Note: I'm turning the blog over today to Jason Iacovino, a Twins fan from Owatonna who is a frequent blog commenter in Section 219 as "Ilovesid." This is his report after watching more than four hours of baseball at Target Field on Friday night. Howard is right. The Twins do not deserve our attention right now, as painful as it is to admit. I do love this team, but it's been a love-hate relationship since 2010. My wife and I were treated to Legends Club seats on Friday night, so we were genuinely enthusiastic spectators. But after 4 hrs and 30 minutes of Kiss Cam, Water Cam, and Welke Cam, we exited to the same song and dance Twins fans have endured for the 80th time this year--another loss. Bill Welke's awful strike zone delayed (And I mean really delayed) the inevitable, but the real story for the few hundred fans remaining in the 9th inning hoping for a comeback was this reality--$35 million in payroll (Ricky Nolasco and Joe Mauer) contributed to 4-plus hours of agony and suddenly all the hope centered on Kennys Vargas and Trevor Plouffe. That's where Twins baseball is right now. Joe Mauer's disappointing season is the biggest sports story in Minnesota this year--bigger than a new Vikings coach or the Kevin Love trade. It culminated in the 9th inning again on Friday, just as it did the night before, with the Twins needing a productive at-bat trailing with runners on first and second and no one out. Where is Twins baseball at the moment? Today you come to the ballpark to watch Santana run around the bases and Arcia land one on the Plaza, while the bulk of the team's payroll sits back and admires with the rest of us. The problem is we can marvel at young talent all we want--and yes, Vargas, Arcia, Santana, Kyle Gibson, and Byron Buxton will definitely be front and center in 2015, but talent needs leadership to win. Every Chuck Knobluach needs a Greg Gagne. Every Shane Mack needs a Kirby Puckett. Every Jacques Jones needs a Torii Hunter. My sincere hope is whoever comes back in the spring to join the young talent cited above has a solid dose of leadership to go with on-base percentage. I'm pretty sure that's what's been missing. You will not convince me the Kansas City Royals have superior talent this year. The Twins can either find guys to help turn young talent into winning baseball, or they can continue to watch other teams pick up their pieces. I thank Howard for allowing me to vent on behalf of interested Twins fans and I can't wait for things to turn around, but he's right, there's not much breath that should be wasted at the moment. This problem won't be solved by surveys or self-service beer machines. See you next April with renewed optimism, I guess.