.

However, given the relative injury proclivity of all four of our non-1B infielders, I do think it's a pretty decent chance that at least one will be on the IL at any given point.  Therefore, I'm not too worried about this;  if you assume 4 PA a game for each of these positions (which is probably low), that's 1,944 PA's that can be handed out, or essentially 500 per player.  Add in a couple of outfield games for Arraez and some DH days (Cruz will undoubtedly have a couple of stints on the IL, or not be on the team at all), and I feel confident that even with relatively good health, all four of these guys will qualify for the batting title.

As long as Arraez is in the batting lineup I do not care, but do not remove his bat!

As a Cardinals fan growing up, Arraez makes me think of Jose Oquendo who plugged in just about everywhere, and was a real headache at the plate for the other team. Arraez might not be quite as versatile (trusting to memory, here), but is a better hitter. I want him and Cruz on the team. 

It's also time for Nick Gordon to prove it or move on. I'm very interested to see what he brings to the table this year. He should be able to add some depth. I guess where I going is if Arraez and/or Gordon prove capable this sets up Polanco for trade bait perhaps.

Arraez is no where near the defender Oquendo was for the Cards but is probably a better hitter.

I'm a BIG fan of Arraez but he's NOT Tony Gwynn O.K. ?  (he'll never run like a young Gwynn).

Polanco WILL be a better defender at 2B than Arraez.

In 2019 Arraez moved all over the place and he still HIT.

If the Twins don't trade Arraez he should be the leadoff hitter whenever he's in the lineup.

If I was to trade Arraez there is one scenario I would consider:

Ketel Marte is a CLEARLY superior player.   He's young and still has a couple of years of team control.  He's got more power than Arraez and he's much more athletic.   His value is 61.40.

I trade:

Arraez  43.4

Dobnak  10.00

Cavaco   7.60

Total Value:  61.00  (I'd throw something else in if I had to.

Marte would be our 2B-Man and Polanco would be our super utility.

(Marte is a very good 2B-man).

But Marte is also a good fielder in CF, 3B, either corner OF and could even play SS.

Marte is REALLY the super utility but because he's CLEARLY better defensively at 2B than Polanco that's where he starts.

However, when Buxton, Donaldson, whoever, get's hurt and needs some time MARTE can step right in and Polanco starts at 2B until the injured player comes back.

I like having bot Arrias and the turtle on the squad. Love their compete levels and attitudes. Infield and 3rd catcher/backup infielder. Done.