The Last Straw
Aug 10th 2007BRizzleGoogle PPC
As all my readers know, I have been a die hard Minnesota Twins fan for many years. I still remember when Dan Gladden touched home plate in game 7 of the most exciting World Series ever played. I have left Minnesota but still travel to see the team when I get the chance. I put up with all kinds of trash speak from the friendly folks of ‘Cardinal Nation’ (pictured below) day in and day out. But I have always loved Twins baseball and stuck by it.
But I am afraid it might be getting time to jump ship. I just can’t take it anymore, watching the games is just too painful. The lack of any offensive at all is enough to make me want to mix Benadryl with some of those delicious new Miller Chills and spend the entire game in a sort of comatose state. But it is not that the offense is so bad that bothers me. It is that there is absolutely no sign that will turn around in the future.
What’s sad about this, is that the taxpayers of Hennepin County are going to build the Twins a brand new $522 million stadium financed by a sales tax increase. The lawmakers of Minnesota generously approved the legislation, with no vote from the taxpayers. In addition, they used good old eminent domain to claim the land for the ballpark. You know, because it ’servers the public good.’
But I am not even upset about that. I will be the first to admit that the inflatable toilet known as the Metrodome has got to go. It is probably the most outdated stadium in the major leagues, and going to games there feels kind of like walking into Johhny-On-The-Spot at a tailgate party. The Twins needed a new stadium, and though the way they got it was underhanded, still I can live with it.
The problem is that of course the new stadium came with promises that the Twins would field a team that would be able to win. A competitive team. But I simply do not see any movement by the Twins management to make this happen. Case in point, here are the events surrounding the trade and waiver period of the 2007 Minnesota Twins.
First, they trade Louis Castillo for a few minor league prospects. I can’t figure out this move. He was the only player on the Twins roster hitting above .300. At the time, they were about 6 games out, but GM Terry Ryan still says that he thinks they can compete. This move even managed to upset the ever quiet and easy to please Johan Santana, arguably the best, most consistent pitcher in the major leagues over the last 5 years. He makes the point that the Twins are always planning for the future, and will never pay to win now. Well this is bad news. The best pitcher in baseball correctly believes that his team will never be a serious contender.
And he is right. I understand that the Twins have to have prospects because they can’t go out on the free agent market and lock up marquee players. But there comes a time where you have to try to win now. With Torii Hunter gone after this season, and now Santana will obviously leave, that time was now. And what do they do? Trade their leadoff man and starting second baseman.
Look, you don’t trade your leadoff man if you are in a playoff race you think you can win. Period. Don’t tell me that you think you are going to compete for a division title and then trade one of your veterans and team leaders.
SideNote: If I have to watch another at bat from Rondell White I think I will lose it.
Ryan said he felt they could replace Castillo with Alexi Casilla and Nick Punto. Let’s look at this reasonably. Casilla was a nightmare when was up earlier in the year. He swings away and misses more wildly than a first timer at the Playboy Club. His stats certainly have not improved; currently he is hitting a mean .250 with 5 RBI’s. Punto on the other hand is barely able to keep his batting average above the Mendoza line.
But here is what really takes the cake. The very next day they allow Arizona to claim third baseman Jeff Cirillo off waivers. They didn’t even try to get anything for him, just gave him away to ‘make space on the roster.’ There are about 5 players hitting around .200 they could cut to make more space on the roster. Granted, Cirillo is not very good either, but he is better than Punto and Casilla. Furthermore, you just said that Punto would be moved to play second base, what, yesterday? Now you have to move Punto back to third, and your only option for second is Casilla. Essentially, if Ryan actually believed what he said that Punto could be moved to second, then after Cirillo leaving, the competitive them the Twins would field would not contain a third baseman.
Did I mention that White is batting .143 with 2 RBI’s? Can you believe that? And he is the designated hitter. I would vouch that whoever is pitching could hit better than that. A competitive team? Can you imagine the Tigers or Red Sox fielding a team with Mike Redmond or Rondell White as the DH?
So don’t blow smoke at me telling me that you are going to field a competitive team. The Twins management will never pay for it. And Cirillo was only due to make $1.5 million this year. Apparently still he was expendable because that is too much to ask to have a team with a third baseman on it.
This just in, apparently White is considering retirement at the end of the season. Considering retirement? Can you really retire from something when you should have been designated for assignment a year ago? Apparently he is considering retirement because he is terrible at hitting and provides no value to the team. His other option is playing out his career in AA Fargo. Yeah, I’d say retirement is the way to go on this one.
The end result of this was probably one of the worst Twins games I have ever seen yesterday. Of course Garza was a stud and pitched the lights out, but he was beaten by Kyle Davies because the Twins didn’t score a single run. They have scored 1 or fewer runs in 3 of the last 4 games. I mean it’s one thing if a Jason Verlander throws a gem against you, it’s entirely another if Kyle Davies does it.
And so the season drags on. Off to the west coast where they will return from with a sub .500 record and we can officially put a fork in the 2007 Minnesota Twins.
If the management doesn’t spend the money to beef up the lineup during the off season, the taxpayers should revolt over the stadium they are paying for to have this alleged competitive team. And they won’t and we will be left with a couple of players who would struggle to be on most teams AAA club.
But, alas, it is another beautiful summer day outside. May I suggest you take some life advice from my good friend and get outside and enjoy it. I recommend hitting the links for a quick 18. There are more important things in life than debating the middle infield of the Minnesota Twins.
