Twins And Hudson?
By Fetch
In an MLBTR post discussing how the Tigers are pursuing Orlando Hudson they casually mention that the Twins are also pursuing him. Now, I don’t give a shit about the Tigers, and I hope you don’t either, but that’s great news that the Twins are going after him.
Hudson tailed off a bit at the end last year and finished with a .357 OBP, but got benched for Ron Belliard at the end of the year. Although, seeing as it is Joe Torre who did the benching, I wouldn’t be too worried about that if I were you.
This year, Bill James projects Hudson for a .353 OBP and a .337 wOBA. The fans are a bit more optimistic, but I think it’s safe to say he’ll be right in that .340 wOBA range with somewhere around a .355 OBP.
Hudson has also tailed off defensively, being worth -5 runs in 2008 and -3.3 last year. He’s projected to be a little better than he was last year, but still in the negative.
Hudson wouldn’t be the perfect signing for the Twins. That of course would be Adrian Beltre to play 3rd. But he is still a vast improvement over what the Twins trotted out at 2B last year. He can take the Twins to slight favorites in the Central to bigger favorites in the Central.