Twins Mathematically Still in the Running, Offseason Moves Needed

We may be 11.5 games back, but at least we aren't mathematically eliminated.

You all know how emotionally invested I am in the Twins. If they lose, I generally am in a bad mood until they win again - imagine what my summer has been like. Like I said though, at least the Twins have yet to be mathematically eliminated.

I'm still surprised the Twins made no moves regarding the trade deadline (on a side note, I am also surprised Tim Pawlenty withdrew from the Presidential race after losing to a native Iowegian - what did he expect?), but the lack of moves made by the Twins are referred to, in finance terms, as sunk costs. We have to look from this point forward and see how the Twins can construct a better squad.

We have four outfielders. Denard Span, Delmon Young, Ben Revere and Jason Kubel/Michael Cuddyer (those two count as one since they never outfield together). Trade one. Maybe we should be using the money from a Delmon Young trade to boost sub-par areas of our pitching staff. Young's name has been tossed around a lot after picking up some clutch hits. He is a great outfielder and the Twins should get some money out of him before he is Demlon Old.

Either dump Nishioka or work him HARD in the off season. Nishioka seems like a nice guy and has some similarities to Ichiro, but is barely batting out of the double digits from the right-side and botches almost every other fielding play (both of those were exaggerations, but you get my point.). After the first loss to Cleveland in the most recent Twins-Indians series, I thought the Twins may not have to worry about Nishi's offseason; I thought Carl Pavano was going to go Godzilla on Nishioka and end his season right then and there. Instead he spiked the baseball while walking off the mound and proceeded to throw a water cooler across the dugout. Might I add, rightfully so? If we don't get out of the $6 million deal with Nishioka, we need to get him in to a little league program and work him hard enough so he can handle the MLB.

Another rumor spiraling around is the dealing of Michael Cuddyer. I myself have said it might be financially smart to get money for him while he is playing so hot and coming off an All-Star season. At this point, it might be just as smart to keep him, despite the likeliness of being a hot commodity this offseason. Sure, Cuddy will need a bigger contract, but he has been one of the most consistent players for the Twins in the last five seasons. Not to mention, he can play ANYWHERE... even pitcher. The Twins really need to consider resigning Cuddyer.

Tonight I will be monitoring the Twins-Tigers game from my phone as I have agreed to help a friend move. I really hope the Twins can get it together. I don't want to write the post 'Twins post-season mathematically out of reach'. I really don't.

WOW: As of 2:01, the Twins traded OF Delmon Young to the Detroit Tigers for a minor league pitcher and a player TBA.

Minnesota Twins: Who is to Blame?

The current Minnesota Twins team is the worst in Twins history, with the only team even coming close to how bad these guys are was in 1982 when they went 60-102 -- a .370 winning percentage. Right now, the Twins are boasting a .341 winning percentage.

Not only are we the worst in Twins history, but we have the worst record in baseball.

Since Ron Gardenhire, who won manager of the year last year, took over as manager in 2002, the Twins have only had one losing season which took place in 2007.

The next 20 games are becoming increasingly critical as the Twins look to win another ALC Division Title.

In 2011, Murphy's law applies in that everything that could go wrong, will and has gone wrong and, while pointing fingers is never fun and almost always done by artificial hypocrites, I find that I probably am not personally to blame and, therefore, am exempt. Let us take an in-depth look at who really is to blame.


Ron Gardenhire.

Is Gardenhire to blame? As the old saying goes, 'you can't fire the team', but can we really blame a manger with a .545 winning percentage -- a coach with a winning percentage better than Harris' (.485) or Kelly's (.478).

Perhaps expectations are greater because of Gardenhire's success. While that doesn't seem very fair, I guess we aren't in the business of being fair... have you seen the Yankee's payroll lately?

One critical aspect that I have noticed is all the Twins injuries. Yes, we have been plagued by them again this year, but in the past Gardy has always managed to work with such injuries and manage around them. I'm not sure if that is the case.

It is easy to blame the manager. However, I don't. Gardenhire has always been a players-manager and there has got to be behind-the-scenes happenings that such fans like myself aren't privy to. We can't blame Gardenhire.

Rick Anderson

The Twins are without the services of Jesse Crain, Matt Guerrier and Jon Rauch, who combined to appear in 204 games in the 2010 season. The 4.75 combined ERA for the Twinks starters is the second worst since pitching coach Rick Anderson joined the team in 2002 with Gardenhire.

However, in the bullpen alone, the 5.34 ERA is more than a full run higher than the 3.97 ERA of the 2004 Twins team... which is the next highest.

The return of Joe Nathan (who I almost allotted his own category) has not worked out like anyone thought. I respect the way the team has handled Nathan. More often than not Nathan has given up runs, but the team keeps him in because, without the confidence that results from working through tough situations, Nathan will fast become fruitless.

I would like to see more Anderson magic, as I'm sure he would like to see more bullpen talent. I can't point my finger at Anderson.

Bill Smith

Since taking over for Terry Ryan as the Twins GM in 2007, the Twins payroll has increased almost exponentially from $71 million to $112 million -- from 18th highest to ninth.

Do Smith and the Twins know how to spend money wisely?

I will concede that Bill Smith would have been run out of town, if not the state had he not signed hometown hero Joe Mauer to such a lucrative deal.

Further, I must submit that we cannot blame Smith for the decline in Twins pulling their weight in hitting, but we can address the issue of off-season bullpen assembly.

Additionally, the Minnesota Twins farm system, which has always been a symbol of pride for the organization and a money-generating machine, has dwindled in talent.

No longer are the farm system or bullpen reliable. Do we blame Bill Smith for this?


My point is... it is very easy to blame the coaching staff and front office. But with epically disastrous season plaguing the Twins thus far, there is no doubt in my mind that we cannot blame one person; no one person can be responsible for all this destruction.

For me, this season started with Spring Training. That's intuitive, right? Seasons are marked by the start of Spring Training, but what I am actually referencing is how our missteps began that early.

If we must blame someone (which I'm not certain we have to)...

Justin Morneau missed almost all of spring training -- perhaps he could have smoothed out the his current trouble with normally-easily-hit pitches sooner than later, with 1/4 of a season gone.

Tsuyoshi Nishioka barely played in games with any sort of consistency while in Ft. Myers -- its likely he would have learned that American baseball differs than that of Japan's in our sliding techniques. He could have developed the habit of moving out of the way of runners like Nick Swisher.

Michael Cuddyer missed most of Spring Training with a painful wart on his foot -- this is common sense. If you have something wrong that will likely disable your ability to play, see a doctor before Spring Training. Its likely Cuddyer wouldn't have started off so slow, utilizing the month of April as his own version of Spring Training.

Joe Mauer and his bi-lateral leg weakness -- I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT THAT IS.

It is easy to blame the coaches and front office. However, its much more fitting to blame the boys who are the face of the organization. Morneau, Cuddy and Mauer have made this team what they are over the past few years and I can't help but feel disappointment in their severely lacking performance this season.

For the fans and for the team... please figure out a way to pull things together. Even for die-hard fans like myself, this season is on the brink of unbearable.

Until then, I'm going to think about how good the Twins could be and, perhaps will be soon or next year. This is still Twins Territory.

Michael Cuddyer: 2nd basemen, Journalist

This 2011 Minnesota Twins season has generated new things for Michael Cuddyer.

Michael Cuddyer, who typically plays right field, stepped up and took over the position of second base when Nick Swisher took the legs right out from under Tsuyoshi Nishioka - no pun... yes, it was intended. While Cuddyer has been performing soundly at second, I still find it slightly amusing watching him play there... I guess I didn't realize he was as versatile as he has proven to be.

While it is amusing, the visual of Cuddy at 2 is not even within the reach of how funny his role in the Jim Thome Commercial featuring the Big Blue Ox is. Hiiii larious. Each role is played seamlessly. Thome, while sporting an exaggerated albeit funny Minnesota accent, as the huge lumberjack who obviously befriended Babe in the Minnesota Twins locker room... Cuddy spitting his water out at the site of the aforementioned scenario... and Joe Mauer doing anything in the public eye. The perfect combination.

Cuddyer has now taken his talents off the field, from behind the camera, and to the laptop as a journalist for Fox Sports North. He is featured as a baseball insider and provides exclusives the would otherwise remain elusive to us common folk. I've read his stuff and I have to say its pretty good - I even bookmarked it. With Cuddyer expanding upon his talents, one has to wonder where his focus lies?

If you were my Grandpa, which you aren't because he doesn't have a computer, you would say Cuddyer's season went downhill when he grew/contracted/sprouted that wart on his foot before spring training. Grandpa hasn't been too fond of Cuddy ever since. Further, (if you were Grandpa) you would swear at the TV every time Cuddyer did something wrong and mumble something about lack of focus.

I watched a game with my Grandpa over the holiday weekend and kind of prodded at him until he explained why Cuddyer made him so irate: he thinks Cuddyer has split his focus too many times, resulting in a failure to concentrate on baseball.

What do you think?

Me? Well... I think Cuddy is batting .240 (which could be better, but after missing spring training, what do you expect?), covering for Nishioka (probably not his ideal situation), and has come in clutch in recent games. Plus, I like his articles.

Until I can definitely see otherwise, I think Cuddyer has his life (and his game) in control and should keep doin' his thang.

Nishioka and Mauer on Disabled List

The normally passive Minnesota Twin fan base is getting restless. Want to know why?

Joe Nathan, fresh off tommy-john surgery, is blowing saves... Justin Morneau has a .619 OPS... Tsuyoshi Nishioka was making errors left and right, until he broke his leg... and Joe Mauer has just been put on the disabled list due to 'bilateral leg weakness'... Additionally, the Minnesota Twins are at the bottom of the AL Central Division... a division we share with the Kansas City Royals and the Cleveland Indians. What... a good joke.

If you are anything like myself, when you heard about Joe Mauer's inability to play, you fired up the Mac and headed in to the cyber world in search of 'bilateral leg weakness' because, frankly, it sounds made up. Here is what I found: an individual suffering from bilateral leg weakness has muscle weakness in both legs that could be caused by a malfunction of the brain, spinal cord, or nerves.



GREAT! Joe Mauer is broken... so broken in fact that he is TOO sick with the flu to even see the doctor about his brain/spinal cord/nerves. This injury could be classified as the most-apocalyptic one to date. Mauer is in the first season of a contract that pays him $23 million a season until 2018. At the time of his injury, Mauer was batting a lowly .235/.289/.265.

Given the aforementioned injuries, the Twins are close to cardiac arrest. With Nishioka out, second base has been manned by Michael Cuddyer (one of my faves) and with Casilla playing the opposite of impressive, the Twins are forced to consider the unlikely double-play combination of Luke Hughes at short and Michael Cuddyer at second. If you had told me this in February, I would have laughed so hard, I may have fallen off my dinosaur. (Step Bros reference)

Finally, there is the ace left-hander Francisco Liriano who... basically can't get anyone out. He has been pitching for contact all year. Liriano has a 9.42 ERA in three starts. How are we 4-8?

Let's cross our fingers Mauer receives more of an informed diagnosis when he sees the doctor. Actually, let's cross our fingers Mauer even makes it to a doctor.