Minnesota Twins: Know When to Hold 'Em, Know When to Fold 'Em

Let me start by saying I'm sorry for my absence these last few days. Here's what I've been working on  http://scavhunt1.uchicago.edu/index.html

I was the Captain of Audacity of Pope, it was a down year for us, but still a ton of fun. 13 hours of sleep in six days, though, kinda makes you crazy. Sort of like being a Twins fan.

Since I went AWOL, the Twins took three of four from the Red Sox, including a stunning defeat of Jonathan Papelbon, but then let the Jays sweep a three game series by four runs.

The Twins looked out of sorts something awful against the Jays, and still do not seem to have found their team identity.

They are winning games just fine, but they don't seem like a consistent unit yet. So, here are three things that will, without question, help the Twins remain competitve even as the Indians and White Sox heat up.

Send Down Jesse Crain

Crain underwent the same offseason surgery as Francisco Liriano, yet no one questioned his ability to come back right away. In all likelihood, Crain is fine physically, but he has looked completely overmatched in most of his outings, so a flare-up of his shoulder might be a nice way to toss him back down to AAA and allow him to work on a few things.

Crain has always been over-reliant on his fastball, which is good, but far from overpowering. So he needs to develop an offspeed pitch he can use at least often enough that hitters respect it.

Crain is currently worse than replacement level, and the Twins certainly have no shortage of young arms in AA and AAA to replace him.

Bench or Trade Michael Cuddyer

I’ve been beating this drum for years, looked foolish for it in 2006, but now I’m back on the high ground. The Twins had trouble coping without Cuddyer in the lineup earlier this year, but once Gardy found a lineup that worked, the Twins hardly noticed his absence.

Since his return, Cuddy has looked terrible at the plate and has even started to make mistakes in the field, one of which cost the Twins a game.

Cuddy is a decent player, and will come out of this funk, but spans like this show Cuddyer for what he really is—league average.

Right now the Twins would be much better served to send Cuddyer to the bench and let him try to regain his form in the cages, not against top-notch pitchers. If an outfield of Kubel, Gomez, and Young doesn’t engender confidence, Denard Span is on one of the hottest streaks of his career in AAA.

Another possibility is that Cuddyer could be dealt as part of a package. He is a good defender with a passable bat that could really help the right team. Alone, he wouldn’t net much. But packaged with one or two young pitchers, he might get the Twins either a top-rung prospect, or even an established player.

The Rockies are rumored to have given up on resigning Matt Holliday, even though he has a year and a half left on his current deal. What about Deolis Guerra, Kevin Mulvey, and Cuddyer for Holiday? He would come to free agency as the new stadium opened, which would give the Twins a chance to resign him with the new revenue, and the Rockies need young pitching like fish need water.

If he stays, Cuddyer should ride pine for a few games and then be dropped in the order. But I truly think Cuddy’s greatest value right now is as trade bait.

Cut Bait on Mike Lamb

I know I said not a week ago that Lamb would probably turn it around and that the Twins should be patient. I lied. Lamb is by far the Twins worst player at -6.8 VORP, and is getting to be the same black hole in the batting order that Punto was last year.

The difference between the two is that Punto was a plus defender, which Lamb is not.

Lamb has no long-term position on this team with Luke Hughes, Delbinson Romero, and even Matt Tolbert behind him. Tolbert should be seeing substantial time at third, since he can actually get on base, unlike Lamb.

As far as what should be done with Lamb, I’m not sure. Perhaps he could be dealt for an A or AA prospect, but I doubt it. When Wayne Krivsky was with the Reds, they were the Twins dumping ground for players we were done with, but Krivsky has since been shown the door in Cincinnati.

Releasing Lamb wouldn’t be the worst thing, but the Twins HATE eating salary, and aren’t likely to do it in this case. Maybe he could be a valuable bench bat, but even that isn’t all that likely.

If he comes back around, say around the All-Star break, he might be a great deadline deal player, especially if he was in a package (like Cuddyer). Until then, Lamb should see the field less often than T.C. the Bear.


If the Twins make these three changes, they will trim a lot of the excess off of this team. They aren’t intuitive moves, but these three guys are all hurting the team a lot more than they are helping.

The least likely of the three is the Cuddyer move, but I think it’s also the most necessary. His contract isn’t too big, and he still has value, so he should be dealt before this rough patch turns into “well, he just didn’t have a great year” and the Twins are forced to sell low.

The Twins are so close to being a competitive team, that making these changes could really help boost them into a great position heading into the second half of the season and even into a possible playoff run.