Hail the mighty Twins

By Eric Maus Sports Central Columnist

There are so many things wrong with baseball right now. Let's see, we have the looming strike, the steroid issue, and well... you already know all this, don't you?

Quite frankly, I'm sick and tired of hearing and reading about everything that's negative surrounding the national pastime. Let's forget about the Yankees recently acquiring its 14th No. 1 starter. Enough with the lame Ted Williams cryogenics jokes. And please, don't lose any sleep over the fact that A-Rod probably makes more in one at bat than you do in an entire year. Instead, I present to you the greatest story of the 2002 campaign -- the Minnesota Twins.

In a time when teams "buy championships," or GMs spend money foolishly (this means you, John Hart), the Twins are the role model for how teams should use their resources. Spend minimal money. Spend wisely.

Instead of spending bundles on a few players, the Twins seem more concerned with spreading their wealth -- and boy, has this paid off in droves. Presently, the Twins have a 12-game lead in the A.L. Central with a payroll a little over $40 million. They have a solid balance of offense and pitching with Torii Hunter the leader of this potent attack. Arguably the best center fielder in the game, he has 23 HRs, 67 RBIs, and a .314 batting average. Hunter is also quite a steal at $2.5 million.

All-Star catcher A.J. Pierzysnki has a .303 average and has thrown out a respectable 27 percent of all would-be base stealers. He's only 25 and at $250,000 this season, most teams would salivate at the prospect of having a backstop this solid and affordable. Jacque Jones, in left field, is not exactly a household name, but should be. This is a guy who is on pace for 100 RBIs and gets paid a little over $300,000. Alleged cheapskate owner Carl Pohlad must be grinning ear-to-ear.

Baseball gurus will tell you that pitching wins games. The Twins certainly have no shortage of arms. The staff is highlighted by Eric Milton (11-7) at $4 million, Rick Reed (7-5) at $7 million, Kyle Lohse (8-5), $250,000, hard-throwing bullpen man extraordinaire J.C Romero (5-1) at $215,000, and supreme closer Eddie Guardado (30 saves) at $1,800,000.

While looking at a large market team like the Microsoft Bankees, $40 million would likely get you Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams, Mike Mussina, two hot dogs, three sodas, and maybe one of the their overrated Triple A goldenboy's like Drew Hansen. Ironically, even though the Yankees' payroll is almost $100 million more than the Twins, the Yanks have collected only four more wins. The Boss must be fuming.

Why else should we root for the Twins? Because if they succeed, we can watch Bud Selig live his own worst nightmare. If you thought he was sweating bullets during the 11th inning of the All-Star Game, could you imagine his reaction if the Twins made it to the World Series? The stress he would undergo if that occurred would further his transformation into resembling Skeletor more and more every day.

Although the Twins future is up in the air after this season, it's great to see a team like them in this era. They play hard and don't have big egos. They most certainly won't be bullied around (just ask Cleveland's Danys Baez if you don't believe me). And with the cast of characters they already have, topped off with the return of pitchers Joe Mays and Brad Radke from injury, things will only get better for America's sentimental favorite team.

In a time when it's so easy to find fault within baseball, the Twins have given casual fans, fanatics, and purists something to smile about.

Article courtesy of Sports Central.