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Tony Gwynn Jr. As Defensive Help For Twins?

By Ted Schwerzler

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There is no doubt that the Twins could use some help in the outfield, and apparently Tony Gwynn Jr. is having his camp push his name as a potential answer. After appearing in 80 games a season ago with the Philadelphia Phillies, Gwynn is looking to find a minor league deal with an invite to Spring Training. Knowing the Twins are light on defense, trying to push his way into Minnesota makes some sense.

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Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN is reporting that in fact Tony Gwynn Jr. is trying to pitch his name as a defensive option for the Twins outfield, however, Minnesota has yet to express any interest.

Despite sharing the same name as Mr. Padre, Jr. is nowhere near the same player as Tony Gwynn. For the Twins, it is most likely a situation where they are best to just look the other way. While signing Torii Hunter and moving Oswaldo Arcia to the other corner is going to do nothing but make their outfield defense worse, Tony Gwynn Jr. is not the answer.

A career .238 hitter, signing Gwynn would be little more than adding another Jordan Schafer or Shane Robinson into the mix. While Schafer proved to handle his bat last season, regression likely will set in during 2015. Gwynn Jr. is probably the best defender of the bunch, but stockpiling fourth outfield types isn’t a scenario the Twins need to play into.

If the Twins were serious about upgrading their corner outfield defense without taking a hit in another aspect, a name like Colby Rasmus would have made sense. Give it to Tony Gwynn Jr. for trying to find a fit, but in Minnesota their doesn’t appear to be one.

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