RickSchuette

Went to the opening game of the series last night and finally put my finger on what is wrong with the Twins the past few years. In the first inning, Boston's David Ortiz hit a monster solo HR to right center field. In the fourth inning, he repeated the solo HR, almost to the exact seat. His next AB in the sixth inning, he drove in another run with a sharp single to right. He came to bat again in the 7th with two on and Boston storming back...and not a single pitch was thrown anywhere near his chin.

I've been following Twins baseball since I was a grade school kid in 1961. The Jason Bartlett decision coming out of Spring Training was the oddest damned decision I have ever seen. The only thing I can imagine with some of these decisions is that Gardy and staff are getting tired and really don't want to have to be around young guys anymore, if they have other options. But we have to remember, Gardy cut his teeth under auto-pilot manager Tom Kelly. The only young player Kelly ever tolerated was Kirby Puckett -- and he was a one-in-a-thousand HOFer.

Excellent point on this. Gardy exhibits some of the same issues with young middle infielders that Tom Kelly had with catchers. He has never met one that he thinks is a bona fide major leaguer.

This is Minnesota. We can't move Son of Sal out of the lineup. Baseball is now an international sport, with thousands of players on hundreds of teams spread across nearly every continent. Is Drew Butera really among the top 60 catchers on the planet?

We'll get to their bullpen, then turn this game around. Despite the whining about the Twins record, this is a very entertaining team and the lineup is starting to get some national recognition. Far, far better chance to win than last year's team, which was like watching your dog die. The team is fast, already shaping up better for Target Field and large ballparks on the road. We still need an everyday second baseman. Any other day-to-day holes in the infield can be patched by keeping Jamie Carroll. Keep the top half of the line up together, retain Baker or add another solid starter on the front end and finalize the roles for Burton and Perkins on the back end. The players are in place, but the roles still need to be set. This team will continue to be far more entertaining than Reusse, Souhan and other whoa-is-us media types will admit.

I suspect this may be Duensing's last start. Usually, the way these things go, the pitcher has a couple of poor outings in a row, then complains that he's been feeling 'tightness' in his shoulder. Next bullpen session between starts, the pitcher will admit feeling a 'twinge' and he'll be dumped on the DL. It's a pattern with Gardy and Anderson that goes back a few years.

I suspect we are seeing the difference between a ball being hit to a second basemen at 90 mph in Japan, and 125 mph in America. The speed and power of the MLB game is clearly a flight or two over his head, something neither he nor the Twins thought would be the case. Unfortunately, he's been blessed with outfield speed, but cursed with a second baseman's arm. The Twins front office knows he isn't working out. I suspect they're letting him prove it to himself that he doesn't belong at this level. He isn't the first player to bust at the MLB level. Every team tries some things that don't work out.

I doubt that Duensing is in their plans for the rotation next season. But finishing the season as a starter would improve his trade value over the off-season. That ship has sailed with Pavano...and Capps for that matter. Let Duensing and Blackburn try to get some sink back on their pitches and lower their ERA. They both know they're doubtful as far as staying in the rotation next year. Let them pitch their way off the bubble, either for the Twins or another team. Pavano will need three MLB starts just to stretch himself out to 6 innings. What value does that add to the Twins over the final six weeks of his contract?

I don't mean to go off-topic, but I haven't heard anyone raise this question yet, and certainly Bert and Dick in the booth aren't going to raise it...of what value is it to try to bring back Carl Pavano and Matt Capps for the remainder of the season. Neither will be with us next year and they will only take valuable starts/appearances away from pitchers we know we will want to look at next season. We certainly don't owe either of them anything in terms of helping them get a better contract offer over the off-season.