The Push

The only way the Twins can make the playoffs is if they win almost all of their remaining games against Chicago and Detroit, and if Detroit and Chicago spit their games with each other (or maybe better yet, one of the two dominates the other and the Twins sneak into the wildcard).
Either way, I don't think the Twins are going to the postseason this year.
While Brad Radke seems to have settled into a nice groove as the 3rd starter, the 4 and 5 spots are still a mess.
That alone will be enough to keep them out the way everyone else is playing.
I expect that Terry Ryan will try to move Shannon Stewart, but I'd be surprised (and disappointed) if Torii Hunter went on the block.
Luis Castillo would be a good trade chip, but with the dearth of middle infield prospects in the organization, they probly have to keep him for at least another year.
Other random thoughts:
*Gardy has had Stewart batting 7th since he came off the DL. Stupid.
While it's nice to have speed at the top of the order, the ability to get on base is more important.
Having Castillo and Punto 1-2, even as well as Punto has played, seems weak. Especially on days Mauer is off and Redmond bats 3rd.
*Come to think of it, I don't know if there's any player Gardy mismanages more than Shannon Stewart (all the more reason to trade him). He still insists on occassionally using him in LF, which would be like occasionally using Matt LeCroy at shortstop. Not only does Stewie have the weakest arm in the big leagues, he has no range, always bobbles and/or mishandles ground-ball base hits, and takes terrible angle to fly balls. There are no less than 30 outfielders in the North Central Conference who are more profiecient than Stewart.
He should bat leadoff and DH every game until he's traded.
*When Lew Ford pulled a muscle and landed on the DL, it was one of the happeist moments of my life. He's been so, so, so bad this year, his replacement, Jason Tyner, might actually be an improvement.
Tyner has never hit a homer in something like 900 ML at-bats, but he makes great contact and has even better speed than Ford. And as far as I can tell, he's not near as prone to brain-diarrhea as Lew is.
The dumbest thing about Ford (though not his fault) is how Gardy continues to play him against lefties. Yes, he's a righthanded hitter, but he's hit righties far better than lefties almost his whole career. I'm sure there are some game-notes laying around somewhere that contains that information, but apparently nobody is brave enough to show it to Gardy.
*The worst part of it is that is steals at-bats from Kubel. Not only is Kubel the third best hitter on the team, who has shown an ability to hang in against lefties, he needs the at-bats. He's still a rookie, why take valuable experience away from him so Lew can hit choppers to third?
On the other hand, Kubel's been complaining about his knees, a very ominous sign. I hope it's nothing.
*Since the Twins have now called up pretty much every useful player they had available at AAA (Tiffee, Bartlett, Tyner, Kubel) they needed to provide some depth for the Red Wings, and they made a nice signing, picking up Erubiel Durazo.
Just three years ago the guy put up All-Star numbers. He draws a lot of walks and hits for decent power. Don't know why he fell to the minors (steroids?) but he could prove useful. At least as much as Rondell White or Ruben Sierra.
*Speaking of White, he's hitting .256 in AAA with (surprise!) a homerun.
Why put the poor guy through all this? Just cut him already.
*I know nobody in America cares about hockey, but it's worth mentioning that the Wild have had a terrific off-season so far. They signed Marian Gaborik to an extension (thank God) and added countryman All-Star Pavol Demitra to play alongside him. They also added St. Cloud State alum Mark Parrish (a 20-goal scorer) and defensemen Kim Johnsen. They'll be a playoff team next year.