Comments on: Alexi Casilla – A Twins Career in Retrospect

By: lisatwink

lisatwink — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 20:10:30 +0000

I looked into it, Babs, Ritalin is banned. Strattera is the way to go (nonstimulant). In fact, based on the Twins’ history in the middle infield (Guzman, Rivas…), perhaps a prescription for Strattera should just be written into the contract for those positions.

By: Craig H

Craig H — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 15:28:38 +0000

I agree that he had his chance, and now the 2B job should go to someone cheaper, more consistent, and with more pop. I want to say that injuries – specifically hamstring injuries – consistently set him back. Am I making that up? Wasn’t he on a hot run in 2011 as our SS when he was injured?

Also, I don’t ever want to delve that deeply into statistics (-21 runs in Total Zone Total Fielding Runs Above Average, -1 in BIS Defensive Runs Saved Above Average). I’m happy remaining ignorant of what that means. However, I always thought of him as a good defender. And I do want to point out that the Fielding Bible gurus named Casilla last year’s 5th best 2B. http://fieldingbible.com/complete-votetally.asp

By: Eric Pleiss

Eric Pleiss — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 22:58:06 +0000

LT,
I never thought to compare Casilla to other middle infielders (mental lapse) but even there he stacks up poorly. As far as comparing him to other Twins middle infielders, he still ranks just 16/17 in offensive runs created for players with 60% of their starts at SS or 2B and at least 1500 at bats, and 13/17 in defensive runs save within that same group.
I don’t, however; disagree with you that the Twins do not have another middle infielder ready to step in at 2B, but Brian Dozier or Pedro Florimon could provide as much defensive value as Casilla at less than half of the price tag. And in the case of Brian Dozier, at least there is some hope that he’ll turn things around offensively. Like Babs, I think that Casilla was often on the verge of being a GREAT defender, but he was simply unable to string together consistent results, be that because of an inability to focus, lack of attention to detail, or just general indifference to baseball for stretches of individual games.
I always liked Casilla, because of his foot speed and defensive potential, but after 6 years we pretty much know who he is, and unfortunately, he isn’t a guy that brings a lot of value to the team, and he doesn’t have the upside that Dozier does, and he’s more expensive than Pedro Florimon, who might end up being the new Casilla (but with a little more ability to stick at SS).

By: CapitalBabs

CapitalBabs — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 20:23:33 +0000

My biggest frustration with Casilla was that he always showed us glimpses of true talent. I am not joking when I say that I think the only thing standing between him and the role of starting 2B is Ritalin. He has a lot of instinctive athleticism and the potential to be a GREAT fielder not to mention a lot of speed on the base path. But yeah, lack of consistency just always came back to bite him on the ass. I liked him but I won’t miss him.

By: Jim Crikket

Jim Crikket — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 20:06:06 +0000

I’ve always been a fan of Lexi’s. While I freely admit that he hasn’t taken advantage of the opportunities the Twins have given him and that it makes sense at this point for the team to move on, I’ll miss him. He was just such a great kid here in Cedar Rapids when he played for the Kernels during his days with the Angels organization, that it’s impossible for me not to like him. I’m glad he got picked up by the Orioles and hope maybe he’ll have better luck in orange and black than he did with the Twins.

By: lisatwink

lisatwink — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 19:54:53 +0000

Okay, fine, so he’s far worse than the average Twins hitter (though it’s probably more fair to compare him to a group of 2nd basemen than to a group of Twins). But we don’t exactly have an average-hitting 2nd baseman waiting in the wings. My concern is that there won’t actually be anybody standing out there on Opening Day. I mean, Justin doesn’t exactly have the range to cover the whole right side of the infield.

(Yes, yes, I am aware that some of you would be willing to argue that fielding only eight men would be better than Casilla at 2nd.)