I don’t care if he’s better but I’ve been making fun of my friend who has had to watch the Twins regularly start him. I don’t want to concede that Punto would make us better.
but he wouldn’t make us that much worse, and he’d probably jump at the chance to have a starting job. Since we don’t have any internal solutions, he’d be a decent cheap stopgap for a year or two until something better comes along.
While your original statement is true that replacing Yuni would be easy
Nick Punto? Seriously? He of the wildly fluctuating OPS?
Defensively he’d be an upgrade, for sure. Probably to the tune of 2 marginal wins over Yuni (making up for Yuni’s badness and adding his own speck above average glove), but his bat scares me more then Yuni’s. If he matches his 2008 or 2006 batting line, he’s an upgrade, if he matches his 2005 or 2007 batting line, he’s a disaster.
I’d just go get Adam Everett. At least with him you don’t give a shit about his bat.
Punto’s PMR has him at only a few plays above expectation, UZR has him at +12 runs. I think we can safely assume he’ll be a defensive upgrade, but unless we’re expecting him to maintain a 0 < x < 10 run positive above average with the glove, then Punto’s value is only a defensive upgrade.
It gets even worse, however, if Punto has another low BABIP season and turns into a batting nightmare, as I illustrated.
with an awesome player. I think it was ’Yuni’s got market value so let’s cash that shit in because we can get someone to man SS who would be a reasonable facsimile of him for next to nothing in baseball terms and in the meantime look for a long term solution because jesus how can you be a contender with such a bad glove/bat in a key position’.
Jeff’s main point is a valid one. Ditching Yuni and getting an easy replacement are not hard things to do. I’m just saying… Nick Punto is your first idea?
is that Yuni needs to be traded while his reputation still serves him. There’s pressure on the organization to field a competent team, yet not much prime SS talent available in FA. Since the team is not going to contend next year, I think it’s totally reasonable to get some guy about halfway between replacement and average for very little while developing internal solutions or waiting for a better FA roster. I highly doubt they’ll be able to bring an above average SS in by trade on account of they don’t have much left to trade.
Well, if Zduriencik is as good a talent evaluator as he seems . . .
he should be able to easily recognize Yuni for what he is. In fact, I bet Yuni will be a good litmus test for Z, if he stands pat and goes into spring training saying that Yuni is gonna get comeback player of the year . . .
Before, noone had talked about Yuni and his weight issue, or that there was any problem at all in regards to his fielding. This year, you hear a lot about going into the offseason training with Ibanez and coming back in a better way. If you see people talking about how hard Yuni’s working on his fielding and has slimmed down, you can bet that’s in large measure because he was told to shape up or ship out.
Instincts are hard to unlearn, Yuni’s just gotten slow and complacent. With some work and motivation on the FO side of things, I can see him turning into an average fielder by midseason.
We all know Yuni had the talent to make a good SS. We saw that in his first year here. I think if he goes into the offseason with the intention of bringing himself back to his old form (as was said this year) he may not come back with the 05 we remember so well, but be ~average defensively. This isn’t Silva, who would need to get back into shape to be ~mediocre. This isn’t even Lopez, who really had to focus to scratch out an average season this year.
As we all well know, players with that much grit never leave the ballpark, and the only way to hustle more than he does in games is to hustle while napping as well. I wonder if he was a kicker in college?
Yes please
And replacing Yuni with a guy who’s last name would imply that he is, in fact, not good at fielding would be funny as well
tootthekazoo - November 30, 2008
Easier than who thinks?
Sec 108 - November 30, 2008
Curious Nick?
Robert - November 30, 2008
Nick Punto is not the answer....
I don’t care if he’s better but I’ve been making fun of my friend who has had to watch the Twins regularly start him. I don’t want to concede that Punto would make us better.
Edgar for Pres - November 30, 2008
I don't think he'd make us better
but he wouldn’t make us that much worse, and he’d probably jump at the chance to have a starting job. Since we don’t have any internal solutions, he’d be a decent cheap stopgap for a year or two until something better comes along.
Jeff Sullivan - November 30, 2008
While your original statement is true that replacing Yuni would be easy
Nick Punto? Seriously? He of the wildly fluctuating OPS?
Defensively he’d be an upgrade, for sure. Probably to the tune of 2 marginal wins over Yuni (making up for Yuni’s badness and adding his own speck above average glove), but his bat scares me more then Yuni’s. If he matches his 2008 or 2006 batting line, he’s an upgrade, if he matches his 2005 or 2007 batting line, he’s a disaster.
I’d just go get Adam Everett. At least with him you don’t give a shit about his bat.
The Typical Idiot Fan - November 30, 2008
OPS nothing
wOBA by year:
2005 – .282
2006 – .324
2007 – .260
2008 – .324
Projections for 2009:
BJ – .295
Marcel – .299
Yeeeeeeeeech. And yes, I know Yuni’s worse. Just saying…
The Typical Idiot Fan - November 30, 2008
Over a full season, the difference between Yuni and Punto's Marcel is less than ten runs
Jeff Sullivan - November 30, 2008
That's over a whole marginal win, tho.
Punto’s PMR has him at only a few plays above expectation, UZR has him at +12 runs. I think we can safely assume he’ll be a defensive upgrade, but unless we’re expecting him to maintain a 0 < x < 10 run positive above average with the glove, then Punto’s value is only a defensive upgrade.
It gets even worse, however, if Punto has another low BABIP season and turns into a batting nightmare, as I illustrated.
The Typical Idiot Fan - November 30, 2008
I guess I should have just said
That it was over a whole win… with below replacement level bats, they’re not “marginal” yet.
The Typical Idiot Fan - November 30, 2008
I'm pretty confident that Punto would be at least 0 < x < 10 runs better than Yuni in the field
Jeff Sullivan - November 30, 2008
I don't think the point was to replace Yuni
with an awesome player. I think it was ’Yuni’s got market value so let’s cash that shit in because we can get someone to man SS who would be a reasonable facsimile of him for next to nothing in baseball terms and in the meantime look for a long term solution because jesus how can you be a contender with such a bad glove/bat in a key position’.
Bearskin Rugburn - November 30, 2008
Bingo
Jeff Sullivan - November 30, 2008
I mentioned in my first post that
Jeff’s main point is a valid one. Ditching Yuni and getting an easy replacement are not hard things to do. I’m just saying… Nick Punto is your first idea?
The Typical Idiot Fan - November 30, 2008
Well, I think the key here
is that Yuni needs to be traded while his reputation still serves him. There’s pressure on the organization to field a competent team, yet not much prime SS talent available in FA. Since the team is not going to contend next year, I think it’s totally reasonable to get some guy about halfway between replacement and average for very little while developing internal solutions or waiting for a better FA roster. I highly doubt they’ll be able to bring an above average SS in by trade on account of they don’t have much left to trade.
Bearskin Rugburn - December 1, 2008
Adorable!
Dewey N - November 30, 2008
I wonder how many people in the organization still see Yuni as an above average SS.
JLC - November 30, 2008
Well, if Zduriencik is as good a talent evaluator as he seems . . .
he should be able to easily recognize Yuni for what he is. In fact, I bet Yuni will be a good litmus test for Z, if he stands pat and goes into spring training saying that Yuni is gonna get comeback player of the year . . .
300ZXNA - December 1, 2008
I can see that situation happening.
Before, noone had talked about Yuni and his weight issue, or that there was any problem at all in regards to his fielding. This year, you hear a lot about going into the offseason training with Ibanez and coming back in a better way. If you see people talking about how hard Yuni’s working on his fielding and has slimmed down, you can bet that’s in large measure because he was told to shape up or ship out.
Instincts are hard to unlearn, Yuni’s just gotten slow and complacent. With some work and motivation on the FO side of things, I can see him turning into an average fielder by midseason.
We all know Yuni had the talent to make a good SS. We saw that in his first year here. I think if he goes into the offseason with the intention of bringing himself back to his old form (as was said this year) he may not come back with the 05 we remember so well, but be ~average defensively. This isn’t Silva, who would need to get back into shape to be ~mediocre. This isn’t even Lopez, who really had to focus to scratch out an average season this year.
Faux - December 1, 2008
Popular opinion of Yuniesky Betancourt, 2006: Building block. There might not be 25 other players in baseball for whom I'd trade this guy tomorrow.
FWIW, going into ’06 was the last lime Yuni took part in the Ibanez off-season workout plan …
msb - December 1, 2008
Yay!
Let’s dance!
Coach Owens - November 30, 2008
It says a lot
But, most of all, it shows that just about any MLB-caliber SS would be an upgrade over Yuni at this point.
At least Punto would be more productive than some recent stopgaps.
Gomez - November 30, 2008
Even better than
somebody.
Coach Owens - November 30, 2008
What's Pokey Reese doing nowadays?
Goose - November 30, 2008
Probably doing what he does best
Getting hurt.
Gomez - November 30, 2008
He can slide head first, feet first.
It works either way.
ThundaPC - December 1, 2008
Punto = Bloomquist
If you’re looking for an all-glove, no-hit stopgap, I think Cesar Izturis or Adam Everett would be better.
ConorGlassey - November 30, 2008
Punto's the best of the three
Jeff Sullivan - November 30, 2008
Is anyone else amazed that Nick Punto is almost completely parallel to the ground?
JLC - November 30, 2008
I'm more amazed at how much he looks like Jeremy Reed
Gomez - December 1, 2008
The title makes it sound like you want to kill him without anyone noticing.
Mariner John - November 30, 2008
Almost
Jeff Sullivan - November 30, 2008
Am I the only one
who has to put the “Little NIcky” in front of “Punto” everytime this dude comes up.
Makes me want to pour out some liquor for Batgirl.
dnc - December 1, 2008
well, duh.
it IS his name.
msb - December 1, 2008
you know,
a flying shortstop would come in really handy.
He could zip out to the bullpen, if the phone goes out …. swoop into the dugout for extra seeds during pitching changes ….
msb - December 1, 2008
That is actually a picture of Punto sleeping.
As we all well know, players with that much grit never leave the ballpark, and the only way to hustle more than he does in games is to hustle while napping as well. I wonder if he was a kicker in college?
abender20 - December 1, 2008
Funny.
I was just explaining this to someone this weekend. Although they didn’t beleive it when I said Yuni was no longer any good defensively.
Thingray - December 1, 2008
hopefully that person
is the GM of an MLB team.
abender20 - December 1, 2008
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