Tony Batista

Is not a guy I'm too excited about.
Will he hit homeruns?
Yes.
Will he make so many outs in his other plate appearances to render most of those homeruns useless?
Very possibly.
The guy with the stupid batting stance hit 32 homers in 2004 with the Orioles, yet couldn't find a job in 2005.
He played in Japan.
Where he posted a very poor .293 OBP.
Defensively (he's a third basemen) he is average at best, harmful to a team's defense at worst.
I realize that when they lost out on Bill Mueller they didn't have a lot of options, but geez, they'd be better off going with Cuddyer again.
One Twins blogger called this the worst transaction in Twins history - I wont go that far. He also called Batista one of the five worst hitters in the league (his 32 homers notwithstanding). Again, I think too harsh.
I'm willing to give the guy a chance.
One thing I will say is that while adding a slap hitter like Tony Graffanino was probably, deep down, a wiser move, I still prefer this. Batista has and will hit homeruns. He at least makes pitchers pay for mistakes, and keeps them honest.
Graffanino and the like are fine players, but they still kind of seem like utility infielders. Even if they are good ones, I'm tired of utility infielders.
This guy has power. Alot will probably depend on where he bats in the order and if the Twins add Piazza (or bring back Jacque Jones again, for that matter).
If he can keep his glove on, hit 30 homers and by the grace of God get on base 30% of the time - well, it still wouldn't be that great of a move.
Let's just hope that we don't pair this guy with Rob Deer at DH.