Been thinking about Drew Butera. With Joe Mauer out with his hard to explain leg weakness thing. Drew Butera is the starting Catcher for my Twins.

Now let me say that the Twins problems have nothing to do with Drew Butera. Drew Butera was never expected to drive the bus. He was supposed to come in when Joe Mauer needed a rest. HEY JOE HOW MUCH REST ARE YOU GONNA NEED!!! Drew is supposed to call a good game working with the pitchers, throw out some runners when they try to steal a base. So to be fair to Drew, it would be good to keep your expectations low. He has always been a defensive specialist.  

BUT... it must be pointed out that Drew is hitting .106... Let me put that number out there again... .106. that's ONE OH SIX. I personally believe that professional baseball players should be able to hit at a higher number then any FM radio frequency.

So I ask myself and the Twins Brass at the same time. 

Surely, somewhere in Baseball, there is a good defensive catcher who can put down the correct number fingers at sensible times in the count. Block a ball in the dirt and throw out some runners at a fairly exceptable percentage and maybe hit... oh I don't know... .150. 

Mike Redmond is out of baseball right now... Sign him up. He's a defensive specialist behind the plate and he hit .206 last year. Brad Ausmus was one of the best ever defensively and out of baseball this year after hitting .222 with the Dodgers last year.  

I know what you are saying... how desperate does a team have to be to sign a 41 year old Brad Ausmus to play catcher? My God... Drew Butera is our starting catcher and his Batting average is .106. There are many pitchers in the national league that hit for a higher average. Matter of fact... More NL Pitchers hit higher than .106 then NL Pitchers who don't. Butera personally makes the Twins a national league team because his spot in the batting order is similiar to the pitcher spot in national league lineups. It won't be long and Gardenhire will be asking to Drew to bunt with a runner on 2nd base and one out. Butera by himself negates the American League use of a DH for the Twins by hitting worse then a pitcher.   

Last year Butera managed to hit .197 in 142 at bats. His .106 so far as come in 66 at bats. In order for Butera to reach that magical .197 mark this year. He will have to collect 21 hits in his next 76 at bats. Here's hoping that Mauer comes back real soon so we don't have to watch the next 76 at bats. I don't believe that those 21 hits will come. 

Bill Smith is the Twins GM... He has to start doing something now. Not Finding a suitable backup catcher for Joe Mauer was a huge mistake. It's like not planning for a blowout by keeping a spare tire around. Everything is great as long as it all rolls down the road but no one is happy as soon as you are pushing your car to a service station and the American League Central is passing you by.