All those injuries kind of put a damper on the Twins taking three of four from the Indians, didn’t it? While they managed to cut the White Sox lead in the Wild Card to only 6.5 games, it still seems like an insurmountable deficit now that the Twins’ outfield consists of Cuddyer and a lot of players who probably shouldn’t be patrolling the outfield.
Then again, as some have pointed out, so long as Kubel’s knees don’t keep him out of the DH spot, the Twins are still trotting out their 1-5 hitters and with Jason Bartlett in the 9 hole, they still have a lineup better than the one they began the season with. And, it seems, they only have to wait two weeks for Torii to get back. Of course, since that means he can’t play until July 31st, it effectively removes the option of trading him this year.
So what should the Twins do about Torii? Well, Jim Souhan thinks they should definitely pick up his option now. I’m still not sure how he manages to conclude that a stress fracture eliminates all of the other options, but it looks to me that the Twins could still trade Torii in the offseason (after he shows he’s over the fracture in the last two months of the season) or let him walk if they so chose. Then again, there’s a reason that Deadspin spotlighted him in their ongoing “Why Your Hometown Columnist Sucks” feature.
And now some quick links:
- I have to say that this comparison by the folks over at 10,000 Takes is an apt one. Hopefully Stewart is the only Twin whose plane goes down over the Sea of Japan.
- Is it just me, or is Bert going to be begging Terry Ryan to sign this pitcher when he comes over from Japan? If the Twins do, we’ll never have to listen to him complain about pitch counts anymore. (And we might get to see a gyroball!)
- Finally, Peter Gammons was released from the hospital today, and he’s starting his rehab assignment. I, for one, can’t wait for ESPN’s only competent baseball analyst to get back on his feet and back to Baseball Tonight where he belongs.
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