Further proof of the adage that you can’t steal first base, he is now in grave danger of losing his job. Can he rebound?

In an article on The Twins, here is what we had to say about Gomez;

Carlos Gomez He is simply not ready to hit in the majors, so even if he wins a starting role I think you should stay away. Even if you do like him he is almost certain to be overvalued sufficiently that I would not jettison value as a key parameter (remember that “value” is only irrelevant at the top and bottom of the player pyramid) so even if you like him it doesn’t make sense to grab him. This is where I disagree with Baseball HQ, since they project him for a .281 average, but I don’t see how he hits that if he plays everyday.

Gomez has shown so far that he is not ready to be a major leaguer. In 87 at-bats he is hitting .230/.247/.310.  Even Neifi Perez doesn’t look too bad compared to Gomez.  If only Mike Podhorzer picked him up for his Razzball roster. He wasn’t that much better in his 125 at-bats last year, so it isn’t as if this is a fluke.

The problem for Gomez is what was predicted in the preseason, he is not a major league hitter.  He has a 72% contact rate and a 2% walk rate.  As strange as it may seem, he has actually been lucky on his hit rate with a 32% hit rate.  His skills are puny across the board with the sole exception of his speed skills.  He has a 76 power rating (average is 100), a 0.08 BB/K ratio, an xBA of .226 and is hitting 40% of his balls in the air when he should be hitting 50% on the ground. Not only is he lacking skill his approach is not correct.

Were it not for his pedigree and the player for whom he was traded he would be toiling in AA this year, and if the Twins have any sense that is what they will do, leaving him there until next year. As I have said before, far better to ruin Denard Span than to torpedo a far more promising player before he can even get started.

Anyone who is hoping for a rebound is likely to be disappointed as he has virtually no chance of hitting in the majors this year. Those steals will come at a dear price.