Panic button time?

I'll just say it.
The Twins are in deep shit.
They can't score any runs. They can't hit home runs. They can't stay healthy.
Their best player (Joe Mauer) is headed for the 15-day DL, and it's sounding like he may need almost twice that much time to heal (an MRI found internal bleeding in his sore quad).
Already this year, Mauer, Michael Cuddyer, Jason Bartlett, Luis Castillo, Nick Punto, Jeff Cirillo, Rondell White, Torii Hunter, Jesse Crain, Dennys Reyes and Juan Rincon have missed at least one game due to injury.
That's simply unacceptable. It goes beyond a fluke. It suggest that the training staff is leaving the team ill-prepared for the rigors of the baseball season.

The Twins just have to hope the pitching stays sharp, and that they can win enough 3-2 games to hang around .500 until they get healthy (if they ever do).

The injuries have been exacerbated by slow starts from Justin Morneau, Jason Kubel and Punto. There is no DH. There is no help in the minors. Lew Ford could be ready soon, and at this point I'm actually looking forward to his return (for his defense if nothing else), but I'm extremely pessimistic about his chances of contributing much offensively.

With the Cubs looking to move Jacque Jones, I'd consider offering Scott Baker or Crain. The Twins can't survive in this division with a Triple-A lineup.

*I've tried to give Sidney Ponson the benefit of the doubt at every turn, and he has shown signs of having something left (like Sunday's 2nd inning, when he struck out the side on 11 pitches - where did that come from?), but it's probably time to give one of the youngsters a chance.

*I'm really tired of Gardy pulling Johan Santana every time he gets to 90-100 pitches. I strongly believe he'd snap out of his early season slumps if Gardy would stretch him out a little. Part of being an ace is being a workhorse, and while I don't condone pitch counts in the 140's in April, I do think Gardy is coddling, with a negative effect, the best pitcher in baseball.

*At least Gardy listened to me about the stupid Mike Redmond in the 3-hole thing, moving Hunter there on Sunday. We'll see if he continues to resist the temptation over the next month.

*And speaking of Torii, who now has a 21-game hitting streak and is batting .340, it's scary to think what the lineup would be like if he were only hitting .250 right now.
Sid Hartman wrote a column this week saying the Twins would find a way to re-sign Hunter after this year.

I take everything Sid writes with a giant grain of salt, especially because in cases like this he often writes that what he wants to happen, will happen, to try and force things (his influence is not what he'd have you believe).
Having said that. it put a little bounce in my step, as it was at least nice to see a quote from Terry Ryan in print saying he would at least try (the Texas Rangers are supposedly ready to offer Torii a ridiculous contract).