Fire Gardy

I was in Washington, DC over the weekend so I was unable to witness the beatdown that was the Twins-Angels series.  Thankfully.

Since we last blogged, the Twins acquired shortstop Orlando Cabrera from Oakland.  I have no problem with this trade, since we didn’t have to overpay for two months of a shortstop who is only slightly better than what we have.  My bigger concern is that we didn’t address the pitching needs.  Many effective relievers were swapped for reasonable prices, but Smith has told the press that the asking prices were 4 of our top prospects for Michael Wuertz.  I (and many other bloggers) find this hard to believe. 

The Twins pitching staff as a whole is falling apart.  When was the last time one of our starters had a quality start against a non-divisional opponent?  When we played Texas two weeks ago?  The bullpen is just as bad.  Every reliever we have with the exception of Joe Nathan and possibly Matt Guerrier are totally out of their element when pitching in late and close situations.  This division is very winnable, but the two teams ahead of us added effective arms, and we stood pat.  That is not a way to catch and pass the teams leading you.  While I hope Washburn comes back to earth over the next two months, spacious comerica park and Curtis Granderson in CF seems like a situation in which he can continue to thrive.  Hopefully I’m wrong. 

Everyone says trades can still be made in August, but I just don’t think our front office is capable of pulling that off.  They simply seem to be incapable of fixing this team on the fly.  Hell, they seemed incapable of fixing the team in the offseason.  If we don’t make a run this year, Bill Smith and co. really need to aggressively add pieces to build a winner around Mauer.  If they do not do this, can we blame him for leaving?  I don’t think so.