Baseball Musings: Fitting the Twins?

December 02, 2006

Fitting the Twins?

Dan Rosenheck looks for the best fit for Barry Bonds and decides the Twins would benefit the most from the slugger's presence:

Any team looking to sign him should be on the verge of a postseason appearance; that eliminates his most recent employer. Even though Bonds is loved in San Francisco and despised most everywhere else, the Giants are unlikely to contend next year.
Bonds can also offer potential suitors an added source of revenue: his chase for the home run record. He is on track to surpass Hank Aaron's career total of 755 late next season. When Bonds broke Mark McGwire's single-season home run record of 70 in 2001, attendance increased by about 5,000 a game during the last 40 games of the year, and once he reached 69, every game sold out.

A team that comes close to selling out most of its games would be unable to accommodate the extra fans who would pay to see Bonds break the record. But one with a big stadium and mediocre attendance could increase its revenue by more than $5 million.

Add it all up, and one team trumps the rest: the Minnesota Twins.

They had the worst-performing left fielders in the majors last year. They play in a tightly contested division, vying against the 2006 pennant-winning Detroit Tigers and the 2005 world champion White Sox, as well as the up-and-coming Cleveland Indians. And, crucially, they averaged 24,000 empty seats a game in August and September, meaning they could benefit more from an increase in attendance for Bonds's record chase than any other serious contender.

Full disclousure, Dan consulted me (and others) about Bonds' fielding. The biggest drawback I see in playing for the Twins is the artificial surface. Those tend to be bad on his knees. Otherwise, it's a good idea.

Posted by David Pinto at 09:56 PM | Free Agents | TrackBack (0)

Comments

That's actually a great idea. I never thought about it like that. But couldn't Bonds DH? Who's the current DH up there?

Posted by: Mateo at December 2, 2006 11:11 PM

I think the Padres are looking at the Bonds situation like they handled the Piazza one last year...

Posted by: Peter Friberg at December 3, 2006 12:32 AM

I would think the turf would make that a deal-breaker for both sides...Bonds wants to stay healthy, and the Twins cannot afford to to pay him to be on the DL.

Otherwise, yeah, that's a good one, and he'd be a good fit that might put THAT team over the hump...

Posted by: Mr Furious at December 3, 2006 01:00 AM

The A's are an ever better fit. Barry has a natural fan base in the SF Bay Area that will be able to watch him in Oakland.

I really don't think the Twin's Turf will be a factor. They now have field turf just like Toronto has. Barry should DH though far more then he plays LF.

Posted by: giantsrainman at December 3, 2006 01:49 AM

Well, obviously Bonds is not the solution for any left field problems the Twins have. He's a terrible fielder now and has been for years. His bobbles in left field in the sixth game of the 2002 world series have been forgotten, and were glossed over at the time, but contributed mightily to the disastrous seventh inning which cost the Giants their first championship since 1954. His value could only be at DH, but I think the Twins are too classy an organization to put up with the baggage Bonds will carry with him.

Posted by: Rand at December 3, 2006 01:46 PM

Exactly. The Twins are a very image conscious organization and they take pride in that. The media has turned against the Vikings and Wolves and their "bad boys". The Twins are still the "wholesome" team in Minnesota and Terry Ryan is very aware of it.

Posted by: Nate at December 3, 2006 02:30 PM

According to Pinto's own work, the Fielding Bible, and Chris Dial's zone rating analysis, Bonds' defense isn't horrible at all; it's league average. However bad he looks, he still gets the job done.

Posted by: Dan Rosenheck at December 3, 2006 09:49 PM