Time To Move The Fences

Yesterday, the Twins were swept by the Orioles at home for the first time in the franchise's 51 year history. And in this series, the Twins failed to score more than one run in all four of their games. following the game, the Twins traded DH Jim Thome, Target Field's all time home run leader, to Cleveland.

But I am not here to dwell on that series. I'm going to take a shot at what was a hot topic last offseason, and should be again this offseason: The fences at Target Field.

You may remember last offseason, Justin Morneau pleaded with the Twins front office to move the fences in. But seeing that the Twins had one of the best home records in the league, the team dismissed Morneau's request, despite the drop in power from a team that was supposed to hit many home runs.

This year, we've seen just about the same thing at home. The only change, the team has a worse record. And their power hitters (Mauer, Morneau, and Kubel) have seen a severe drop in power (Injuries have contributed to this too). There is no better example of that, than Buster Olney's tweet today, that since Justin Morneau's concussion last July, the Twins have just one home run from Mauer and Morneau at Target Field in 368 combined at bats (The homerun was via Joe Mauer, last August, his only TF homerun). Between the pair, they have hit a combined 5 home runs at Target Field, in the ballparks two year history (Morneau 4, Mauer 1).

If they offer up a suggestion to the Front Office to move in the fences in again, I highly suggest they take it. You are paying these two guys a combined $37 million dollars each season between 2011-2013. You are paying them to hit the ball in the seats. And please, don't take your pitching staff's opinion into account, because they have no issues giving up home runs with the fences the way they are.

The only player who could consistently hit the ball with authority in Target Field was Jim Thome. He had hit 21 home runs in the ballpark (Leads all players), before being traded yesterday. And now that he is gone, you need your power hitters to step up and hit the ball out of the park. And the only way to do that right now, is move the fences in.

So please, Twins hierarchy. Make this happen. Move your fences in. Let your star players do what you pay them to do. Hit home runs.