Today, Danny Valencia Will be in uniform and is expected to start at third Base for tonight’s game. Valencia replaces Trevor Plouffe Who has a sore thumb and was placed on the 15 day DL retroactive July 20.
Valencia was batting .190 with 1 homerun and 11 RBI before he was given a one way ticket back to Rochester in early May . While with the Red Wings, Valencia batted .250 with 7 homeruns, 37 RBI and 30 runs scored.
Plouffe has hit 19 homeruns with 37 RBIs while batting .259 with 44 runs scored. He’s not homered since before the all star break.
If Valencia does well this time, it could create an interesting situation for the Twins. Granted Plouffe can play in the outfield, but it would make it more crowded. The only way I see Plouffe being an everyday outfielder is if either Denard Span or Josh Willingham are traded and it appears that it won’t be very likely. Also, it’s possible that if Justin Morneau’s traded, Plouffe could slide over to first base, but again I don’t see it likely to see Morneau dealt.
Another senarial is Valencia gets traded by the nonwaiver trading deadline which is this Tuesday, but again it’s only a few days to up Valencia’s trade value and teams wouldn’t be likely to give a lot in return for him. You could also trade Plouffe, but he’s currently on the DL and won’t be available until early August.
What the Twins do if Valencia does will this time is certainly something to ponder. Where would they play Plouffe? It’s possible that Plouffe is once again a utility player, but I think you’d want to keep his bat in the lineup.
There’s however one thing certain. If Valencia wants to stay with the Twins, he needs to prove himself to Ron Gardenhire and the Twins coaching staff. There’s nothing better than an opportunity for him to make a statement that he belongs here in the majors.
The key question here is *If* Valencia does well and I’m not sure I see that happening. It seems to me that once a player makes his way into Gardy’s doghouse there doesn’t seem much hope in him coming back out again so I’m wondering if Valencia coming back up isn’t some way to showcase him and get him traded in the next couple of days. Personally, I’d love to see Span traded because I think he’ll bring us a good return and then we can move Revere over to the position he should be playing. If Span were willing to move over to RF I wouldn’t feel this way, but the understanding I get is that he isn’t.