Humpty Wickman delivered the ball,
Humpty Wickman had a great fall.
But all the Twins’ runners,
And all the Twins’ hitters,
Couldn’t score with men on base yet again
Seriously, I have no idea how Bob Wickman saves games, but I guess some mysteries are better left unaswered.
Exhibit A in the volatility of bullpens are the 2004 and 2005 versions for the Indians. Arthur Rhodes and Scott Sauerbeck really consolidated the pen, and adding Matt Miller gives Eric Wedge a veritable Swiss Army knife to use as he sees fit. Do you need a sidearming left-hander to confound Justin Morneau? Bring in Scott Sauerbeck. How about a sidearming right-hander to get guys like Torii Hunter and Lew Ford? Call in Matt Miller. What about a power right-hander? You have David Riske and Bob Howry. The total price tag for the bullpen? If you count what the Pirates are paying for Rhodes, it comes to about $8M.
I don’t think the Twins got the memo about Scott Elarton:
Elarton vs. Minnesota: 3.35
Elarton vs. Everyone Else: 5.38
Still, his performance last night may have bought him another 4-5 starts, which is bad news for Brian Tallet.
A piece of great news: Coco Crisp is only out 2-3 weeks instead of 3 months. Which makes the outfield situation even more interesting. You have Jody Gerut, Coco Crisp, Ryan Ludwick, Casey Blake, and Juan Gonzalez, all of whom have limitations, and all of whom have some redeeming value. If I were Mark Shapiro, I’d try to get 2-3 weeks of production out of Juan, and then pawn him off on somebody else in exchange for a prospect or two. But as we saw before, these logjams have a habit of working themselves out. But as of now, the Indians have too many marginal talents, so there may some opportunities for a trade.