Matt Garza Topic Page

The response to the 6 player trade centered around Matt Garza and Delmon Young has been mostly positive. Here's what some other Twins bloggers had to say about it:

A huge trade with the Tampa Bay Rays appears to be imminent. The reported trade would send Matt Garza, Juan Rincon and Jason Bartlett to Tampa Bay in exchange for 22-year old former first-round pick Delmon Young, Brendan Harris and former Twin prospect Jason Pridie.

Winning the series against Cleveland was certainly not expected the way the Twins limped into Cleveland after being clobbered in Toronto. With C.C. Sabathia on the mound for Cleveland it seemed even less likely the Twins could win the rubber game of the series.

The Twins offense exploded for a combined 32 runs in the two games in Chicago on Friday. That one day accounts for nearly 7.5% of the Twins' runs scored so far through 86 games. Things were going so well that even Nick Punto had 3 hits on the day.

This was an ugly night for Twins pitching. First, the Sidney Ponson experiment might be nearing an end. I'd give him one last chance before turning to Matt Garza. Ponson gave up 10 hits through 4 1/3 IP and was charged with 6 of the 11 runs scored by Kansas City. The Twins bullpen also continued its early season struggles. Glen Perkins took over for Ponson in the fifth and allowed3 hits and walk through 1 2/3. Perkins has had inconsistent playing time since being called up, so I'd be curious to see how he does once he gets more innings.

The Twins lost their second straight game to the White Sox as they attempted to move ahead of the Tigers in the AL Central. Fortunately, the Tigers have also lost the first two games of their series with the Royals so the two remain in a tie. The Twins will get their last chance on Sunday and they'll need more help from the Royals. Saturday's game was an early one and the Twins didn't seem to wake up until about 1:30 when they finally scored a few runs on Michael Cuddyer's 9th inning homerun. By then it was too late.

It couldn't have been a good sign for the Twins that Bert Blyleven was cursing before the game even got underway. In a way, the Twins television booth has resembled what's gone on with the Twins over the last month or so—both are battered with injuries personell problems. Bert was away last week due to Ernesto, then Dick missed the weekend series due to his mother's funeral. Now Bert faces a two game suspension for his elicit language in the pre-game show on Sunday.

The Twins have seemed to play their poorest baseball after off days, and Tuesday's series opener was no exception. The offense could only muster 5 hits against mediocre lefty, Mark Redman. This was following the 1-run performance on Sunday against lefthander Mark Buerhle, who has also struggled in the second half of the season. The White Sox victory over Tampa Bay puts the Twins back in second in the wildcard race—by 1/2 game.

Last week I asked if Matt Garza was the answer. By no means am I going to draw any conclusions based on one start, but clearly the jump from the minors to the majors involves some adjustments. Garza's first start, where he gave up eight hits and seven runs in just 2 2/3 innings surely raised a few thoughts. The Twins will surely give Garza another start or two before making any decisions on him. September will be rolling around soon, so Garza will likely remain on the roster for the remainder of the season, regardless of whether he's in the rotation or not.

There's no doubt that Matt Garza is good, but even Francisco Liriano wasn't great when he debuted last fall. Last September he was 1-2 with a 5.70 ERA. I will admit, however, that the Twins don't have any better options right now.