twins/mlb

I agree the middle infield is a mess. Alexi is just not an every day player. He's not mentally tough enough, hanging out with OHud and Go-Go Gomez messed him up. He needs to see himself for what he is a .250 hitter with above average defense and speed. Keep it going kid we hoped you could be a.300 hitter and gold glove at 2B.

Smith has forgotten the time honored way to build a baseball team. You need to be strong up the middle, meaning ss, 2nd, cf and c. We had catcher and cf down ok this spring. 2nd and ss was a huge risk, especially with Casilla a 3 year disaster. Look back to the Johan Santana trade, we have nothing to show for trading one of the best pitchers of the decade. 1 everyday player and 1 decent relief pitcher from that trade would look awfully nice right about now. Smith needs to go, so we can get a GM who knows what he is doing.

It is good to see Casilla hitting but I have no confidence in him and thought going into the season that next to the BP he was the biggest risk. I think he could be alright as a regular 2nd baseman but Nishi is a huge question mark at SS. The 8 million they spent on him this year (5 million fee and 3 million salary) would have been better spent on the BP I believe. But in the long run of Nishi may turn out to be good but it is a huge risk IMHO. Even without the injuries I honestly felt this team was set up in a faulty way before the season began and my worries have come true. I would love to see BS gone and to get a real baseball man on the job. The beauty of baseball is that each year is long and each year is different.

The Gardy Bill Smith personality test is a trade mark of this Organization. Hudson has a big mouth,Hardy wont hit off a tee while playing hurt,Keven Slowey wont play hurt(the same as Joe?)Gardy was mad at Pat Neshek (1.84 ERA Padres)Garza was a jerk,Danny valencia is cocky, jon Rauch has an attitude and the list keeps going.How many of the 87 and 91 Twins would pass the Gardy Smith Character test? "I may not personally like all of my players but as long as they help me win it does not matter" Billy Martin New York Yankees

Amen, highabove. Who cares whether a guy can play the game, as long as he doesn't talk too much.

This team is struggling to find an identity. How about a speed team? Get rid of Delmon and Cuddy, and find another kid outfielder with legs (like Repko) but who can also hit a bit. Trade Thome (soon!) for a solid 8th inning reliever. Thome goes on the DL every time he gets a booger, and is a huge bad example for the kids. Next year Morneau will be fully healed and The Baby Jesus will be back behind the plate. If the rest of the line up would be speedsters, it will be a fun team to watch.

Money talks -- especially with the Twins! Of course, you could predict the roster moves when you realize that Mauer would get all that money from a team like the Twins. They "showed him the money" and then expected a bunch of guys would be satisfied with 5% of that one contract for their salaries -- thus promoting a unique team-first concept among its players. This can be traced to Joe and to a lesser extent a couple of other ridiculous contracts, but the Twins caved -- that means this mess is on them, not its hometown poster boy currently hacking away in Ft. Myers! Five wins in a row -- talk about a true mystery!?

highabove: How many of the 87 and 91 Twins would pass the Gardy Smith Character test? I bet 2

Its funny how yesterdays article & todays point out that we could not afford things because of the Mauer contract. Maybe we should not have signed him to that deal based on 1 great year. I can see 15 mil a year for his services tops.

I'm a former Minnesotan and now live in Virginia. All the Oriole games are on TV here. Hardy has been terrific. Every ball that is hit to him is an automatic out. He is a fan favorite and the O's announcers assume an out or DP everytime the ball is hit to him. Solid shortstops are not easy to find. What were the Twins thinking?