The Minnesota Twins are a team searching for its identity. As Johnny Carson used to say, "They have come to a fork in the road." Our Twins may become a good team and they may also succumb to the Dark Side and finish last in the Central Division.
A few days ago, I was ready to throw my hands up in disgust and started to focus on Jerry Kill’s Gopher football and our two high-profile basketball teams. It was great news for Gopher basketball when they learned Trevor Mbakwe is coming back. The Gophers are ranked in the top 25 in preseason basketball polls. The Timberwolves also look to be tough next year when injured players return.
But it’s baseball season and let’s talk about our Twins. There are a lot of flaws evident in the team. Danny Valencia was waving at balls hit between him and shortstop Jamey Carroll. Carroll was doing the same to balls hit up the middle. Alexi Casilla was constantly losing focus during the game. The corner outfielders reminded me of the patch worn in left field at the old Met stadium by Harmon Killebrew.
Justin Morneau was not hitting and the other M, Joe Mauer, was acting like it was a lot of bother and that he really didn’t want to be out there. In addition, why are Luke Hughes and Trevor Plouffe on the team? They are not good fielders and have not hit for a decent average in the bigs. (I just learned that Hughes has been designated for assignment.)
The pitching was, to be charitable, fair with pitcher after pitcher falling by the wayside with injuries. The ace of the staff, Scott Baker, is gone for the foreseeable future and in fact it might be better for the team if the No. 2 pitcher, Francisco Liriano, follows Baker in not being available.
The Twins looked dismal and one wonders what is going on when it is announced that Baker had a good report on an MRI, then after a second opinion, it looks like he needs elbow surgery, then Tommy John’s surgery is done? Given the extant and severity of injuries one begins to wonder about the Twins’ physicians. At this point, I was ready to consign the Twins to the compost heap. It’s a good thing I didn’t because after watching a few more days, I believe there is hope for the team.
Valencia is making plays to his left. Carroll is catching grounders and while I still believe that as a shortstop he makes a very good utility player, he is a vast improvement over last year. Casilla is starting to come on, both in the field and at the bat. He made two excellent fielding plays during a Yankee game. It was good those opportunities came to him for he is the only one athletic enough to have made them. Ryan Doumit is proving to be a good substitute catcher and Mauer is showing signs of life. He even stole a base against the Yankees. Morneau is getting his timing back, at least against the finesse Yankee pitchers.
The Twins’ young pitchers have looked good and I’m in favor of taking Liriano out of the rotation and using him as a relief pitcher. That might take the pressure off.
So if the baseball gods smile, the ball bounces right and the Force is with them, the Twins with some luck and good management may present a good team. I hope they do, for I don’t think Jim and Bob Pohlad will put up with another lousy season.
