Why is Punto in the Majors still?

[mr_jman]

Chances are we are arguing over fractions of a second one way or another. Yes this may make a difference, but the umpire still has to determine whether the ball came first or Punto touches the base first. This can also happen in tiny fractions of a second. Diving may work for Punto and if he feels faster than why not. I don't get any more or less hurt seeing him dive into the first so it doesn't bother me any! Yes, young kids who look up to these guys and want to dive into first is a problem. You are taught from little league on to run through first and NOT DIVE and I don't think many parents or coaches would teach this method to any player.

For those of you ridiculing Punto for diving into first, look at it this way. If he dives into first and gets hurt than PUNTO WILL BE OUT OF THE LINE-UP which is what you wanted anyways! Isn't it? Like I said, my body hurts no more or less when he dives into first so go ahead and dive Punto!

[Juneau4]

Maybe Punto is playing so no one starts a post to fire Gardy. That should and probably will happen when the Twins lose 3 maybe 4 in a row.

[zamboni]

Rant and rave all you want, he is here and isn't going anywhere.

[Big Dave2]

I still havn't heard anyone (except for the Ramos comment) give an option for who should be playing third base if not Punto.

[SledNeck]

Ugly last at bat for punto against jenks. I almost Threw up

[bobbymalone]

Ugly last at bat for punto against jenks. I almost Threw up

There was a lot of ugly last night.

[CodyDawg]

What that article failed to mention is that his foot is also about 3 feet ahead of his naval when it touches the bag. However, i am not advocating either way. I have yet to see even once when it has been close and he was called safe, but i have prolly missed quite a few of them.

Yep, i get the feeling we are kind of scuffling lately. not hitting on all 8. Cuddy has been brutal lately too. It is a long season. A marathon, not a sprint.

[greebs]

I still havn't heard anyone (except for the Ramos comment) give an option for who should be playing third base if not Punto.

if our choices are limited to players on the team, I don't have a problem with him playing there as a platoon with harris. they both have their strong and weak points but can handle that position fine. the team upgraded at 2b and ss so nothing wrong with these guys movingo over to 3b. now if you open it up to the whole league then I'm going to change my answer and there's a pretty large list

by the way I still haven't heard who your source was for the story about the head first slides to 1b being beneficial

[Dotch]

Agreed. The increased potential of a career ending wrist injury by sliding headfirst into first would not appear to be a wise investment of time, whether you beat the throw or not.

I've got a feeling when the weather warms up (for good) so the ball will clear the fence in center field rather than be a long fly ball out, guys like Slowey quit throwing the ball down the middle of the plate like he did last night in critical situations and people get healthy again, things will take care of themselves. A lot of season to go yet.

[Big Dave2]

Originally Posted By: Big Dave2

I still havn't heard anyone (except for the Ramos comment) give an option for who should be playing third base if not Punto.

if our choices are limited to players on the team, I don't have a problem with him playing there as a platoon with harris. they both have their strong and weak points but can handle that position fine. the team upgraded at 2b and ss so nothing wrong with these guys movingo over to 3b. now if you open it up to the whole league then I'm going to change my answer and there's a pretty large list

by the way I still haven't heard who your source was for the story about the head first slides to 1b being beneficial

It doesn't matter where the article came from, it is just an opinion either way.

Let's see your long list.

[greebs]

longoria

arod

beltre

young

callaspo

mcgehee

freese

reynolds

cantu

zimmerman

rolen

polanco

headley

jones

figgins

those are some that I came up with just scanning the leaderboards and I'm only providing these since you asked.

now before someone chimes in and tells me to deal with it because he's our 3b, it's not necessary. If you read my posts you'll see that there are much bigger critics than me but as I stated before, if people start giving the guy more credit than he deserves (for example comparing him to hall of famers), I will throw out the bee ess flag on that.

[DonBo]

You think we could actually get any of those guys? And even if they were available, you think we could get them for less $$$ than Punto's getting?

Good luck with that. Sure would be nice to "scan the leaderboards" to choose who's gonna be on your team. There's a name for clubs that can do that, Yankees.

[Big Dave2]

longoria

arod

beltre

young

callaspo

mcgehee

freese

reynolds

cantu

zimmerman

rolen

polanco

headley

jones

figgins

those are some that I came up with just scanning the leaderboards and I'm only providing these since you asked.

now before someone chimes in and tells me to deal with it because he's our 3b, it's not necessary. If you read my posts you'll see that there are much bigger critics than me but as I stated before, if people start giving the guy more credit than he deserves (for example comparing him to hall of famers), I will throw out the bee ess flag on that.

The question wasn't which 3rd basemen in the league are better than Punto, the question is, who would you rather have play the position. In order for a guy to play 3rd base for the Twins he has to be AVAILABLE. Which of these guys on your list are available or were available before the season started?

You could make that list for every position on the Twins teams except maybe catcher.

[Big Dave2]

No one here has said that Punto is the best 3rd baseman in the league, we are saying that he is the best AVAILABLE 3rd baseman the Twins have.

[SledNeck]

Id rather have Hughes at 3rd base to be honest. He has like more homers in his first at bat than punto has had in like 5 years

[redseal]

If only we could get the best defensive and offensive player at all positions... punto is a great defensive player. you take some and lose some, its why you are posting on a web site and gardie is coaching.. lol

[greebs]

You think we could actually get any of those guys? And even if they were available, you think we could get them for less $$$ than Punto's getting?

Good luck with that. Sure would be nice to "scan the leaderboards" to choose who's gonna be on your team. There's a name for clubs that can do that, Yankees.

no I don't think we could get most of those guys. I was only throwing out names because I had asked big dave if I could pick guys from the entire league who I'd rather have as our third basemen and he gave me the green light to be the proverbial kid in a candy store. If you read back further in this post, I've mentioned a couple times that I'm content (but not overly excited) with our 3b. I probably should be more excited since it's been pointed out that he's very comparable to mike schmidt, cal ripken, and derek jeter.

[Big Dave2]

no I don't think we could get most of those guys. I was only throwing out names because I had asked big dave if I could pick guys from the entire league who I'd rather have as our third basemen and he gave me the green light to be the proverbial kid in a candy store. If you read back further in this post, I've mentioned a couple times that I'm content (but not overly excited) with our 3b. I probably should be more excited since it's been pointed out that he's very comparable to mike schmidt, cal ripken, and derek jeter.

I certainly would have thought your list would have been made up of AVAILABLE players, not a fantasy all star team!!

Out of 10 pages of people spewing carp about Punto, not one person has been able to name a better replacement that is actually available. I guess that means the Twins have the best available player at that position, case closed.

[greebs]

sorry big dave. I asked if the entire mlb could be used in selecting my list and you gave me the green light so that's what I went with. don't worry about it though. we all win some and we all lose some.

given AVAILABLE options, I think you could pretty much throw punto, casilla, harris, and maybe even hughes into the mix and whoever you put there you pretty much have the position covered adequately. good defense and not so good offense.

[Big Dave2]

sorry big dave. I asked if the entire mlb could be used in selecting my list and you gave me the green light so that's what I went with. don't worry about it though. we all win some and we all lose some.

given AVAILABLE options, I think you could pretty much throw punto, casilla, harris, and maybe even hughes into the mix and whoever you put there you pretty much have the position covered adequately. good defense and not so good offense.

[greebs]

actually I asked you if the entire mlb was available for my list and you said to go ahead. no big deal here though we are basically splitting hairs and who we have is who we have. some of us just have lesser opinions of the guy and others try to compare him to hall of famers.

[Big Dave2]

actually I asked you if the entire mlb was available for my list and you said to go ahead. no big deal here though we are basically splitting hairs and who we have is who we have. some of us just have lesser opinions of the guy and others try to compare him to hall of famers.

I can't help it if you don't get it.

[hcmpls1]

Everyone is available for a price. Everyone. EVERYONE. You've heard of a trade, right? Availability is not solely synonymous with free agency, or bargain buy........ If and when the Twins deem Punto is incapable of performing or is hindering the team, they will go elsewhere since the Twins have no depth at third.

[greebs]

didn't get to watch today but sure nice to hear that we finally won one and did it yankee style like they have done to us so much the last few years. maybe this one can get the monkey off gardy's back. that dang monkey was starting to evolve into a big ol gorilla.

[Big Dave2]

Everyone is available for a price. Everyone. EVERYONE. You've heard of a trade, right? Availability is not solely synonymous with free agency, or bargain buy........ If and when the Twins deem Punto is incapable of performing or is hindering the team, they will go elsewhere since the Twins have no depth at third.

Ok, if everyone is available by trade please tell me who you would trade away to get an all star 3rd baseman?