Denard Span didn't single-handedly win last night's game for the Twins, but if you want to talk about great defense -- and a certain momentum-turning play -- he was the difference-maker. His grab at the wall on Alex Rios, which robbed Rios of what looked like it would have been a two-run homer (albeit barely), kept the White Sox from taking the lead in the fifth inning. Chicago tied it later, but they never went ahead. Denard made another great catch later. And the Twins won in the ninth. These are the in-game things that are sometimes forgotten when we start adding up numbers and wondering what a player's value is ... and how much they might fetch in a trade ... and how much they might be missed if they were gone.
Who is Span? What is Span to the Twins?
Well, the numbers: He has a somewhat curious career stat line, having burst onto the scene in 2008 with a very good half season (.387 on base, .819 OPS) and following that up with his best full season in the majors in 2009 (.311 batting average, .392 OBP, .811 OPS, 10 triples, 8 homers).
His power numbers suffered during the move to Target Field in 2010. After hitting half of his 14 career homers-to-date at home in his 1.5 seasons in the bigs, he hit zero at Target Field in 2010 and only three overall. His batting average dipped to .264 and his OPS went below .700. It was a similar story in 2011 as he battled a concussion. This season has seen him bounce back to a degree (.356 OBP, .290 BA) with his best numbers since 2009, albeit still not at that level. Despite decreased power numbers at Target Field, he has always been a better hitter at home -- regardless of the building. His career average is .313 at home, .261 on the road.
Span's career OBP is .360. During his time in the majors, the MLB average for leadoff hitters has fluctuated by year from a low of .323 to a high of .347. Span has clearly, then, been above average when it comes to getting on base, which is among his most important jobs as a leadoff hitter.
He is also an above average defensive center fielder capable of turning in brilliant plays such as he did last night.
Span, though, is somewhat redundant in the same outfield as Ben Revere. Span has a little more pop and a much better walk rate (one BB in about every 10 PAs for his career, as opposed to Revere's 1 in 20). Revere can flat out run, making him a better base-stealing threat and giving him even more outfield range. But his arm is truly awful.
What it adds up to, at least for us, is a weird sense of ambivalence about Span. We think he could net one pretty good and one OK prospect in a trade, which would be nice but wouldn't blow us away. We don't think he is irreplaceable, but we do think he would be missed. We certainly don't think a Span trade would help the Twins this season or possible even next season, but we might be OK with that.
