Punto For Gold Glove

[jigging-matt]

If you are going to take the stats for april and say that is good, why don't we just take the top two teams and play the world series???? Season is young, lets see how he does as the season goes on. He seems to be having a good game tonight. Yes the Twins are my team, always have been always will be. Call me a homer, or whatever you want, I will always enjoy the game.

[CodyDawg]

why if you are gonna project his stats, he will go the whole season without an error, how grand is that?? bottom line is this, if we had power from somewhere else (SS, 2B, LF, DH) then you absolutely would want Punto at third. Lacking power elsewhere, you have to think about him. How about LF? why not have the same discussion about that position? we dont even get outstanding defense there.

[zamboni]

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Zamboni, don't want to get into a pizzing match here with you on this one. I take it Punto may be your favorite twin. To each his own. My point, and I realize your original post is a gold glove, a team can't afford to have Punto as anything but a utility player. There maybe only 3 teams in the league he would be a starter for at 3b, us, Tampa Bay and the Royals. He is on pace for 30 Rbi. Along with our ss and 2nd basemen, combined they will have about 100. You also mentioned a Pete Rose comparison. Pete rose is a hall of famer for his offense, i.e. most hits alltime. If your a traditionalist, your power #'s and rbi#'s have to come from your 3b,1b and your outfield. He just don't cut it for me no matter how good his defense is. Remember also, the only reason he is playing today is the failure of Batista last year. Just goes to show you how much the organization thought of him last year. Granted he had a nice year last year, but I was a year younger then too

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Actually- no hes not my favorite Twin. EVERY one of your stats you bring up have to do with a bat in his hand- NOT A GLOVE, hence- PUNTO FOR GOLD GLOVE, not PUNTO FOR SILVER SLUGGER or PUNTO FOR HR CROWN! Besides, you say that 1B, 3B and OF have to make up the offense structure of a team, well Punto doesn't get alot of RBIs, but I see Catcher is missing from your list. Doesn't having a Joe Mauer on the Twins roster kind of compensate? There are alot of teams in the majors that have poor hitting catchers, so Mauer makes up for our weak hitting infield.

[blue_healer_guy]

The reason I didn't bring up Mauer is he doesn't hit for power or Rbi's, typical of most catchers. We might as well put Joe as our leadoff hitter and move our 2nd baseman in the 9 slot. If you re-read my post , I did mention your post was for gold glove. Can't have a gold glove 3 bagger that's not a run producer at 3rd.

[zamboni]

Then I guess the system is flawed then. Sad. Maybe thats why Bert hasn't made the HOF- never played for the Yankees. The voters got the MVP right last season, at least.

[blue_healer_guy]

After a nice civil debate, I agree with everything you said on your last post. Go Twins!

[nofishfisherman]

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Can't have a gold glove 3 bagger that's not a run producer at 3rd.

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Why not? I am confused as to what the award is for again?

Oh wait here is what the award is for. I guess it doesn't mention anything about RBI production or really anything about hitting ability at all. Go figure.

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In American baseball, the Rawlings Gold Glove Award, usually referred to simply as the Gold Glove, is the award given annually to the major league player judged to have the most "superior individual fielding performance" at each position (in each league), as voted by the managers and coaches in each league

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[blue_healer_guy]

Well if your confused, watch Punto continue to play the way he has and watch someone else win the gold glove.

[blue_healer_guy]

And after he continues to slump offensively, watch him from the bench.

[Stratosman]

WHat's the lowest batting average to ever win a Gold GLove?

I bet it isn't .225

[AWH]

While Punto has a great glove, it's hard to say he's Gold Glove caliber when we don't see every 3rd baseman on a regular basis. Plenty of home town bias here.

Great glove or not, he won't last long as an everyday player if his average continues to struggle to stay above the .200 mark.

When Doug Mientkiewicz was here, plenty of people were very against getting rid of him because he had a great glove. How many of these people would trade Morneau right now to get Dougy back? He's still got the great glove!

Aaron

[Bobby Bass]

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WHat's the lowest batting average to ever win a Gold GLove?

I bet it isn't .225

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for third basemen Robinson 1969 .234

[zamboni]

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While Punto has a great glove, it's hard to say he's Gold Glove caliber when we don't see every 3rd baseman on a regular basis. Plenty of home town bias here.

Great glove or not, he won't last long as an everyday player if his average continues to struggle to stay above the .200 mark.

When Doug Mientkiewicz was here, plenty of people were very against getting rid of him because he had a great glove. How many of these people would trade Morneau right now to get Dougy back? He's still got the great glove!

Aaron

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Oh, how quickly we forget!! Doug Mientkiewicz led the majors in batting over half of the season the year he won his gold glove. I know my argument has been hitting shouldn't have anything to do with the award- but I am just pointing out how good old Dougie hit that year.

[zamboni]

PS- I am just waiting to hear about the bad throw that busted Justins schnoz. He could have caught the throw, but the baserunner kind of blocked his vision. Eric Chavez threw the ball 2 rows deep into the stands on an errant throw to first today, too. Just wanted to get that out.

[AWH]

Dougie M. did have one good year at the plate, this is true. My point is simply that no matter how good your glove is, you probably won't last long if you can't hit. Teams continue to take a flyer on Mientkiewicz because of his well deserved reputation in the field. But there's a reason he doesn't stay in one place very long.

Aaron

[zamboni]

A huge reason he doesn't stay in place for too long as well is his salary:

2003 Twins:$1,750,000

2004 Twins/Red Sox:$2,800,000

2005 Mets:$3,750,000

2006 Royals:$1,850,000

Alot of dough for a decent hitter, with a superb glove.

[zamboni]

BUMP BUMP BUMP BUMP.

[Eric Wettschreck]

BUMP BUMP BUMP BUMP.

Good time to get this thread going again.

While hitting should never come into play when deciding a gold glove, unfortunately it does. Puntos stock is getting more valuable every game.

[Cicada]

ESPN's John Kruk called Punto a Web Gem God. Sounded like he is a genuine fan of Punto's fielding abilities. It would be interesting to see stats on which players have been featured on Web Gems or Play of the Day the most often. Punto would have to be right up there.

Funny, I haven't seen much of the Punto bashers here lately. They have to be miserable because their beer is cold, the weather is awesome, and Punto is playing well. Nothing to b1tch about.

[zamboni]

I put this back on here and he goes 0-5 last night. Maybe I shouldn't have said anything. I am kidding, BTW, he will be fine.

[IFallsRon]

Hey, Punto: Boom, outta here. B. Meyers

[blue_healer_guy]

since you put it back to the top, I still don't like him.

[zamboni]

since you put it back to the top, I still don't like him.

Chicagos 7 hours east. I'm sure with the real estate market, you can find a place.

[SledNeck]

ouch

[zamboni]

ouch

Thought he was a Sux fan. My bad. IDK how you can't like a guy that's on Web Gems. EVERYNIGHT