Where they stand: Third base

Presumed regular: Miguel Sano

Others on 40: Ehire Adrianza, Ronald Torreyes

Notable nonroster: None

The Twins are all in on Sano at third base this year.

In 2018 and 2017, they had Eduardo Escobar as Plan B, and El De La Pica was a pretty good Plan B. It is quite possible that Escobar is a better player than Sano. In 2016 and 2015, they had Trevor Plouffe as Plan A at third base, which was part of the failed attempt to make Sano an outfielder. And overlapping with those two was Eduardo Nunez.

When Sano went down with injuries, there was always somebody to plug in at third base.

There is no obvious Plan B at third base now. Escobar is with the Diamondbacks. Plouffe is 32 and scrounging for a spring training invite after just 12 major-league at-bats in 2018. And the Twins have Adrianza and Torreyes, shortstops with no power, at the top of their infield reserve ladder.

The Twins say they have been monitoring Sano's offseason more diligently this year, that he is checking in at their Dominican complex regularly. New manager Rocco Baldelli went to the island a couple weeks ago to visit Sano, and a photo of the two on social media suggests that Sano is trimmer than we've seen him in the past.

All that is well and good, but we've see three full seasons since Sano was called up in midseason 2015, and the big man has yet to stay off the disabled list. This year, more than ever, the Twins need that to change.

Plouffe and the future

The Twins wrapped up their arbitration cases Monday without going to any hearings when they and Trevor Plouffe agreed on a one-year. $7.25 million deal.

As I said about Casey Fien's settlement, the money interests me less that the organizational decision to stick with Plouffe at third base.

As the off season continues, I've become increasingly resigned to the notion that Miguel Sano is going to be in the outfield in 2016. I'm not convinced that's the right place for him, but I also know there is skepticism about Sano as a third baseman as well.

The concerns about Sano in the outfield and at third are similar, Sano is simply much bigger than normal for those positions. Players of his weight class are first basemen or designated hitters. I think it was Aaron Gleeman who researched it when the Sano-to-the-outfield talk started and determined that the last regular outfielder with a listed weight above 250 pounds was Frank Howard, and that was more than 40 years ago.

So ... Plouffe remains the Twins third baseman. He's not eligible for free agency until after the 2017 season, at which point he'll be 31.

Let's say that Plouffe stays at third for the Twins through 2017, then signs elsewhere as a free agent. It's a safe bet that his successor at the hot corner won't be Sano. By then he'll have either established himself as an outfielder or played his way to first base or DH.

If the Twins are indeed serious about playing him in the outfield this year, he's not going to be working on his infield technique. He'll have enough on his plate learning the nuances of outfield play.

The Twins did spend a couple of high draft picks on high school third basemen last June, Travis Blankenhorn (third round) and Trey Cabbage (fourth round). I wouldn't expect either to be ready by 2018 to inherit the job, but I wouldn't rule it out either.

That's down the road, obviously, but the fact remains that if Sano was going to become the Minnesota third baseman, this was the year for it to happen. The Twins have decided not to take that route.

Contemplating the third base situation

Trevor Plouffe has
been the cleanup hitter
for most of the season,
but Miguel Sano
appears to be taking
that lineup slot away.

For me, one of the more intriguing aspects of the rise of Miguel Sano is how unthreatened Trevor Plouffe appears to be.

During spring training, Plouffe tweeted enthusiastically about Sano's power. The day Sano reported to the big league club, Plouffe was seen working with Sano on the youngster's defense. I attended Wednesday's game; Plouffe and Sano were catch partners before the game, and when the game ended, they did their own version, just the two of them, of the outfielders' celebratory chest bump.

It's an interesting dynamic. Plouffe has become a better-than-average third baseman, both in the field and at the plate. Sano hasn't played anything but third since his first year in the very lowest levels of the organization. Two third basemen, one of whom is a cornerstone of the lineup and the other a cornerstone of the future.

The assumption here has been: When Sano arrives, Plouffe is no longer the third baseman. That's not the case. Not now, certainly, and maybe not for some time. In this season of contention and transition, the Twins are likely to continue to deploy Sano mainly as a designated hitter, and to keep Plouffe at third base and in the middle of the lineup.

Plouffe is on a one-year deal but under team control through 2017. I doubt the Twins want to keep Sano at DH that long. Maybe Sano changes positions. Maybe Plouffe does (a few years ago he was supposed to become an outfielder, but then Danny Valencia's tenure with the Twins short-circuited and Plouffe inherited the third base job). Or maybe Plouffe gets traded.

This is not a situation that needs to be resolved immediately. But I suspect something will give this winter.

The Twins by position: Third base

His arm fracture
aside, Trevor Plouffe
has had a good winter:
a $4.8 million
contract for 2015
and a baby on the way.

Trevor Plouffe, theoretically, should have the firmest grip of his career on the third base job. He had a fine 2014. His defense was much improved over previous years, and he had the highest OPS+ of his career.

But ... here comes Miguel Sano.

Sano is not going to come out of spring training with the third base job. Even if some calamity befalls Plouffe, the organization will certainly insist that the Dominican megaprospect get his feet back on the ground in the minors first. Sano had Tommy John surgery before exhibition play began last spring, and the Twins held him out of winter ball.

So the job is Plouffe's at least for now. What happens when Sano is deemed ready for the majors is another matter. Terry Ryan made some waves this winter when he commented that Sano might try the outfield; when that came out, Ryan walked it back.

Plouffe -- or at least the 2014 version -- is a valuable commodity. Third base is an odd position, with a mix of hitting and fielding demands that few are adept at meeting. Many third basemen who can hit have trouble with the defensive demands of the position; many who can play the position well are below-average hitters. Plouffe last year was a bit above average both at the plate and afield, a rare combination.

And yet, I have no qualms about making this assertion: Plouffe is not good enough to block Sano. When Sano is ready, he should push Plouffe aside.

Whether that means a position shift -- remember, in 2012 the Twins expected to make Plouffe an outfielder -- or a trade remains to be seen. A year ago I would have doubted that there would be much of a market for Plouffe. Today there should be teams willing to surrender value for him.

Plouffe himself is coming off injury. He fractured his forearm on a tag play in the last home game of the season and had surgery shortly afterwards. Presumably he'll be good to go from the start of spring training.

Benchmarks for 2013: Third base

This figures to be a crucial
season for Trevor Plouffe.

There's been no shortage of posts here over the past two years on Trevor Plouffe, and one thing that jumps out at me as I review them is how little I seem to understand what the Twins are doing with him.

They tried to find a shortstop in him long after I expected them to have given up on that task. They pulled the plug on him as an outfielder far sooner than I anticipated.

So I should be wary of making declarative statements about their plans with him. But here it comes anyway ...

Plouffe comes into camp next month still the third baseman-designate, but Terry Ryan has talked all winter about finding somebody to challenge that status. Ryan certainly didn't import a recognizable veteran name to do so, but he did bring in Mark Sobolewski, who has been kicking around the Toronto organization about as long as Plouffe's been in the Twins system.

Like Plouffe, Sobolewski profiles at the plate as a low-average, low-OPB hitter with some power. Unlike Plouffe, Sobolewski hasn't reached the majors, and he's never had the home-run breakout Plouffe had last summer. Also unlike Plouffe, who struggled mightily defensively at third base, Sobolewski is said to have some chops in the field.

Still, this is Plouffe's job. He hit 24 homers in his rollercoaster 2012, most of them in a torrid six-week midsummer span that bore no resemblance to his minor league record. If Plouffe is truly a significant power hitter, Sobolewski's not taking the job, and Plouffe will get a long opportunity to develop some defensive skills at the hot corner.

The endgame

It's really up to Plouffe. It's unfair to expect him to slug .750-plus, as he did during that hot stretch in 2012 -- nobody's that good. If he hits as he did for the entire season (,235/.301/.455), he'll probably need to sharpen the glovework to keep the job. Miguel Cabrera can be a butcher at third because he hits like few others. Plouffe isn't going to hit like that.

If Plouffe can't hold the job, the options on hand aren't appealing. Sobolewski (and, for that matter, Deibinson Romero, another nonroster invitee who plays third) aren't likely long-term solutions at third base. For that one has to reach down to A ball and Miguel Sano, and Sano is no lock to remain at third base either.

The return of the Hardy boy

Shortstop J.J. Hardy (pictured) is supposed to come off the disabled list today, with Matt Tolbert going on the DL himself.

And we'll get to apply the John Mitchell test to Ron Gardenhire's roster use. Mitchell was the attorney general for Richard Nixon who famously said: Don't listen to what we say, watch what we do.

Gardenhire has said a lot of things about using Michael Cuddyer at third base to open playing time for Jim Thome. First he said he wouldn't do it. Then he said he'd do it during the non-DH portion of the schedule (when the issue was keeping Jason Kubel in the lineup). Then he said Cuddyer isn't his regular third baseman and that Thome isn't capable of playing more than a couple days in a row anyway. Then he started Cuddyer at third and Thome at DH in four straight games.

Hardy's return frees Nick Punto to return to third base, which he plays at a much higher level than does Cuddyer. Thome, on the other hand, hits at a much higher level than Punto.

At this point, Gardenhire's proclamations about playing time don't carry a lot of credibility. Watch what he does; don't take stock in what he says.

Cuddyer at third

Michael Cuddyer is playing third base again today, and Joe Christensen (Star Tribune) says in his blog that Ron Gardenhire says Cuddy's open to playing there after interleague play is over.

Once the Twins get the DH back, of course, they won't need to play Cuddyer there to keep him, Jason Kubel and Delmon Young all in the lineup. It would open more time for Jim Thome, but Joe C. has Gardy saying that Thome physically can't do that on a daily basis.

Meanwhile, the question remains if Cuddyer is worth playing at third. In his first two games there, Cuddyer had one fielding chance. I wasn't able to pay sufficient attention to those games to see if there were base hits that became hits because of his defense.

Tonight — I'm writing this as I watch it — the Brewers' first run came on a hard-hit ball that got past Cuddyer for a double. Would a real (good) third baseman have made the play? I suspect so. The Brewers next two runs were set up by a bunt single by former Twin Carlos Gomez toward third. Go-go, of course, will bunt on anybody, but having Cuddyer there might be like having a neon bunt sign flashing.

And all this for the dubious benefit of having Jason Kubel in the lineup against a left-handed starter. I know Manny Parra is exhibiting an odd backwards platoon split this season, but I wouldn't put much weight on that continuing.

This doesn't say much for Danny Valencia or Brendan Harris, not that anything is going to speak well for Harris in 2010. I wonder how much Valencia's quick out in the first inning Tuesday night, when the Twins had Chris Narveson on the ropes, played into the decision to play Cuddyer tonight.

---

This is the 500th post since we moved my blog to Blogger a bit more than 12 months ago. I may not be real good, but I am prolific.

Testing the Michael Cuddyer Principle

This is an interesting experiment with a variety of potential benefits and pitfalls: At least during this nine-game interleague road trip (translation: no DH), Michael Cuddyer figures to spend considerable time at third base.

He's played there before, of course. He was the "regular" third baseman in 2005, but played himself off the position by September. He wasn't good there defensively then; he's hardly likely to have improved at third after four seasons in the outfield.

There is a vocal faction in Twins Territory — has been since he vacated the position and emerged as a middle-of-the-order bat — that has wanted him returned to the hot corner. Ron Gardenhire has resisted that notion until now.

I wrote about this a few weeks ago: The Cuddyer Principle holds that (within certain limits) a major league player can play out of position for a while without it being blindly obvious that he doesn't really belong there.

The Twins figure that Cuddyer has already established that he's not a legitimate third baseman. Right now, Gardenhire's willing to pay that price to keep Cuddyer, Jason Kubel and Delmon Young in the lineup.

I doubt Gardenhire will make this a permanent arrangement, even though it would (at least in theory) create a regular lineup spot for Jim Thome. But then, I didn't expect him to bend this much.

The infield Rubik's Cube

See how easy it is? Trevor Plouffe and Brendan Harris sit, Matt Tolbert (pictured) and Danny Valencia play, and boom, the Twins score nine runs in a single game.

Yeah.

Three of the infielders on the opening day roster are on the disabled list, including two of the starters, and there's no real sense here that any of them are about to step back into the lineup. Orlando Hudson is the closest, but he still reports discomfort in his left wrist when hitting left-handed.

One wonders if the the Twins might not do well, when Hudson says he's ready, to send him out on a rehab assignment for a couple of days to make sure everything's fully functional. Hurrying J.J. Hardy back into the lineup after his injury didn't help anything and probably hurt.

Meanwhile, the Twins mix and match a collection of infield spare parts and prospects that don't really offer much opportunity to mix and match.

Nick Punto and Tolbert are essentially the same player, with very similar skills and deficits. Switch-hitters, good gloves at multiple positions, mobile, very limited offensively with little to no power.

Harris, Plouffe and Valencia are all right-handed hitters, limited defensively, with more power than the Punto-Tolbert duo but with less discerning eyes at the plate.

Running time-shares in his lineup has never been an obvious strength of Ron Gardenhire, but it this case that's a function of roster makeup. Earl Weaver and Casey Stengel would have trouble turning these five into useful platoons. Too many of them don't have a specific skill that you'd want them in the lineup for.

It's like doing a Rubik's Cube with just two colors.

Imagining a trade

The idea with both Danny Valencia and Trevor Plouffe has been: If they're on the 25-man roster, they're playing.

So it struck me that Brendan Harris (above) was in the starting lineup both Saturday and Sunday, with Valencia on the bench. Not that Valencia has been incredible since he came up, but ...

Then the germ of an idea struck me.

Harris has a bit more than 1.5 years left on his contract with the Twins. Let's estimate he has $3 million coming on that.

Mike Lowell, the third-wheel third baseman of the Boston Red Sox, has a bit more than half the season left of his $12.5 million contract. Let's ballpark that as $7 million left.

The Twins aren't happy with their third base play. The Red Sox have had injury and depth issues in their middle infield all year.

Lowell and $4 million for Harris? Yeah, I think I'd do that if I were the Twins.

If I were the Red Sox ... well, I'd be curious about why Harris is hitting .160. Curious enough to want to scout him specifically.

Where the Twins showcasing Harris for a trade? Maybe. I'd feel more confident in this theory if he'd played one of those games at shortstop.

The Mike Lowell rumors

The Internet, or at least some of the baseball-oriented part of it, was buzzing Saturday with the notion that the Boston Red Sox are about to unload Mike Lowell — and one big part of that buzz is that the Twins are very interested in acquiring the veteran third baseman.

Lowell is in an awkward point of his career. He's 36, has had repeated injuries in recent years, is being paid more than $12 million this season and has no real function on the Red Sox roster.

He still sees himself as a regular and has been vocally unhappy about his limited role in Boston. But he makes too much and carries too much injury risk to be readily tradeable.

It's not too difficult to see why the Twins would be interested. Their third basemen — Nick Punto, Brendan Harris, Alexi Casilla, Matt Tolbert and Danny Valencia have all started at least one game at the position — have combined to hit .210/.278/.278. Lowell, as long as he can stay in the lineup, can certainly hit better than that.

But I've noted before that the Twins have morphed into a slow lineup. Sticking Lowell into the lineup would worsen that; I don't know who would win a lap around the bases, Lowell or Jim Thome, but I suspect you could go get a hot dog and be back in your seat for the conclusion.

Not that that is going to be a deal breaker. The real issues are money (which is probably tied to the price to land him; the more money the Sox have to put up to pay his salary, the better the player they'll demand in return) and health.

As we survey a Twins roster with both Orlando Hudson and J.J. Hardy on the disabled list, I find it difficult to get enthused about adding another injury-prone veteran.

The third base hole

Danny Valencia wears No. 19 on his back, which is oddly appropriate. He happens to be the 19th man to start at least once at third base for the Twins since Corey Koskie's departure after the 2004 season.

He's played all of six games, 22 official at-bats — not anywhere near enough to put any weight on the stats. But so far, he hasn't given the appearance of being the guy to end the revolving door at the position.

Yes, he's hitting .318. He's also slugging .318 — all seven hits have been singles. He's had one walk and six strikeouts. And he wasn't racking up the extra base hits in Triple A either.

The infield remains a sore spot right now, with Orlando Hudson on the disabled list and J.J. Hardy, while not on the DL, a candidate to join him. The current alignment — Matt Tolbert at second, Valencia at third and Nick Punto at short, with slumping Brendan Harris in reserve — is pretty punchless.

Get Hardy and Hudson healthy, and the Twins can readily carry a defense-oriented third baseman. Both Tolbert and Punto have had stretches of everyday play in which they contributed solid on-base percentages. (And they've had stretches in which they haven't.)

What will be interesting to see is who falls off the roster when Hudson and Hardy return to the lineup. Valencia would seem a likely candidate to return to the minors, with Tolbert sliding into the deep-reserve role played initially by the now-injured Alexi Casilla and the Punto-Harris combo returning to play third.

Or perhaps the decision makers have tired of watching Punto (.219) and Harris (.162) fail at the plate. Perhaps Tolbert goes back to Rochester and Valencia gets a longer look at third, with Punto and Harris as the bench guys.

I'd prefer Punto or even Tolbert at third. But my vote doesn't count.

---

For the record, here are the 19 men (in alphabetical order) who've started at least one game at third base for the Twins since 2004:

Tony Batista, Brian Buscher, Alexi Casilla, Juan Castro, Jeff Cirillo, Howie Clark, Joe Crede, Michael Cuddyer, Brendan Harris, Luke Hughes, Mike Lamb, Matt Macri, Nick Punto, Luis Rodriguez, Terry Tiffee, Matt Tolbert, Danny Valencia, Tommy Watkins and Glenn Williams.

Contemplating Danny Valencia

With Michael Cuddyer gone for the rest of the road trip — he's on bereavement leave after the death of his father-in-law — the Twins filled his roster spot not with an outfielder but with a third baseman, Danny Valencia (pictured).

Valencia has been called the Twins third baseman of the future, but he's 25, is not a notable defensive player and hasn't hit a homer yet this season in Triple A. His future isn't all that promising.

Still, it's a pretty good bet that he'll start every game that he's up for.

A few other thoughts:

• Who's the fourth outfielder? Nick Punto? Matt Tolbert? Ugh. This team is even more vulnerable now to an outfield injury or ejection.
• One reason to call up Valencia rather than an outfielder: There are no minor league outfielders on the 40-man roster. The Twins aren't going to waive somebody else to bring an outfielder up for four games.
• Another reason: As unimpressive as Valencia's minor league numbers appear on closer examination, with Cuddyer out for the next four games, the Twins badly need some right-handed thump, especially against Oakland. Today's game is against a right-handed starter (Felix Hernandez); no real problem with having Jim Thome DH with an outfield of Delmon Young-Denard-Span-Jason Kubel. Oakland, however, has a lot of lefties in its rotation, and two of them (Dallas Braden and Gio Gonzalez) are scheduled to face the Twins this weekend. Neither Thome nor Kubel hit southpaws all that well. Cuddyer will be missed in those games.
• Unlike Trevor Plouffe, who got a brief stretch in the lineup in J.J. Hardy's stead, Valencia plays a position at which the Twins cannot be satisfied with what they've gotten so far. If he hits, might he displace Punto and Brendan Harris? (If he does, Tolbert loses his spot again when Cuddyer returns next week.)

No Kouzmanoff for the Twins

The Padres have reportedly agreed to ship third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff (right) to Oakland.

Kouzmanoff had supposedly been the subject of trade talks with the Twins, who were believed to be dangling Glen Perkins in exchange. San Diego wanted more than Perkins, and the Twins wouldn't budge.

I'm not dismayed by this; Kouzmanoff is a low OBP guy, and putting him back-to-back with Delmon Young in the lineup is a recipe for lots of outs and quick innings. He's got some power, and his numbers were dragged down by the San Diego park, but as a hitter he's essentially a younger, healthier version of Joe Crede. And defensively, he's not much.

Still, it's another infield option that won't come to fruition for the Twins, and every one that slips past makes the return of Crede more likely. The more I think about it, the more interesting Matt Tolbert looks.

Meanwhile, Mike Redmond (left) signed Friday with the Cleveland Indians. And his putative successor as the backup catcher, Jose Morales, needs wrist surgery.

Redmond's departure was expected and planned for; Morales' injury may leave him not quite ready for Opening Day but doesn't figure to be long lasting. Still, it was an unwelcome pair of developments to have on the same day.

Who's at third? I don't know

In the five seasons since Corey Koskie departed to explore free agency and the wonders of post-concussion syndrome, the Twins have deployed 17 players at third base.

The instability is not yet over; Matt Tolbert finished 2009 as the incumbent, but during the winter meetings Ron Gardenhire indicated that if the Twins open with their current set of players, Brendan Harris would probably have the job.

The roster, however, is not set, and the Twins are believed to be hoping to snag a veteran to round out their infield. They have Justin Morneau at first, J.J. Hardy at short, and Nick Punto at either second or third.

Earlier this month I listed eight free agents (not including Joe Crede) to whom I could imagine the Twins making offers. Of those eight, two — Placido Polanco and Pedro Feliz — have signed, and a third — Mark DeRosa (above) — is apparently about to complete the details of a deal with San Francisco. That still leaves a fairly sizable crop of free agents sitting out there as we approach the new year.

Patience may yet pay off.

Oh, the 17? Alphabetically: Tony Batista, Brian Buscher, Juan Castro, Jeff Cirillo, Howie Clark, Joe Crede, Michael Cuddyer, Brendan Harris, Mike Lamb, Matt Macri, Nick Punto, Luis Rodriguez, Michael Ryan (for just one inning), Terry Tiffee, Matt Tolbert, Tommy Watkins and Glenn Williams. (List complied through Baseball Reference.com)