Twins Center Fielders: A Gap-to-Gap Legacy

The 2012 Minnesota Twins really only had one position of depth.  That position was center field, whom they boasted of Denard Span, Ben Revere, and a pretty solid third option in Darin Mastroianni.  By the time the winter meetings were over, one of Twins' fans biggest question quickly became "Who is going to play center field?"  Overall, the position still has good depth, with Mastroianni, Aaron Hicks, Joe Benson, and young Byron Buxton still in the organization.  Out of those five guys, however, a major league-ready center fielder seems to be missing.

With the exception of a five year span between 1994-1998, the position has been held by some of the best center fielders in the game since 1984 when Kirby Puckett took over.  Torii Hunter took over in 1999, and more recently Carlos Gomez, Denard Span, and Ben Revere held down the fort until 2013.  Gold Gloves and all-star type production offensively have become the expectation out of that position, and it has really become somewhat of a legacy of center fielders within the organization.  Puckett won 6 Gold Gloves; Hunter won 7 in his time with the Twins; and Gomez, Span, and Revere certainly didn't disappoint us in the 5 years since #48.  Offensively, Puckett hit .318 in his career with the Twins,  Hunter hit .271, Span .284, and Revere .278.

Needless to say, 2013 is setting up to be somewhat of a let-down for Twins fans who are used to the CF position being one of absolute strength on this roster.  Although most of us are at least somewhat excited for the future arrival of Aaron Hicks, it doesn't seem he will be quite ready for Opening Day when the defending AL Champion Detroit Tigers visit Target Field.  Hicks struggled mightily in 2011 at High A Fort Myers, hitting .242/.354/.368.  As you can see below, the young center fielder really struggled to put the ball in play consistently, striking out 338 times in the last 3 years.  Only a 23 year old, Hicks made significant strides last season at AA New Britain, increasing his hitting, power, and baserunning numbers.  The future is bright for Aaron Hicks, but again, that future with the Twins wouldn't seem like it will start Opening Day 2013.

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	Lev	Aff	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
2010	20	Beloit	MIDW	A	MIN	115	423	86	118	27	6	8	49	21	11	88	112	.279	.401	.428	.829
2011	21	Fort Myers	FLOR	A+	MIN	122	443	79	107	31	5	5	38	17	9	78	110	.242	.354	.368	.722
2012	22	New Britain	EL	AA	MIN	129	472	100	135	21	11	13	61	32	11	79	116	.286	.384	.460	.844

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Generated 1/1/2013.

Opening Day 2013 will most likely feature 27 year old Darin Mastroianni roaming the gaps of Target Field.  Before last season, Mastroianni had made only one appearance in the majors with Toronto, making 3 plate appearances.  In 77 games with the Twins last season, after starting in AA New Britain and working his way up to the bigs, he proved to be a solid fill-in to give Span and Revere a break.

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
2011	25	TOR	AL	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000	.000	.000	.000
2012	26	MIN	AL	77	163	22	41	3	2	3	17	21	3	18	45	.252	.328	.350	.678

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Generated 1/1/2013.

Mastroianni plays solid defense, has a little pop in his bat, and is a serious threat on the base paths.    Surprisingly, although a pretty small sample size, his RngR as a CF last season was a little better than Revere's last season (1.3 in 32.1 innings, to -1.2 in 309 innings for Revere), while somewhat comparible to Span (8.7 in 1073.1 innings).  While both Revere and Span sport below average arms, according to Fangraphs, Mastroianni's career ARM is an above average 2.0 in 406.1 career MLB innings.

The elephant in the room when it comes to Darin Mastroianni is that he has never been a starter or played a full season in the big leagues.  Although he has some obvious downfalls, his ability to be a nuisance on the bases will be a breath of fresh air in 2013.  According to the statistics, although difficult to fathom, he may even be somewhat of an upgrade defensively over Revere and Span.  If nothing else, I think we could say that he will hold his own.  I think the biggest thing we will miss will be the grinding at bats and highlight reel defensive gems we loved to see out of Span and Revere, respectively.

We'll find out soon how long the Twins wait to introduce Aaron Hicks to Target Field, but I can think of worse band-aids to throw out in center field temporarily than Darin Mastroianni.  It's safe to say he'll probably never be the staple that Puckett, Hunter, and Span became; but don't think it will be as big of a drop off as you would expect after trading away the two best center fielders on the roster this winter.

Follow Twins Rubes on Twitter @twinsrubes.

Thank You Denard Span

On November 29th, 2012 - nearly a full month ago - the Twins made a move that needed to be made.  One of my favorite Twins in my lifetime was sent to the Washington Nationals for a young pitcher named Alex Meyer.  This ended a five year man-crush I had on Denard Span, but it didn't necessarily crush my spirits like it would have years ago.

Back in about 2004, the Twins had resurged back into baseball existence and rejuvenated this fan base for the first time in about 10 years.  I remember my uncle telling me one day at the Metrodome about this kid named Span that was going to take over for Torii Hunter someday.  At the time I couldn't imagine what the outfield would even look like without #48 roaming the gaps and robbing home runs.

Little did I know that 4 years later, I would again walk into the Metrodome and ultimately leave that day with a baseball crush on #2 - Denard Span.  He was young, fast, fresh, and had a great glove.  As soon as I saw him I recalled the conversation with my uncle 4 years earlier, and immediately became fixated on the kid.

Over the next 5 years, that kid accumulated 669 hits, 90 stolen bases, 254 walks, 105 doubles, 36 triples, and 360 runs; all while hitting .284.  Span became the staple leadoff hitter, center fielder, leader, media charmer, and all-around good guy in the organization.  If not for concussion and other medical issues in 2011, he became an ever-present force in the Twins lineup day after day.

I'll never forget the leaping catches, 10+ pitch at-bats, and the doubles that Span stretched into triples.  He never was the next Kirby Puckett, or the next Torii Hunter, but he brought baseball joy to my life - ok that sounds a little weird.  I'm sure going to miss seeing Denard in the Twins uniform every day, but it helps to know that a kid like Aaron Hicks might be that next guy to make his way through the system and take over center field.

I'm also pretty excited about the type of pitching prospect the Twins received in return in Alex Meyer.  The 2012 pitching staff posted the 7th worst team ERA in Twins history, and the farm system wasn't about to change that trend around - outside of the arrival of Kyle Gibson.  So, when all is said and done, I'm thankful for the five years Span wore the TC on his cap; however, he has a real good chance to play in his prime for a contending team now.  It sure will be fun to see him play with the W on his cap from now on.

Follow Twins Rubes on Twitter @twinsrubes.