(With the Twins Geek out of commission for the time being, today's guest post is brought to you by Nick Nelson of Nick's Twins Blog.)
Our beloved Twins Geek is amidst a dreadfully busy week, but didn't want to let down his readers so he's asked me to come on and put together a guest post. I'm sure no one here is particularly interested in my batty opinions, but fortunately I've been in constant contact with Mr. Bonnes so I'll simply relay his thoughts to you as best I can.
The most important thing that Geek wanted me to communicate to his audience is that he has finally flipped on the Carlos Gomez issue. As many who read this blog are undoubtedly aware, John has long been a believer that Gomez belongs in the minor leagues right now, while Delmon Young should be starting for the Twins in left field with Denard Span taking over in center. As many may also be aware, I happen to fall on the opposite side of this issue and the two of us have argued the point to great lengths in various places, ranging from comments sections to podcasts to local bars. Now, these debates can at long last come to a rest.
It was apparently quite the epiphany for the Geek. "Good golly," he told me (that's how he talks), "I can't believe I haven't seen it until now." Finally coming to the realizations that Gomez's considerable defensive edge outweighs any negligible offensive upgrade that Young provides with his ability to single his way to a .260 batting average and that Gomez can learn to make adjustments at the plate as easily in the majors as he would in the minors, John called me to concede around 10 o'clock last evening.
I admire John's humility in this matter and have no doubt that upon his return, he will tell you all in his own words how far astray he was. And I'm certain that by no means will he be upset with me for abusing my guest posting privileges to put forth anything less than a genuine, straight-shooting article.
Welcome to the light, John. Glad to have you aboard.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
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5 comments:
Nick, from simply being a loyal reader of your blog I still don't really know you well enough to tell if this is a joke. It sounds like a joke.
If not my world is being turned upside down to have the two of you in agreement.
Good golly.
I don't have time to post, but I have time to reply. And my reply is...
NEVER!!
Thanks for the clarification, John!
I wouldn't call it a flip-flop by John. Maybe it's just because I agreed with him then, and I agree with him now. But personally I don't think what changed is our opinion, it was the collapse of Young as a viable hitter.
At the beginning of the year, Young's record as a hitter was sufficiently superior to warrant considering playing him instead of Gomez. Now he offers no real advantage offensively compared to Gomez.
That was not the case at the end of last year, when Young was a genuinely effective hitter. Now that neither can hit, Gomez's fielding easily breaks the tie. I don't see this position as inconsistent.
The other big argument in favor of starting Young over Gomez was that Gomez had options left and Young did not. Realistically, they both should be in the minors, learning to hit and forestalling their free agency -- at least as far as their individual development is concerned. So if you can only send down one, you send down the one you can -- until the other one totally flames out, and unfortunately that's happened.
Young still has plenty of potential; he just needs to start making adjustments, and for some reason he won't. Until he does, he probably shouldn't play at all, except as an injury replacement. HE doens't help the team, and he doesn't advance his own cause either. He needs to change, and apparently he won't unless forced to -- so maybe benching him will help.
The best thing might be to put him on the DL, then "rehab" in the minors. Maybe they can diagnose him with a learning disorder? After all, that's what he seems to have.
As for who gives the major league team the best chance to win right now, though, it's hard to say there's anyone better than those two available. So I don't think Gardenhire's done anything that wrong. He played him long enough to see if he'd hit decently, then made him the fourth outfielder.
I wouldn't call it a flip-flop by John.
Judging from the second comment to this entry, I wouldn't either.
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