Just because the Twins have blown '07 already, doesn't mean they have to blow '08 too. And no, I'm not talking about Santana/Hunter/Nathan leaving. Apparently, manager Ron Gardenhire's plan for next year is to start Nick Punto at second base. The same Nick Punto who is, by any objective measure, the worst player in the American League. Take it away, Aaron Gleeman:
If Gardenhire actually "knew what he had in Punto," he'd stop playing him every day. Instead, Punto already has over 500 plate appearances with two weeks left to play despite ranking dead last among all MLB hitters in batting average, slugging percentage, and OPS (and 161st out of 166 in on-base percentage).Much as people knock Charlie Manuel for his in-game decisions, not even he would send Punto to the plate 500 times. Posted by Stephen Silver at September 18, 2007 04:44 PM