Liabilities

I like Jason Bartlett. I really like Jason Bartlett. I've made no secret of that. So if you want to take the following with a grain of salt, you go right ahead.

I do NOT understand this:

Minnesota Twins News:
Two hits in Saturday's 5-0 loss earned Juan Castro another start at shortstop Sunday vs. Texas over scuffling rookie Jason Bartlett.
Another key hit in the sixth inning of Sunday's 5-2 win could keep him there again for the next game Tuesday. Castro's two-out single kept a rally going and led to Shannon Stewart's game-winning three-run home run.
'I'll do whatever I feel is right Tuesday,' Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. 'I'm going to put winning teams out there. We're not worried about feelings too much out here. We're trying to develop, but we put a winning team out there.'

So Bartlett has an admittedly crappy late April/early May, and he's on the bench. I'd find that a lot easier to swallow if we hadn't put up with Rivas's lousy bat and limited range for four years before putting Punto in his place. Or if we hadn't put up with 2+ seasons of no-bat/low-effort from Guzman after the infamous shoulder injury.

But the fact of the matter is that Bartlett is adjusting to major-league pitching, and even in the midst of that process he's not much worse than Guzman was, and is actually doing much better for the Twins than Guzman is for the Nationals. They each have 4 errors, and Guzman is batting .219/.257/.539 to Bartlett's .242/.310/.684. Even allowing for the adjustment to NL pitching, Guzzy's having a really sucky start to the year. And here we are, replacing Bartlett with Castro, hitting .244/.295/.613, which is an offensive downgrade. Huh?

Speaking of errors and batting...

Shortstop is traditionally the most error-prone position. You expect your shortstop to end (and yes, to start) the season with more errors than anybody else. And yet our third baseman, who has 3 "extra" errors at 7, is still being trotted out there day after day. It's not as though his bat is making up for it, either--he's hitting .257/.315/.660, no better than Bartlett in any way that matters. If we're punishing people for starting slow at the plate and mishandling plays in the field, why the hell is Cuddyer still out there while Bartlett rides the pine?

I mean, really. Let's at least have some consistency here. If Punto is our best second baseman and Castro is our best shortstop, then Tiffee has to be our best third baseman. Heck, Tiffee can actually hit, which isn't something Punto, Castro, Bartlett or Cuddyer have been accused of lately.

I just can't wrap my brain around why on earth we'd bench a promising shortstop for having a few bad weeks when we routinely and mutely accept season after season of crappy output from others. We keep hearing about how we're going to "give him some chances" and "stick by our choice", and still these guys do nothing. But then a talented player earns a spot on the roster, and we can't be bothered to see him through his first slump.

It seems like some players are sacrosanct no matter how terrible they are, and others, no matter how promising, are shuttled back down to the minors at the least sign of trouble. It's not just Bartlett, after all. How many times has Tiffee been up and down? Remember how fast they shot Morneau down to Rochester last year when he failed to beat the snot out of every pitch he saw? Where's Michael Restovich these days?

If they really want to put a winning team out there, as Gardy says, then they should think long and hard about who's going to win them games over the long haul, not just this week.

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For A Good Cause (or Two)

Sunday was a bit chilly and windy for a 6.5 mile walk along the river, but we did it anyway--we and thousands of others turned out for the 2005 Minnesota AIDS Walk, which raised over half a million dollars for treatment and prevention of HIV in Minnesota.

What an experience! It was simply amazing to see so many people, from all walks of life, gather in pursuit of a common cause and in celebration of life, love and the memory of those who have passed on. Our team has already decided to do participate again next year, and we'll be raising our fundraising goal for 2006.

Monday was also chilly and windy, which made the cozy warmth of Morton's steakhouse all the more welcome during the second annual MLB Players' Trust dinner and silent auction. Morton's dished out the most wonderful food you can imagine (the chocolate truffle cake was better than a game-winning grand slam) while Torii Hunter, Jacque Jones, JC Romero and Shannon Stewart mingled with the guests. I'm not sure how much they raised, but it was one heck of a good time.

Torii has got to be the friendliest guy on earth. He greets everyone like an old friend. We talked a bit about spring training, and how nice it is to have baseball outside. I asked Jacque how Juan Rincon is holding up, and he said Juan's doing okay, and that the whole organization is behind him, and that that's the best thing about being a Twin--how they support each other. Shannon says he feels pretty good, that the old injuries act up a bit now and again, but it's nothing he can't play through. I didn't get a chance to talk to JC.

Tonight, "Cy" Santana and the Twins square off against the Toronto Blue Jays and my beloved Corey Koskie. This is going to be bittersweet.

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Friday the 13th

Friday night, Joe Mays took the mound with the Twins, and after the game he said all that need be said: "I would love to get through the seventh inning here one of these days".

I won't go into the details, they've been hashed over quite well in today's papers. And frankly, it's just too depressing. This was one of those games that I'd rather just forget about. It started so well--the Twins took a lead in the first inning and by the seventh led comfortably at 6-2. What followed was a mishmash of errors, missed plays, bad calls, bloop singles, hits that just barely squeaked fair, and one that just barely squeaked over the wall. It was like someone flipped a switch--one minute they were cruising, the next, collapsing.

Of course, the Whine Sox won again, putting us 6 games back in standings that don't mean a whole lot until the All-Star break. Still, it's no fun to see them having such fun. That's OUR fun. We want it back.

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Anybody Got A Napkin?

"Since then however, everything concerning Giambi has shrunk: his physique, his batting average, his homerun and RBI totals, his confidence and, if what I've heard about the side effects of steroids is accurate, his....well we don't need to go there."

This line, from Minnesota Public Radio's blog The Bleacher Bums, gets the dubious distinction of being the first thing this season to cause TBL to nasally expel her morning coffee. Good thing it had cooled a little.

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Consequences

Let's say it's the eighth inning of the rubber game in a series versus a team with a potent offense, and it's all tied up, and the enemy has two runners on and no outs. You're Gardy--who do you send to the mound?

That's right--Juan Rincón. The Eighth Inning Guy. Nathan's Opening Act. The Scythe.

But who do you send in if Juan Rincón is serving a ten day suspension because something (no one knows what) flashed positive on his drug test, and he says he didn't do it and I for one believe him because this is a guy who takes upon himself the blame for losing a game even if there were three errors behind him, but the MLB doesn't care if he got a dishonest trainer in winter ball, or some nutritional supplement the FDA can't be bothered to regulate contained something it didn't bother to list on the label, or he was prescribed Nasonex for his allergies? And on top of that, what if Jesse Crain pitched two tough innings the day before and isn't really available?

Well, then you send in JC Romero, because when he's good he's really good, unless you consider that he's hardly ever good when the pressure's really on, and the eighth inning of a tie game against the red-hot Orioles is what the beat writers like to call a "pressure situation".

You cross your fingers and you bring Romero in and the next thing you know there's an RBI single and an error at third (by the backup third baseman, who actually knows what that leather thing on his left hand is for) and a bases loaded walk fer-cryin'-out-loud, and there's your game, folks.

Would we have won that game if Juan Rincón had been there? Who knows? Would we have had better odds? Absolutely. The MLB allows teams to fill the roster spot vacated by a player on suspension, but that does not mean the consequences for a positive test land only on the player. Presumably, there is a good reason why he was on the roster in the first place, not the guy who got called up to fill the hole. The team loses something, too.

So, Juan, your suspension is over tomorrow. I hope you come back ready to pitch and mentally prepared for the unkindness of the masses. I hope that in future you rely solely on good food and One-A-Day for your nutritional needs. I hope the drug test isn't so primitive as to read a positive on Nasonex. I hope that the next time it's close in the eighth, you'll get up there and mow 'em down.

Welcome back.

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Small Ball Keeps Twins In the Game

There are pitchers out there who just have our number. Some of them seem have it every time (Bartolo Colon springs to mind), and some of them occasionally forget it but shut us down at the least opportune moment, like when we're 4 1/2 games behind the Whine Sox.

Young Baltimore lefty Eric Bedard, while no Johan Santana, had our number last night. Luckily, the defense behind him wasn't keeping pace with his outstanding performance. Through seven innings, the Twins managed only three hits and two walks against Bedard, but managed to score three runs. Homers, you wonder? No. They didn't get the big hits, but they did all the little things right.

In the first, Stewart reached on a two-base error, Punto laid down a sacrifice bunt to move him to third, and Morneau hit a two-out RBI single to center. Does Stewart score from second if Punto fails to sacrifice? I don't think so, the single wasn't that deep. Likewise if Stewart hadn't hustled out the extra base on the original error.

In the fifth, down 3-1, LeCroy walked, then Ford banged into a fielder's choice. But the third baseman overthrew the second baseman, and instead of the forceout at second we got runners at first and third, as LeCroy not only reached second safely on the error but then gamely sprinted like cold molasses down to third, barely beating out the recovered ball. I hear he's still catching his breath. Then Cuddyer hit a sacrifice fly (Oh, my stars--he contributed! I may swoon!) to shallow center, narrowly scoring the hurtling LeCroy.

Fast-forward to the seventh, when the Twins trail 4-2. Hunter walks, LeCroy singles, and Hunter legs it out for the extra base, landing at third. Another sacrifice fly, this time off the bat of Lew Ford, and Hunter scores, narrowing the gap to one.

In the next inning, with time running out, Punto singled and promptly stole second. He advanced to third on a wild pitch, despite the batter (Joe Mauer) frantically signalling him to stay at second, because as wild pitches go it wasn't all that impressive, but Nick Punto can get to the next base faster than my cat can get to her food bowl after I come home two hours late, so it all came out fine in the end. Then Mauer hit a sacrifice fly, and Punto came home. Tie game.

Let's compare:
Baltimore has four runs on a single and three homers.
The Twins have four runs on two errors, a sac bunt, three singles, two walks, three sac flies, a stolen base and a wild pitch.
Whew!

They went into extra innings knotted at four, and that's when they remembered that they had a day game the next day and should probably get some sleep. Jones and Stewart opened up the tenth with back-to-back homers and that, as they say, was that.

What a great game. It had everything--sacrifices, weird plays, fundamentals both executed and flubbed, good pitching, great pitching, shaky pitching, hustle, and a sprinkle of extra-inning power on top, for zest.

"Twins baseball" at its best, folks--bon appetit!

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Changes

Twins notes: Second base belongs to Punto:
BALTIMORE -- Nick Punto has officially usurped Luis Rivas as the Twins' starting second baseman.
Manager Ron Gardenhire didn't want to make a big announcement, but he confirmed the decision before Monday's game against the Baltimore Orioles.
'Right now, Punto's playing second base and he's playing very well,' Gardenhire said. 'It's not like a platoon there. I'm going to play him, and mix in Luis whenever I possibly can, just like I have the other guys.'
The righthanded-hitting Rivas had started only three of the past 11 games at second base, with his past two starts coming against lefthanded pitchers. The switch-hitting Punto made the other starts at second base in that span, all against righthanders.
'I can't do anything about it,' Rivas said. 'I have to keep working hard. It's tough for me because I've always been in every game.'
Rivas, who had been the starter since 2001, said he started pressing too hard once he realized his job was on the line. He is batting .204 with a .273 on-base percentage; Punto is batting .234 with a .319 OBP after going 0-for-4 in Monday's 3-0 loss to Baltimore.
Gardenhire said he didn't have a formal meeting with Rivas to explain the situation, but third base coach Al Newman has spoken to Rivas about it.
'I'm sure he'd rather be out there every day playing,' Gardenhire said. 'But like I said all along, we're going to put the best team out there. And he wasn't getting it done there. He had a bad stretch, and the other guy was playing well.'

Well, after a "bad stretch" spanning much of the last three years, it's about darn time! Not that Rivas doesn't have the sweetest double play pivot you've ever seen--he does--but if a guy is going to hit under .260 every year, he's going to have to either hit a lot of homers or be able to consistently lay down a bunt when it's called for.

Neither Rivas nor Punto will ever be a power hitter, but Punto can definitely bunt. He's got greater range in the field, too, which is a definite plus with Silva and his ground ball extravaganza going every fifth game.

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