The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey

Before I begin, I once again marvel at how short this Week's survey is: Two entries, just like last Week.  I note this because Minnesota United FC return to action Saturday, and therefore the WMNSS will no longer be as short as it is this Week (sigh).

#-1: Lynx (Last Week: -1).  Well, Napheesa Collier is back with the team and has been for several Games now.  And although the club drilled Los Angeles at home on Saturday and pulled away from the Wings in Dallas last/Thursday night, I'm still fixated on the middle Game of their Week, a 105-89 loss to Chicago at Target Center.

As with the Twins, the Lynx have been racked with injury; Natalie Achonwa, Aerial Powers and First-Round Draft pick Rennai Davis are hurt and there is no timetable as to when they can come back.  Even so, there is a nucleus of talent that should be better than their 5-6 record, in my humble opinion.  I thought Defense was the problem, but according to this roundtable discussion posing as an article on ESPN.com, it's the Offense, in particular shooting from three, that has kept the Lynx stuck in neutral.  Moreover, it's been reported that after Tuesday's loss to the Sky, Head Coach Cheryl Reeve torn into the team.  They responded by defeating the Wings, which is good.  But a veteran squad in what should be a good team culture shouldn't need to be cajoled by the HC to give more effort.  I am scared that the professionalism is going from this team.  I'm also scared that the team is starting to tune out Cheryl Reeve.

They play the Wings again tomorrow/Saturday night.  They then travel to Atlanta to play Wednesday.

#-2: Twins (Last Week: -2).  I and most other Twinks fans have already written off this ballclub well before this screening Week's 2-4 record.  But it is jarring, and maybe puts the final nail in the coffin, when the Manager throws in the towel.  I think it was after Sunday's 14-3 shitkicking at the hands of the Astros (at home no less), completing the series loss, when Rocco Baldelli basically admitted that this is a lost season.  For those in the back, the Twinks then lost two-of-three in Seattle midweek.

Yes, injuries have taken a huge toll on this squad.  Still doesn't matter; this team still has talent through the roster, and it doesn't absolve the nearly comprehensive swings and misses the front office took in signing free agents this Year.  So the question now becomes whether the Twinks should consider this season to be an outlier, trade only players on short-term contracts and fortify their core believing they'll bounce back next Year?  Or do you clear out, say, everybody except the players called up this Year, rip the foundation down to its studs, and begin a multi-Year rebuilding project?

I hate saying this because these "professionals" have proven to be so incompetent that blowing the whole goddamn organization might be the right thing to do.  But I am feeling as if there are still pieces that, while tradeable for good assets that'll help the franchise in the future, would be great and even vital to keep as building blocks for a reconstituted World Series contender.  And yet there are some whose time, I believe, has come and gone, and that we've seen enough of them and it's best for all parties to move on.

I'll be more specific:

• Trade Byron Buxton.  Yes, his WAR is still the best on the team (and considering he's been injured for some time now, that tells a lot about this team, very little of it good) and his pace in April was almost one for baseball's record books.  But he got hurt again, and maybe it's time to conclude that the he might be able to play half a season for you.  Is it worth getting otherworldly production if he won't be available for 60-80 Games?  He might get the best package for the Twins in a deal; do it.
• Trade Miguel Sano.  Too many up-and-down swings to keep him full-term.  He had that Week where he was hitting everything out of the park, but he gets into massive, demoralizing slumps that apparently, according to Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic, are getting more frequent and longer.  Trading both Buxton and Sano will signal a particularly bitter end of an era.  But seeing as they were hyped up as pillars of The Next Great Era Of Twins Baseball, only to fall way short of expectations, I think many of us are more than ready to move on.
• Keep Jose Berrios.  I do place a premium on homegrown talent.  And unlike Buxton and Sano, he has proven himself to be a good-to-a-very-good Pitcher.  Durable, too.  You can trade Kenta Maeda, unfortunately; his runner-up finish for the Cy Young last season has turned out to be an anomaly.  And you can keep all the one-Year rentals in the rotation, or don't.  But even if he might nab the greatest haul in return, you keep Berrios, at least for a few more Years.
• Keep Nelson Cruz.  It is alarming that his bat, which many thought to be reliable well into his forties, has deserted him.  But I trust that he'll get it back next Year.  Also, he is a great locker room presence, and he'll teach the young'uns finally getting called up to The Show how to win.  Unless a team is willing to part with a couple assets (one a bona fide prospect) for him, don't move him.

The rest?  Eh.  Do what you like.

They're in DFW for three this weekend.  Then comes the first two-Game series of the Year, at home Monday and Tuesday vs. Cincinnati.  After a rare Wednesday off, they'll host Cleveland for four.