Replacing Yuni Would Be Easier Than You Think

by Jeff on Nov 30, 2008 4:21 PM PST in Miscellaneous Comment 38 comments

0 recs | Comment 38 comments

Comments

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

HA HA HA, your Grandpa's an ASS!- Tourette's Guy (R.I.P)

by tootthekazoo on Nov 30, 2008 4:41 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Easier than who thinks?

by Sec 108 on Nov 30, 2008 4:42 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Curious Nick?

by Robert on Nov 30, 2008 4:46 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

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.

by Edgar for Pres on Nov 30, 2008 4:53 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

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.

by Jeff on Nov 30, 2008 4:56 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

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.

Fans are typically idiots.

by The Typical Idiot Fan on Nov 30, 2008 6:04 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

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…

Fans are typically idiots.

by The Typical Idiot Fan on Nov 30, 2008 6:07 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Over a full season, the difference between Yuni and Punto's Marcel is less than ten runs

by Jeff on Nov 30, 2008 6:19 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

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.

Fans are typically idiots.

by The Typical Idiot Fan on Nov 30, 2008 8:49 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I guess I should have just said

That it was over a whole win… with below replacement level bats, they’re not “marginal” yet.

Fans are typically idiots.

by The Typical Idiot Fan on Nov 30, 2008 9:19 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I'm pretty confident that Punto would be at least 0 < x < 10 runs better than Yuni in the field

by Jeff on Nov 30, 2008 11:02 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

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’.

by Bearskin Rugburn on Nov 30, 2008 7:44 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Bingo

by Jeff on Nov 30, 2008 7:46 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

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?

Fans are typically idiots.

by The Typical Idiot Fan on Nov 30, 2008 8:45 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

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.

by Bearskin Rugburn on Dec 1, 2008 6:08 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Adorable!

by Fogel on Nov 30, 2008 4:56 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

I wonder how many people in the organization still see Yuni as an above average SS.

by JLC on Nov 30, 2008 5:02 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

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 . . .

Anton Chigurh for GM!

by 300ZXNA on Dec 1, 2008 12:56 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

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.

It's hard to convince people to let you eat them if you're an asshole. - Thingray

by Faux on Dec 1, 2008 8:44 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

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 …

by msb on Dec 1, 2008 11:01 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Yay!

Let’s dance!

by Coach Owens on Nov 30, 2008 5:03 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

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.

by Gomez on Nov 30, 2008 5:23 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Even better than

somebody.

by Coach Owens on Nov 30, 2008 5:29 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

What's Pokey Reese doing nowadays?

by Goose on Nov 30, 2008 6:52 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Probably doing what he does best

Getting hurt.

by Gomez on Nov 30, 2008 8:44 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

He can slide head first, feet first.

It works either way.

by ThundaPC on Dec 1, 2008 12:07 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Punto = Bloomquist

If you’re looking for an all-glove, no-hit stopgap, I think Cesar Izturis or Adam Everett would be better.

"Sit down and watch the game!" www.StopTheWave.com

by ConorGlassey on Nov 30, 2008 6:35 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Punto's the best of the three

by Jeff on Nov 30, 2008 6:38 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Is anyone else amazed that Nick Punto is almost completely parallel to the ground?

by JLC on Nov 30, 2008 10:44 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

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.

by dnc on Dec 1, 2008 1:17 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

well, duh.

it IS his name.

by msb on Dec 1, 2008 7:05 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

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 ….

by msb on Dec 1, 2008 7:06 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

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?

Can't wait for Ruskell to knock this one out of the park.

by abender20 on Dec 1, 2008 8:52 AM PST reply actions 1 recs