You know, it was going to be a day to praise Justin Morneau to the heavens and mark the beginning of his MVP campaign.

Now, I’m writing about another hand injury. Tolbert… Punto… Cuddyer… and now Casilla. Throw in Adam Everett’s shoulder and it’s been a crummy year for Twins middle infielders and their upper bodies.

Based on Joe C’s blog, Casilla is gone for several weeks for sure and could be gone for the season. The immediate fix is that Everett, who was being asked to go to Rochester, now has a spot on the bench for now. It looks like Punto will be the most-of-the-time second baseman because, for the rest of the middle infield assortment, second base is pretty much their weakest position.

Do not try to make the argument with me that a returned-to-health Cuddyer should get a shot at second. During the one season (2004) when he played a significant number of games at the position, his defensive statistics were miserable. He simply didn’t get to balls and, four years removed from playing there, the thought of him trying to turn the double play or show any instincts there is profoundly unfair.

Today, it’s time for Bill Smith to even out last season’s Luis Castillo mess.

You remember, the trade to the Mets that brought so little in return that players spoke out in frustration. Whether right or wrong, the perception was that the Twins did a salary dump without any regard for improving themselves — immediately or down the road.

For a team that has battled and scrambled and put itself in position to do the unexpected, the front office needs to step up and do better at second base than the options available on the bench. My choices: Get the old man, Mark Grudzielanek, from Kansas City. He’s a .300 hitter who plays better than average defense. He also has a .468 on-base percentage against left-handed pitchers, which means he solves another problem the Twins are having. Or look into Brian Roberts, who’s signed through 2009 with Baltimore, providing Minnesota isn’t one of the four teams on his no-trade list. That’s more of a long shot, even though both are said to be available. (Kansas City needs to be convinced to make a trade within the division.)

(Afternoon update: Joe C reports that the Orioles have taken Roberts off the market, according to sources.)

I like Grudzielanek because if Casilla can return in a month, he’d provide both offensive and defensive depth on the bench. With Roberts, the Twins could look at playing him at second base (at least through next season) and moving Casilla to shortstop.

Otherwise, the pickings are slim. There are a lot of mediocre players who may have had a big moment or two during their careers but wouldn’t bring any more to the Twins than their current assortment. Luis Rivas got three hits for Pittsburgh last night? Big whoop. That brings his OBP to … .287. Don’t try to sell me the Marco Scutaros or Augie Ojedas of the world. I’d stick with Punto and pray.

Stay away from Jose Lopez in Seattle, who can hit but fields haphazardly and is said to have a penchant for bad mistakes, and Mark Ellis of Oakland, who has a sore shoulder and a big-time slump in progress. You may hear those names in the hours until tomorrow’s 3 p.m. (non-waiver) trading deadline. But you’ve got to inspect this stuff from all angles.

If you hear hype about Lopez, for example, check out this sad review from the very good U.S.S. Mariner blog.

One other thought. If Casilla’s departure is going to have a negative impact on the Twins offense — and without getting Grudzielanek or Roberts that seems to be the case — it increases the need all the more for the Twins to improve their bullpen. Fewer runs produced means the late-game margin for error, already small with the current group, has shrunk even more. Late-inning relief help is out there … and the stakes just got higher.

One irony of all this is how Casilla was such a disappointment last season that some people in Twins management had serious concerns about how much he’d ever contribute as a major leaguer, concerns that seemed justified when he was called up from Rochester in May despite a .219 batting average.

Today, his injury is going to be widely viewed as a setback to the Twins post-season hopes.

It kind of reminds me of a couple of years ago, when the same thing pretty much happened to Francisco Liriano and it seemed like all hope was lost. Remember that?

other people are here too

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 30th, 2008 at 8:29 am and is filed under Thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.