Fire Gardy

Well, while we were talking about how excited we were about Randy Ruiz, Gardenhire was crossing his name off the roster. Ruiz has been cut, along with Randy Keisler, Ricky Barrett, Tommy Watkins, and Garrett Jones.

I don’t think any of these moves are surprising. Jones just doesn’t seem that good to me; sure, when he connects he can send the ball a long way … but major leaguers need to actually connect more than once every couple weeks. Keisler is old and bad. Barrett is young and not ready (at best). Watkins — whom I like as a person, from everything I know about him — just isn’t a very good player. (Will he be Punto’s replacement in 2009 though?)

And Ruiz, while exciting, doesn’t have a position. A year ago, he would have stood out as a DH. But right now we don’t have a glaring need for one. If Monroe gets injured or Kubel wastes his opportunity (however much I hope that doesn’t happen), Ruiz could be a viable replacement DH. I think it’s good to have a guy like that in the system. Hopefully he absolutely crushes AAA pitching.

La Velle thinks the cutting of Keisler and Barrett increases the likelihood of Perkins being in the bullpen. I think the plan all along has been for Perkins to be in the pen this year, and staying stretched out a bit so he can make the occasional spot start. This most recent move doesn’t change that at all. However, given the injury problems the rotation is suddenly having, Perkins may not be able to start in the pen. It probably all comes down to the health of Baker, the recovery of Liriano, and the readiness of Slowey and Blackburn. If any of those four isn’t quite ready to go, I think Perkins is the replacement.