Minnesota Twins' Overcrowded Outfield No Longer a Problem

As the Twins were licking their figurative wounds from the 11-6 loss suffered in the opening game of the Seattle series, right fielder Michael Cuddyer was headed to upstate New York to help rehabilitate the real wounds that had kept him out of the lineup since the end of June.

Cuddyer was to spend the weekend getting his feel for the game back after a strained index finger kept him away from the game for over a month. Now that his hands are fine, it is Cuddyer's feet that may have ended his season.

While running the bases for the Rochester Red Wings, Cuddyer was struck in the foot by a line drive, which hit him so hard that it broke his second metatarsal. Anyone who has broken a toe or other small bone knows that such injuries take a long time to heal.

His injury may, however, be a blessing in disguise for the Twins. Cuddyer was hitting a mere .252 and slugging just .376 during his sparse time on the field (Cuddyer is undoubtedly headed for his third DL stay of the season), yet he was likely to start very shortly after rejoining the team.

His arrival may have meant the end of Denard Span's run with the Twins, though that now seems unlikely, as Span has more or less become as important to the Twins as Mauer and Morneau. If this had been the organizational decision, it would have been on par with keeping Liriano in the minors for too long as the worst decision the team had made this year.

It could have meant a platoon situation for Span and Carlos Gomez. Gomez could use some time off, maybe even a stint in AAA, but a platoon does him little good.

All a platoon would do is cut Span's playing time (as already stated, a bad idea) and put more pressure on Gomez to perform when he DOES see the field. That is just pressure he doesn't need and probably can't handle.

Hopefully, Cuddyer will just take the rest of the year off to get healthy. Spring Training is a great time to have position battles, but mid-August is not. Cuddyer can still help this team by adding his calming presence to the clubhouse and giving advice to Span, Gomez, and Young, now that he can see the game from a different perspective.

No matter what he decides to do, the Twins no longer have to deal with too many outfielders and too little playing time. Now they must turn their attention to an infield that looked like the Keystone Kops on Friday and a bullpen that seems to want to share leads with the other team.