Baker 4.61 (and climbing); Slowey 4.79; Blackburn 6.10

If we heard it once, we heard it 1,000 times - the Twins' off-season goal was to build a team which could go deep in the playoffs. Add "O Dog" - upgrade; add Hardy - upgrade; add Thome - upgrade; bring back Pavano - upgrade; bring back Rauch - upgrade (for the role we targeted him for, not for closer) ....

June is almost over.

There is good news - Delmon Young is contributing big time; Alex Burnett has been a pleasant surprise; Frankie has come back; Pavano is pitching like a "Game 1" starter; Guerrier & Duensing are doing their jobs whenever they get the ball; Nick Punto's bat has been better than many of us feared ....

There is bad news - Hardy's spent most of the year on the DL and hasn't done much when he's played and we're leading the world in GIDP.

And then there's the horrid news - the starting rotation is doing a poor man's version of "Spahn & Sain & pray for rain" ("poor man" because, as good as they've been in general and especially at times, Pavano & Frankie ain't Spahn & Sain).

The absence of three "Playoff caliber" starting pitchers (without more) prevents this from being a "go deep in the playoffs" team.

If the goal for 2010 remains the same, then the Twins need to go get a "Game 1" guy. In 2010, his name is "Cliff Lee."