Why is Punto in the Majors still?

[greebs]

well I think it's safe to say that Halliday's perfect game yesterday pretty much puts a cap on the argument if pitching is indeed it's own facet of the game. You read any publication out there about his game and the words you read are about how he pitched rather than how he defended so looks like we can put this matter to rest that baseball is not simply offense and defense only and nothing more.

sorry to have hijacked this thread for the past few pages simply trying to justify my opinion that if given the choice, I'd take a strong pitching staff over strong defensive position players.

Now guess we can get back on track with this thread devoted to Punto. Given that I read where Buster Olney from espn commented about the Twins possible interest in Oswalt and he did not think the Twins would make a trade for him because their starting pitching is doing well and if the Twins would make a trade at any point he suspected that it would be for a 3b. (not sure how much you can really read into that though)

[SFC]

so it looks like halliday pitched a good defensive game. When your in the field your on defense. Was he pitching against 9 puntos?

[IceKing72]

RumRiverRat- I hope you were kidding when you started this topic. He is the best defensive player on our team. He doesnt hit very well and he never has. Baseball is more than just hitting.

[JBMasterAngler]

3 for 4 today, including a perfect bunt single.

[jwmiller33]

3 for 4 today, including a perfect bunt single.

that was a pretty crafty but single too. i will give him credit... he is the definition of a pirhana

[blue_healer_guy]

He is the defintion of a utility player making 4 mill a year. The worst bunter and baserunner on the club. If you like punto, your a gardy fan becuz I think they sleep together.

[Cicada]

Come on mjgrose. Is that the best you can do?

[Big Dave2]

He is the defintion of a utility player making 4 mill a year. The worst bunter and baserunner on the club. If you like punto, your a gardy fan becuz I think they sleep together.

Well thats good for the Twins if he is the worst bunter and baserunner on the team because that must mean there are some REALLY good bunters and baserunners.

Myself.....I can't say I've seen Thome, Mauer or Mornau bunt too many times to know, But maybe you are right and they are GREAT at it.

[BigGrassBass]

For all you haters...Punto is 5th in the AL All Star voting as of today.

He's the 5th best Third Baseman in the AL!

[blue_healer_guy]

Thats funny right there, gardy must have voted 50,000 times

[going4it]

I dont think cause he is 5th in the voting means he is the 5th best. Texiera from NY was first most of the voting for 1st base and I dont think he would be top 2 of best 1st basemen in the AL. Fan voting doesnt equal how good they are. Isnt Hamilton 1st in voting? That is all the evidence you need.

[Big Dave2]

I dont think cause he is 5th in the voting means he is the 5th best. Texiera from NY was first most of the voting for 1st base and I dont think he would be top 2 of best 1st basemen in the AL. Fan voting doesnt equal how good they are. Isnt Hamilton 1st in voting? That is all the evidence you need.

Justin Morneau is leading Texiera at 1st base and Josh Hamilton is in 4th place for outfielders.

[zamboni]

Morneaus first as of today, Teixeira had been first up until today. Online voting was a horrible idea, ballots given out at games shoulda stayed the norm.

[going4it]

I think that is why I said WAS in first.

[greebs]

mlb trade rumors website shows some possible talks going on involving twins and red sox and mike lowell. sounds like it would require the red sox to eat a bunch of his salary so doesn't sound real favorable but maybe something to keep an eye on. very respectable numbers both offensively and defensively last couple seasons and definite upgrade at 3b.

that would allow punto to play the role that he's probably best at - utility guy and late inning pinch runner/defensive guy once everybody hopefully gets healthy again.

[JBMasterAngler]

Wasn't lowell a trade rumor for us 2 years ago also?

[Mearnsquail]

Why??? Because you pathetic rubes don't mind having to work a few extra days a year to subsidise these overpaid idiots. Stop complaining. The more money we give them the more the chances for untalented players to be employed.

[SledNeck]

Valencia is making a serious case to be our permanent 3b

[Big Dave2]

Valencia is making a serious case to be our permanent 3b

He could end up being a possible improvement at the position but it would sure be nice to see some power at 3rd base.

[greebs]

Doesn't happen too often so I'm going to take this opportunity to agree with big dave here. Too early to know for sure but valencia is looking a lot like punto, tolbert, harris and casilla, etc. and not looking like much of a threat offensively. When you think about it the 3b really doesn't get that many opportunities during an average game to justify having a defensive specialist at that position if you've got the ability to put someone there who might have slightly lesser defensive skills but much stronger offensive skills. (of course this means going outside of the current roster to find this player)

and I'm going to take this opportunity to give punto the kudo's that I think he's deserving of. he's shown his value to this team these past couple weeks with the injuries to hudson and hardy. his ability to play multiple positions has been valuable from a defensive standpoint. I still don't think he's a good enough overall player to be an everyday starter but he fits the role of a part time utility player quite well.

[zamboni]

PSSSST- Puntos getting alot of hits lately.

[chad stromlund]

Punto needs to go! So what if he has gotten a couple hits lately, he is hitting a terrible .231. Everyone talks about his defense, but he is tied for the most errors on the team. He fools every body by running around like an [PoorWordUsage] and making it look like he is mister hustle. The good ones make hard things look easy. Plus Valencia is tearing the cover off the ball and I would much rather see him at third.

[mr_jman]

PSSSST- Puntos getting alot of hits lately.

AGREED!!!!!!!!

[B. Amish]

after the game, they mentioned that he changed something with his foot placement during his swing.... hopefully it continues to work.... when he's hitting, the team is that much better.

[thatoneguy]

Punto is still in the bigs with the Twins for two reasons:

1) He's a wizrd with the glove who can play multiple positions

2) The Twins have NOBODY in their minor league system to replace him. Nobody. This is in large part due to a draft philosophy that is heavily slanted towards accumulating pitching, and also partly because the Twins' front office has whiffed an awful lot on picking high round position players (Mauer and Morneau being the obvious exceptions).

But no, Punto is definitely not a solution at ANY position. Hopefully the Twinks address 3B via trade fairly soon.

[Quackaddict9]

Valencia- First double last night...maybe a good sign? I was at the game last night and was impressed with Target Field and man these guys with the Long Haul Bombers can hit bombs! I know it's softball but not many can hit it 450+ (the last one went mid upper deck)

[Stratosman]

It is an awsome place..

THe Bombers aren't using a 40 core ball though. It's like a golfball. But with that being said I used to play against one of the guys on that team and he would destroy every pitch, it was ridiculous. And scary for our pitcher.

And Punto isn't and shouldn't go anywhere, he fills a vital role on our team, a role nobody else in our system could do. Everyone want's every player to hit .325 with 30 hr's. It's not reality.

[zamboni]

Gotta remember one thing about Nick as well, he has been on the DL in his career with us what, once? After Crede, now Hardy, Hudson and a few others that have spent most of their careers as a Twin on it- quit whining!!

I have said it a few times on here, and I will say it again- the Twins made a HUGE mistake letting Orlando Cabrera go. HUGE. Game 163 and his HR to everything else he did in the short time he was here was excellent. Him and Cuddyers second half practically single handedly got us into the play-offs last year.

[Harmonica Bear]

Rose colored glasses?

He's got a history.

April 23, 2010 Placed on 15-day DL (placed on 15-day DL)

May 29, 2009 Placed on 15-day DL (placed on 15-day DL)

June 05, 2008 Placed on 15-day DL (placed on 15-day DL)

May 10, 2008 Placed on 15-day DL (placed on 15-day DL)

Associated Press (19 days ago)

Twins third baseman Nick Punto is back in the lineup for Friday night's game against Texas after missing much of the past four games with a strained left ring finger.

Associated Press (54 days ago)

The Twins have placed infielder Nick Punto on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right hip flexor.

Associated Press (61 days ago)

Minnesota Twins third baseman Nick Punto has a sore groin muscle and will sit out for a game or two.

[DonBo]

Sorry, that ain't much of a history in the seven years he's been here. Even in '08 with being on the DL twice, he still played in 99 games AS A UTILITY GUY. With the only exception of his first year here he's played in at least 125 games, again, AS A UTILITY GUY. Pretty healthy if you ask me.