Another Ride on the Roller Coaster

There's no doubt Mientkiewicz is a wonderful defensive player, and the Twins rightfully love his glove, but the fact that they gave him a contract extension in the offseason (he's making $2.8 million this year) is worrisome, particularly since 23-year-old Justin Morneau is in his second season of tearing up Triple-A pitching.

Gold Glovers are a great thing for a team to have, but at some point this team, which hasn't had a 30-homerun hitter since 1987 (and a 40-homer guy since 1970), is going to have to make a commitment to getting some legitimate power threats into the lineup. You have to wonder what sort of player, or players, the Twins might have been able to land with the more than eight million dollars they gave to Stewart and Mientkiewicz over the winter.

So, forget about pitching help: If Terry Ryan decides to get gutsy and creative in the next couple of months and can bring himself to part with some of the team's minor league talent and an established player or two, let's hope he'll finally land the Twins a banger for the middle of the order.