Denard Span

[Dave S]

Originally Posted By: LEP7MM

Give Span time. I agree with what Greebs has been saying. Especially with Span not having the RBI count due to the batters lined up infront of him. Also, for anyone to discredit his runs? He wouldn't be scoring any runs if he wasn't getting on base to begin with. Not to mention the steals that he has gotten.

IMO, Span is among a couple players who offer the best bang for the buck in both the AL and NL.

When Delmon was brought into the twins org. he was going to be our next power hitter to help bolster what Mauer, Morneau, Cuddyer and Kubel are doing. I haven't seen that happen yet.

So you are ready to dump Young and Gomez because you haven't seen them perform to their potential yet...but you say "Give Span time".

You want to be patient with Span, but are ready to throw Young and Gomez under the bus? Span is 25 years old, and Gomez and Young are each 23. You are wanting to give the wrong guy more time. Span isn't going to improve nearly as much in the next two years as Young and Gomez will.

Nowhere in my post did I make any mention of Gomez. Not sure why you even brought that up.

IMO, Span is the better player. Young was brought up with the expectation of being a power hitter and he hasn't shown that yet. If you look hard enough in my last post, you'll see that. Also, nowhere did I mention anything about dumping Young.

You have your opinions and I have mine. I'm fine with that, but don't read more into someone's post than what's being said.

[DHanson]

Gomez had an awesome game tonight as did many other twins players, but 3 for 4 with a 3-run HR, double, and single. Also saw him make an awesome catch. I don't know, I think I have a difference in opinion from a lot of you guys on who our best defensive outfielder is....my vote is Gomez. Span is pretty good though too. And Cuddy has a great arm.

[greebs]

Originally Posted By: LEP7MM

Give Span time. I agree with what Greebs has been saying. Especially with Span not having the RBI count due to the batters lined up infront of him. Also, for anyone to discredit his runs? He wouldn't be scoring any runs if he wasn't getting on base to begin with. Not to mention the steals that he has gotten.

IMO, Span is among a couple players who offer the best bang for the buck in both the AL and NL.

When Delmon was brought into the twins org. he was going to be our next power hitter to help bolster what Mauer, Morneau, Cuddyer and Kubel are doing. I haven't seen that happen yet.

So you are ready to dump Young and Gomez because you haven't seen them perform to their potential yet...but you say "Give Span time".

You want to be patient with Span, but are ready to throw Young and Gomez under the bus? Span is 25 years old, and Gomez and Young are each 23. You are wanting to give the wrong guy more time. Span isn't going to improve nearly as much in the next two years as Young and Gomez will.

Another topic but I for one really really wish that Gomez and Young could have spent the last two seasons in AAA playing every day. Neither one seems to be ready for the majors and unfortunately them not playing full time isn't making them get better.

[The J-Man!]

Of all the things worth complaining about with this team, Denard Span is not one of them.

[greebs]

Greebs,

You really made the point I was trying to make. Yes, he is the best value we have in the OF. He is our 2nd best OFer. But when you look at him compared to what a championship caliber team has, you have to realize, we ain't even close. To be happy with his production is kinda sad really. I never said he was terrible, just that he is the one of the 2 best we got and it really aint that good. Average I guess and most Twins fans are happy with that. Then again, we have never had a really good LF.

There's quite a few positions that when you compare our team to what a championship caliber team has we come up on the short end. That's the reality of being a Twins fan; you hope for players to perform at a level higher than their average ability and you need a bunch of them to have career best type years all in the same season and throughout the playoffs for them to win it all. That's happened a few times throughout various points of the past several regular seasons but unfortunately at playoff time, they played back to their regular ability mostly and we lost to teams that had more talent up and down their lineup.

[iowaperch44]

back to span only haveing six doubles or what ever. Look at what he has done in the field he makes amazing catches every game saving doubles and even home runs.

[fishorgolf]

Greebs,

He has a .384 slugging percentage. Good for 6th out of 6 true major leaguers in our lineup. I dont think he can pound his chest and say "I have a better slugging percentage than Nick Punto!". Heck, I can almost say that!

Bottom line, he does some things okay, mebbe even a shade of good, but it is sad that we are happy to have that type of production out of our outfielders as he is a 4th outfielder on a championship caliber team.

A couple of quick stats:

He is 47th in Americal League outfielder in slugging percentage... there are only 42 starters....38th in extra base hits and 37th in OPS.

He is 31st in OBP (all players), which sounds good until you consider that your leadoff guy should have one of the highest OBP. I couldnt sort by leadoff hitters. He is 9th compared to OFs in the AL.

So he is a singles hitter by the purest sense of the term who gets on base a decent amount of time, but is not outstanding by any means. By the way, I always thought Ichiro was the stereotypical singles hitter, but even he has a slugging percentage of .469.

I just ran a stat check and span is #74 for in the entire AL (all position players) in Slug%.

I am by no means saying Span is Gods gift to BB but he is the least of the twins worries right now.

[Drewski]

Of all the things worth complaining about with this team, Denard Span is not one of them.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

[foulpole18]

Delmon Young and Gomez are the results of trades that the Twins got fleeced on. Neither one belongs in the big leagues. Young could almost make Manny Ramirez look like a gold glove outfielder. He has a hard time catching routine fly balls. And watching Gomez strikeout on sliders so far out of the strike zone that he couldnt reach them with a canoe paddle is brutal. At least Gomez contributes with his glove.

[SledNeck]

how many errors does delmon have this year?

[PierBridge]

Tough to have a lot of errors when ..A. you're not allowed in fair territory very often and ..B. you can't judge where the balls going making it nearly impossible to get to the ball and make an error...LOL

[CodyDawg]

Originally Posted By: CodyDawg

Greebs,

He has a .384 slugging percentage. Good for 6th out of 6 true major leaguers in our lineup. I dont think he can pound his chest and say "I have a better slugging percentage than Nick Punto!". Heck, I can almost say that!

Bottom line, he does some things okay, mebbe even a shade of good, but it is sad that we are happy to have that type of production out of our outfielders as he is a 4th outfielder on a championship caliber team.

A couple of quick stats:

He is 47th in Americal League outfielder in slugging percentage... there are only 42 starters....38th in extra base hits and 37th in OPS.

He is 31st in OBP (all players), which sounds good until you consider that your leadoff guy should have one of the highest OBP. I couldnt sort by leadoff hitters. He is 9th compared to OFs in the AL.

So he is a singles hitter by the purest sense of the term who gets on base a decent amount of time, but is not outstanding by any means. By the way, I always thought Ichiro was the stereotypical singles hitter, but even he has a slugging percentage of .469.

I just ran a stat check and span is #74 for in the entire AL (all position players) in Slug%.

I am by no means saying Span is Gods gift to BB but he is the least of the twins worries right now.

There are 14 teams in the AL right? Times 9 position players (including DH). That means Span is 74th out of 126. That is not very good, in fact that is pretty poor in my book. Take out some of the middle infielders and the twins CF and it is even worse.

Remember guys, I dont dislike the guy, I am just saying it is sad if you are happy with his production. Sure, we have bigger problems, but if you are happy with 6 doubles out of your LF, something is wrong.

[foulpole18]

Tough to have a lot of errors when ..A. you're not allowed in fair territory very often and ..B. you can't judge where the balls going making it nearly impossible to get to the ball and make an error...LOL

I agree. Hes slow and cant judge a ball good enough to get close to be called for an error. Send him away for some batting practice balls so Morneau can deposit them in the seats.

[UdeLakeTom]

Span....5/5 with a double and 3 runs scored...can't ask for too much more.

[Drewski]

Span....5/5 with a double and 3 runs scored...can't ask for too much more.

I am not happy with that!

[fishgutz77]

As of late Cuddy and Span are earning their checks. the weak link is Gomez. Young is only 23 and will mature and play well if he stays in shape. I see a Kirby figure coming on.

[Jarrod32]

As of late Cuddy and Span are earning their checks. the weak link is Gomez. Young is only 23 and will mature and play well if he stays in shape. I see a Kirby figure coming on.

Agreed on all counts. A little more time in the minors could help Gomez...specifically in learning the strike zone a bit better (Gomez is only 23, as well).