Monday, May 24, 2010

Brendan Becoming a Big Problem

When the Twins signed Brendan Harris to a two-year contract during the offseason, it raised a lot of confusion among fans. Coming off a poor season, Harris had two remaining years of arbitration eligibility, meaning that the Twins had the option to go year-to-year and retain him at their own leisure for a relatively low price.

The obvious move, it would seem, was to tender Harris a one-year contract through arbitration and reevaluate his situation after the season. It wouldn't have even come as a huge surprise if the Twins had elected to non-tender Harris, given his lack of progress as a hitter in Minnesota and Ron Gardenhire's clear disdain for his lacking defensive abilities.

Instead, the Twins elected to lock up Harris through the 2011 season with a two-year, $3.2 million contract. At the time, the move seemed odd. Nearly two months into the 2011 season, the move seems more baffling than ever.

After going 0-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts while filling in for Nick Punto at third base yesterday, Harris is hitting .188 this season with a .275 on-base percentage and .263 slugging percentage. Harris' ostensible value to this club is as a guy who can take over at short in the event J.J. Hardy should miss time and as a guy who can step in at third base to provide an offensive upgrade over Punto.

Up to this point, Harris has failed miserably in both of those areas. His performance at shortstop with Hardy on the shelf was so bad that the Twins were forced to call up Trevor Plouffe for a brief major-league debut. Meanwhile, Harris has somehow managed less production offensively than Punto, whose 555 OPS is quite execrable in its own right.

Factor in Harris' defense, which has been typically weak, and the infielder has been one of the team's biggest liabilities this season. FanGraphs has Harris' WAR (Wins Above Replacement) pegged at -0.1 thus far, suggesting he's been less valuable than a replacement-level player. After accumulating a solid 2.3 WAR for the Rays in the year before they traded for him, Harris has posted a 1.2 for the Twins in 2008 and a -0.1 in 2009. This year, he appears to be headed for his most dreadful figure yet.

Harris has been on a clear path of regression for several years now, and it's hardly surprising to see that trend continuing here in his age 29 season. Harris is not getting the job done in the plate or at the field, and by many accounts his attitude is hardly exemplary. He's become a big problem. Now, it's a problem the Twins are attached to through the end of next season.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

and his walk-up music is Kid Rock!

Anonymous said...

Which accounts are these that allege that harris has a bad attitude? Are there actual accounts or just that youve seen him whip his equipment around and were looking to pile on with some additional meaningless none sense? Harris has 87 PA and has gotten inconsistent playing time so I think the sample size is pretty small to extrapolate much info from. And its sorta meaningless because hes not making that much or likely to play much when hardy comes back anyway.

Wheres all this venom about production compared to salary with other guys? Your last post was about how people shouldn't worry about cuddys DP's and that even though the season numbers dont bare it out hes a better player than delmon. No mention of the fact that Cuddy is aging defensively in a hurry and has been one of the worst defenders in baseball this season. Add to that his offensive regression and you get a guy making over 10 mil with a WAR thus far of .2 which is a sub 1 WAR pace.

Ed Bast said...

The last two posts of Harris bashing/defense of Cuddy is fitting for Twins Territory because it's so Gardy-esque. Can't you picture Gardy saying that "Cuddy's going to come around, he just isn't getting the luck right now" and refusing to sit him, while putting Harris in the doghouse due to some vague "attitude problems" or "not playing the game the right way"?

Gardy's teacher's pet style of management is so pervasive amongst Twins followers that even usually astute bloggers fall into the trap....it's amazing.

Next post: Punto Saving Countless Runs With Glove.

Anonymous said...

He's a backup infielder, how many good backup infielders are there. He's been pressed into starting duty because of Punto and Hardy, but there's a reason why he's a back up.

Harris should be pretty low on this list of problems facing this team. How about Slowey, overusing Matty and Duensing or Liriano regressing.

But no, your gonna focus on Bredan Harris....jeez.

Nick N. said...

Which accounts are these that allege that harris has a bad attitude? Are there actual accounts or just that youve seen him whip his equipment around and were looking to pile on with some additional meaningless none sense?

Pretty sure he was whipping his equipment around after striking out looking yet again yesterday. In general, I've just heard that he's not a very cheerful guy to be around. You heard different?

Can't you picture Gardy saying that "Cuddy's going to come around, he just isn't getting the luck right now" and refusing to sit him, while putting Harris in the doghouse due to some vague "attitude problems" or "not playing the game the right way"?

Considering that Cuddyer has been an above-average player at points in his career and bashed 32 home runs last year while Harris was a sub-replacement-level player last year and is continuing his three-year trend of decline this year, Gardy would probably be right to do so.

He's a backup infielder, how many good backup infielders are there.

Most of them are at least good at offense or defense. This post was not meant to imply that Harris is the team's biggest problem, but rather to point out that he's been a continual disappointment over the past couple years and that the decision to commit to him for two years is looking more and more mystifying.

JK said...

How do you write this and not mention his BABIP is 219? His career BABIP is 308. His BB% and K% are around his career averages. I don't see any reason to conclude Harris is a substantially different player than he was 8 weeks ago.

I agree that signing him for 2 years was an odd choice. I think they were looking for cost certainty in case Harris won the starting job at 3B.

Nick N. said...

How do you write this and not mention his BABIP is 219? His career BABIP is 308. His BB% and K% are around his career averages. I don't see any reason to conclude Harris is a substantially different player than he was 8 weeks ago.

I don't think he'll continue to hit this poorly. But considering his paltry production last year and his trend of decline, there's no much reason to think he'll get a whole lot better. With his inability to provide decent defense anywhere in the field, a 600-something OPS doesn't really cut it. At least if it were Tolbert you'd get more versatility and a cheaper price tag.

USAFChief said...

Brendan Harris? THE Brendan Harris? Isn't this the same Brendan Harris that you were advocating in a platoon with Brian Buscher last offseason when you against signing Crede? The same Brendan Harris who would combine with Buscher to provide 'adequate' defense, and a .350 OPB/.450 SLG?

Same guy, right?

Nick N. said...

Brendan Harris? THE Brendan Harris? Isn't this the same Brendan Harris that you were advocating in a platoon with Brian Buscher last offseason when you against signing Crede? The same Brendan Harris who would combine with Buscher to provide 'adequate' defense, and a .350 OPB/.450 SLG?

He was an available, cheap in-house option coming off a decent season. Certainly looked like a palatable option at the time. My willingness to use Harris in that role had more to do with Crede being a crappy alternative than Harris being a good one.

I never would have expected Harris to regress as much as he has though. Despite being in his prime years, he's gotten markedly worse during his tenure in Minnesota. Why they chose to reward him for that with a two-year deal I may never know.

Anonymous said...

"Pretty sure he was whipping his equipment around after striking out looking yet again yesterday. In general, I've just heard that he's not a very cheerful guy to be around. You heard different?" Ive never heard about harris' club house attitude either way. But i didnt make the claim it was an issue in a blog. Seems like speculation to me. What if hes equipment throwing is a sign that hes frustrated with himself and in the clubhouse hes a great guy?

Michael cuddyer is older than harris and showing signs of regression especially defensively I think he could use some time out. Gardys going to play him 162 games this year barring injury and he really has been below average. Certainly worse than Delmon.

And nick, jason kubels WAR is -.2 and hes by all accounts a team cancer so you must be pretty worried about him and his large contract.

Nick N. said...

Ive never heard about harris' club house attitude either way. But i didnt make the claim it was an issue in a blog. Seems like speculation to me. What if hes equipment throwing is a sign that hes frustrated with himself and in the clubhouse hes a great guy?

I've heard from people who have insight into the clubhouse dynamic that Harris is not particularly well-liked. I'm not making it up. I don't have specific sources to name and you're right that it might be false speculation, but I've certainly never heard anything to the contrary. From a purely visual standpoint, I don't think Harris is doing himself any favors by throwing a temper tantrum every time he watches strike three sail by, which happens too often.

Regardless, his attitude is a lot less important to me than his dreadful performance on the field, which was the main point of this post.

Michael cuddyer is older than harris and showing signs of regression especially defensively I think he could use some time out. Gardys going to play him 162 games this year barring injury and he really has been below average. Certainly worse than Delmon.

Cuddyer has done enough in the past to earn the right to keep playing through extended struggles. The same cannot be said for Young nor Harris.

And nick, jason kubels WAR is -.2 and hes by all accounts a team cancer so you must be pretty worried about him and his large contract.

Same as above.

Ed Bast said...

Cuddyer is a prime example of the stat mavens over-valuing a player. He has decent home run and RBI numbers, but he's the king of the 3-run homer with a 9-run lead/deficit while also mastering the "strike out on a pitch a foot out of the zone with the game on the line".

And yes, I remember, Cuddy was great last September.

Anonymous said...

Im not particularly worried about cuddys offense, although he and kubels relatively slow starts are a big reason they havent scored more runs since they seem to come up with a lot of guys on base. My issue is that cuddy is on pace for a - 30 uzr year, he zone rating is awful, and just from observation hes misplayed a ton of balls in the corner and off the fence. Even if hes earned the right to work through struggles at the plate i dont think hes going to improve substantially at defense and if he continues at his current pace hell be one of the 5 worst defenders in baseball. Hed have to hit like a monster to be "average" with his current defensive value weighing him down. Certainly unlikely to be worth 11 mil or whatever we are paying him and unlikely to improve as he heads towards his mid/late 30's which makes him unlikely to earn the option the twins picked up for next year.

Dave said...

Delmon, do you think that bashing Cuddy is your ticket to an everyday spot? Couldn't somebody do this kind of lobbying for you? Hire an agent damnit!! You could even make him multi-task and keep your pantry stuffed with ho-ho's. All that first pitch swinging builds an appetite!

Marv said...

Wow Dave, what's the Delmon bashing about?
When Delmon hits the first pitch his stats are .462/.444/.701 and his sOPS+ is 161.
Ho-hos? Are you referring to the Delmon who looks like a smaller, faster, younger version of the Delmon from last season?
Really, man, something's bugging you that has you make up reasons to dislike someone. Get help.

Anonymous said...

I think Brendan Harris himself posted the 2nd comment in this thread.

Dave said...

Delmon has the Ted Kennedy figure; no matter what he weighs on the bottom, his head makes him look chubby. Maybe he is in great shape underneath, but all I see is a walking bobblehead.