Who's to Blame?

This year's edition of the Minnesota Twins has struggled since the onset. Coming out of spring training there was high hopes surrounding the 2-time defending AL Central Champs. There was no reason to believe that the season would begin this poorly. The Twins had a successful spring posting a Grapefruit League best 20-12 record. But the day the regular season started everything changed. The pitching wasn't effective, bats went quiet, and defense which is typically a strength has become a liability. All these factors have contributed to the 4-10 start.

I think the Front Office deserves some of the blame for the current situation the Twins are in. It all goes back to last season when the club acquired Matt Capps for our top prospect Wilson Ramos. Not only did we lose a good prospect we took on Capps' salary or 7.15 Million after we offered him arbitration last winter. Also we allowed Matt Guerrier, Jesse Crain, Jon Rauch, Brian Fuetes, and Pat Neshek (via trade). Also they chose not to resign Nick Punto and Orlando Hudson. Along with trading JJ Hardy and Jose Morales. The Organization has put a lot of faith in its unproven players. There has been a handful of injuries which has hampered the performance of the team. Joe Mauer, Tsuyoshi Nishioka, and Kevin Slowey have already landed on the disabled list.

Also, many of the regulars just haven't produced like we all expected them too considering the amount of money they are making.

Player	Salary	2011 Average	Career Average
Joe Mauer	23    Million	.235	.326
Justin Morneau	15    Million	.208	.285
Michael Cuddyer	10.5 Million	.204	.269
Delmon Young	5.3   Million	.220	.291

Player	Salary	2011 ERA	Career ERA
Joe Nathan	11,250,000	8.44	2.77
Matt Capps	7,150,000	4.50	3.38
Francisco Liriano	4,300,000	9.42	4.11
Brian Duensing	462,000	4.15	3.08

 This shows that many of our key players have underperformed thus far into the 2011 season and they all have the potential to turn it around. We are just 2 weeks into the season but it's going to take an entire team effort to turn the season around get back to where we need to be. Once everyone gets back and healthy I expect our hometown nine to return to form and make a late season run like so many Ron Gardenhire managed teams have done in the past.

--NX