Chad Allen Joins (Rejoins?) the Rock Cats



Chad Allen, flying through the air at the Dome

 Chad Allen. There's a blast from the past. He played for the Twins from 1999-2001, and thereafter with the Indians, Marlins and Rangers until 2005. In his career, he posted a .269/.321/.389 slash line and manned all outfield positions, though was primarily a corner outfielder. He was also named in the Mitchell Report.

Coming up through the Twins' system, Allen played 30 games for the Rock Cats in 1997, and a full season of 137 games in 1998, batting .252 and .262, respectively. Allen rejoins the Rock Cats for the 2013 season as their new hitting coach. Here's the press release. It was somewhat interesting to me that this is Allen's first job in the Twins' organization, and his first season as a hitting coach, anywhere.

I'm very interested in the 2013 Rock Cats roster. Will one of Oswaldo Arcia or Aaron Hicks start in AA, or will they both be promoted (keep in mind that, although Arcia dominated, he's only played 69 games at the AA level)? Will Alex Meyer start the season at AA, or do the Twins feel more comfortable with his development if he gets in a couple months at High-A? Finally, there's Chris Colabello. He is deserving of a promotion and an opportunity to hit against AAA pitching. Will he get that chance, or will he never be considered more than AA depth?

In any event, congratulations to Allen on the beginning of a coaching career. He was never a great player, and was never a great hitter, which is interesting given his new job. But then again, many of the best coaches were marginal full-timers or off-the-bench guys. As the saying goes, "those who can, do, and those who can't, teach."