Time for some new bats

Losing two of three to the Nationals is not a good thing, under any circumstances. But at least they averted disaster and salvaged a game Sunday.
Johan Santana got beat by some guy named Spangler or something (not Egon).
Santana expressed some frustration towards his teammates, and while I don't blame him, I think it should be pointed out that Santana is not pitching like Cy Young at this point.

Not saying he's struggled necessarily - two earned over seven should be a win, and an ERA of 3.24 should produce better than a 6-6 record. But right now Dan Haren and CC Sabathia are flat out better than Johan.

He's entitled to mistakes certainly, but it's hard to feel 100% confident he's going to go out and win every time when he's so susceptible to the homerun ball.
Obviously the Twins are still sorely in need of another bat or two, and there were two guys in uniform for Washington I'd like to see them move on, in DH/1B Dmitri Young and OF Ryan Church.

Young appeared to be at the end of the line last year when the Tigers dumped him, but he's been far more than just a hanger-on in Washington, posting an almost stunningly good .335/.405/.511 line for the Nats prior to Sunday's 3-for-5 effort. He is a switch-hitter.
He's 33, so it's not like he figures in their long term plans. You'd think he could be had for a low to mid level prospect (probably even lower than Scott Baker, though I'd be okay with Baker for Young).

Church is less of a likelihood since he's a lefty, and the Twins seem more desperate for a RH bat.
But the 28-year old has a nice skill-set. This year marks the first time he's had a chance to play every day, and he's among the NL leaders with 21 doubles.

In 735 career at-bats, he's posted a line of .268/.351/.459, with 26 homers.
That's not anything spectacular, but it's better than any Twin not named Mauer, Cuddyer, Hunter or Morneau, and unless the Nats plan on this guy being a cornerstone player (and since he'll be 29 in October, I doubt that), you'd think he'd also be available for a low-level prospect.

The Strib reports that Tampa Bay IF Ty Wiggington could be on the Twins radar, and I'd gladly welcome him to the team for a prospect less than or equal to Scott Baker.

Wigginton is at a modest .263/.307/.461 right now, with 11 homers.
Last year was by far his best as a pro, as he hit .275/.330/.498 with 24 homers in 444 ABs for Tampa. He's righthanded and will turn 30 in October. His salary is a manageable $2.7 million. Wigginton is a great option because he not can play 3B, while Young would be pretty much strictly a DH.

With that in mind, here's a radical idea - trade for them both. Make Wiggington the 3B and Young the DH, with Nick Punto replacing L-Rod as the utility guy. Maybe even try to add Church to the OF mix and get rid of RonDL.

Why not be aggressive?
This isn't an outrageous suggestion. These guys aren't going to cost an arm and a leg.
Come on, for once, do something to add to the offense!

*Analyzing the NFL or NBA draft is too much for me, so I won't even bother putting too much effort into analyzing the Twins draft from this weekend.

I will say that the 1st round pick, Ben Revere, is a clear vote of no-confidence in Triple-A centerfielder Denard Span, who we were told back in spring training was going to be ready to replace Torii Hunter for the Twins next year.

This strongly suggests that the Twins may be looking to find a way to resign Torii, which everyone in the media said would never happen.

They keep Torii for four more years, ditch Span, and have Revere ready to take over when Torii's next contract expires in 2010 or 2011.

It's no secret that the Twins system is stocked with an abundance of promising arms but very little in the way of talented offensive players, so I guess it's good that the Twins used their first four picks on position players.

In day two, though, they focused on pitching, and ended up with 26 pitchers among their 50 picks. So it's not like they strayed too far from their bread and butter.

*I was never a fan of Viking safety Orlando Thomas, as he was a decent centerfielder in the passing game but a terrible tackler.

Denny Green always stuck up for him, though. He always said what a smart player he was, and how he'd one day become a great coach.

Sure enough when he retired Denny added him to his staff in Arizona.
But as this story in the Strib reports (http://www.startribune.com/vikings/story/1235182.html), Thomas' life has taken a tragic turn, as he finds himself nearly paralyzed by Lou Gherig's disease.

Seriously, this is one of the saddest things I've ever, ever read.
Say a prayer for OT.

*Loved the last Sopranos. If you're pissed off about the non-committal ending, that probably means you're an idiot who needs to be spoon-fed entertainment. It was a perfect ending. And thank God Phil got whacked. Phil sucks.