Twins rotation will be downfall

Ramon Ortiz. Sidney
Ponson. Carlos Silva. Not sure what I’m talking about? Two more hints. Boof Bonser. Johan Santana. Got it now?
Yep, it’s the Twins starting rotation. (Excuse me while I go throw
up.)

If you
didn’t realize the first three names were part of a big league rotation, don’t
be ashamed. You’re not alone. To put it nicely, the Twins are pitching some
less than inspiring starters this season.
To put it bluntly, they’re trotting out two pitchers and three steaming
piles of poo.

Long known
as one of the best GM’s in the game, Terry Ryan flamed out last year with free
agents Tony Batista and Ruben Sierra.
This year he’s at it again by signing Ortiz and Ponson and resigning
Silva. You think Ryan would have figured
out a team can take on only so many “let’s see if they can regain their form of
five years ago” players.

Or maybe
you think Ron Gardenhire would have learned something from last season when he
started the year with stiffs Batista and Juan Castro in the lineup. Fast forward to this year and you’ll see
talented youngsters Matt Garza, Glen Perkins and Kevin Slowey pitching in the
minors while (once again) washed-up veterans Ortiz, Ponson and Silva are
serving up gopher-balls in the big leagues.
Gardenhire and Ryan are using these three “studs” to fill out the
rotation on a team whose batting lineup and bullpen are among the best in the
league. Talk about letting the team
down. The best bullpen in the league is
of little use when you’re down five runs by the fifth inning.

Ortiz
finished last season with an ERA of 5.57, and he was the best of the
three. You’re telling me minor-league
phenom Matt Garza can’t throw together an ERA under 5.50? Get real Gardenhire. I don’t care if the Twins are paying Silva
$20 million a year. There is no way he
should be pitching ahead of Garza. So
are Gardenhire and Ryan hoping to use Garza as a spark like they did with Francisco
Liriano last year? Or is management
simply oblivious to fact Silva has lost his touch? (Probably a combination of
both.)

Ortiz and
Ponson have pitched fairly well this spring so I’m willing to sit back and give
them a shot at the rotation, but Silva?
Come on. He’s looked simply
horrendous in spring training and did nothing to earn his spot in the rotation
besides buddy-up with Santana. The only
reason Silva is being given a shot at the rotation is money. It’s tough for a small-market team to throw
away $4.35 million even if it might favor the win-loss record.

Now I realize Silva pitched very well only one season ago. Some people might think I’ve soured on him a
little too quickly. If he comes in and
regains his form of ’05 I’ll gladly eat some crow and cheer him on, but when
he, Ortiz or Ponson start serving up six-run innings, I only hope Gardenhire
doesn’t wait too long before making the move to Garza and the other young
guys. Better to have youth and potential
than be stuck with a steaming pile of poo.