Minnesota Twins

• Date: June 17, 2009
• Time: 8:15pm
• Teams: Detroit Tigers at St. Louis Cardinals
• Park: Busch Stadium
• Weather: 88 and mostly sunny.  Chance of rain later.
• Starting Pitchers: Edwin Jackson (6-3, 2.24)  Todd Wellemeyer (5-6, 5.50)
• Records: Detroit (34-30)  St. Louis (35-30)
• Last 10 Games: Detroit (5-5)  St. Louis (4-6)

Francisco Liriano has served many roles in the eyes of Twins fans.

In 2006, he was the second-coming of Johan Santana and part of a vicious one-two punch that would lead the Twins to the Promised Land.

In 2007, he was the missing piece on a team that failed to meet expectations.

Long after were all gone, people of the year 4718 will uncover some long lost DVDs. Scientists will analyze these videos for years upon years trying to figure out who it is. Some will say he was the prophet. Other may say he's God's second child. No one can figure out who this man was.

They will ask Peter Gammons (who reported on Jesus Christ's stickball league all them years ago) who this man was and if he has any relation to Christ. Peter will look up at the monitor and as if he was the old lady in the movie Titanic, he'll start having vivid flashbacks.

Filed: June 12, 2009

Milton Bradley reacts to his eighth-inning blooper Friday (Cubbie Nation/file)

Click here for the photo gallery of Friday's game.

Okay, let's be honest...something in the rotation in Minnesota has got a fix. Someone doesn't belong. A sub .500 record is not exactly what the Twins had for expectations midway through June.

With injuries and a shaky lineup, the Twins remain only 3.5 games back in a lagging Central division. Somehow, despite being able to reach the fifth inning for most of the starting rotation, they've managed to remain in the hunt for a division title.

But to know who belongs or not, lets take a gander at what Minnesota has to offer at this point...

Yesterday I took a look at five players the Twins could logically target in trade talks. Today it is time to look at some of the remaining free agent options still on the market that could help the Twins reach the postseason.

With the amateur draft now in the rearview mirror, all free agents who were offered arbitration can be signed without resulting in a forfeited draft pick by the signing team.

Nick Blackburn (Minnesota Twins) at Athletics, RHP, 19 percent owned

Stat Potential: Win, ERA

Risk Factor: Moderate-High

The Twins were supposed to have one of the league's best rotations, top to bottom, going into this season. While Scott Baker struggled out of the gate, Francisco Liriano is simply struggling. Kevin Slowey has eight wins, but that's more a case of strong run support, as opposing hitters are batting a robust .317 against him this season.

The month of June has just started, but by the time it ends the Minnesota Twins could know whether or not they’ll be in the mix for the postseason.

Following last night’s win against the Seattle Mariners, the Twins are only 7-16 on the road, a far cry from the 21-12 record they hold in the cozy, teflon confines of the Metrodome.

Despite beating the Rays and Matt Garza on Sunday, the Twins probably wish he had been their starter.

While both Garza and the man he was traded for, Delmon Young, have been less than their teams may have hoped for, it is clear who got the best end of this deal.

A big part of the reason that the Twins wish they had never made the deal is their need for a solid middle infielder and the performance of Jason Bartlett(1.3 UZR, 31.2 VORP good for third best in baseball).

Still, there is time for the Twins to recoup their losses, right?

The Hall of Fame and baseball writers have become a touchy subject as of late for Bert Blyleven.

During a May 25th broadcast, Blyleven (a color commentator for the Minnesota Twins since 1996) and play-by-play announcer Dick Bremer got on the topic of baseball writers.

"It's a load of crap. Even at 58, I'd like to meet some of those writers on the field. Give them a bat. On second thought, don't give them a bat."

And, of course, the topic soon changed from baseball writers to Hall of Fame voting.