Written by Joe Tetreault | 28 January 2010

The Twins added slugger Jim Thome to their bench this week. The deal makes Strib Columnist Patrick Reusse very happy. Happy because that Delmon Young, he can't be trusted to play everyday, he's young and unproven. Sample some of the arcane arguments summoned to defend this deal, not on Thome's merits.

Gardenhire was left in a position where he would be writing Young's name in the lineup 150 times.

There would be those 15-20 games where Joe Mauer would DH and Kubel would play a corner in the outfield, but basically Young would be a constant presence. He remained too much of an enigma to be handed that responsibility, not with his tradition of swinging horrendously for the first half of the schedule and explaining it as being a "slow starter.''

There's now an option for Gardenhire, if Young were to show up with his hitter's mind as muddled as it was for nearly four months of last season. In such a case, Kubel can play left two or three times a week, with Thome as the DH and Young grabbing some bench.

Throw in Mauer's occasional starts as a DH against a righthander, and that also will put Kubel in left field. He could wind up playing out there 50 times, unless Young comes out of spring training with a hitting approach that allows him to drive the ball.

Yes, we can't be playing Delmon Young everyday, because when we did that in 2008 he hit pretty good. His batting line of .290/.336/.405 was not world beater stuff, but Young was 22 years old for all but the last three weeks of that season. And for three of the last four months of the 2008 season he positively punished the ball. But yes, regular playing time would only stunt Young who remains the best young hitting talent on the Twins roster.  But because Young is young and hasn't proven himself on the big league level, despite being only 24 this season, he can't be relied on.

But Reusse isn't done. Far from it.

Thome could be another veteran bust, of course. He could get into an early strikeout groove and, with irregular duty, stay there. Then again, he could see the ball good ("well'' isn't in baseball's dictionary) for a stretch and have the 10 home runs before the All-Star Game that he needs to pass Harmon Killebrew for 10th place on the career list.

What's the surprise here is the Twins always have talked about a need for speed and defense in reserve, and now they will have a four-man bench that includes a guy who will need a pinch runner any time he draws a walk or hits a non-home run in the late innings.

Here's my big issue with the move. The Twins are always concerning themselves with the bottom line. The signing is cheap enough, but really a pre-arbitration eligible player or non-tendered veteran could be had for less than Thome cost them, and in the case of Chad Tracy, who signed with the Cubs for less than Minnesota guaranteed to Thome, would also provide them with a comparable upside who possesses more positional flexibility. Bargain hunting is all the rage in the majors.  The Braves did a little of it earlier this offseason, working out a minor league deal for 32 year old minor league veteran Mitch Jones. Jones led all minor leaguers with 35 homeruns in 2009. He would have cost the Twins one third what they guaranteed to Thome and wouldn't occupy an effectively one dimensional roster spot.

That's what Thome is. Any player acquired for old-player skills power and on base ability that needs a pinch runner every time he gets on base after the seventh inning via anything other than a long ball, it represents a foolish mis-allocation of a roster space. Thome, if signed at $1.5 million to DH full time, is a bargain. As a pinch-hitter/part-time DH he's an unnecessary and inefficient indulgence. Minnesota has enough holes that the deal is inexcusable. They could use a fourth outfielder, Rocco Baldelli is available. They have Alexi Casilla penciled in at second, with Orlando Hudson still on the market. Nick Punto had a nice 2009, but he isn't exactly a third baseman I'd rely on. Russell Branyan played third in the past and proved last year he could hit.  If they wanted to demonstrate that they were ready to sign veterans to improve their club, any of them would have been better than inking Thome.  All of them would solidify the Twins' place atop the AL Central.

But among their divisional rivals, Minnesota's mind-boggling moves still rank them behind the Royals whose pursuit of out machines to fill their lineup ensures another bad year and quite possibly the Tigers who had to let go of Curtis Granderson for salary reasons, then signed Jose Valverde to a deal paying him more for 2010 than Granderson would have made. Though they won the division last year, Minnesota is hardly a lock to repeat. The AL Central, however is so weak that even the crazy moves of the Royals and Tigers can't necessarily discount them from contention.

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