Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Shut Him Down

On Monday, Nick Nelson talked about how it would be in the better interest of the Twins if they shut down Joe Mauer for the remainder of the season. Its a very valid idea. The team is going nowhere, and they can get him healthy for next season. But, the team should also look into doing the same for his old roommate.

Yesterday, the Twins announced that their first baseman Justin Morneau will be out with mild concussion symptoms. This coming while he has been battling a sore shoulder since Sunday's game. Its just been that kind of season for Morneau. One injury after another. Morneau suffered a sprained wrist in June, but then a few weeks later he underwent surgery to remove a herniated disk in his neck, which kept him out of action until August 12th.

So the message is quite clear: Shut down Justin Morneau for the remainder of the season.

The Twins are paying Morneau $14 million in 2012 and '13. And if they want to be successful for those seasons, they need Morneau at full strength. And the right step towards having him at full strength is shutting him down. And that step is probably more logical now, with those mild concussion symptoms.

No one in this game is tougher than Justin Morneau. Before 2009, he was averaging over 140 games played in each of the full seasons he has been with the Twins (Including playing all 163 games in 2008). But all these injuries have made us forgotten how tough he is. And the Twins can help themselves out, by shutting him down now, so they can have him for the long run next year.

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