Kelsie Smith of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports that Denard Span will not join the Twins during their three-game series at Wrigley Field that begins this afternoon because the team has been unable to uncover the source of his dizziness:
Team doctors have him on medication for an inner ear infection and don't want him to travel. The first time Span's dizziness came about he started on medication for an inner ear infection, but [manager Ron] Gardenhire said the meds made Span feel sick and so he stopped using them. Span also missed an appointment a couple of weeks ago with a thyroid specialist ... Span overslept and missed that appointment. He's been rescheduled with the specialist for Tuesday, Gardenhire said.
Span has been hugely valuable to the Twins since establishing himself as their leadoff man in the middle of last season, hitting .293/.384/.414 with 30 steals, 78 walks, and 105 runs in 150 games. And not only does the lineup suffer without his bat, Ron Gardenhire's frustrating refusal to give Carlos Gomez regular playing time leaves the Twins with a horrendous defensive outfield for the second straight game.
Gomez is one of baseball's elite defensive center fielders, but is apparently so buried in the doghouse that Gardenhire would rather trot out sub par right fielder Michael Cuddyer in center field flanked by awful corner outfielders Delmon Young and Jason Kubel. The combination is among the worst defensive outfields in a long time and, while it didn't hurt the Twins yesterday, will eventually cost them a significant number of runs.
Gomez is an incredibly raw 23-year-old with a great glove and a terrible bat, so it seems obvious that he needs to be playing regularly whether at Triple-A or in Minnesota. Instead, Gardenhire has started him in just 35 of 63 games and would rather go with a trio of below-average corner guys in the outfield than even let Gomez sub for Span. Oh, and here's the kicker: Gomez has a .573 OPS compared to .574 from Young.
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Are you kidding me with these comments? The only subpar outfielder listed is Delmon and only Delmon. Everyone else contributes. Sure, Gomez gets a little crazy at the plate but he's defense is good and he can always serve a pinchrunning role. Cuddyer will hit .188 for two weeks then .475 for the next two. he averages out. Delmon couldn't hit the side of a barn from a distance of 1 inch or catch a ball if it were hand-delivered to him in a pretty box in wrapping paper.
Aaron wasn't commenting about this being one of the worst outfields he has seen; he was commenting about it being one of the worst DEFENSIVE outfields he has seen. Your comments about how these outfielders hit doesn't respond to his point. Delmon Young is a terrible outfielder -- perhaps the worst in all of baseball since he is terrible at the easiest outfield position to play. Cuddyer is a possible right fielder not because of his range but because of his arm. His arm is still an asset in center, but his lack of range will be more apparent there as well. As for Kubel, he was never a great outfielder to start with, and what little range he had was taken away from him by his knee injuries. He is one of the Twins best offensive players, but he doesn't help my on defense.
Gomez, on the other hand, is an elite defender, and about as good an offensive player as Delmon Young. In Span's absense, the Twins would havea much better defensive outfield with Gomez in center and Cuddyer in right. I would say that Kubel should play left, but I worry about him reinjuring his knees running around inside the metrodome. Who knows, maybe Gardenhire will put Punto in left. We all know how much he loves Punto. I just wish I knew the reason.
Read the article before you comment. he was complaining about the Kubel/Cuddy/Delmon alignment, which is an absolutely horrible defensive alignment.
If Gomez isn't going to play every day in center, he should be in AAA. You can justify either scenario - maybe his D is good enough to offset his terrible, inning-killing O, or maybe he can learn how to hit during a long trip to AAA with regular coaching and ABs against sub-part pitchers.
What can't be justified, however, is his regular presence on the big-league bench. He learns nothing about hitting while sitting there - Gomez seems to be a learned by doing, not by listening and watching (ever see him pinch hit? He'll lose a shoe one day). Keeping him in the bigs but on the bench just wastes service time and does nothing for his development. It's the worst possible solution.
I agree whole-heartedly with Quarters statements. Delmon Young is the only liability in the outfiled. For one thing, Kubel rarely if ever plays in the field. He used pretty much used exclusivly at DH. As for the author to refer to Cuddyer not being able to play defense just shows this person doesn't ever watch the Twins. Cuddy makes all the catches he should out in RF and is considered one of the best outfield arms in baseball.
Totally uninformed reporting, but typical these days.
You have no idea what you are talking about. He was complaining about Cuddy playing center and Kubel playing right. Cuddy "makes all the catches" but he has no range. He is passable in right but should never be playing center. Also, Aaron does watch the twins. He lives in Minnesota and watches them all the time. Read the article before you complain.
I also live in MN.
I also watch the Twins
How many games has Cuddy played CF?
How many games has Kubel played in the OF
Very few if even more then one.
I also read the title that says another, another...thats more then one.
It's obvious aaron lives in mn as he is the typical media type in the state. Will whine and complain about any situation they can, even if it only happens one time.