The Twins Find a SS
The Twins today picked up former Houston Astros shortstop Adam Everett, signing him to a one-year deal for $2.8 million and slotting him into the starting SS role. To say the least, Everett is not known for his offense -- however, his defense is reputed to be excellent (I admit that I've barely seen him play, and wasn't paying attention when I did, so I don't have much of an opinion on this).
This news doesn't shock me -- the Twins main option at SS before signing Everett was Brendan Harris, who by most accounts doesn't have the range to play SS effectively. The alternatives to Harris were essentially Nick Punto and Alexi Casilla -- and while I like Casilla, I like him more as a 2B than as a SS. Punto -- well, I'm hoping he's not a starter anywhere next year. So, the bottom line is that the Twins were in need of a starting shortstop, and they spent just under $3 million to secure a solid defensive veteran who will be hitting ninth in the batting order. Certainly, my preference would have been for a better hitter at the position, but look at the market! Nobody fit the profile! The Twins did the best they could here. Hopefully Everett will hit at least .250 and play great D, and then I'll be happy.
Incidentally, if you check out the comments on the Joe Christensen blog that I linked to above, you'll see a lot of petty foolishness by folks who clearly don't think things through before they post. There's a lot of "Carl needs to open his checkbook" type of whining, and frankly I'm sick of that kind of thing. There are times when it's a valid complaint, but when it's dragged out every time the Twins sign a player that isn't a superstar, it's just stupid. It's also amazing how many people think that signing Everett is a sign of the apocalypse. I've got news for ya, folks -- Everett isn't going to make or break the Twins season. Either the young pitching will deliver, in which case the Twins could have a very good season (and a good defensive SS should help that cause), or the young pitching will be mediocre and so will the Twins.
If you're one of the "sky-is-falling" crowd, I encourage you to take a deep breath and calm yourself down before you rupture something -- and I also encourage you to think about the alternatives that Bill Smith had before him rather than just complaining about a move that was made. If you don't like this as a baseball move, great -- but tell me what you would have done instead. Certainly, GM's make mistakes -- but it amazes me how quick people are to criticize after spending thirty seconds looking at some statistics and not considering other factors. Anyway, enough ranting -- welcome to the Twins, Mr. Everett. I look forward to seeing if your defense is as good as people say (and certainly hope it is!).
This news doesn't shock me -- the Twins main option at SS before signing Everett was Brendan Harris, who by most accounts doesn't have the range to play SS effectively. The alternatives to Harris were essentially Nick Punto and Alexi Casilla -- and while I like Casilla, I like him more as a 2B than as a SS. Punto -- well, I'm hoping he's not a starter anywhere next year. So, the bottom line is that the Twins were in need of a starting shortstop, and they spent just under $3 million to secure a solid defensive veteran who will be hitting ninth in the batting order. Certainly, my preference would have been for a better hitter at the position, but look at the market! Nobody fit the profile! The Twins did the best they could here. Hopefully Everett will hit at least .250 and play great D, and then I'll be happy.
Incidentally, if you check out the comments on the Joe Christensen blog that I linked to above, you'll see a lot of petty foolishness by folks who clearly don't think things through before they post. There's a lot of "Carl needs to open his checkbook" type of whining, and frankly I'm sick of that kind of thing. There are times when it's a valid complaint, but when it's dragged out every time the Twins sign a player that isn't a superstar, it's just stupid. It's also amazing how many people think that signing Everett is a sign of the apocalypse. I've got news for ya, folks -- Everett isn't going to make or break the Twins season. Either the young pitching will deliver, in which case the Twins could have a very good season (and a good defensive SS should help that cause), or the young pitching will be mediocre and so will the Twins.
If you're one of the "sky-is-falling" crowd, I encourage you to take a deep breath and calm yourself down before you rupture something -- and I also encourage you to think about the alternatives that Bill Smith had before him rather than just complaining about a move that was made. If you don't like this as a baseball move, great -- but tell me what you would have done instead. Certainly, GM's make mistakes -- but it amazes me how quick people are to criticize after spending thirty seconds looking at some statistics and not considering other factors. Anyway, enough ranting -- welcome to the Twins, Mr. Everett. I look forward to seeing if your defense is as good as people say (and certainly hope it is!).
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posted by JST @ Thursday, December 13, 2007
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