LeCroy's bat can't make up for defense, Mays

Matthew LeCroy should, mark my words, never play defense again. If there was ever a born DH or bench-guy, its him. He just can't do. He isnt just immobile or sub-par, he makes bad plays half the time the ball is sent his way. He's an embarrassment to himself and the club when he's out there. I understand that we are missing two outfielders, but I'd rather see anyone but LeCroy over there. A few passed balls, a major misplay on a ball to him all lead up to the problem tonight. The only reason I don't want to condemn him to baseball hell is his bat in recent weeks and tonight. The Twins didn't win and he didn't really redeem himself. His first at-bats were awful. He struck out two straight times against starter Mark Buerhle, the second time throwing the bat into the stands. (That was really embarrasing) He finally knocked one out against Buerhle in the seventh, giving the Twins their only run off of Buerhle. In the ninth, they knocked in three runs against the Chicago bullpen, with a two-run Nick Punto home-run (don't expect a repeat anytime soon) and a LeCroy RBI double. But the Twins lost because of the terrible play of another Twin more important to the loss: Joe Mays.

While LeCroy had his good at-bats to make up for the early ones and his stunningly-awful defense, Mays simply sucked the life out of the team and offense as he pitched another terrible game. He is the sore spot in this great rotation and thats obvious to everyone. This start should show that Mays must be removed from the rotation. Control problems again, nine hits in 4 and 2/3 innings, five runs, a two-run blast to Carl Everett in the first. There was no positives in his performance. He was the opposite of how good Santana was last night. For that, I don't care if they release him, banish him to the bullpen, or try to send him away to Triple-A. Make room for Scott Baker and Fransisco Liriano. I will repeat myself: If the Twins are really serious about the playoffs, they need to win every game now. That means using everything in the bag. When Baseball America calls you out because your leaving great pitching to rot in the minors, thats more than just a wake-up call. Get rid of Mays. Get rid of "Old Man" Mulholland. They don't belong on a playoff club. Period. Liriano and Baker have the ablity to change this race like K-Rod did in 2002 or Josh Beckett did in 2003. Young pitching changes everything. These guys are rested and have been dominated Triple-A hitters all year. They are ready for the show and if they don't lead us to the playoffs, we haven't lost anything in Mays or Mulholland. Think about the combination of two big lefties like Santana and Liriano who can just dominate (potentially) any lineup in the playoffs. Its too good to resist.

Those guys are waiting to chop at the bit. Lets give the a chance so that Twins don't have to watch games like tonight's. (Unfortunately, both me and Nelson were at the game and we both left quickly after Mays did his thing) They should get the excitement of a race involving such great young talent. Two and a half games isn't much to make up with and the offense can come alive (they did against a good bullpen tonight). What they need is good starting pitching ever night. There is a whole in that plan and its Joe Mays. Come on up, Fransisco Liriano, your needed.