Who You Can Boo, Who You Can't: A Definitive Guide to Jeering the Yankees

I know — sacrilege to criticize Mauer. We’re all so invested in the belief that he is the greatest catcher (or hitter, or both) there ever was and so anyone who dares to criticize this is ostracized.

The problem we have with the pitchers is the same problem we have with Mauer. And it’s the same problem we have with Morneau and the same problem with Kubel and the same problem with so many other players.

I saw Cal Ripken play as a kid. And, I remember that the game I saw him play was in Boston and we were listening to the pregame on the radio. The announcers said that this was something like Ripken’s 1350th straight game. My Dad said, “don’t you think it’s good to take a day off every now and then? Don’t you think would last longer if he gave himself a day off once and awhile?” Cal played 21 seasons and he never hit less than .250 and his OPS was always above .750 (Mauer’s OPS this year? .685). Breaks break up rhythm, momentum and the like. Everyone gets banged up during the season. That’s baseball.

But the organization seems to think this can be prevented — if we give guys lots of days off. Good players should play everyday. They shouldn’t be babied and they shouldn’t rest on day games after night games. They should play. Everyday. And that should be what’s expected of them. Same is true with pitchers. Good righties get good lefties out. Good lefties get good righties out.

Gardy differs on all points, and particularly with respect to pitchers late in games. He just has a much different approach, as was demonstrated at the end of last season, when he took a team that was the hottest in baseball, to the worst in baseball in the final three weeks.

And I know: I need a happy meal. It’s just starting to set in that there will absolutely be no postseason this year — and perhaps not next year unless we make some great moves. Sucks.

First, I am not just blaming the highest paid player. He is a part of the problem but it’s more like he is a symptom. We should be doing much better than we are doing. It’s bad GMing (Young for nobody; Ramos for Capps; Santana for nobody, despite great options like Hughes or Kennedy with Cabrera; Lester or Ellsbury and Lorie). It’s bad bullpen pitching. We’re bad right now and a lot of stuff has to change to get better. But for the AL Central and NL Central, we would be in last place everywhere and our minor league teams stink.

I’m more than shocked that you didn’t just say, “but we don’t have the money to compete with the Yankees.” This is one myth that the Twins have spun over and over. I’m sure you buy into it, too.

• Between 2001 and 2010, there were nine different teams to win the Series even though the Yankees led payroll in each of those years (only the Red Sox repeated)
• In 2010, the Twins had roughly the same payroll as the Giants, the eventual champion, and more than twice the payroll of the AL champion Texas Rangers.
• Even this year, the $113 million payroll puts the Twins in the top third of all teams (2nd,behind CWS in our div) and 15 players make over $1mm. Yet, we’re as likely to finish last as KC< which has a payroll of $85 million LESS than our payroll.

We’ll see how the end of the season goes, but you can’t keep expecting the gate at Target and the viewership on FSN, two big revenue drivers, with a lousy on-field product. It’s especially true in this market, which has a lot of options on beautiful summer nights.