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February 28, 2010

Twins in need of another glove for the outfield

Edward Thoma Free Press Staff Writer

MANKATO — Unreality comes easily in the early days of spring training.

Case in point: The current notion that the Twins bench this year will consist of a backup catcher, Jim Thome, and two infielders.

Missing is a reserve outfielder — a glove and a pair of legs. Someone who would back up Denard Span in center and serve as a defensive sub for Delmon Young (or Jason Kubel, when he’s in the outfield so that Thome or Joe Mauer can DH).

Ron Gardenhire chatters about having Michael Cuddyer play some center, so long as it’s not for a week or more.

But Cuddyer isn’t a particularly rangy corner outfielder. He’s got more range than Young or Kubel, but that’s not saying much.

The Twins have a fly-ball staff that would be ill-served, even in the short term, by an outfield of Young-Cuddyer-Kubel — which might be the slowest outfield I’ve seen in years.

Then there’s the defensive sub aspect. Gardenhire talks of Nick Punto, Alexi Casilla or Matt Tolbert playing some outfield, but let’s face it — Casilla and Tolbert have combined to play zero innings in the outfield, and Punto, while he’s played 52 innings in the outfield, has been used there in low-leverage situations.

Does Gardenhire want to stick one of them in left field to protect a one-run lead in the eighth and ninth innings? I doubt it.

There really aren’t many players who play both infield and outfield well. For one thing, the throwing motions are different — infielders make shorter throws with quick releases, while outfielders go more for distance. Infielders frequently use a lower arm angle to get rid of the ball in a hurry, but that same motion in the outfield will result in a sailing, inaccurate throw.

The no-outfielder bench notion is rooted in the status quo. The Twins have one legit center fielder on their 40-man roster — Span. They have a surplus of utility infielders, one of whom is going to start at third base (either Punto or Brendan Harris). And Casilla is out of options, which makes it difficult to send him to the minors.

But their attempt to portray convenience as a virtue doesn’t fly in this corner.

The Twins do have Jacque Jones in camp as a non-roster player. But Jones is 35 and has all of 116 major-league at-bats the past two years, during which time he’s been released by three teams and had more strikeouts (26) than hits (17). I respect his history and admire his persistence, but this tryout is likely the baseball equivalent of a pity date.

Fortunately, the very commodity the Twins are in need of is likely to be readily available in the coming month as teams trim their rosters — and there are teams that can use a reliable multi-position infielder.

I expect a trade before opening day.



Edward Thoma is a Free Press staff writer. He is at 344-6377 or at ethoma@mankatofreepress.com. He also has a baseball blog at www.mankatofreepress.com/ethomabaseball/

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