Sierra, Lil' Nicky, and McHale's Navy

It's not often you can say about a guy, "Boy, I wish we'd had him 20 years ago", but in the case of Ruben Sierra, you can.
When Joe Mauer was in pre-school, Ruben Sierra was emerging as one of the game's most dangerous hitters.
Now Mauer will occasionally be batting in front of him.
I don't think it's a bad move necessarily, in that Sierra is a veteran, a switch-hitter, and he still has power.
He's a better option off the bench than Terry Tiffee or Glenn Williams.
But on the same day Sierra signed with the Twins, Russell Branyan signed with the Devil Rays.
The Devil Rays!
I'm not saying Branyan is the answer to all our problems, but he's 29 (Sierra is 40) and had a .378 OBP and .490 SLG last year.
Sierra posted a sub-.300 OBP for the second straight year, and hit just four homers in 170 at-bats.
To be honest, I think he'll struggle to make the team. On the other hand, Gardy seems to loathe rookies after what happened last year, so I think Sierra and Tony Batista, who both signed minor league contracts, are virtual locks to make the team.
If nothing else, putting Sierra in the Randy Bush-Midre Cummings-Jose Offerman role might end up working out just fine.
*On a side note, last week the Twins re-upped with Nicky Punto.
Fuckin' hooray.
I don't think anybody epitomized the failure of last year's Twins more than this guy. They wanted soooo bad for him to be some kind of shortstop version of Lenny Dykstra, only one problem - he can't hit for shit.
You constantly hear about how he "hustles" and what a "gamer" he is.
Guess what? Nobody gives a shit. Sliding into first base may get the front of your jersey all dirty and make you look cool to chicks that don't know anything about sports, but it doesn't make you a good baseball player. In fact, it makes you stupid. Incredibly stupid if you're injury prone like Punto is.
Congratulations to Punto on being good at two things: getting hit by pitch, and getting dirty. Two things most fat little-leaguers also possess the ability to succeed at.
Last year this black-hole of a baseball player managed to eat up 394 at-bats, which is unforgivable.
In those 394 at-bats he batted .239, with 4 homers, 26 RBIs, and 18 doubles (a .301 OBP and .335 SLG). He struck out a lot, and walked a little.
Oh, but he's fast, you say.
How's 13 steals in 21 attempts then? Shitty. According to most of the math nerds, you're only helping your team by stealing bases if you're successful 70% of the time at the very, very least.
Lil' Nicky: 61.9 %.
But he's a good fielder, you say.
Well, he did actually post good defensive numbers last year, at both 2B and SS, but Luis Castillo and Juan Castro were both far better, and both, even the light-hitting Castro, were much better at the dish as well.
So where does the value lay with this guy? As a Denny Hocking-style utility player?
If Jason Bartlett is the starting SS then can't Castro fill that role?
Get rid of this clown. He sucks.
*Early returns on the Wolves-Celtics trade are pretty solid.
Marcus Banks should be the starting PG from here on out, and Mark Blount has already proven to be light-years better than Olowokandi. The knock on Blount is similar to the knock on Kandi - doesn't care - a stiff. And can't rebound.
He had 16 points, 10 boards and four blocks the other night, after having 18 points the prior game.
We're not even mentioning the main part of the deal, Ricky Davis for Wally, which will probably benefit both teams. Celtics needed a guy who can score with better than 40% accuracy, Wolves needed a more athletic swingman. Mission accomplished.
Justin Reed may not be anything special, but he at least gives the Wolves some more depth in the frontcourt.
It's still waaaayy early to judge, but so far it looks like McHale made his team, at the very least, a lot more athletic.