Sorting Out the Bench

I don't know who the Most Valuable Twin would be approximately 30 % of the way thru the season, but I do know who I would select as the Unsung Hero, or pleasant surprise of this team.
Juan Castro.
This is a guy who was brought along as insurance in case Jason Barlett had to go back to the minors (which he did) and to be the utility infielder if Bartlett worked out.
Now the Twins say they expect Bartlett to be back before the year is over, and that's fine, but right now Castro looks like another one of Terry Ryan's brilliant on-the-cheap pickups.
The guy is a wiz with the glove, as he combines the slick and smooth playmaking of Guzman with the routine consistency of Greg Gagne.
But the knock on Castro is and always has been his glove (he came into this season with a .226 career average)
Yet as he assumes the role of starting shortstop, Castro is hitting a respectable .271 right now with 3 homers in 85 at-bats.
He probably won't keep his average that high, but if he can stay around .240 or .250 and hit the occasional homer he's a steal at his salary ($1M). After all those are about the same numbers Guzzie would likely put up, and he signed with Washington for about $6M. That was what we like to call a good non-signing on T-Ry's part.
The Twins have also made a pair of very necessary roster moves. OF Mike Ryan, who was hitting .302 with 5 homers was called up to replace Terry 1-for his last 30 - Tiffee, and placed Luis Rivas on the DL and replaced him with Brent Abernathy.
Twins fans will certainly remember Ryan, who has posted a .294 average in about 150 at-bats with the Twins.
He has power, speed, and gives the Twins a left-handed bat off the bench who is a threat to win a game at any time. This move was long overdue, as Ryan needs to be in the bigs to fill the Gene Larkin-Randy Bush-Chip Hale-Jose Offerman role that has been a key ingredient to every good team they've had.
As for Abernathy, he's intriguing.
A former 1st-round pick and US Olympian, he was a top prospect in Tampa Bay, but the Rays went thru a number of managers and eventually Abernathy was left out, even though he hit .260 in two full seasons in the big leagues.
Unfortunately, he's righthanded and not really able to play SS, so he's probably just going to be here until Luis recovers from his back injury, which he should in two weeks.
If the Twins aren't going to turn Luis into a utitlity player and allow him to play SS and 3B, then he's wasting a spot. The Twins basically have their two utility IF's (Castro and Punto)starting, and Rivas playing once every 10 or 12 days at 2B. Stupid.
They should just call up Augie Ojeda or keep Tiffee around.