2008 Projection: Adam Everett March 27th, 2008 at 10:00 pm

By Kris Richardson

Initially it was thought that Brendan Harris would replace Jason Bartlett at shortstop following the trade with Tampa Bay, but shortly after that the Twins signed free agent Adam Everett to fill that void. Let’s look at his numbers. They’re scary, so proceed at your own risk.

Year	Age	AB	BA	OBP	SLG	HR	BB	K	SB
2008 ZiPS	31	361	.235	.284	.330	4	21	66	8
2007	30	514	.232	.281	.318	6	34	71	9
2006	29	549	.248	.290	.364	11	26	103	21

Everett is every bit as horrendous offensively as he is great defensively. Clearly there’s a reason that a guy who’s failed to post a .300 OBP for three straight seasons still has a job. He’s been a marvelous shortstop over his career, but with his complete offensive ineptitude and the fact that he’s into his 30’s in age, it’s hard to get excited about our new shortstop.

The Twins signed Everett to a 1-year $2.8 million contract and he’s clearly a stop-gap solution until the Twins can figure out who their shortstop of the future is.

Adam Everett is basically replacing Nick Punto’s bat in the lineup. Everett is at least a true defensive asset, so replacing he’s a little more valuable than Punto in that respect. Nonetheless the Twins are going to need the rest of the hitters in the lineup to step it up this year if they’re going to make Everett bearable as an everday player. The Twins will minimize his at-bats by batting him ninth in the lineup.